Fangless: The Alpha's Vampire Mate-Chapter 274: What Happens in the Wardrobe Stays in the Wardrobe

Sir Kai scaled the tree with the grace of a cat, his movements swift and silent. He launched himself toward the second-floor balcony, grabbing onto an ornamental ledge that clearly wasn’t designed to support the weight of a fully grown man.

For a few agonizing seconds, he dangled there like an idiot before finally hauling himself up and rolling into the room with as much dignity as possible.

It was the housekeeper’s quarters—empty, as expected. The servants were all occupied with their duties elsewhere. He paused, scanning the modest furnishings before stepping fully inside.

The air was thick with humidity, the night heavy with the scent of damp earth. In Durpol, it was common practice to leave windows open at night, allowing the breeze to refresh the chambers. The residents welcomed the cool air.

During the daylight, however, it became a matter of survival for the vampires. No one knew when the sun decided to show up. They would seal their rooms tight to avoid an agonizing death under the sun’s unexpected glare.

Tonight was no different. The wide-open window might as well have had a welcome sign, practically begging for an intruder. Clearly, this manor had experienced about as much crime as a monastery, judging by its laughably lax security.

Not that Sir Kai was complaining. Sir Kai took advantage of this without hesitation, disappearing into the dimly lit room like a shadow.

The curly-haired maid and the braided maid—the gossiping duo who had unknowingly spilled the beans—were nowhere in sight. Not that it mattered.

He wasn’t here to trade beauty tips with the maids; he was here to confirm the rather unsettling rumor they had whispered about. According to them, the lord of this manor had been alive for a very long time. Suspiciously long.

That could only mean one thing: there was a solid chance the esteemed lord of the house was a member of the Nightshade Coven. And for once, Sir Kai had a lead that wasn’t complete nonsense.

He started rummaging through the housekeeper’s belongings, hoping to find some conveniently detailed diary outlining all the juicy secrets of the manor.

It took him about five seconds to remember a minor inconvenience—most maids and servants couldn’t read or write. So unless they had recorded their thoughts through aggressive doodles or dramatic reenactments, this plan was already circling the drain.

Of course, the situation was different for those higher up the food chain—the head housekeeper, the financial officer, or one of the lord’s trusted aides. They probably knew how to hold a quill without stabbing themselves.

But this was a servant’s chamber, and Sir Kai wasn’t entirely sure if the head housekeeper even slept here among the lower-ranked staff. Either way, he was already elbow-deep in someone’s sock drawer, so he might as well keep looking.

Somehow, Sir Kai had ended up in the deepest depths of someone’s wardrobe—the kind of place where secrets, regrets, and questionable life choices were stuffed away.

As he shuffled through the layers of fabric, a few loose sheets of paper slipped into his hands. He glanced at them, and—oh. Oh.

Risqué paintings. And not the tasteful kind you’d find in a noble’s art collection. These were the kind that required privacy, a guilty conscience, and maybe a confession to a priest.

With the grace of a man who had just touched something deeply cursed, he shoved the papers back into the clothing pile, stuffing them down as far as possible.

Nope. Never saw that. Moving on.

Desperate to erase the mental image, he turned to another corner of the wardrobe, hoping to find something actually useful.

Instead, he found... uh... something else. Something worse. Something that made the previous discovery look like innocent doodles.

The cupboard door slammed shut so fast it nearly bounced open again. Sir Kai stumbled back, heart hammering, face burning. He had never encountered anything that—that—lewd before.

This naive bachelor was wholly unprepared for the horrors hidden in the depths of someone’s personal storage. He needed a moment. Maybe several. Maybe a full exorcism for his brain.

As he struggled to calm his racing pulse, footsteps echoed down the hall, followed by hushed voices.

"Did you see that?"

"See what?"

"The Lordship’s visitors! We haven’t had a visitor in what, a century? How long have you worked here? Have you seen anyone other than the workers step into this manor?"

The other maid remained silent. Either she was seriously considering the question or she was desperately trying to figure out how to make her chatty friend shut up.

"But I swear I’ve seen her somewhere before," the chatty maid declared, shifting the conversation as if this had been her main point all along.

Her friend exhaled slowly, as if bracing for impact. "Do you mean Madam Silvia?"

"YES!!" she practically bounced. "She’s so beautiful! Honestly, for a second, I thought she was a goddess. Not just a vampire—an actual goddess. Is she an elder? Ugh, where have I seen her before...?"

The other maid sighed, the deep, exhausted kind that came from dealing with this nonsense daily. "The last Blood Moon festival. The town held a celebration, remember? She was there with the Lordship’s other friends."

"Ohhh," the chatty maid’s eyes lit up. Then, with absolutely no regard for self-preservation, she asked, "So, is she part of the Nightshade Coven too?"

That did it. Her friend stiffened like she had just been accused of treason.

"Hush!" she hissed, throwing a panicked glance around as if the furniture might start taking notes. "We do not talk about that. Not even here. You don’t know if the walls can hear and see!"

With that ominous warning, she spun on her heel and practically fled, her footsteps quick and very intentional—like someone who wanted absolutely nothing to do with her friend’s reckless mouth.

Meanwhile, the chatty maid stood there, blinking at the empty space where her friend had been. "Well, that was dramatic."

Still, she had gotten her answer. Not that she actually cared whether the stunning vampire she had seen was part of some ancient, powerful coven or not.

What really mattered was getting enough rest before she was summoned for work again. Having guests in the manor was exciting—finally, a little life in this gloomy house—but it also meant extra chores. And if there was one thing she did care about, it was avoiding those.

She strolled into the housekeeper’s chamber, fully prepared to sneak in a quick nap before anyone could shove another chore her way. But the moment her eyes landed on the room, she froze. Her brain processed what she was seeing.

And then—

"KYAAAAAKKKK!!!"

Her scream exploded through the manor like a demon being exorcised. Somewhere in the distance, a startled bird probably dropped dead from sheer terror.

Whatever she had just seen—it was not okay.