Chapter 45 Awakening "Something's not right, there must be someone behind this..."
For the next few days, the witch would come over to freeload at every meal.
However, she didn't take it for free. She complained that the barbecue was bland, so she casually brought over a bunch of seasonings. And when the stock in her cave was used up, it was always replenished in a timely manner.
The group lived together peacefully for several days, and the potion that could completely eradicate the mark was finally nearing completion.
That day, the witch approached Catherine. In her hand she held a glass potion bottle, the pale purple potion inside swaying as she moved, looking quite beautiful and eye-catching.
"I told you it would only take three or four days to finish—I wasn't lying to you, little girl."
Catherine raised her hand to take it, but the witch turned slightly to the side, avoiding her hand: "Eh~ It's not completely healed yet, I still need two things."
"What?"
Before Catherine could finish her question, she felt a sharp pain in her fingertips.
She looked down and saw that the blood from her fingertip had just broken through her skin and touched the air when it was lifted up by an invisible hand and finally poured into the potion bottle.
The witch shook the bottle in her hand, and the bright red color instantly blended into it, seemingly changing the original color of the potion slightly.
"Alright~ We've got the blood from the sacrifice, now there's one more thing missing... If you're curious, come with me."
Her last words were addressed to Catherine, but as she looked away, she glanced at Lucas in the corner.
Upon entering the cave, all light was blocked out, and the surroundings instantly darkened.
Humans need time to adjust to darkness before they can vaguely see their surroundings—this mainly refers to Lucas, of course. Witches are not human to begin with, and Catherine has been modified and is no longer a pure human.
The witch walked into the cave, where a giant alien spider lay unconscious.
Catherine gazed at Tarasco from afar. In her memory, he was mostly strong and silent, and it was rare to see him so vulnerable. She couldn't help but stare at him, lost in thought.
Until the witch appeared in her line of sight.
The witch walked up to Tarasco with the potion bottle in her hand. Before Catherine could even wonder what she was going to do, the witch rudely plunged a vine into Tarasco's poison glands.
That speed, that power... made Catherine gasp and feel a phantom pain.
The venom from the poison glands flowed continuously, entering the potion bottle through the vines. After collecting about half a bottle, the vines drooped down and were drawn out of the poison glands. By this time, the potion had turned a ghostly dark green, looking very much like a witch's potion.
"Now, the potion to remove the mark is truly finished!"
The witch smiled, shaking the potion bottle, then pried open Tarasco's mouth and poured the prepared potion down his throat.
"Alright, now we just have to wait for him to wake up on his own."
Looking at the unconscious Tarasco, Catherine suddenly remembered something: "After you removed his mark, he seemed to be doing well. I didn't touch the mark at all that night, and I'm sure he didn't bump into anything there."
"So...why did he suddenly go berserk?"
The witch raised an eyebrow: "I'm still wondering when you'll think of this question~ What do you think?"
Catherine slowly frowned.
The witch added fuel to the fire with a laugh: "A sudden accident, something unusual, must be someone deliberately manipulating things behind the scenes~"
The witch ignored Catherine's reaction and disappeared into the trees, whistling an unknown tune. Catherine stood there, her eyes downcast, lost in thought, one hand unconsciously reaching up to touch Tarasco.
After a long while, her eyes lit up, as if she had emerged from her previous stony state.
The witch had already hinted to her that the matter of the mark was inextricably linked to the Holy See. Removing the mark was only a temporary fix; they could still control the monsters because of it.
So Tarasco's sudden madness was because...
“The Vatican knew I was still alive before,” she murmured, her tone certain.
For reasons unknown, they discovered they were still alive, and thus activated the nearest mark. Without the witch, either she or Tarasco would have died in the end—most likely, she would have been the one to die.
As Catherine was thinking, her raised hand was suddenly gripped by something.
The cold touch startled her so much that she almost touched the pendant around her neck.
Fortunately, my eyes looked at my hand first and found that what was holding mine was a human hand. It was just cold to the touch and as hard as marble.
"You're awake!"
Catherine's face had already unconsciously put on a mask of surprise, and her voice was full of joy and astonishment.
Tarasco didn't reply, but simply held Catherine's hand and stroked her skin.
A strange feeling rose in Catherine's heart. She felt that the scene was a little too tender... Weren't they always just a master and a pet?
Her hand felt a little itchy from being touched, and she involuntarily curled it up slightly.
Catherine's smile faded slightly as she tried to speak to break the awkward atmosphere.
"I...I don't know what happened to me at the time. I didn't mean to hurt you...I'm sorry."
But unexpectedly, Tarasco beat him to it.
His tone was hurried, and it was clear he was very anxious. As a result, his previously fairly good Wirandel language became intermittent.
This was not what Catherine expected—in fact, his entire state after waking up was not what she expected.
She abruptly raised her eyes, wanting to see Tarasco's expression to judge what he meant, but unexpectedly, she met a pair of blood-red beast eyes staring straight at her.
He looked at her, his eyes devoid of any romantic notion, but filled with utmost sincerity.
He was genuinely apologizing to himself.
But why? Their relationship and status shouldn't be like this...
Tarasco's eyes remained fixed on Catherine, showing no sign of looking away. He seemed genuinely concerned about her feelings, worried that what had happened before she lost consciousness might frighten her and drive her away.
They had been quiet for so long that Catherine's heart began to race. She looked into his eyes, her heart pounding uncontrollably. She tried to slow it down, but to no avail; under Tarasco's gaze, her heartbeat only became more erratic.
Catherine's eyes flickered, but she ultimately looked away first.
She lowered her eyes and said quickly, "The meat outside should be almost cooked. I'll go check."
After saying that, she broke free from his hand and ran out of the cave. But no matter how you looked at her back, she seemed to be fleeing in panic.
Leaving the cave, Catherine didn't check on the roasting progress as she had promised. She leaned against a nearby rock, wondering about her own reaction. What had just happened to her…?
She had heard plenty of sweet nothings before, and had been flirted with by many handsome men. Yet, Tarasco's simple, almost comical remark, along with his silent gaze, made her heart race, forcing her to temporarily leave to calm herself.
That's hilarious.
Catherine frowned, inwardly cursing herself for her embarrassing performance.
It must be because he didn't try to hide it at all! Catherine concluded to herself.
He laid everything bare before her, patiently awaiting her "judgment." This was the first time she had encountered such a raw, almost animalistic expression; she was caught off guard and lost her composure.
Oh no, he was a beast to begin with.
Catherine stood there for a while to calm herself down, then followed the smell of meat and went outside.
It was completely dark outside. Lucas and Benson were sitting around the fire, each holding a piece of roasted meat.
A vine blocked their heads, and the witch sat on it, occasionally giving instructions on how to grill the food. However, her posture always made one worry that she might accidentally fall off the vine.
"You can grill meat too?" Catherine walked over and sat down by the fire, joining them.
The witch swung her foot and snorted, "Little girl~ I've lived for a very, very long time. What can't I do with these things you humans have?"
As soon as the witch finished speaking, Benson and Lucas next to her exchanged glances and looked at Catherine.
That tone was so classic that it immediately made them realize who Catherine had been imitating back at the camp.
Catherine pretended not to see their movements, but the witch suspiciously followed their gaze and glanced at Catherine. In that single glance, she seemed to see everything, and smiled.
"Hehe, it seems you had a good chat with the little spider in the cave just now~"
The witch's words stirred Catherine's memories, and she couldn't help but recall the blood-red eyes that had been staring straight at her just moments before...
She coughed lightly: "It's alright, I just said a few things casually."
The witch swung her legs and hummed a few times, not exposing her lie. She turned her head, intending to check on her roasted meat, but then…
"Aaaaaah!! Are you guys all useless???!! My barbecue is burnt!!!"
Outside the cave, accompanied by the witch's screams, came a long period of frantic scrambling. In the end, not all the roasted meat could be saved; only half of it remained, barely edible.
The witch took a large portion of roast meat, munching on it while glaring fiercely at Benson and Lucas. Remembering the witch's previous vindictiveness and pettiness, Catherine silently lit a candle in her heart for their future.
After finishing her portion, Catherine remembered that Tarasco hadn't eaten much since waking up, so she took a few more pieces into the cave.
There wasn't a sixth person here, and the witch could tell at a glance who Catherine was assigned to. She chuckled as she munched on her roasted meat, saying, "Little Spider is so amazing, you're worried he'll go hungry?"
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