Chapter Thirty

As it turns out, there is another law among humans that also holds absolute sway in the vampire world. That is - if you can't eat the same things, you definitely shouldn't live together, or else you'll be driven mad by each other one day.

It seems that Carlisle Cullen has made a very wise choice.

Katherine became highly interested in the people in this book. A family of vegetarian vampires - it was truly impressive.

However, after skimming through it, what attracted Katherine the most was Alice's ability to predict the future. It was simply wonderful and incredible! If she had such an ability, she probably would have escaped from here long ago.

However, she had never even seen this person in the Volturi, nor had she even heard of her. It was a bit strange.

She quickly flipped to the back and then understood that they didn't belong to the Volturi at all. Instead, they lived in a place on the North American continent that was perpetually shrouded by overcast rain and thick, pale green fog. The place was called Forks, with a population of just over two thousand people, on the Olympic Peninsula. For over a hundred years, they had been traveling back and forth between Alaska, here, and several other places.

Poor Cullen family. Presumably, they had attended high school in these places countless times. The feeling of being forever haunted by high school courses wasn't really something to envy.

Continuing on, the story of this peculiar family, who were unwilling to join but still highly respected the Volturi, continued. A human girl joined their lives. She had a powerful shielding ability, capable of rejecting almost everything, and ended up being transformed into a vampire.

However, they did something that was considered taboo - they created a vampire child.

Katherine frowned, not understanding why vampire children were prohibited. In the following passages, the author's writing style and choice of words became sharp, with each word and sentence accusing the Cullen family of their crimes. The final sentence was even more overbearing and shocking:

The Cullen family will be judged by the Volturi.

Katherine hurriedly flipped to the back and found that this trial ended with a strange reconciliation. The Volturi only killed the informant, reluctantly restoring the Cullen family's innocence between the lines, with a particular focus on that half-human, half-vampire child.

Katherine was a bit stunned when she saw this. Half-human, half-vampire?! Conceived as a human and giving birth to a hybrid child?

A child of a human and a vampire? With a human body that was as frail as a sheet of paper in the eyes of vampires and a vampire...

Katherine felt as if her entire worldview had crumbled. It was simply impossible. The vampire instinct simply didn't allow them to restrain themselves from humans when their emotions were in violent turmoil, let alone do...

Suddenly, she had the urge to dissect a vampire to study their physical structure!

The idea of a human and a vampire getting intimate or something - that kind of scene was simply like a horror movie!

She had thought that as a species that was already dead, vampires wouldn't react to anything other than blood. Now it seemed that wasn't the case. They actually had desires too?!

This was just not scientific!

Suddenly, she remembered the last time Caius kissed her. His emotions had also become extremely strange...

Katherine hurriedly flipped to the back in a flustered manner. The rest of the pages were all records of the Volturi's efforts over three years to search for people with such special bloodlines all over the world.

Those words, recorded on the pages, began to feel heavy in Katherine's hands:

They had the same eye color as humans and could freely choose between blood or human food as their diet. If they chose animal blood, they would have the same golden eyes as that damned Cullen family (the author seemed to have written these words with particular force) when they reached adulthood.

If they chose human food, their eye color would not change. In most cases, they would choose both.

They could reach adulthood at the age of seven, looking exactly like humans but possessing eternal life.

All of the above were obtained by the Volturi through their research and observation of many half-human, half-vampire individuals. The Volturi recorded their names. Katherine's gaze traveled down the page, and that familiar name stabbed at her eyes. She could hardly hold the book in her hands.

It read, Leonardo Landon, with the ability to see through all vampires' abilities, including those that hadn't fully formed when the other party was still human.

Katherine gripped the book tightly. A chill, seemingly from nowhere, spread from her back throughout her entire body and seeped into her bones. Her hands almost tore the book apart. Her dilated pupils pulled the page close to her eyes, so close that she could even see the faintest texture of the page, the uneven fading of the ink due to the passage of time:

Another red circle appeared, circling the name that followed Leonardo Landon just as it had circled Alice Cullen and the others.

"He brought back a young girl from England. Demetri sent word that this girl is the heir to the Windsor family. We can't be sure for the moment whether he was feeling guilty about her father's death, but we have reason to believe that this girl has an unusual ability."

"She will eventually learn Landon's true identity, and before that day comes, we will keep a close eye on them. So as to determine whether she is eligible to join the Volturi or should die."

"Katherine Windsor." Red circle.

...

Landon still remembered that it was a rainy day. He stood outside Westminster Abbey in England. The cold rain washed over him mercilessly, and a curtain of water was almost hanging in front of the hood of his raincoat. The water droplets reflected the light of the church, sliding down one by one like pearls.

He stood there. The beautiful singing of the choir was still coming from the church in front. Those sentences that extolled great love on earth and the beauty of heaven burned his thoughts like a branding iron, making him hesitate to move forward.

As a hybrid of a human and a vampire, Landon wasn't sure if he would be welcomed if he walked in. Even before tonight, he had never thought about what kind of pain his vampire bloodline would bring him. So he never went to church for worship.

This was the Royal Chapel of England. Members of the Windsor family often came here, as did his old friend Isidore.

The door opened. The sound of metal rubbing against the smooth marble floor made Landon almost instinctively hide. First to come out was the Amber family. The haughty young girl had a pretty face, but her excessive and unsubstantiated pride greatly diminished her charm.

Charles held Amber's hand and pointed with his other hand to the majestic and magnificent church, as if he was certain of victory. He whispered to her, "You will be highly respected here like them one day, Miss Windsor."

Amber laughed arrogantly, looking at Katherine, who was following the nuns without saying a word, with a provocative look in her eyes. Unfortunately, the other party didn't care at all. She was looking blankly at the rainy night, as if those insignificant raindrops were more worthy of her attention than the things around her.

"What's the matter, Cassie? Are you looking for your invisible friends again?" Amber looked at her and sneered. "Perhaps you should try to focus on your own life. I know it's difficult for you, but a change in status always brings a change in life. You have to learn to adapt."

Katherine withdrew her vacant gaze and looked at her indifferently: "Do you have any other noble suggestions for my life, Miss Amber?"

Amber said in a highly combative and impolite manner: "If you like, I can take the trouble to tell you. But you don't seem to be the kind of person who would take my well-intentioned advice seriously. Otherwise, you wouldn't always be contradicting my parents and disobeying your father's teachings. You should at least live up to your surname, Katherine."

Her speaking speed was fast and urgent, with the shrillness characteristic of the voice-changing period. It sounded as uncomfortable as a needle pricking the eardrum.

Katherine ignored her and walked to the side, leaning against the wall, waiting for her father to come out. When she looked up, the fragmented lights and the reflection of the rainwater danced in her eyes like swarms of fireflies. It was truly beautiful.

"Alright, Amber, you should rein in your excessive kindness. Some people can't be saved. Even if you care about them and are concerned about them, they are beyond hope. You should learn how to apply your kindness and mercy to those who are more useful and in greater need." Charles ordered the nun to put on Amber's raincoat as he said this.

The proud princess left, and Katherine finally waited for her father.

Isidore wiped the rainwater from her face, took off his raincoat and put it on her, and said gently to her, "Dad has another friend to meet. Shall I ask the nanny to send you back first?"

"No, I'll wait for you here. I'm not sleepy yet." Katherine shook her head. She tightened and then loosened her grip on the collar of the raincoat. "You go and meet your friend first. I'll wait for you in the lounge."

Rather than going back alone and having to see Amber and the others all the time, it was better to wait for her father here.

"Alright, I'll be as quick as possible." Isidore kissed her cheek and asked the nun to take Katherine to the lounge. He himself walked towards the woods behind the church.

The old umbrella was difficult to open. Isidore had some trouble with it, and as a result, his index finger was cut by a rusty metal piece on the umbrella handle. The bright red blood mixed with the rainwater and dripped at his feet. He habitually put the wound in his mouth, licking the torn edge gently with his tongue. The nauseating smell of rusty blood filled his mouth.

A bright, slender patch of light was cast on the flagstone path in front of him. It was broken and then restored by Isidore's steps. The man in black with a black umbrella walked into the woods. He looked back at Westminster Abbey, which wasn't too close, and tentatively called out the name of the person he was looking for: "Leonardo? Leonardo, are you there?"

The response wasn't an answer but the sound of a flock of birds flapping their wings in panic as they flew away from the woods. It sounded quite flustered and impatient.

Isidore didn't seem surprised by this situation. Instead, he took the initiative to walk deeper into the woods: "Leonardo, I'm sorry. It's not convenient to receive you at home. Where do you live? Maybe I can help you find a nice hotel."

"You have blood on you." Landon crouched on a tall tree, his golden eyes fixed intently on the familiar man in black on the ground.

Since he had first drunk human blood half a month ago after being injured in a battle and returning to his office, the vampire instinct within him had never been at peace. The sweet smell of Isidore's blood was like the sharp claws of a devil, peeling away his sanity bit by bit.

Landon had never been so acutely aware of the fact that half of his blood came from vampires. Now this fact was almost driving him crazy. The thirst in his throat was like a flame stuck in his esophagus. His clenched hand dug deep into the rough, wet, and soft bark of the tree, penetrating into the interior of the tree, making a terrifying cracking sound.

Isidore was a bit stunned but still replied: "Yes, I accidentally cut myself when opening the umbrella. What's wrong with you? You sound like you're in a bad state."

For the first time, everything in Landon's eyes was covered with a layer of blood red, as if blood was seeping out of the things around him. The clearest was Isidore. The sweet smell wrapped around like chains, engaging in a desperate tug-of-war with his sanity, trying to release the monster in the cage.

"Run... you run..." These words were almost squeezed out from his lungs, carrying extreme pain of restraint and a terrifying fierceness.

"Leonardo?" Isidore began to feel a bit scared, but more of it was still worry. He didn't understand what was wrong with Landon. This man, who had always been gentle and refined, had never spoken in such a terrifying tone before.

"Are you not feeling well?" Isidore took out the flashlight from his pocket. The wound was scraped by the coarse felt edge of the clothes pocket. The fragile scab broke again, and the blood slowly flowed out, standing on the plastic shell of the flashlight.

"I told you to run!" Landon's roar tore through his usual gentleness. With his whole body's muscles tensed and trembling, he was more like a wild beast. The rain made him look disheveled.

, but the aura around him was sharp and cold. If Isidore took one more step closer...

"Um..."

The flashlight beam flashed past Landon's eyes. It was just a momentary distraction, but the monster within him got the chance to catch its breath and burst through the cage that had been confining it.

Blood! Blood! Blood!

Isidore's panicked figure only stimulated Landon's long-suppressed hunting instinct. He grabbed Isidore in his hands without the slightest effort. His sharp fangs like blades pierced the carotid artery of this familiar companion. In an instant, his world became quiet. All the poisonous fires that had been tormenting him disappeared.

In a daze, he seemed to hear the prey let out a broken whimper: "Ka... Cassie..."