Aiwei herself didn’t know what kind of mindset she had when she said those words.
Maybe it was helplessness, or perhaps sadness?
Aiwei wasn’t sure; she just felt a bit lost.
Even if she really managed to escape, where could she possibly run to?
Aiwei straightened her clothes again, her face still expressionless.
No one around spoke anymore, and for a moment, a strange calm settled over the Concentration Camp.
The people around her looked at Aiwei with complicated expressions.
They gazed at this former princess, the former Hero who once led a crusade against the Vampire Clan’s prince, and now… a slave.
Most of these people were girls around sixteen or seventeen years old. In this medieval world, they were all used to nobles and royals being high and mighty.
Now, seeing someone who was once so far above them fall from the clouds to the dust, they couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of satisfaction deep inside.
Or perhaps it was more like righteous retribution?
But after all, they were still just children. Compared to the thrill of seeing a noble fall, they felt even more pity for the person before them.
The surrounding chatter was a constant low murmur, but even so, Aiwei still managed to catch fragments of it.
Most of it was pity and sympathy for her, though, of course, there were also those secretly mocking her for being branded with the Slave Brand.
However, Aiwei didn’t care what these people thought. She only cared about one thing.
She had successfully aroused the sympathy of some people here, and that was enough. As long as there was sympathy, she could get the information she wanted by pretending to be pitiful.
Showing weakness at the right time was one of Aiwei’s survival strategies.
Just then, a crisp clack sounded at the heavy iron door.
Aiwei looked over at the sound. The heavy iron door slowly opened, and the first thing she saw was a cart.
Uh…
Or rather, was it a food trolley?
Aiwei thought so, watching the cart that looked almost exactly like the food trolleys she’d seen on trains in her previous life.
The trolley had two tiers. On the bottom, there were several baskets, but the room was too dark for Aiwei to see what was inside.
On the top tier of the trolley, several bottles were neatly lined up, along with two small knives.
Aiwei sat in her cage, watching as several members of the Vampire Clan entered with the trolley. None of them were Liya, whom she’d seen yesterday; these were all unfamiliar faces.
The vampires took the baskets from the lower tier of the trolley, and only then did Aiwei see what was inside.
They were filled with long, yellow-brown loaves of bread.
At least, that was the color.
They looked just like whole wheat bread from her previous life—or maybe like “baguettes”?
The bread here looked rock-hard, making Aiwei doubt whether it would break her teeth.
After all, when the bread was just taken out, it accidentally hit the trolley and made a very solid thud, which sounded like it’d be hard on the teeth.
Soon after, Aiwei saw the vampires handing out the bread to the surrounding Blood Slaves.
Of course, Aiwei got some as well.
She took the bread and knocked it against the ground.
It made a crisp, resounding sound.
This was really hard.
Aiwei bit into the bread, her cheeks bulging, and found it extremely tough to chew.
The bread had almost no taste—in fact, it was rather astringent, nothing like the fragrant bread she imagined. It filled the stomach, but wasn’t tasty at all.
She couldn’t help but recall the little cake she’d eaten yesterday.
She should have eaten a few more pieces at the time.
The vampires who’d handed out the bread turned and left, but the trolley stayed behind, as if they planned to come back.
After the vampires left, Aiwei gnawed on her bread and looked curiously at the Blood Slave who’d first spoken with her.
“Xiya, why didn’t they take the trolley with them?”
Xiya, who was gnawing on her bread like a hamster, looked up at Aiwei.
“Mm. That’s because… they’ll be back later.”
Xiya’s words were muffled, but Aiwei still caught the key point.
“They’re coming back? For what?”
“For bloodsucking.” Xiya swallowed her bread, her ears twitching as she blinked at Aiwei, looking adorably dazed.
“Bloodsucking?” Aiwei frowned slightly, and the scene from yesterday when Fuluoxi sucked her blood flashed through her mind, making her shudder.
Although Fuluoxi was beautiful, she was still terrifyingly violent when sucking blood.
At the time, Aiwei really thought she was going to die, but the people here didn’t seem to react much?
“Oh, you’ll know in a bit.” After answering Aiwei, Xiya went back to chewing her bread.
Aiwei didn’t ask further and instead observed the expressions of those around her.
They all seemed used to being sucked for blood.
Were they really not afraid?
But Aiwei soon learned the reason why.
Just as the people here were almost done eating, the vampires returned to the room.
The vampire at the front spoke up: “Today, those numbered 006-010 are responsible for ‘bloodsucking.’ Please raise your hands.”
When he finished, a few people in the cage raised their hands.
The vampires counted the number, then opened the cage and let out the Blood Slaves numbered 006-010.
The Blood Slaves lined up, as if waiting for something.
Then, Aiwei saw the vampires take bottles and small knives from the trolley, and the Blood Slaves obediently stretched out their hands.
Although none of them had looked afraid before, now that the vampires were about to act, some still covered their eyes in fear or pain.
Aiwei now understood the unique “bloodsucking” method used here.
It was similar to the blood donation she’d known in her previous life, but this was even more primitive, and much rougher.
They simply cut open the wrist with a knife and collected the blood in a bottle.
It was completely different from the way Aiwei imagined, where vampires would grab someone and bite their neck.
Among the five Blood Slaves who stepped out, some let out low sobs, apparently from the pain.
The “bloodsucking” activity ended quickly, and the vampires responsible for it had green light glowing from their hands, as if they were healing the wounds.
Aiwei could clearly see the wounds on the Blood Slaves’ hands heal before they were locked back into the cage.
This really was… a bit novel?
Aiwei had thought of many ways vampires might suck blood, but never this one.
Wasn’t this just like a Farm?
They raised humans, but didn’t kill them, provided food and water, and only needed the Blood Slaves to provide blood each day.
The only drawback, perhaps, was the lack of freedom.
Still, this life seemed better than what many commoners in Aiwei’s memories had.
The reason was simple: the long loaves of bread they just ate could be sold for one Imperial Silver Coin in the Empire.
And a loaf of bread like that, at Empire prices, was enough to buy one or two pieces of meat that ordinary farming families couldn’t bear to eat. In a sense, it was a luxury.
As Aiwei silently pondered, the vampires who had finished sealing the bottles of blood walked over to Aiwei’s cage and opened it.
“Her Highness the Prince ordered me to bring you over,” said the vampire.