Finally, something that worked without issues at least for the most part. Her sense of responsibility for her citizens was annoying for sure and that Tom even hinted I was going to exploit that made me want to punch him so badly that I needed to focus and counting numbers to not bash him in front of Mary. I didn’t want to threaten her, heck for once, I wanted to play nice with her and actually start to build a relationship we would both profit from, even if she would never admit it but no, I had to threaten her in the end, just like always.

I even wore this shitty white clothing … the bra and the panties at least … alright, there was a lot of blood on them and they weren’t really white anymore, but the intention counted … right?

Whatever at least we got her to accept the deal, now we just had to pull it off which was easier said than done. We had to destroy all the evidence, get rid of a problem that was currently sucking on my nape and overwhelmed me with pleasure, and make everything look believable.

“Hey, we are a team now, aren’t we?” I asked into the round of four. The answers were ‘Obviously’, ‘Apparently’ and a grunt.

“What are your ideas of solving all these problems in one go? Mum, would you start?” I asked with a beaming smile.

“Wouldn’t showing Arthur to the world convince everyone? I only had to reveal that I was pregnant with you all these years ago.” Tom looked at her as if she was insane, but I just smiled innocently and nodded swiftly. In her own simple world, this may have worked. If I wasn’t a vampire, the word of a duchess alone could be enough to convince everyone.

“Your plan is shit.” Tom said.

“Tom,” I growled and admonished him instantly. She was important to me now and I didn’t want to risk her support only because Tom acted badly in front of her. “be nice to her.” He looked at me as if he didn’t understand the world anymore. Rather reluctantly, he switched to another wording.

“What I wanted to say is that your plan has flaws. The maids for example know that Lucinda is a vampire. We need to kill them before they can do anything stupid.”

“Hmm, interesting. Arthur what about you?” Arthur grunted happily once more and proved his stupidity once and for all. “Alright, Arthur has the best plan so far. We need someone to rile up a mob … can you do that Tom? Just tell a few drunkards that Arthur is completely going out of control and started attacking his servants.”

“Can do. Can do. Should I disguise myself as a butler?” I thought about our options for a second until I nodded.

“Just make it look believable. Mary is there any secure room in this mansion. Like really secure? It needs to stand even when the whole building collapsed.” My question was a bit overkill, but it went in the right direction.

“The weapon's chamber is under the garden but is still connected to the cellar. It will probably survive everything.” That sounded pretty good in all honestly.

“Perfect. Can you also make sure it´s fireproof?”

“I can try …” It wasn’t me who would die from lack of oxygen anyway.

“Give your best. Arthur … forget it.”

“What now?” asked Mary, already fearing the worst.

“Hmm … can we make cookies? I haven´t had some for centuries.” Everyone stared at me as if I just said something completely out of character. Even Arthur was perplexed for some reason. Nervously, I looked at each and every one of them and tried to figure out what they were thinking. Arthur was probably the easiest to read as he stared to my nape the whole time, then came a surprised Mary and after that Tom … never seen him so shocked before. Overjoyed by my achievement, I stood up, casually knocked Arthur out, and got dressed.

After making sure there was no blood on my dress, I walked towards the door, only to turn around. Both of them were still unmoving and just stared at me. Was this a staring contest or what? Angrily, I puffed my cheek and placed my fists on my hips.

“Boss … is cookie some kind of metaphor for drinking blood or I don’t know, torture?” I was quite taken aback by his comment as I seriously didn’t understand where this was coming from.

“Uhm … what makes you think that?” I asked confused.

“You aren’t exactly the type to bake.” He concluded and Mary nodded in approval. I looked to Arthur for support but then noticed I knocked him out.

“And what am I the type for?” I inquired, quite curious about his perception of me.

“Just let me be clear here … the personification of evil doesn’t bake cookies.” I scratched my cheek, thinking about his words carefully. Was he threatening me? Was he trying to control what I did and what not? It certainly sounded like it, but his expression revealed that he was more concerned than anything else.

“You know … I´d expected you to be the person who steals cookies from little children.” Mary said rudely.

“That would be mean!” I concluded. How dare they push me into that role!

“Exactly…” It sounded as if Mary just concluded something … but I still didn’t get it.

“Are we making cookies now or what?” I asked while trying to ignore all of their confusing statements.

“Sure …” answered Mary in resignation. Tom was still a bit reluctant, but he would join us anyway.

“Do you have flour? Eggs? Butter? Chocolate?” Mary, born as a noble, raised a noble and lived as a noble, couldn’t answer any of my questions as she lead me towards the kitchen by holding my hand. Naturally, I had to close my eyes during our walk, but I could at least open them in the kitchen as it was underground.

“Let the struggle begin!” I exclaimed and started my work while I kept the others away from everything, fearing they would ruin my precious cookies without a second thought.