Chapter 13

Oceania's eyes turned red instantly, and flames seemed to shoot out of his pupils: "You let him be taken away by the Vatican?" Every word he said was like a sharp blade thrown into the light.

"Don't worry, the Vatican will never let him go!" The figure in the light was startled by his attitude and explained in a flustered manner, "It was the Vatican's holy guard that discovered and captured the blood race who was fleeing with him, so he fell into the hands of the Vatican. I didn't mean to do it."

Oceania spoke each word clearly: "Who assures me that everything is under surveillance?"

"Even now. I'm sure he's still lying peacefully in the coffin," said the figure in the light.

Oceania's tone was flat: "Can I trust you again?"

"Of course! Of course!" The figure in the light eagerly expressed his sincerity.

Oceania sneered: "But I'm tired. Being a puppet in your hands, blindly wandering like a headless fly. And all your promises to me have not been fulfilled, things are getting worse."

"But I told you, he is sealed with a double seal. Besides forcing him to sleep, it will also protect him. To kill him completely, he must first be awakened," said the figure in the light.

Oceania asked, "I've heard this theory enough. What's the method to wake him up?"

The voice of the figure in the light suddenly weakened: "I'm still studying it."

"Oh, still studying it!" Oceania laughed coldly and turned to leave.

"Oceania!" The figure in the light shouted at his back, "Calm down! Follow me, breathe deeply together like a chick following its mother hen!"

The answer he got was the collapse of the bench.

"Don't be like this. Don't you think your temper is becoming more and more like Ansbillis? That's not a good thing. Maybe one day you'll get into a violent scandal and be sealed up by the thirteen elders together... Have you ever thought about asking the elders of the blood race for help? Maybe they would be willing..." The voice from the light suddenly weakened in the face of Oceania's almost ferocious eyes, "I think it's a good idea to put Ansbillis in the Vatican. At least there are guards at the door, and if anything happens, they can scream, unlike the sealing ground where people can come and go freely."

Oceania walked behind the door, holding the handle and opening a gap, saying calmly, "I think our cooperation is difficult to continue."

"Don't be like this, give me some time, I'll soon find a way to lift the seal..."

The remaining voice was drowned out by the sound of the door slamming shut.

Oceania returned to the hotel and did not see the black cat. His face immediately became gloomy.

Messillon explained, "A Mr. Joseph Miller took it away. I thought you knew him." If he didn't know him, he wouldn't have asked him to help buy a plane ticket from London to Paris in the first place.

Oceania's complexion improved slightly from coal black to dark gray.

He had Messillon prepare two bottles of blood-mixed red wine, sat on the balcony in a lounge chair, and waited for a certain pet that was not interested in anything.

As he watched the sky darken and brighten again and again, Oceania's complexion changed from dark gray to coal black.

The hesitant Messillon, who was not conducive to taking care of pets, didn't dare to wander around in front of Oceania. He obediently stayed in his room until he heard a cat's meow coming from the neighboring room, at which point he pushed the pre-prepared meal cart over.

Oceania held the black cat by its nape, with deep and mysterious eyes, and no one could tell what she was thinking.

"Where do you plan to have dinner?" Messillon asked cautiously.

The black cat, whose limbs hung naturally, suddenly struggled a bit, and its yellow-green eyes conveyed a sense of helplessness to Messillon.

Messillon's heart was about to break from seeing this, so he turned his head away.

Black Cat: "..."

Oceania came back to her senses and said, "Prepare two tickets to Rome."

As soon as Oceania got off the plane, he met Tarek who was waiting for him.

"I didn't expect to see each other so soon," Tarek said, shaking the crutch in his hand with some emotion.

"Since neither of us is very happy about this, there's no need to pretend to be happy," Oceania replied.

Tarek was actually a little happy and said, "... "

After Oceania got in the car, he found that Tarek had a new companion. "Where's your old sidekick?" he asked.

"Bonuwa went back to France. He's French," Tarek replied.

Oceania asked, "When are you going back to England?"

Tarek said, "When we're sure this is a final goodbye and not just a short-term farewell."

Oceania said, "You can use death to relieve us of this relationship."

"..." Tarek gave up the argument with him and asked, "The witch has been sent away?"

Oceania said, "You won't see her in your lifetime."

"I hope so," Tarek said.

The two were silent for a while.

Oceania asked, "How did you know I was coming?"

"Someone sent me a text message. They said you weren't feeling well and warned me to be careful of the pews in the church," Tarek replied.

Oceania remained silent.

Tarek took out his phone and showed Oceania a photo. It was a coffin with the lid open, revealing the inside. A pale person lay inside, hands clasped on their chest, looking peaceful.

"Is this Ansbillis?" Tarek asked.

Oceania didn't answer. His gaze was fixed on the photo.

"It's hard to imagine that under such a delicate and beautiful face lies a crazy heart," Tarek whispered. He was about to take back his phone when Oceania grabbed it firmly.

Oceania took the phone and looked at the photo for a long time before deleting it slowly. "I hope this is the last one," he said.

Tarek wanted to tell him that the Pope had specially commissioned a portrait, but he didn't. As a vampire, Oceania didn't want to enter a church under the guidance of a believer - the exception being the one time he had met Ivon. The Pope also obviously didn't want to host a creature of the night in his own church.

So, they went to a museum not far from the Pope's church.

The museum displayed the painstaking efforts and essence of artists from various eras, all of great value.

Tarek was proud to lead the way. The museum was controlled by religion, and many of the works inside were related to it.

Oceania pointed to a painting and said, "I was there when he painted this. More precisely, he was destitute, and I took him in."

Tarek: "..."

Oceania pointed at a statue and said, "This is the third one. I didn't like the first two."

Tarek: "..."

Oceania pointed at another painting and said, "He was teasing his girlfriend while painting, and she accidentally smeared the lower right corner of the painting. He got angry and they broke up. After he finished the painting, he begged his girlfriend for forgiveness, but she had already run off with a nobleman."

Tarek: "..."

Oceania felt that these works of art had opened his memory box, "And also..."

"Cough! Lord Timothy Grayco is already waiting in the reception room." Dealing with old guys who have lived for who knows how long is not easy, and one could accidentally reveal their ignorance.

Oceania licked his lips and said, "Okay."

Two guards stood at the entrance of the reception room with long swords hanging from their waists, looking serious. After Oceania entered, they even wanted to search him, but Tarek stopped them.

Tarek explained awkwardly, "It's for security reasons."

Oceania smiled and said, "Timothy Grayco is one of the candidates to succeed the Pope, with a distinguished status. I understand."

As he spoke, the door was already half-open, and the person behind the door had heard everything. Timothy was wearing a red cassock, his hands clasped in his sleeves, and he slightly bowed and smiled, "It's nothing in front of you."

Oceania walked into the reception room of about 200 square meters and was immediately attracted by the milky white coffin parked inside. His figure flashed, and he appeared beside the coffin.

The coffin lid was still open, and the blond young man lay inside with his eyes closed.

Oceania looked down with a sad expression, tears welled up in his eyes. He wanted to reach out and touch the young man's face, but was afraid of disturbing his beautiful dream, so he withdrew his hand halfway.

"It seems that rumors cannot be fully trusted." Oceania's affectionate gaze moved the candidate to succeed the Pope.

Oceania grabbed the edge of the coffin with both hands and asked calmly, "When can I take him away?"

"Anytime." Timothy said, "We are not detaining him, we rescued him. Not long ago, the Holy Guardian Legion encountered a group of vampires near the Mediterranean who violated the ceasefire agreement and killed innocent people. After a fierce battle, we killed them on the spot, and Mr. Macavity was found nearby. We provided this coffin."

Oceania say:"Thank you." Although he knew they were deliberately doing him a favor, he had to accept it.

　　Timothy said, "You're welcome. I hope our friendship with the Blood Clan will last forever."

　　Oceania stood up, carefully hugged the young man in his arms, and turned to leave.

　　"Can you tell me what happened at the Seal Land?" Timothy asked.

　　In the situation where he had just received a favor, it was difficult for Oceania to refuse the other party, "Someone broke the seal, and the Blood Clan trapped inside ran out."

　　"How many?" Timothy frowned. This would cause big trouble for the human world.

　　Oceania shrugged, "Someone is already handling it."

　　Timothy watched him leave, the sound of his footsteps fading away at the end of the corridor. The guards closed the door on this side, and the door behind him slowly opened. He bowed to the person coming in, "Your Majesty."

　　The Pope, dragging his wide robes, took his hand, "Timothy, according to your sharp eyes, what kind of person is Oceania?"

　　Timothy smiled bitterly, "He seems affectionate and ruthless at the same time, calm and panicked at the same time. I really can't judge his true personality."

　　The Pope said, "After the witch incident, I wrote a letter to Wang Xiaoming to express goodwill, but it was ignored. Winston and Edwin also hid in their castles and did not come out. The leaders of the Blood Clan collectively turned a deaf ear. I don't know why. Are they brewing a conspiracy?"

　　Timothy said, "It's not that serious. It should be that the witch incident has caused them too much damage, so they are overwhelmed."

　　The Pope said, "Build a good relationship with Oceania. He is a fourth-generation Blood Clan and has a rare good temper. If he can come out and lead the Blood Clan in the human world, there will be peace."

　　Timothy said, "It's his relationship with Ansbillis that is not like the legendary fire and water. It's more like a pair of lovers who have to separate for various reasons."

　　"Is that so? But that's not what's in Richie's painting." At the end of the reception room, there was a half-height painting. The painting depicted two people, one with blond hair and red eyes, showing his fangs angrily, and the other with dark brown hair, looking calm and peaceful, sitting quietly with a smile. The Pope pointed to the blond one, "Look at his crazy look, only the Macavity clan would behave like this."

　　Timothy looked at the painting and always felt something was strange.

The Pope said, "When Rich was painting, it was during the Crusades. According to the records of church history, that was the most brutal and the most glorious war. We lost England, lost France, and retreated to Italy, the last line of defense. We thought we had nowhere to go, but then the vampire clan turned against each other. The Macavity family had a madman who launched a sneak attack on the vampire clan from behind, using his lover as a hostage..."

"Wait!" Timothy looked at the painting, his face suddenly changing, pointing to the blurry figures behind the two people in the painting, "Do you see them? Are they also burning with anger?"

The Pope squinted his eyes, "There is a big fire burning behind them..."

"No, that's not a real fire." Timothy pointed to another painting next to it, "This painting called 'Comrades' is Rich's masterpiece, and what people love about it is how he uses seedlings to represent new hope, and soil to imply that the protagonist buried past conflicts. Expressing characters' emotions through objects is Rich's characteristic."

The Pope was puzzled, "So what?"

Timothy said, "There was infighting in the vampire clan, and Ansbillis incurred public anger. It's impossible for a group of people to stand behind him and fight together with him."

The Pope understood, "What do you mean?"

"The blond one is Oceania, who was provoked by Ansbillis to betray the clan during the battle..." Timothy pointed to another painting, a brown-haired young man with the same appearance as the vampire who just left, and said in a deep voice, "He is Ansbillis."