The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 166 needs to be more straightforward.
Elise's expression changed several times in an instant, showing shame, anger, and utter embarrassment. Finally, she restrained herself and scratched the table.

"I do not want."

“Great, then the evening is still mine,” Molly said immediately.

"Stop messing around." Eric quickly spoke up when he saw Elise's expression change again.

Elise stood up. "I'm not hungry yet. I'm going back."

She left the tavern directly, and Eric got up after her, glaring at Molly before leaving, "You're getting a little too cocky."

"Who told me to sleep with you first... Besides, how many times had she bullied me before? Did I forget everything as soon as you slept with me?"

Even as she said that, Molly's face quickly showed regret. "She didn't just run away like that, did she? You should go find her right away."

Eric chased after her out of the tavern, but Elise had already returned to the inn's entrance. He stopped her before she went back to her room.

“Elise…”

With a creak, the door to the room at the far end of the second floor suddenly opened.

An old monk came out, slowly walked past the two of them, nodded to them, and then went down the other side.

The hallway is not a place to talk.

Eric pushed open the door and went in, pulling Elise in as well, then closed the door.

The two stood facing each other in the darkness at the doorway. She lowered her head and said, "Why did Your Highness come to find me?"

I want to sleep with you.

"..."

Hearing the same words from his mouth, Elise felt a surge of emotions, her face burning, and then she felt even more annoyed.

“I don’t want to. If Molly says something that makes His Highness feel sorry for me and want to pity me, there’s absolutely no need for that.”

“I’ve wanted to sleep with you for a long time,” Eric repeated.

"..."

His blunt desire left her speechless, and she had to suppress the intense throbbing in her heart that was now stirring within her.

Eric sighed softly, "Because of what happened before, I really didn't know how to deal with this kind of... thought. After all, you came here to rely on me, and you're also Eileen's friend. If you don't have this kind of thought yourself, I don't want you to be forced to compromise just so you can continue to rely on me."

He approached her, but she was leaning against the door, with nowhere left to retreat.

"But if you have a different idea, and that's why I've kept you waiting so long, I apologize..."

He squeezed his hand into her tangled hands, filling between her fingers, and pressed it against her increasingly rapid breathing. "You can still refuse now."

Their noses almost touched, and her trembling voice was barely audible.

"I didn't expect it to be this fast..."

Eric maintained his distance for the moment. "Which side are you referring to?"

"They're everywhere."

Molly said it was because you kept provoking her.

"She's the one provoking me... From the first time we met, she's been too close to you."

Her hand, gripped tightly by him, was already sweaty, but Elise dared not pull away, fearing that he would misinterpret it as a sign of resistance.

“I don’t understand what you’re thinking either. You seem interested in me, but you also seem only interested in my body… especially since you still have that nun in your heart that you can’t help but mention when you’re drunk.”

Eric paused for a moment.

“I like both you and Sophie, and now you are closer to me… It’s hard for me not to be interested in your body, but I’m even more interested in the soul within it called ‘Elise’.”

Elise lowered her head and pressed it against his.

Do you think I'd be happy to hear something like that...?

"When you have a choice, I think honesty is very important."

A light kiss landed on his cheek, accompanied by a sigh that was three parts reproach and seven parts regret, "You smell like Molly."

"It can also become your flavor."

Just as she was about to say something, her tightly clenched hand suddenly loosened.

She instinctively reached out, but grasped nothing. The next moment, that hand rose up and cupped her cheek.

"..."

Once their eyes adjusted to the darkness, their gazes inevitably met.

Elise closed her eyes, and their lips quickly touched.

Then came more contact, and even deeper interaction.

Having fought fiercely all afternoon, Eric subconsciously felt that he was running out of energy, but his physical vitality was more vigorous than he had thought.

By the way, he's only nineteen.

Young is so good.

"They haven't already rolled off to bed, have they...?"

In the tavern, Molly muttered to herself, facing a table full of food, but found she didn't have much of an appetite.

She was clearly very hungry.

"Oliver, can we return these foods?"

"Is Miss Molly joking?"

"I can't eat all of this by myself."

"Where are Eric and Miss Elise? Why haven't they come back yet?"

"It's working out."

"..." It wasn't until late at night that Eric and Elise reappeared in Oliver's tavern.

Molly remained there, just as Elise hadn't bothered her all afternoon. She sat there all night, and even after her appetite returned, she ate quite a bit by herself.

"I'll have another serving of what we ordered earlier."

There were only a few people left in the tavern. After Eric finished ordering, he saw Oliver raise an eyebrow at him with a lewd and ambiguous smile.

"...You can only squeeze out two words from that wrinkled face: sleazy."

"There's nothing I can do, I'm just getting old. When I was your age, I wasn't any less attractive than you."

Eric ignored him and sat back in his original seat, while Elise had already gone ahead of him.

“I never imagined he would sleep with us all in one day,” Molly said.

"..."

Elise blushed slightly, opened her mouth, but still didn't respond.

A short while later, the food was served, and at least in terms of communication, the three of them returned to their previous state.

“We can’t go in tomorrow, it’ll be postponed by one day,” Eric said.

"Are you tired?" Molly asked.

“Hmm.” Eric nodded without changing his expression. “More importantly, both of us, Elise, and I are too relaxed right now. Who knows how much our concentration has dropped?”

“Okay.” Molly indicated that she didn’t mind, since he always decided on the adventure arrangements anyway.

Eric and Elise didn't say much, and wolfed down their food to replenish their over-exploded energy.

By the time we finished eating, it was already past midnight.

As usual, the three of them wandered around outside after dinner.

As they passed the church, Molly asked Eric, "You often go in and stay out for ages. Do you have someone you like in there?"

“…What nonsense.” Eric squeezed his hand slightly tighter. “Those nuns are truly devout clergy, and I only have respect for them.”

"I'm sorry," Molly apologized immediately, then offered a prayer towards the church in the distance, as a way of apologizing to the nuns.

“On the few occasions when he didn’t come out for half a day, he was writing a reply on the spot,” Elise said.

Molly pouted at her, indicating that she actually knew but was just joking.

“I haven’t been there today, so I’ll ask if they have any letters for me.” Eric walked toward the church, and the two followed, waiting for him at the church entrance.

Passing through the wounded on either side, some groaning in pain and others asleep, Eric found a weary nun.

“…Mr. Eric? You’re quite late today. Did you just come back from the ancient battlefield?”

"More or less... Is there any letter for me?"

"Not these days."

Okay. Thank you for your hard work.

After leaving the church, Molly and Elise followed him, and soon returned to the hotel.

"Should we still sleep separately?"

When they reached their respective room doors, Molly suddenly asked a question.

Eric and Elise both looked at her, then looked at each other.

“Sleep separately,” Eric decided. “Rest as usual during rest time.”

"Ok."

Molly responded, then walked past him to Elise's side and said to her, "I want to sleep with you tonight."

Elise glanced at her and quickly nodded.

The two went inside together, and Eric went back to his room and went straight to bed to rest.

In the other room, the two of them were leaning against the window.

“I never imagined I’d have to share my first man with someone else.” Molly looked down, her voice barely audible to them. “And he’ll probably be the only man I ever have…”

Elise pursed her lips. "I never thought about that either."

"You're lying. Didn't you already know he had another woman?"

"I mean, I never thought he would actually choose me."

Molly turned to look at her. "You two are so close. I always thought you'd slept with him a long time ago... What bad things did you do before to be so insecure?"

Elise looked up at the sky, "I've been a spy for the demons for almost ten years."

Molly was dumbfounded.

“More than half a year ago, when the demons infiltrated the empire and even penetrated into Lutia, I received an order to kill Eric, and I carried it out... although I didn’t have time to do it before he saw through it.”

Molly remained speechless, but finally managed to speak.

"I knew you two had a story, but I didn't expect it to be this big... This guy is a real lecher. Did he spare your life because of your beauty?"

Elise smiled and countered, "Do you want him to kill me?"

"do not wish."

Molly shook her head. "My teacher said that everyone's fate is intertwined in some invisible way. When one person's fate changes, it will affect the fate of countless others... If he had killed you, I might not have met him."

This guy……

Elise glanced to the side, thinking she was going to say something about friendship.

Molly squeezed in again, smiled at her, and said, "Of course, more importantly, I don't want to lose you as a friend!"

(End of this chapter)