Chapter 32: Why Do Latecomers Always End Up on Top?! 🤧😭

What is the Blood Clan?

In the eyes of outsiders, the so-called Blood Clan is nothing more than a group with above-average looks and powerful strength, but so weak that they can barely survive by relying on the blood of others.

It seems that as long as no one is willing to offer their neck and provide fresh blood, the Blood Clan would face extinction the next moment.

But is that really the case?

It wasn’t until today that Hualí truly understood what it meant to be Blood Clan, and how they usually obtained fresh blood.

Generally speaking, blood of the same type, regardless of freshness, is divided into four qualities.

From lowest to highest:

‘C-rank’ blood, with the worst taste, thick and full of metallic flavor—so bad that just drinking it makes a Blood Clan member want to vomit.

This kind of terrible blood is usually produced when the ‘bloodbag’ strongly resists both mentally and physically during feeding.

It might be hard to imagine, but undeniably, the biggest factor affecting the taste of blood is psychological.

One level above is ‘B-rank’ blood—the kind most ordinary Blood Clan consume daily.

Its taste is unremarkable… neither particularly foul nor notably pleasant.

This blood usually comes from trading.

That is, the ‘bloodbag’ voluntarily draws their own blood, seals it after passing inspection, and sells it at a high price as daily rations for the Blood Clan.

Above ‘B-rank’ is ‘A-rank’ blood, which has a noticeably better taste.

You can taste the freshness and sweetness in the molecules, usually only produced when the ‘bloodbag’ mentally accepts the person drawing it.

Simply put, it’s voluntarily becoming a bloodbag.

In most cases, this is the sweetest blood a Blood Clan member can get.

And finally!

‘S-rank’ blood—the stuff of legend, with such strict production criteria that no Blood Clan has ever tasted it!

It can only be produced when the ‘bloodbag’ mentally accepts their fate, yet shows extreme resistance physically and verbally, ultimately surrendering under contradiction.

Simply put—it’s tsundere blood.

It’s said that just one sip of ‘S-rank’ blood fills the mouth with sweetness, and with careful savoring, you can even taste the flavor your heart desires.

Sometimes it’s sweet strawberry juice, sometimes rich red wine.

“Tomorrow is Her Majesty’s weekly ‘Blood Day’. Unfortunately, it’s Nicole’s turn to serve. Sorry, Hualí, it has nothing to do with you.”

Jeilinfa said.

Unlike the weaker Blood Clan, such as the Maid Team, who must consume ‘B-rank’ blood daily to maintain themselves, the powerful Blood Clan Queen Sidella relies much less on fresh blood.

She only needs to drink blood two or three times a month.

It has no negative impact on her body.

“Oh~”

Hualí replied gloomily.

She had considered sending Nicole back to the Little Black Room with a few tricks.

Unfortunately, ever since Nicole got out, she avoided Hualí, refusing to listen no matter what she said.

No way to scheme at all.

“What exactly did that girl go through in the Little Black Room?”

Hualí wondered, rubbing her chin.

“Why did she suddenly become so cautious?”

“Eh~”

Jeilinfa sighed, looking at Hualí with pity.

“Hualí, you might really get kicked to the roadside by Nicole. It’s fine. Even if you can’t become Her Majesty’s personal maid, being a regular maid after being promoted isn’t bad.”

“Thirty gold coins per month after tax, five insurances and one housing fund, sixteen days of paid leave a month, year-end bonus?”

Hualí asked cautiously.

“There’s five insurances and one housing fund, but nothing else…”

“To think even such basic benefits are missing—what an inhuman job!”

Hualí began to protest.

“I won’t! I won’t! I want thirty gold coins a month! Sixteen days of paid leave! And a year-end bonus!”

Jeilinfa’s mouth twitched.

No ordinary maid gets benefits like that.

She, as Maid Chief, didn’t even get that much.

Hualí grabbed Jeilinfa’s shoulders, eyes red with tears, her voice filled with grievance and resentment.

“Gu… Jeilinfa, why do latecomers always surpass the first? This job… I was clearly here first!”

“Hualí, do you really want this job?”

After thinking deeply, Jeilinfa spoke of the only solution she could think of.

“Why don’t you go sell yourself.”

***

The next morning, thick clouds stacked atop the sky, blocking all sunlight above the clouds.

Every corner of the Demon King Castle was gloomy, the air so damp it seemed you could wring water from it.

Yet for the Blood Clan maids inside the Palace, such days were rare good weather!

Even if the maid uniforms washed and hung last night couldn’t dry, at least they didn’t have to endure the burning sunlight.

And today just happened to be one of the few ‘Blood Days’ for the Blood Clan Queen Sidella Eve Cecilia!

Hualí wasn’t about to give up until the last moment!

Of course, she wasn’t about to go sell herself to that evil Sidella—Hualí was a pure good girl and didn’t even know what that meant!

Instead, she set her alarm and waited in the kitchen Nicole was sure to use.

She quietly pushed open the kitchen door.

The first thing she saw was a busy, petite figure—Nicole, preparing breakfast for the Blood Clan Queen Sidella.

Hualí held her breath and tiptoed closer, looking for a chance to cause trouble.

At the same time, Nicole finished preparing breakfast for Her Majesty and started working on the extra ‘Blood Day’ meal for the queen.

She took out an ‘A-rank’ bloodbag, freshly delivered by the guards that morning, from the fridge’s fresh-keeping layer.

She cut open the bloodbag with scissors, pouring the fresh blood into a glass goblet.

Gazing at the crimson blood in the glass, Nicole’s eyes burned.

She pulled a bottle disguised as a seasoning jar from her pocket, filled with countless white granules like sugar.

Nicole’s heart pounded as if it would leap from her chest, a thin layer of sweat forming on her palm.

The white granules disguised in the seasoning jar weren’t sugar at all, but the Special Poison developed by the Sardin Marquis’s vassals after his death—strong enough to kill the powerful Blood Clan Queen!

“What’s that?”

“Hmph!”

Nicole snorted softly, her eyes flashing dangerously.

“Of course, just a tiny amount is enough to… Crap! Hualí, why are you here!!”

Nicole’s guilty heart nearly jumped out of her body when Hualí suddenly appeared behind her.

Her heart thumped uncontrollably.

It didn’t even feel like her own anymore.

“Hey, you still haven’t said what’s in your hand. Don’t think you can fool me!”

Hualí looked at Nicole with deep suspicion.

“White sugar! It’s white sugar! Adding a little white sugar to blood can improve the taste.”

Nicole hurriedly explained.

She had purposely made the poison look like sugar for just this kind of accident.

After a brief panic, Nicole quickly calmed down.

“White sugar?”

Hualí swiftly snatched the Special Poison disguised as a seasoning jar from Nicole’s hand.

“Give it here. I’ll decide if it’s sugar after I taste it myself!”

Before Nicole could stop her, Hualí twisted open the jar, dipped her finger in, and put it in her mouth.

The moment the granules touched the moist heat of her mouth, they dissolved, sweetness exploding across her tongue.

Hualí let out a small ‘huh’.

“It really is white sugar.”

She said, handing it back to Nicole.

Nicole froze, then burst into uncontrollable joy.

She’d been worrying about how to get revenge on Hualí for the Little Black Room, but never expected Hualí would willingly eat the Special Poison herself!

As long as she could get the Blood Clan Queen to take the poison later, she’d kill the two she hated most without any effort!

In the small kitchen, both girls schemed in their hearts.

Hualí was still pondering how to ruin Nicole’s ‘Blood Day’ for Sidella, when an idea suddenly struck.

“Hey, Little Nicole, as your senior…”

She saw Nicole’s expression grow darker and quickly swallowed the word ‘senior’.

“I think you could add some crushed ice too. That would keep it fresher longer~”

“Heh, I was going to do that anyway even if you hadn’t said so!”

Maybe because she believed Hualí would soon die from poisoning, Nicole finally relaxed.

She turned to the fridge to fetch ice.

Hualí’s eyes gleamed.

Seizing the chance, she stuffed the Special Poison Nicole had left on the table into her pocket, replacing it with an identical jar filled with table salt from the drawer.

Hmph! Still trying to win Sidella over with sugar?

Go eat salt!

Hualí watched Nicole use the salt jar as a poison jar, watching the tiny white crystals dissolve in the blood as they sprinkled in.

Only then did she find an excuse to slip away.

“Well, good luck. Jeilinfa needs me, so I’ll head out first!”