After being forced to step down, the once-annoying nun eloped with me.

but--!

Let's leave aside this intimate sentiment for now!

Theresa hadn't forgotten her goal for tonight...

Her teeth itched, and she couldn't resist opening her mouth and biting Yang Hao's ear, then whispering indistinctly in his ear:

"Oh dear! My little puppy... I'm begging you—if we don't establish a relationship of trust with the Ling people and Mr. Joseph's family, we might face difficulties when we go to the Elf Kingdom! After all, the elves certainly wouldn't welcome a small group with ulterior motives and inconsistent testimonies into their borders, would they?"

"...But I don't want to trust them."

You've finally spoken!

The little nun was overjoyed, but before she could react, Yang Hao broke free from her embrace and turned around to look at her with a somewhat gloomy expression.

He reached out and wiped the wet drool from the nun's lips, then glanced at the Listeners controlling the Golems building their camp in the distance, and at Dr. Joseph and his family carefully tending to the Hornless One. He sighed heavily, then lowered his head, looking rather troubled.

“I don’t want to trust them, Theresa.”

"But you have to trust them."

"...I will not trust them."

"Oh dear... considering the trip to the Elf Kingdom—"

“...I told you. I won’t trust them. Theresa...I won’t trust them, no matter what they’ve done before.”

Yang Hao's stubbornness made Theresa feel helpless. She swallowed the words she had just been forced to swallow, and after thinking for a moment, she reached out and touched the hair of the man who was looking down, seemingly suppressing his emotions, and explained earnestly and patiently:

"But, my little puppy... you have to face this fact. After all, this isn't something we can avoid by simply saying we don't trust each other."

As mentioned before, if they fail to establish trust between the teams before approaching the border of the Elf Kingdom, the elves will certainly not allow them to pass.

Just as Theresa had said before, if Yang Hao were to be outnumbered and outmatched within the Elf Kingdom, he might one day be bullied by the elves...

But more importantly, Theresa felt that accepting the Ling family and Joseph's family was not a bad thing for them, but a good thing.

The golems of the Listening Clan are destined to have collateral damage value, even disregarding their antlers.

Mr. Joseph is an experienced and well-trained doctor. With him around, Yang Hao at least doesn't have to worry about minor injuries or illnesses.

Most importantly—this will signify a new beginning.

Whether Yang Hao intends to take revenge on the Roman Empire or is simply disheartened and wants to have a few children with her to spend the rest of his life with her, rebuilding interpersonal relationships is a necessary prerequisite for starting a new life.

If he continues to distrust everyone and remains so lonely without a single friend, even ordinary daily life will be very difficult.

Theresa didn't want things to be like this... so she hoped Yang Hao could face the facts, consider their future, and even more so, she hoped he could move on from the shadows of the past.

However, this was also a thorny path for Yang Hao.

He is not unaware of the importance of interpersonal relationships.

But once bitten, twice shy. He'd been betrayed too deeply; now, just thinking about possibly becoming friends with someone in the future brought to mind the faces of his former lovers, his former knights, and his former betrayers...

He was overwhelmed by nausea and anger. If it hadn't been Theresa asking him the question, but some stranger, he probably would have gone berserk and used his fists to express his resistance.

Thinking of this, Yang Hao's body began to tremble. His anger surged again due to the hallucination, but in front of him was Theresa.

He didn't want to show his ugly side to Theresa... He looked down at the soil on the ground, hoping to regain control of his emotions by looking at the grass on the ground.

But Teresa's next words were like a spark igniting a fuse, instantly setting off the powder keg in his heart:

"So my little puppy... please trust others again, okay?"

boom--!

Perhaps Theresa meant no harm. But it certainly ignited the anger within Yang Hao.

He suddenly looked up and stared directly at the nun who had supported him all the way. Her eyes were bloodshot from blinking.

His mouth was open, and from his throat squeezed out suppressed yet unbearable sobs and low growls:

“I said it—! Theresa! I don’t want to trust them! I can’t trust anyone anymore!”

He reached out and grabbed the nun's shoulders tightly, but then restrained himself from using his strength because he was worried that his rough action might hurt her.

Yes, he couldn't even control his own emotions. The moment Teresa said, "Trust others again," countless faces of traitors flashed through his eyes.

Anger, resentment, pain, sorrow. All these emotions mixed together, and what finally surged forth was an emotion called [hatred].

In this situation, how can he possibly forget the face of the betrayer? How can he begin to trust others again?

What exactly does he want... what exactly is he going to do?!

"What do I need to do... what do I need to do to trust anyone but you?!"

How can one trust anyone other than Theresa?

Unconsciously, he could only calm down from his hatred when he looked at Theresa.

He only wanted to believe Theresa.

Yang Hao held her shoulders tightly as she stood there in a daze, and tears welled up in his eyes without him even realizing it.

He believed he had conveyed his feelings to the nun who, though sharp-tongued, was actually as soft-hearted as tofu.

She's always been so understanding. So I'm sure she will be this time too—

"Um—wait, could you say that again?"

"...ha?"

The flow of emotions was suddenly cut off. Yang Hao blinked blankly, staring at Theresa in front of him, who had suddenly become agitated for some reason. For a moment, he didn't know what to say and could only make a silly "ha" sound.

"It's—it's what you just said—could you repeat it again?"

The young nun's eyes were filled with excitement and joy, and for some reason, they were also a little moist. But—what do you want me to repeat?

Yang Hao was stunned for a while, then decided to repeat the previous sentence:

"what?"

"No, it's the previous sentence—!"

"...What exactly do I want?"

"A little lower!"

"I--"

"The next sentence!"

Yang Hao was stunned again.

He opened his mouth, but the words that had just slipped out unconsciously due to his emotional outburst now felt incredibly shameful.

But seeing the expectant and happy look in Teresa's eyes, he still muttered to himself:

"...Trust anyone other than you...?"

It was as if a switch had been flipped on Teresa's emotions.

The nun cheered, and under the watchful eyes of the others, she hugged Yang Hao's entire head tightly and jumped up excitedly. Then, in front of everyone, in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, she exclaimed in a tone that was undeniably arrogant:

"I'm going to shave your beard right now! I've been annoyed by your beard for ages—don't you dare run away! You have to take responsibility!"

What are you responsible for?

The former regent was stunned, not only by the nun's chest tightness that left him breathless.

Even the Ling tribesmen and Mr. Joseph, who had just come out of a tent to apply new medicine to the wounded, were stunned.

But seeing the nun's ecstatic reaction as she pulled a gleaming razor from her backpack, they ultimately decided to remain silent: after all, this seemed to be a matter between the Regent and his wife.

They dared not approach her rashly, for if they did, Mother Teresa might just shave their necks with her razor, really.

Chapter 3: The Stolen Divine Power, the Parish's Conspiracy

Slurp, slurp.

Hmph hmph~

Mother Teresa was clearly in a good mood.

In this small space where only the two of them were present, she was using an extremely clumsy technique to shave Yang Hao's beard with a razor.

With each shave, Yang Hao's beard was shaved into various bizarre shapes. Even without looking, he knew his beard was gradually being shaved into squares. He could even feel the coldness of the sharp blade carefully scraping his Adam's apple, but for some reason, he wasn't afraid at all.

Perhaps it's because it was Theresa who shaved him? Was she the only woman he could trust now?

He looked thoughtfully at Teresa, who was bending over to shave him. Her nun's habit was old, and the white shawl at her bulging chest was covered in dust and stains.

When she goes to the Elf Kingdom, she will need to change into new clothes.

Although I don't know how much money the things I carry with me can be exchanged for, generally speaking, if a woman hasn't had new clothes for almost half a year, she must have all sorts of little emotions in her heart, right?

Yang Hao was lost in thought when, just then, Theresa muttered with a hint of complaint:

"Seriously, your outburst just now really scared me—no matter what, you shouldn't have openly said 'I don't trust them' when we were in a team with other people, right?"

"...Haven't I been putting on a good act all this time? If I had shown these emotions earlier, they would have left long ago."

Yang Hao defended himself, saying that he had tried his best not to show any resistance in front of the Ling clan and Joseph's family for the past month, and only showed a little emotion when he was with Theresa.

"Besides, weren't you the only one who could hear me say that at the time?"

"That's true... After all, they were all far away from us. You didn't forget to suppress your voice when you were angry, which is commendable—Ouch, don't move, I accidentally cut myself... Ouch, it's really troublesome not having shaving oil."

"..."

"But indeed, I understand now. It's not that you don't want to keep pretending, but that you simply can't keep pretending anymore."

It's like making someone allergic to pork eat pork every day and pretend they like it. They might be able to manage for a day or two, but after a month or two, they'd be almost dying from the allergy, let alone continuing to pretend they like pork...

You seem to have an allergy to interpersonal relationships right now.

Previously, she could use the excuse of being an "employer" to deceive herself that she would soon part ways with the Ling clan, but now that someone else has shamelessly followed her, and there is also a genuine former subordinate... If she has no reason to continue deceiving herself, she will have to endure the torment of this psychological trauma.

This is a very normal psychological trauma that many people cannot understand. I remember the Church of Light likes to use it to falsely accuse others of "betraying humanity or blasphemy"... But that's beside the point. Now tell me honestly, if you were to try to get along well with anyone other than me, what would you see?

While muttering a long speech she had never given before, Teresa carefully shaved Yang Hao's beard down to just stubble.

When faced with Theresa's question, Yang Hao remained silent for a long time before sighing:

"...Now I see everyone else except you as Robert...as Priscilla, and...my little queen."