The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 243 Walking on Thin Ice
The arrival of the Druid Navigator from the sky heralds the coming of a storm.

On deck, Eric and Natalia were informed and returned to their cabin.

Before long, Eric saw through the glass window that a storm was raging outside, and the Queen Vermeer was rocking up and down in the huge waves, but not as violently as before, and Natalia was able to sit up on the bed.

Eric leaned against her room door, glanced at her, and then looked out at the ordinary passengers in the cabin corridor who had begun to pray.

Panic did not spread, and most people could see that the situation was much better than last time, and some even had the mood to complain about the awful weather.

Eric leaned against the door frame, staring at a businessman kneeling at the cabin door not far away.

The latter laid out a pile of things on the floor in front of him, picked them up one by one, held them in his palm and prayed to the sky for a while, and then changed to another item.

He almost laughed, but when he turned his gaze away, he saw Natalia staring at him from inside the cabin.

"..."

Eric pursed his lips, but still met her gaze. "Your Highness?"

Natalia looked out the window. "The storm isn't that bad. Your Highness doesn't need to stay with me. Why don't you go and check on Miss Kasha?"

Eric didn't move. "If even His Highness can sit still, she has even less to worry about."

Natalia glanced at him. "I think she would prefer Your Highness to be by her side."

Eric said nothing and walked away.

Looking down into the hallway, Natalia paused for a moment, then got up to close the door. But just as she reached the door, Eric came over from the next room.

She said it was okay.

"..."

For a moment, Natalia didn't even know who to vent her anger on.

She didn't go back to her room; she just blocked the doorway. Eric leaned against the other door frame, his gaze shifting back and forth between her face and the hallway.

“I thought Your Highness already knew about my relationship with Kasha.”

Eric spoke softly, keeping his voice so that only the two of them could hear, "But in reality, His Highness seems to have suffered quite a shock."

He hoped to talk things out, as this awkward situation wouldn't do them any good. He was also prepared for how their relationship would develop in the future.

Natalia hadn't expected him to bring this up again. She stared at him coldly for a moment, then said, "No, Your Highness has hidden it very well. I only found out today."

“We only broke through to this stage today,” Eric said frankly.

"..."

Natalia opened her mouth, wondering how she should react.

What kind of reaction would be appropriate for her status, and relative to his?

They are friends, or comrades-in-arms, who help each other for a common and great goal.

That's all there is to it—the visible and real parts.

Unseen...

She looked at Eric.

Invisible threads intertwine with each other, each a unique memory belonging only to the other, yet each seems to be explained by those visible relationships.

"Yeah."

Natalia took a deep breath, leaned against the other side of the door frame, avoided looking at his face, and instead cast her gaze toward the aisle behind him, wary of another face that might appear at any moment.

"Does Miss Kasha know about His Highness's relationship with Miss Iris?"

Eric looked at her. "She knows more than that."

Natalia's gaze met his briefly before she looked away. "What do you mean?"

“I have no intention of hiding it, but Your Highness seems unaware that I have several women.”

"..."

Natalia stopped breathing for a moment, and all she could hear was his voice.

“Elise, Molly, and Sister Sophie of the Horn family whom His Highness met in Lutia—all of them had relationships with me that went against the doctrine,” Eric further explained. “Kasha knew all of this…she even thought that His Highness and I had the same kind of relationship.”

Natalia's expression became quite complicated, and a sense of surprise and joy welled up uncontrollably in her heart—it turned out that they also seemed to have that kind of relationship.

Although this joy was quickly overshadowed by the sheer amount of information conveyed in his previous statement.

"It seems Your Highness has a bad reputation... but I only found out now."

"It's not Your Highness's fault. I hid it well. After all, I still value the identity of the Holy Maiden."

She looked at him. "Your Highness feels very proud?"

“I wouldn’t dare,” Eric shook his head. “It’s like walking on thin ice, I’m terrified of being discovered.”

"..."

Natalia was so angry she laughed.

"So, I can use this secret to blackmail Your Highness?"

Eric simply looked at her calmly. "Would His Highness do that?"

Natalia could hardly help but feel a sense of powerlessness. "Should I thank Your Highness for your trust?"

"I don't have such high expectations, I just hope this matter won't cause His Highness any trouble."

As Eric spoke, he glanced clearly into the hallway outside. Natalia knew that others were coming, so she kept her words to herself.

Soon, an ordinary passenger came from behind her. As he passed by the two of them, he bowed to them because Eric was watching him, and then quickly went to the other side.

Natalia turned her gaze back. "Does Your Highness expect me to disregard your personal conduct?"

Eric thought for a moment, "This is just my bare minimum request."

"Anything else?" Natalia asked.

Eric nodded, simply looking at her.

Natalia frowned in confusion at first, then suddenly realized what she meant and her face turned red.

"...Please don't underestimate me, Your Highness," she said through gritted teeth.

"I'm sorry, it seems I misunderstood."

Eric quickly apologized, "In any case, my cooperative relationship with Your Highness will not change, and you only need to treat me to the minimum level I request from now on."

Natalia's shoulders trembled, and she couldn't speak.

Someone else was approaching from the other side of the corridor. Eric didn't want anyone to notice her current state, so he moved and leaned against the other door frame, blocking her way.

The sound of footsteps grew closer and then faded away.

Natalia looked up at Eric in front of her. Their eyes met, and she made no attempt to hide her anger, but remained silent about her disappointment.

Wow - Wow -

The ship suddenly began to rock, and Natalia lost her balance before realizing that they were crossing a stormy sea.

A hand steadily supported her.

The boat rocked, the people swayed, and the two grew closer together.

Natalia looked down at his hand, while Eric looked up at the undulating sea outside the glass window.

The waves surged, and the body lost its balance.

"..."

Eric lowered his gaze to Natalia, who had suddenly leaned against him, and hesitated.

Perhaps a few seconds later, perhaps half a minute later, she braced herself against him with both hands, pushed him away, and then, swaying, went back to bed alone.

Eric watched her retreating figure in silence, then closed the door slightly and remained standing in the doorway.

In the corridor, the sounds of different people praying grew louder.

Eric looked towards the general cabin. Someone was walking towards him from the other side, but instead of going over, they stopped beside him.

He turned his head and saw it was Kasha.

She smiled at him. "The storm seems to be getting bigger."

Eric nodded. "If you're scared, you can turn into an owl and stay on me."

She shook her head, peeked through the crack in the door at the room behind him, then looked at him again, "Is the princess alright?"

Eric took a breath. "She's resting. Don't disturb her for now."

Kasha nodded and stood beside him.

The waves were sometimes big and sometimes small, but after more than half an hour, they finally gradually calmed down.

Eric vaguely heard a burst of cheers coming from the deck outside, realizing that it was probably the sailors celebrating breaking through the storm.

This storm was much milder than the previous one, both in terms of duration and scale.

Eric glanced at the room behind him again. Natalia was lying on the bed, still with her back to him, and didn't move. He closed the door and then took Kasha to the deck.

"..."

Hearing the door close, Natalia waited a while longer until the footsteps outside had faded away before turning around.

The door was indeed closed.

The two people who had been standing at her door for a long time did indeed leave.

The sea returned to calm, but her heart found it difficult to find peace.

She stared at the ceiling, once again doubting the judgment she had established and overturned countless times in her heart.

Was what he just said a way of expressing his feelings?
Hoping that I wouldn't mind his private life was just a prelude to confessing my feelings.

He has no shame at all.

but……

No buts. Natalia bit her lip hard, using the pain to free herself from the pursuit of that absurdly sweet feeling. [“…It seems I misunderstood.”]

What misunderstanding...? Do you think she also has feelings for him?

"..."

Natalia closed her eyes and exhaled.

She is a member of the royal family of the Delan Empire, the sister of the late emperor, and the aunt of the current empress. In the future, she may become someone's wife, or she may live out her life alone in order to restore the empire, but she will never become anyone's secret lover, or even one of them.

Especially since that person was a saint who was supposed to remain chaste for life...

Saintess... chastity...

...Eric.

There was a commotion outside the room, and Natalia suddenly felt a surge of anger. She sat up, grabbed a book from the table, and threw it against the door with a loud bang.

The entire cabin fell silent instantly.

When Eric and Kasha returned from their walk around the deck, they found the corridor completely quiet, all the other cabin doors were closed, and there wasn't a single ordinary passenger left outside.

Although he didn't know what had happened, he quickly became alert.

"Kasha, can you hear anything?"

Kasha transformed into a black panther, pricked up his ears, took a few steps forward, turned back and shook his head at him, then returned to human form.

"It seems like they're all in the room."

Eric frowned and muttered, "It's almost time to eat, what are you all doing hiding in your rooms?"

"do not know."

Kasha stayed with him the whole time, and he didn't expect her to guess anything. He went to Natalia's room and knocked on the door.

"Your Highness, are you okay?"

A series of slightly hurried footsteps came from the cabin and stopped at the door, but the door did not open.

"Your Highness?"

no respond.

Eric thought for a moment, then pushed the door open.

The door was pushed open, but it seemed to hit something, making a thud.

"..."

Natalia sat on the floor, covering her forehead, with scattered book pages on her other hand and the surrounding floor.

The two looked at each other from head to toe, then simultaneously looked away, each with their own feelings.

"The book is torn." Kasha seemed oblivious to the silent emotions flowing within her as she squeezed into the room and squatted down to pick it up.

Eric and Natalia watched her silently without saying a word, and then joined in.

Kasha gathered the scattered pages together and flipped through them a couple of times. "It's all a mess."

“I have something to do tonight.” Eric took the pages from her hand and handed them to Natalia along with the ones he had.

"It's time for dinner, Your Highness."

Natalia took the book, responded, placed the pages on the table, and took the opportunity to glance out the window.

She remembered that it was almost dusk when he confessed to her.

"Let's go," Kasha urged.

Natalia went to the restaurant with the two men, and after dinner, the two men followed her to her room to rearrange the scattered book in order.

Because there were no page numbers, the text had to be arranged according to its context. Natalia, who hadn't uttered a single word throughout the entire dinner, was forced to speak up or ask questions.

"The last sentence on this page is 'Our relationship...', do you have a matching page?" Eric asked, holding up a page from a book.

Natalia seemed to remember something, and flipped through the stack of pages in her hand, pulling out a single sheet.

"It's this one, 'Torn.'"

“No, it’s this one.” Kasha held up another page. “'Back to the way things were before.'”

Natalia looked at Kasha, then at Eric, who took both copies and compared them briefly before quickly distinguishing between them.

“‘Going back to the way things were before’ is the correct way to connect the dots.”

Kasha, not knowing who she was comparing herself to, clenched her fists, smiled, and silently cheered.

Natalia didn't speak, but reached out to get her book back, while Eric put it aside.

"I don't know where this page should be placed yet, but it probably won't be the ending."

She pursed her lips and said nothing.

Eric turned to the page he had just received, looked at the end, read it aloud, and let the two of them continue searching for the next page, while he himself began searching through another stack of pages.

Kasha would occasionally look up suddenly at the closed door, indicating that someone was walking past outside.

"They probably thought we were resting and didn't dare to disturb us."

Eric could pretty much guess why those people outside didn't dare to make a sound, based on the way the book in his hand was scattered.

The Grand Princess was already quite restrained by simply throwing a book...

He deliberately avoided looking at Natalia, although she glanced at him quickly when he spoke.

The three of them slowly searched for the correct order of the pages, and the night was slowly passing by.

There was only one kerosene lamp in the cabin, which provided a little light, but it was too hard on the eyes to read the writing. Therefore, the lighting relied entirely on Eric's occasional supplementary lighting techniques.

At one point, Eric had just finished casting a charged Light spell when Kasha suddenly yawned, and he realized that time had passed.

Natalia also glanced out the glass window.

The sea was completely dark at night, and she couldn't see anything, but she knew it was getting late.

“It seems we can’t finish it in one night.” Eric glanced at the remaining pages in their hands. “Let’s continue tomorrow.”

Kasha said okay, and Natalia spoke much more than when she first started to recreate the character, though it lacked warmth.

"Neither His Highness nor I can get into this book, and there's no real need for us to make it exactly as it is."

"Just to pass the time."

Eric looked at her, and smiled when she looked at him. "It's not quite right to say this, but because of this piecing together process, I've become interested in the previous content again. Maybe we've inadvertently discovered a new way of reading."

Natalia could hardly resist the urge to smile along with him, so she turned her head toward Kasha.

"...It's just that it takes too many books and too much time."

"Your Highness, just throw it more gently next time."

"..."

"What I mean is, the last thing we have in abundance right now is time."

Natalie Adam didn't hear him. She glanced at Kasha without making a sound, using silence to mask her annoyance and embarrassment.

"It's peaceful outside, I should be able to get a good night's sleep."

Eric and Kasha said goodnight to her and went back to their respective rooms. Natalia looked at the stacks of books on her desk and suddenly felt sleepiness creeping over her.

Lying on the bed, she stared blankly for a while, then her gaze shifted to the bright sphere of light in the center of the ceiling.

How do I turn this thing off?
Tuk-tuk-tuk.

After lying down for a while, there was a gentle knock on the door, and Natalia already knew who it was.

She got up and opened the door. Eric gestured with his eyes to the 500-watt light bulb hanging on the ceiling. "Sorry, I forgot. If we don't manually turn it off, this thing can stay on for at least another twenty minutes."

He had gathered his strength.

Natalia shook her head.

Eric snapped his fingers, and the illumination orb suddenly went out, plunging the entire room into complete darkness.

"...So Your Highness didn't light the lamp."

"Ah."

They both remained silent for a while.

In the darkness, Natalia sensed him approaching her.

She held her breath as he brushed past her, followed by a flash of light from behind him.

Using the holy light emanating from his fingertips, Eric conjured a holy flame, lit the kerosene lamp, and turned around to see Natalia squinting at him and the lamp in his hand.

He extinguished the light sphere at his fingertips and walked out, saying goodnight again as he passed by her.

Natalia stood by the door until he left her room and returned to his own, then spoke in a low voice.

"……Good night."

She closed the door, looked back at the much dimmer kerosene lamp on the table, and sat back down on the bed.

The flickering candlelight appeared bright in the darkness.

Natalia sat staring at the candlelight for a while, then moved closer.

puff--

The small room fell dark again. She lay down on the bed, closed her eyes, and watched as another almost extinguished fire quietly reignited in the darkness.

Even though it had only been lit for a short while, the smell of burning kerosene still wafted over.

Natalia opened her eyes; the room was still dark.

"This is terrible," she thought.

(End of this chapter)