Chapter 61 The Grand Finale (Part 2) He seems more like the villain...
Catherine raised her hand to slap her forehead, closed her eyes, and sighed helplessly: "Let's split up and find them one by one. Although this method sounds stupid... we have no other choice."
The group took several deep breaths to prepare themselves mentally, and then divided the tasks, heading towards the giant display cases in different directions.
Lucas was the smallest and shortest, so his progress was relatively slow. By the time he had finally climbed the vine ladder to the top and finished checking the first display case, the others had already started looking for the second one.
He used all four limbs to climb down as quickly as possible, but the moment he landed, he heard several very low hissing sounds coming from the side.
"Hey! Hey..."
Lucas turned his head in confusion, only to find that someone had been standing in the darkness at some point.
Startled, he immediately reached for the potion in the bag, but the man quickly waved his hand and spoke.
"Don't hit me! Don't hit me! We're friends! It's me! It's me! I'm here to help you!"
These words, delivered in a very short time, hit Lucas squarely in the face, successfully triggering his memory. Upon closer inspection...
"It's you! Allen?!"
Allen rolled his eyes, seemingly quite displeased that Lucas had only just remembered him.
"Are you looking for... that... that medicine again?" Allen frowned, trying hard to remember for a while. "Hiss... Oh well, never mind, I know where that thing is. I'll take you to find it."
As soon as Allen said that, Lucas's eyes lit up immediately: "Really?!"
Allen didn't seem too happy: "Of course it's true! Don't you believe me?"
"Believe it! Everyone, stop looking. Allen says he knows where the holy medicine is."
The crowd that had been scattered in front of the various display cases instantly gathered around. Then, led by Allen, they walked through most of the Vatican and finally entered the cardinal's bedroom.
As Allen walked over and opened the drawer of the bedside table, Catherine couldn't help but chuckle: "You hid it really well."
The transparent glass bottle was filled with tiny white pills, which also represented the hopes of the human race.
The plague outside was spreading faster and faster every day. After obtaining the holy medicine, they dared not delay and left the Papacy ahead of time to go to the towns shrouded in plague.
Catherine stood in the empty bedchamber—a forbidden zone she had never entered when she was a nun. Now, however, she could come and go as she pleased.
She gazed at the distant darkness, a sense of melancholy rising within her.
Who could have imagined that she was chosen as a sacrifice just months ago, only to return alive to the Vatican and turn everything upside down?
Catherine sensed someone approaching from behind. Turning around, she unsurprisingly saw the silent Tarasco.
She smiled at him: "Aren't you going to say anything?"
Tarasco's expression was complicated. He opened his mouth, as if he had a lot to say, but in the end, he fell silent again because he didn't know how to start.
Tarasco stopped in his tracks, just a few steps away from Catherine. This distance seemed to symbolize the estrangement between them.
She had become so strong that she no longer needed his protection. Then...could she no longer need him either? Tarasco lowered his eyes, somewhat afraid to ponder the answer to this question, fearing it might be something he didn't want.
The room remained quiet for a long time.
Prolonged silence can make people feel uncomfortable, just like it is now.
Tarasco pursed his lips, preparing to turn and leave first. Although running away sounded cowardly, and the word shouldn't exist in the world of the beasts living in Devil's Forest, Tarasco made this choice instinctively at this moment.
Just then, slow but rhythmic footsteps sounded. Soon, a foot appeared on the empty floor he was looking at, followed by another foot that moved closer and touched him lightly.
He found this simple, ordinary action strangely endearing.
Tarasco looked up and saw Catherine with her arms outstretched towards him, tilting her head to look at him.
Tarasco stared into her eyes for a while, but finally gave in and bent down to lift her onto his back armor.
Catherine wrapped her arms around Tarasco's waist, leaning against him in a very dependent posture.
Tarasco sensed that she wanted to say something, but after hugging him, she remained silent for a long while before hesitantly speaking, "I've always been a selfish person..."
"So in my heart, you may always be second to me. But I can assure you, there will never be a third person in my heart..."
"So, would you like to be with me?"
What she said didn't sound like a love confession at all—in fact, it didn't really; it sounded more like a villain's confession to himself.
Catherine wasn't unaware of how to embellish her intentions or disguise them with words. If she wanted, she could fool anyone in the world.
But at this moment, facing Tarasco, she wanted to show him her most authentic self. And what she had just said was her most authentic self.
However, these words were met with an unpleasant silence.
As she silently counted to ten, Catherine gave a self-deprecating smile.
She loosened her grip on Tarasco, trying to pull away from his embrace. But suddenly a hand reached up from behind and pressed her back down with undeniable force.
“I want to try.” Tarasco’s voice was slightly hoarse for some reason. This seemed to indicate that he hadn’t been completely calm during the silence just now.
No one but him knew the internal struggle he went through during those ten seconds. But in the end, he chose to follow his heart.
All Tarasco knew was that when she was abducted by the silver python, he worried about her safety; when he saw the scorpion's stinger about to pierce her body, he feared she would die; and as she was separated from him time and time again, and the separations became more and more frequent and longer, he increasingly did not want her to leave.
If he lets Catherine go today, Tarasco is certain he will regret it in the future.
No! They might even regret it in the next second.
Catherine sensed his emotions. She tilted her head back and, like a cub, nuzzled Tarasco's lips with her mouth, as if to soothe him.
“I will not abandon you,” Catherine promised.
It was already quite late, and it would be too much trouble to leave the Vatican and find a hotel, so the two of them simply found an empty bedroom and went to sleep.
With everything finally over, Catherine slept soundly, not waking up until a little after noon the next day. She stretched, then rolled over to her side, looking at Tarasco standing beside her.
He had been awake for a while, but he remained standing there, staring at Catherine without moving.
Catherine smiled at him, struggling to get her arms out from under the duvet: "Pick me up."
With a languid, soft tone, Tarasco's ears turned slightly red, as if he had just woken up. He obediently bent down, lifted Catherine onto his back armor, and then, following her instructions, left the bedchamber.
But neither of them expected that there would be an unexpected person standing outside.
“Field?” Catherine raised an eyebrow.
Field wasn't even born when the witch was hunted down, and he didn't participate in the subsequent bloodletting because he wasn't even a bishop. Therefore, he became one of the survivors within the Papacy.
Field's eyes flickered when he saw Catherine and Tarasco emerge from the same bedroom.
He pursed his lips and remained silent for a moment.
"If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."
What are you planning to do next?
The two spoke at almost the same time.
Tarasco stared at him, a sudden sense of crisis rising within him.
Catherine paused for a moment because of this strange "understanding": "...Probably back to Devil's Forest? Or maybe find a border town to live in."
"With the monster next to you? I think you'll have to control his violent and bloodthirsty desires first."
Field's tone was indifferent, yet it inexplicably gave off an air of superiority, and he was still heading straight for Tarasco.
Tarasco bared his teeth at him. Field smiled mockingly; Tarasco's reaction confirmed his earlier words: his bestial nature was still intact.
However, Catherine did not respond to his question: "What do you want from me?"
Seeing Catherine so blatantly favoring the magical beast, Field's hand tightened slightly beneath his sleeve.
He paused for a moment before explaining why he had come: "Now that the current cardinal of the Vatican has passed away, it is time to elect a new cardinal to succeed him."
After speaking, Field looked at Catherine. She had come out of Devil's Forest and returned to the Vatican, causing such a stir; he didn't believe she had no interest in this position.
Catherine's reply was vague: "I will consider it carefully and recommend someone."
Field nodded, understandingly changing the subject and not pressing further: "When do you plan to leave?"
Tarasco's hand, which was wrapped around Catherine's waist, tightened unconsciously. It was clear he was quite displeased with Field's prolonged conversation with her.
But perhaps it was Field's initial sarcastic remark that made him try to control his emotions.
However, his patience was not strong enough when he fell to the ground, and he couldn't control the force in his hands, which caught Catherine's attention.
Catherine was charmed by his reaction and couldn't help but laugh.
Turning his head, he saw Field's puzzled expression and realized that he was waiting for his reply.
"Hmm, maybe in a few days? I've been under too much pressure lately, I need to rest."
Seeing that Field seemed about to speak again, Tarasco couldn't help but bare his teeth.
Catherine tried to control the upturned corners of her mouth, and smiled at the right moment, stopping Field from continuing to speak.
"I'd like to go out for a walk now. If there's nothing important, I'll go out."
Upon hearing this, Field nodded politely and stepped aside, waiting for Catherine and Tarasco to pass by.
Just as Tarlasco walked past him, he let out a sneer. The sound wasn't loud, but it was enough for Tarlasco, who hadn't gone far, to hear clearly.
Tarasco had endured this long, and this sneer was the final straw that broke the camel's back.
He bared his teeth, trying to turn around, but Catherine's hand touched his back first: "Let's hurry, or the food I want will be sold out."
Tarasco glared at Field, but still followed Catherine's wishes and left with her.
Even after leaving the Vatican, Tarasco still had a furrowed brow, and his whole face looked terrible.
"Aren't you happy yet?" Seeing that Tarasco's brows were only furrowed more, Catherine couldn't help but laugh. "We're about to leave, why are you arguing with him?"
"Leave? Didn't you just tell him you'd be gone in a few days..."
"Oh, it seems you were listening very carefully."
Catherine reached out and pinched his cheek: "Of course I was lying to him! I won't listen to anything he says to me. Choosing you was my choice, and I will never doubt myself, much less regret my choice."
Tarasco's brow relaxed, and his ears turned red.
Catherine sighed inwardly, "Warcraft is so simple and easy to please..."
As for the cardinal candidates Field mentioned, she never wanted to take that position herself. She had never been interested in binding herself to such a position just to enjoy the adoration of others.
She values freedom more, so she will only choose a puppet or someone she trusts to sit in her place.
Field waited from the bright midday sun until the dark of night. Even as the sunlight returned to his desk, Catherine and Tarasco still hadn't returned.
He almost immediately realized that what Catherine had said before was just to fool him.
Field rushed to the bedroom where she had been and began searching frantically. The servants responsible for cleaning outside were drawn by the commotion and saw Field sitting on the floor with an unusually intense emotion on his face.
He held a finely crafted box in his hands, which should have had a lock, but now the lock had been broken in two by external force.
Field stared intently at the spider egg lying in the red velvet satin in the box.
After a long while, he suddenly burst into laughter, laughing so hard that tears streamed down his face.
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Author's Note: The main story is complete! More than two months have passed in the blink of an eye, and I, the author, have spent over seventy days and nights with you all.
Suddenly, a wave of sadness washed over me as we were about to part ways... [melted]
There might be a side story, but there might not be (cough cough cough, given the author's snail-paced writing... I think you guys shouldn't get your hopes up too high [oh oh oh]).
See you in the next book! I hope to see you all again in the next one.
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