Lenore nods, returning Natasha's faint smile. "Yes. It was necessary. I can subsist mostly upon human food and entirely upon animal blood, but I do require a certain amount of animal blood in my diet. They don't use much--if any--blood in the local cuisine. But they do use meat. Ergo, plenty of waste blood."

Shrugging once at this conclusion, Lenore leaves it to Natasha to connect any remaining dots in between. "So I befriended the castle butcher in particular. But I'm on friendly terms with some of the other kitchen staff and looking to expand that number."

Being on good terms with the servants is very helpful in Lenore's line of work. They learn such a lot of secrets from the kind of nobles who see them as invisible.