When she returned to the world filled with the alluring scent of humans, a world that was so familiar, Katherine had only been in the Volturi for about ten days, yet it felt as long as ten centuries.
The gates of the Palazzo dei Priori slowly opened in front of her, and light surged in torrents. Katherine watched as the light gradually illuminated the gloom here, starting from the most inconspicuous corners. On the floor, large patches of light seemed to spread out like watercolors, beautiful beyond measure.
The light was about to reach her trouser legs. Katherine unconsciously flinched, only to realize later that it wasn't the bright sunlight that could cause an abnormal reaction on her skin. It was a cloudy day, an excellent weather for vampires.
Caius had finally taken off the antique medieval robe that he had always worn and changed into a cold - gray suit with black lines. The straight black lines, long and short, dotted the clothing. The shirt inside was pure black, and the tie was silver - gray. The entire ensemble was in cold tones, with a body - hugging design. From the shoulders to the waist, the lines were tough and flowing. His golden hair hung gracefully on his shoulders, and his black leather gloves glistened.
Fair - skinned, beautiful, with red lips, white teeth, and blond hair and blue eyes - this guy was actually wearing contact lenses and a wig - the quintessential image of an aloof and handsome young man.
Admittedly, aside from his overly surly personality, this guy was undoubtedly a stunning beauty, the kind that one couldn't take their eyes off once they looked.
Caius picked up a small box that Gianna handed to him and took a look. Then he turned his head and beckoned to Katherine to come over. The golden wig was much shorter than Caius's own hair, only reaching the shoulders. As he turned his head, a few strands slipped from above his earlobes and hung on the side of his face.
He was just about to speak when he noticed that she was staring at him unblinkingly. The hand he had stretched out froze. Katherine came to her senses. Seeing him with his hand outstretched and silent, she was a bit puzzled: "What's wrong?"
"Contact lenses." Caius took a deep breath and turned his head away from her. Katherine touched her nose, remembering the tragic incident in college when her roommate spent an hour trying to put in contact lenses and ended up in tears. She felt a bit guilty.
Seeing that she still hadn't come over, Caius turned his head and glared at her menacingly: "Katherine!"
This shout, filled with suppressed anger, startled Katherine. However, considering that he had surprisingly stood by her side when she was almost brainwashed just now, Katherine felt that compared to the others in the Volturi, Caius was more trustworthy.
So, in the next second, she meekly leaned on the counter and said sheepishly, "What's going on?"
"Put them on. I'm taking you out."
Katherine took them and saw that they were blue, a color very similar to the color of her eyes when she was human.
...
This wasn't Katherine's first time in Volterra, but it was her first time in this area. The previous escape attempt didn't count because she hadn't even glanced at this place.
The weather was gloomily pleasant. Dark clouds rolled and hung low, almost connecting with the bluish - gray mountains in the distance, keeping the sunlight out to the greatest extent. The temperature dropped, and the wind blew strongly.
Such weather was rather rare in Volterra. Sunlight was the absolute protagonist here, just like the ancient ruins of indeterminate age. Everywhere here bore the marks of time's passage. Walking here was like walking through a time - space tunnel.
A true city of sunlight.
The whole of Volterra was a vivid and bright yellow, as if when the sunlight shone on it, the color of the light had seeped in along with it.
They walked together across the Piazza dei Priori. Katherine stole a glance at that fountain, and as expected, it was intact. She stuck out her tongue secretly and quickly turned her face away.
The lines of sunlight were no longer so complex but became sparse and orderly. The gentle breeze carried hundreds of scents and quickly rushed past Katherine. She sniffed gently. There were various sweet human scents, as well as the smells of various flowers - crape myrtle, hibiscus, and roses. The faint floral fragrance was like fine, tough silk threads, pulling Katherine to look at their sources.
They were dotted all over the city of Volterra, high and low, wild and vibrant.
If you had plenty of time, you could stroll slowly through the city of Volterra. It wasn't large, but it was extremely charming. The closer the houses were to the Palazzo dei Priori, the older they were. If you were lucky enough, you'd meet a kind and talkative old man who would invite you to sit quietly at the door, watch the people coming and going in Volterra, and tell you how his family came here and settled down.
Each stone slab here had once borne the figures of their ancestors. They were born here and simply couldn't leave.
The further they walked, the more people there were. The human scent in the air grew stronger. Katherine tried hard to hold her breath, keeping that maddening scent out of her rational mind. Caius noticed her hand tightening and stiffening, and he looked down at her: "Is it hard for you?"
Katherine shook her head and replied, "It's fine." She had finally managed to get out, and she really didn't want to go back so soon.
A woman in a black dress, a yellow overcoat, and carrying a bright red handbag passed by Katherine. Katherine subconsciously shrank back to avoid her touching her hand and discovering her abnormally low body temperature and cold, hard hands.
There were always plenty of tourists in Volterra, and the streets were bustling with people. Tour guides called to their tourists to move forward. Adults took pictures to mark the occasion, and children chased each other with ice creams in their hands, until the shape of the ice creams gradually collapsed due to the temperature, and then trickled down from the cones like small streams, crawling over the children's fingers.
The children looked at the ice creams in their hands, stuck out their tongues, and carefully licked the sweet juice, and then burst into laughter and playfulness again.
Katherine had been looking around all the way. Returning to human society made her very happy, and the smile on her face hadn't faded. She happened to turn her head and saw Caius looking at her. She was startled for a moment, then reached out to brush aside the brown hair stuck to her lips and smiled.
"Um... Caius?" Katherine tugged at her sleeve, bit her lip and then let it go. She pulled him and looked up, mustering the courage to look directly into his green eyes. "Thank you for not agreeing to let them... I mean, I really thought I couldn't escape just now. Thank you, truly."
Caius didn't move. His face was expressionless, except for a slight twitch of his cheek. His eyes remained the same.
Katherine continued, "And also... I want to thank you for bringing me out. Volterra is really beautiful."
After walking in silence for a while, Caius suddenly asked, "Do you know what Chelsea and the others' abilities are?"
Katherine shook her head and said, "I can probably guess. Aro made it so obvious. Probably to make me forget everything in the past?"
He snorted coldly, his eyes fixed on Katherine, his tone carrying the frostiness that was characteristic of him: "Close, but completely wrong."
This tone was just like that of her Italian teacher back then... She was like Eliza in Audrey Hepburn's movie "My Fair Lady", constantly being scorned and considered worthless.
However, Caius had always been like this, and Katherine was too lazy to argue with him at the moment. So she simply went along with what he said: "Then what are their abilities?"
"You won't forget the past, but you'll never want to go back either." Caius said nonchalantly. Katherine nodded to indicate that she understood and didn't say anything more.
At this time, a lively and melodious Scottish - style dance tune came from the entrance of a store. Katherine was attracted. Just as she was about to move forward, she realized that she was still being held. So she turned to Caius and said, "Let's go and have a look?"
Caius looked at the blond girl playing the guitar, frowned as if he thought such music was beneath him, but still followed.
After one song ended, the second one was still a Scottish folk song. Listening to this familiar tune, scenes of when she was still at Windsor Castle involuntarily emerged in Katherine's mind:
All she had to do was open the door, and in front of her was an endless expanse of green grass and valleys. Sunlight was a luxury. More often, she would sit on the windowsill and watch a crack between the masses of dark clouds in the sky, and the faint sunlight would stream through it, illuminating the gaps between the clouds.
The red - clothed and black - hatted Royal Guard would march in unison and with their heads held high past the castle below.
Caius looked at her. In her blue cat - like eyes, there was an unprecedented tenderness and smile, spreading and lingering on her slightly upturned lips, stunningly beautiful. Looking at Katherine's smile, for a moment, he even thought that if Katherine really liked coming outside, it wouldn't be bad to let her come out for a walk from time to time.
Unfortunately, this thought lasted less than a second.
He turned his head to look at the straight road. Further ahead was the highway from Volterra to Florence. If Katherine really wanted to run at this time, he might not be able to stop her.
Caius's face darkened, and he was just about to say something when Katherine preempted him: "This is a tune from my hometown."
With that, they both stepped back, left the crowd, and walked towards an alley.
"It was used at a ball. It's very nice. But that ball wasn't really good."
"You don't like dancing?" Idiot, what was he talking about?
"Actually, it's because I'm a terrible dancer. And I think my cute little dance partner probably wouldn't dare to touch his partner randomly for a long time after that. I still remember..."
Caius interrupted her, the sharpness in his voice evident: "Where did he touch you?"
Katherine was startled. "It was more than a decade ago. I can't remember clearly. Besides, we were just kids back then."
He gave Katherine a sidelong glance and then asked, "When was it?"
"Six years old."
"In Scotland?"
"At Buckingham Palace, at a ball held by the Queen."
"Attending a ball at six years old?"
Katherine forced a smile. "My mother was very ill at that time. My grandfather took me there. Unfortunately, I never really liked dancing. At the ball, I either sat around or made a fool of myself."
"Then what happened?" Discovering that topics related to her hometown made Katherine more talkative, Caius strangely wanted to continue. He just realized that he knew nothing about Katherine's past, not even her thoughts and feelings.
"My mother passed away, but I could still see her. I was glad that she was finally healthy, but sad that my father could never see her again."
"I often talked to her. She accompanied me to sleep and told me many things. Everyone thought I was crazy, delusional. Even my father thought so."
"Sometimes I even thought to myself that I might really be abnormal. No one believed what I said, at least no living person did."
Kicking a stone with the tip of her shoe and watching it bounce and roll aside, Katherine continued, "Later, my father also passed away. They said that a mentally ill person couldn't stay at Windsor, so I came to Italy. With my father's friend. He took good care of me, a really nice person. I respected him as much as I respected my father."
Caius almost immediately knew who she was talking about and sneered: "Is that the person you wanted to call?"
Do you really think he's your savior? So kind as to take you away? Katherine, you don't know anything!
The hostility in Caius's eyes was like a flame. The shielding effect of the contact lenses was getting weaker and weaker under the erosion of the venom, and his exposed fangs glowed slightly in the air. Sensing that his hand tightened suddenly, Katherine was forced to stop and turned to look at his appearance: "I really didn't mean to run just now. I was just afraid that he'd be worried about me, so I used the phone."
Worried about you? He should worry about himself! The Venice trial operation is tomorrow. When the sun rises, the Volturi will bring severe punishment for those who have violated the law to those stupid criminals. No one will be pardoned!
"Caius?" Noticing that his mood seemed a bit off, Katherine called out to him, regretting that she really shouldn't have said so much just now.
Finally, Caius suppressed that terrifying aura and pulled her to continue walking. He suddenly asked, "If I hadn't stopped them just now, what would you have done?"
Katherine clenched and then unclenched her fist and answered honestly: "I think what I would have done would have made you throw me into the dark room ten thousand times."
He sneered, his voice as cold and imposing as a snowstorm: "Even knowing the consequences?"
"Yes." Katherine replied in a low voice. "Caius, I think we actually don't know each other at all, do we? I always thought you were the last person in the Volturi who would side with me because you almost killed me again the first time we met. But it's not like that, so I have to thank you."
"Similarly, you don't know me, my past, or who I am. I'm very afraid of the Volturi's punishment, but I'm even more afraid of having my past erased. It's extremely important to me."