Chapter 210 – Is She Going to Use Me as a Blood Bag?!

Sophie’s silver hair danced on the breeze like an ice spirit, every movement too precise to have been shaped by the wind alone.

The faint fragrance drifting from those strands belonged to no shampoo Lin Xi knew. It smelled like a frozen stream shattering beneath the moon, deep within a cedar forest.

“So beautiful…”

The words slipped from Lin Xi’s lips before she could stop them. Then she realized Sophie was looking at her, the eyes behind her glasses glimmering wine-red in the shadows.

“My apologies.” Sophie caught her windblown hair with one hand, the gesture as elegant as a bow at the end of an opera. “It’s because of my bloodline. My hair is rather fine…”

You have absolutely nothing to apologize for! Lin Xi thought.

In the fraction of a second when Sophie’s hair had lifted, Lin Xi had clearly seen sunlight pass straight through those silver strands like the finest ice crystal, refracting into prismatic light.

“It’s a very distinctive color,” Lin Xi heard herself say, her voice far softer than she had expected.

She was supposed to be wary of this suspicious transfer student, yet the breeze had scattered every shred of caution among those dancing silver strands.

The faintest curve touched Sophie’s lips.

Of course she knew how charming she was. She had spent three hundred years perfecting the art of disguise and had calculated the angle of the sunlight and the speed of the wind long ago.

“Miss Lin Xi’s black hair is beautiful too.” Sophie reached out as though to touch Lin Xi’s ponytail, only to stop halfway.

The wind died.

Sophie’s silver hair settled magically back over her shoulders, but the sight of it had already burned itself into Lin Xi’s vision.

“Let’s visit the library first. It’s my favorite place in the school,” Lin Xi suggested as she pushed open the glass door of the classroom building.

The sunlight outside was even harsher. Sophie visibly flinched, then immediately returned to normal with movements so quick they were almost magic.

The library stood on the east side of campus, an old building covered in ivy. Cool air greeted them when they pushed open its heavy wooden doors, and Sophie seemed to relax.

“The collection here is very broad. We even have some rare texts,” Lin Xi said proudly as she led Sophie between the rows of shelves.

The antiquarian section caught Sophie’s eye. She walked straight to a glass display case containing a medieval-style parchment manuscript.

“You can read that?” Lin Xi asked in surprise. “It’s in Latin. Even our history teacher said it was extremely difficult to translate.”

Sophie’s fingertip traced the writing through the glass, her lips moving silently. A moment later, she seemed to realize she had given something away and swiftly withdrew her hand.

“I just… thought the handwriting was beautiful,” she said softly, but Lin Xi had clearly seen age and weariness in her eyes-something that did not belong on the face of a schoolgirl.

After they left the library, Lin Xi noticed Sophie’s aversion to sunlight had grown more obvious. Under its glare, her skin looked almost sickly and translucent, revealing the blue veins beneath.

“Are you all right?” Lin Xi stopped. “Do you want to rest in the infirmary?”

“No.” Sophie shook her head, her voice weaker than before. “I’m simply… not accustomed to sunlight this strong.”

Lin Xi checked the time. “There’s still an hour until class. Let’s sit in the pavilion in the back garden. There’s plenty of shade.”

The back garden was a secluded corner of the school where towering plane trees cast dense shadows. Sophie’s condition improved at once. She took a deep breath like a drowning person finally breaking the surface.

“Where I come from… the sun is not nearly this strong.”

As she spoke, Lin Xi caught glimpses of two pointed fangs between her lips.

“Thank you, Miss Lin Xi,” Sophie said suddenly, looking straight at her.

Her gaze settled on Lin Xi’s neck.

An inexplicable chill ran through Lin Xi, and she instinctively touched her throat.

Only then did Lin Xi realize her heart had begun to race. In front of this pale girl, she felt both nervous and strangely drawn to her.

Lin Xi forced a smile and changed the subject. “We have PE this afternoon. Are you going to participate?”

Sophie looked troubled. “I’m not very athletic.”

“That’s all right. You can explain it to the teacher.” Lin Xi stood. “Let’s go see the rest of the campus.”

…

“Let’s visit the rooftop, Miss Lin Xi.”

After they had toured several more places, Sophie made the suggestion out of nowhere.

She meant no harm. As a Vampire Princess, she simply liked high places.

Lin Xi did not know that, however, and she hesitated.

High on the rooftop, with two girls all alone… Would it be dangerous? Sophie was a Vampire Princess. What if she decided to make Lin Xi her lunch?

Sophie might be adorable, and she might be one of Lin Xi’s cuddle targets, but Lin Xi was not some easy girl who would simply let Sophie have her way with her!

“All right.”

Lin Xi agreed anyway. Sophie’s eyes were so full of anticipation that she could not bring herself to refuse.

I’m such a wonderful person, Lin Xi thought.

The rusted hinges gave an ear-piercing groan as she pushed open the metal rooftop door.

A warm May wind rushed toward them.

Lin Xi instinctively caught her flying hair. Ahead of her, Sophie tilted her face up instead, letting her silver hair pour through the slanting sunlight like a river of stars.

Sophie leaned over the railing, the outline of her shoulder blades faintly visible beneath the back of her uniform shirt.

Once again, the sight left Lin Xi dazed-if she ignored the way Sophie’s shadow twisted across the concrete into the shape of bat wings.

“What a wonderful view.” Sophie turned back with a smile, exposing more of her fangs than usual. “It must be terribly romantic to watch the stars from here.”

Lin Xi pretended not to see those pointed teeth.

Sophie’s voice suddenly lost some of its deliberate sweetness, revealing an ethereal quality Lin Xi had never heard from her before.

She sprang lightly onto the concrete railing, her black shoes resting on the narrow edge like ballet slippers. Then she spread her arms like a tightrope walker.

“Careful!” Lin Xi cried without thinking.

Thirty meters below, several members of the Track and Field Club looked up from the field. Strangely, none of them seemed to notice the dangerous figure balanced on the railing.

Sophie glanced back with a smile. Sunlight shone through the rim of her ear, rendering it nearly transparent. When she turned, the shadow on the ground stretched into an impossible winged silhouette, like a pair of enormous bat wings unfurling behind her.

“Don’t worry. I have excellent balance.” Sophie rose onto her toes and spun in a circle, the arc of her flying skirt so precise it seemed calculated. “Back in B City, I often strolled along the flying buttresses of Gothic cathedrals.”

“Please come down, Miss Sophie. If a teacher sees you, we’ll be in trouble.” Lin Xi deliberately moved a few steps closer.

Sophie hopped lightly down without disturbing so much as a speck of dust. “Miss Lin Xi really is a model student.”

She suddenly leaned closer.

“Would you like to try something new? For example… a secret date on the rooftop? Or perhaps…”

“Something more exciting?”

A sudden gust cut her off.

The wind came from nowhere, carrying a chill from deep beneath the earth and whipping Sophie’s silver hair into a frenzy. With a little cry, she pretended to lose her balance and toppled toward Lin Xi.

When that icy body crashed into her arms, Lin Xi smelled cedar and cold iron.

Worse, Sophie’s hand was pressed against the back of her neck!

Nooooooo!

Lin Xi’s heart clenched. Was this girl going to use her as a blood bag?!