radicalducati Chapter 207 Word Necklace
Chapter 207 Word Necklace
Chapter 207 Cross Necklace
The carriage lurched and swayed slowly forward, making the people inside feel drowsy.
Although Kendrick was still energetic, Margaret was already asleep.
Margaret has changed out of her white nun's robe and is now wearing a low-key, simple straight dress.
The dark color actually made her skin look even whiter.
The woman was completely unguarded, leaning her left arm against Kendrick's and resting her head on his shoulder, thus completely exposing her slender, snow-white neck.
Kendrick squinted and stared at Margaret's neck.
Cracks suddenly appear on the smooth skin surface, and then the skin continues to crack and turn outward.
The blurry, grotesque flesh twitched and throbbed, constantly oozing delicious, fresh blood, and as the arteries ruptured, fresh blood began to spurt outwards.
He then saw the severed esophagus and vocal cords, as well as the exposed, white cervical vertebrae—
So beautiful… Kendrick’s breathing quickened… She’s so beautiful!
Kendrick couldn't help but reach out his left hand to touch the wound that was only visible to him.
Margaret's skin was incredibly smooth, and Kendrick felt a warmth on his fingertips.
He could even feel Margaret's pulse, and he was certain that such a healthy heart could spurt blood seven feet away.
But he suddenly felt that Margaret's heart was beating faster.
He looked at Margaret's face.
Good heavens, she's awake, staring intently at Kendrick with those big eyes.
Such a sharp gaze made Kendrick feel utterly ashamed. "What am I doing? She's a girl, and I feel like I've been burned by fire!" Kendrick quickly withdrew his left hand and stammered.
"I'm sorry, I—I shouldn't have."
"It's okay—"
"Shouldn't have—hmm?" Did Margaret just say something?
"Sure," said Margaret. "Like I said, you can do whatever you want."
"Hmm," Kendrick sighed inwardly. "She must feel utterly disgusted, otherwise she wouldn't have said that."
Kendrick understood that Margaret probably considered tolerating his behavior as a way of repaying a debt of gratitude, but in reality, Margaret must have felt very resistant and disgusted with him.
I am a filthy, lowly pig. Kendrick dared not look her in the eye and lowered his head.
There was one thing Kendrick couldn't understand: why was Margaret still leaning on his shoulder without moving?
After much thought, Kendrick could only come up with one explanation—Margaret was simply too exhausted.
Kendrick could understand her, after all, the two of them had been traveling for a long time.
Margaret must have been exhausted, both physically and mentally.
She was just a lowly nun, yet she carried the future of the sect on her shoulders.
In Kendrick's view, given her position, there was absolutely no need for her to bear such a heavy responsibility; it was not her obligation.
All I can say is that she is incredibly responsible, and Kendrick admires her greatly. If she needs to rest, Kendrick will remain still even if his muscles are stiff.
But the carriage stopped before his body stiffened.
The driver said to the two men, “We have arrived at the holy city. To travel in a carriage pulled by beasts, which is beneath the ankle of the Lord, is undoubtedly a blasphemy. So you two, get off here.”
Upon hearing this, the two stepped down from the carriage.
As they looked up at the towering city walls before them, Kendrick concluded almost instantly that this was a city that was easy to defend and difficult to attack.
The city was built on a hill, and its walls soared into the clouds.
The heavy city gate, like a giant, was huddled in the doorway.
It was getting late, but the city gates did not close as night fell.
This is good news, as it means the two of them won't have to freeze outside the city walls tonight and can go into the city to find a warm and comfortable inn.
Kendrick wanted to urge Margaret to hurry into the city, but he felt a gentle touch on his palm.
His hair stood on end, and he quickly looked down.
A small, delicate hand grasped his four fingers.
Sister Margaret—
Kendrick frowned and called out the name of the hand's owner.
By the moonlight alone, Kendrick couldn't make out Margaret's expression, but her tone was very calm:
"You promised Bishop Simpson that you would help the Firstborn Church."
Kendrick had agreed, because he found he could use them to his advantage and more easily gain access to his assassination target, Felix St. Winster.
But what does this have to do with the current situation?
Margaret said, "And what we're playing is a married couple."
Even in the kingdom, couples rarely walk hand in hand outdoors.
In the Principality of the Holy Envoy, Kendrick had never even witnessed such a scene.
He couldn't help but ask, "Is this a common occurrence in the duchy?"
"The Lord created seven human beings, three of whom were couples. Holding hands proves that the relationship between husband and wife is harmonious, and naturally they will receive praise and blessings from any believer."
Kendrick's understanding of the Duchy was naturally inferior to Margaret's.
Since she said so, Kendrick could only nod in agreement.
The two walked together to the foot of the city wall. Even though it was night, the paladin remained at his post, strictly checking anyone who attempted to enter the city.
A paladin glanced at the identity documents Simpson had forged specifically for the two of them, then stared at their clasped hands, and asked seriously:
"Are you a married couple?"
"Yes, yes—" Kendrick stammered.
While speaking, he didn't even dare to look at the other person's face, only staring at the Holy City emblem on their breastplates.
The paladin questioned, "One of you has never joined any denomination, meaning you are a fundamentalist, while the other is a member of the New Fire Cult. Why did you two become husband and wife?"
Kendrick's mind raced as he tried to come up with a plausible explanation.
Just as he was becoming extremely anxious, Margaret spoke up:
"We are all servants of God, and we believe in the same Creator. Even if we belong to different denominations, our prayers before meals are exactly the same, and our souls can certainly be united."
The Holy Knight remained silent for a long time before presenting the evidence from both of them to Kendrick:
"Go in."
Kendrick finally let out a long breath after he was completely on the streets of the holy city.
But Margaret said, "You're too nervous."
"Yes, it's a good thing you noticed in time."
"It's not difficult, after all, your palms are sweaty."
Upon hearing this, Kendrick was startled and quickly withdrew his hand, apologizing profusely.
"I'm sorry, I—"
"It's okay, I don't mind."
Margaret increased her grip as she spoke, so Kendrick was unable to pull his hand back.
Kendrick gazed at Margaret's face; though he couldn't discern the details of her expression, her attitude was clearly extremely serious.
Hmm, what a meticulous woman, Kendrick thought, always keeping her mission in mind.
He was indeed encouraged and decided to accelerate the progress of his mission.
Kendrick said, "In that case, let's hurry over to the Vatican."
"Now?" Margaret's tone was slightly surprised.
“Now,” Kendrick nodded, “I remember Simpson saying that the Vatican is God’s window to the mortal world, listening to the voices of the outside world day and night.”
For some reason, Margaret remained silent for a long time, but she eventually agreed to Kendrick's suggestion:
"Indeed, mission comes first—"
"Then let's hurry to the Vatican!"
"Hmm, but..."
"but?"
"But we still need to walk slowly. After all, our identities are fake, so we must always pretend to be a loving couple. Let's walk slowly along the street so as not to give ourselves away."
What an amazing woman! She can think of things so meticulously.
"No problem, we'll do it your way."
The two of them walked slowly through the city.
Needless to say, the prosperity of the Holy City far exceeded Kendrick's expectations.
Even though it was already dark, the streets and alleys were brightly lit, and commerce was booming.
Lanterns made of various fuels, such as wax lamps, asphalt lamps, and fat lamps, were hung in front of each shop and stall.
Similarly, luminescent agents, moonstones, and other special lighting substances can also be seen.
The goods they sold were equally diverse, not only featuring specialty products from various regions of the duchy, but Kendrick even saw many products from the kingdom.
Therefore, he speculated that this place brought together good things from all over the world.
Seeing this, Kendrick couldn't help but admire Margaret's skill.
She must have foreseen the current situation before making the suggestion to Kendrick.
Look, there's a young couple up ahead, holding hands and picking out clothes.
Kendrick learned a lesson from Margaret: never let your guard down.
Humanity can never know when the next test will come.
"Um—" Margaret suddenly spoke up.
"Um?"
"Should we buy something too?"
What is she planning now? Kendrick couldn't figure it out, but he absolutely couldn't let her down.
"If you feel it's necessary, just tell me."
"I'm not giving orders—do you want something?"
Blood and killing were the only two things Kendrick wanted, but obviously there were no merchants in the Holy City's markets who specialized in selling these two things.
Therefore, he could only shake his head and ask in return:
"And you?"
"As a nun, I have renounced most desires. Only two things burn brightly in my heart: faith and the thirst for knowledge. But neither of these things can be bought with money, however—"
"but?"
"Yes, although nuns shouldn't care about external things, and I certainly do. But when I was young, I did dream of buying a necklace, nothing too expensive, just a few dozen copper coins would be enough."
Hearing this, Kendrick thought that Margaret must have been an innocent and romantic girl when she was young, and she must have been very lovable back then.
He also felt that realizing a childhood dream must be a happy thing, so he encouraged him:
"Since you've wanted it, don't hesitate, Sister Margaret, you should go and buy one."
"But—but I have no money. You know, I'm penniless, I don't have a single copper coin."
That's a real shame.
However, Kendrick suddenly felt a strong urge to help Margaret realize this dream.
For over forty years, Kendrick has lived a very lonely life.
Few people were willing to talk to him as much as Margaret, so he was very grateful.
So he said, "Don't worry, Sister Margaret, just go ahead and choose, I'll lend you the money."
"Really? That's great, thank you—? (Borrow?)"
Margaret's expression was initially excited, but for some reason, it suddenly cooled down.
But Kendrick's smile was confident; he knew what Margaret was thinking.
"Don't worry, Sister, I won't charge interest, and there's no repayment deadline. You can pay me back whenever you have the money."
At this point, Kendrick suddenly remembered that once he successfully assassinated Felix, he should return to the library and report back to Mr. Mosley.
At that point, it's unlikely that Margaret will repay the money.
But it didn't matter; Kendrick didn't care about money anyway, he cared more about his gratitude to Margaret.
"Huh? Hmm... Ah, thank you—"
"Then let's go—"
With that, Kendrick led Margaret to a jewelry stall.
However, Margaret did not smile.
She was definitely focused on comparing and selecting jewelry, Kendrick knew that Margaret was such a serious person.
After a while, Margaret picked up a necklace, held it to her chest, and asked Kendrick:
"Is it pretty?"
Kendrick nodded: "It looks good."
"Really?" A hint of joy finally appeared on Margaret's face.
Kendrick could tell that Margaret was very happy; this was indeed her childhood dream.
"Really," he nodded again.
Margaret examined the necklace in her palm for a moment, then put it back and chose another one:
"What about this one?"
"nice."
"It looks good too?"
"Um."
Margaret was still smiling, but her smile had become more stiff.
This time, she didn't look at that necklace much and chose another one instead:
"This one looks good too?"
"Um."
"Compared to the previous two, which one do you think looks the best?"
"They're all the same."
Margaret was taken aback by what she heard, and a hint of bitterness crept into her smile.
She put the necklace back and picked up another necklace.
The design is very simple; it's just a silver cross strung together with a thin thread.
Compared to the previous three necklaces, it wasn't any better looking. The only thing Kendrick was certain of was that it was made of silver, so it was definitely more expensive.
This time, however, Margaret didn't even pull the necklace up to her chest.
She just stared at the necklace and asked in a low voice:
"So, this one looks just as good, right?"
"Yes--"
Kendrick was speaking when he heard a sigh, but he chose to finish his sentence anyway.
"After all, you are just too beautiful."
The autumn evening breeze was excessively cool, yet gentle, causing the thin rope flowing from Margaret's fingertips to sway gracefully, and leaving her momentarily stunned.
After a long while, she turned her head slowly, the flickering light making her eyes sparkle.
She looked surprised, and Kendrick wondered why.
Margaret smiled, grabbed Kendrick's hand with one hand, and handed the necklace to the merchant with the other:
"I want this one."
The two continued walking down the street at night, and Kendrick said:
"So that's the style of jewelry you like."
"No, not at all?"
Huh? "Then why did you choose it?"
"I just want to remember."
"Remember? Remember what?"
"How I felt at that moment."