The Holy Man of Another Century Gospel

Chapter 82 Gap
The papacy is vacant, and the conclave to elect a new pope is scheduled to begin in three days.

This is the final result after the cardinals' deliberation. The location and format remain unchanged: it will be held in the Chapel of St. Urban in the Apostolic Palace, with the participation of the cardinals of the Vatican and all the archbishops present. The elected person must be under 70 years old and will succeed as the new Pope if he obtains more than two-thirds of the total votes.

The saint asked to bring Eric along so that he could see it in advance - of course, he had no right to vote.

The cardinals gave the saint face and agreed, but Eric himself was quite resistant.

Because it is basically impossible to get the results of the election quickly, and before the results come out, everyone will be locked in the St. Urban Church and not allowed to leave - literally locked up. All exits of the church will be closed with brick and clay walls, leaving only a small window for passing food.

But his resistance was meaningless and he could only accept it, even though he already knew who the next Pope would be.

"Just take a good rest these days." The Saint said this on the way back to the Saint's Palace.

"At least two days, at most four or five days, or even seven or eight days. Even if I die in there, I have to choose a result before I can come out."

Eric said weakly, "Yes."

These days, he went out early and came back late, staying in the cathedral every day to listen to people crying at funerals. When he returned to his own house, Eric even felt a little strange.

Although he had nothing to do, the mental fatigue was accumulating.

"I want to kill someone..."

Eric lay down on the bed, preparing to go to the Knights tomorrow to torture his body and relax his mind.

He fell asleep after lying there for a while, and didn't even notice when Alena came in.

Although she was also deliberately controlling her movements.

"..."

Alena stood at the door of the room, staring at Eric lying casually on the bed for a while before walking in.

During this period, Eric went out early and came back late, and she came out even earlier and came back later. The two of them did not stay in the same place, and they hardly saw each other in the past few days.

With such a major event as the Pope's death and having been busy for so many days in a row, what happened in the Holy Mountain Cathedral that night seemed not worth mentioning, and she didn't know how to bring it up.

After staring at his sleeping face for a while, Alena leaned over and gently pushed him, "Your Highness, Your Highness... You haven't changed your clothes yet."

Not only did he not change his clothes, he couldn't just lie there. He slept at the end of the bed with both feet on the floor.

Eric was sleeping so soundly that she pushed him several times but he didn't respond, and she couldn't drag him away.

"Yela, please grant me strength..."

Alena cast a prayer of strength on herself, but could only barely drag him a little, and as soon as she moved, Eric struggled to wake up.

"...What...Alaina?"

Alena stood up, "Your Highness, you can't sleep here. You haven't changed your clothes yet."

Eric wiped his face and sat up. "Falling asleep... What time is it? Is it very late?"

"No, I just got back."

"Really?" Eric rubbed his forehead and quickly regained consciousness. "The Pope's funeral is over, so there shouldn't be anything going on at the monastery."

Alena nodded, and seeing that he was still sitting and his black dress was wrinkled, she reached out to help him untie it.

But before he could touch her, Eric raised his hand to block it, then stood up and walked out, "I'll do it myself, you should get some rest too."

"..."

Alena stood there in a daze, unable to describe her feelings for a moment.

Is he rejecting her?
No...it shouldn't have reached this point yet.

He just didn't want to get too close to her physically.

But before, it was just a trivial matter that was not worth mentioning and was more like a casual thing, for both parties.

The gap between the past and the present made Alena feel a little at a loss.

Or was it because of what happened that night... the excessive reflection after a moment of forgetfulness made him regard her as an untouchable and even unapproachable taboo.

Although the relationship between them should have been like this.

Realizing that her loss at this moment was not allowed, Alena felt even more depressed.

Eric, who had already changed his clothes and was washing up, didn't think so at all.

What he wanted to express was all in the sentence just now: he was very tired, she was very tired too, so they should just mind their own business and go to bed early.

When he returned to his room, Alena was standing at the door. She silently said "Good night, Your Highness" and went back to her room. Eric, exhausted both physically and mentally, slept until dawn.

Although he didn't have to get up early, he still woke up early and stared at the ceiling.

There are still two days before the secret meeting. According to the saint, he doesn't need to go to class during these two days. He just needs to have a good rest and get enough energy.

Eric suddenly remembered that the New Year had passed without a trace because of the Pope's death.

Although according to my previous life, it’s not the end of the first lunar month yet and it’s still the New Year period...but there is no such rule in the other world.

"Since the New Year, I haven't even had a good meal... What a year it's been."

Eric lay in bed, thinking seriously for a while whether he could make up for the rest, but he felt that there was little hope. He discussed this matter with the saint, and it was a relief that she didn't scold him.

When he came to his senses, he found that it was already very bright outside the window.

What time is it...Why hasn't Alena come to call him yet?
Eric got up and found that Alena was no longer in the room.

Has she gone to the Saint's House?

Didn’t you say you were done with your work? Why are you here so early?
Eric was still a little uncomfortable not seeing her in the morning, so he planned to find a reason to go to the Holy Maiden's House. Anyway, he had the day off and could go wherever he wanted.

As soon as he left the monastery, he saw another nun waiting outside, bored.

"Sophie?"

"Your Highness!"

Eric hadn't seen her for about seven or eight days. During the Pope's funeral, she and other nuns stayed in the chapel to recite scriptures and mourn for the Pope.

Sophie came over and asked, "Your Highness, why didn't you go to class today?"

"The Saint asked me to rest for a few days," Eric said. "Have you checked at the seminary? Is the sermon nun here?"

The little nun glanced to the side and said, "No... he hadn't come when I went there."

Eric understood that she was just looking for an excuse to come to him.

"There are no classes these few days, so you don't have to go there. Next, I'm going to go to the Saint's Convent to check it out... Is Sophie coming?"

"Okay." Sophie nodded without hesitation. Anywhere was fine, as long as she was with him.

Eric asked her about her recent days, but learned that Sophie had seen him several times, but he had not noticed her.

"Too busy."

"Yes."

When we arrived at the Holy Maiden's Court, it had returned to its previous state, with the female officials all busy with their own things.

And because of the ladies-in-waiting's greetings and shouts, Alena learned that Eric was coming, and she quickly showed up, and then saw Sophie following him.

"Ah, Alena..."

Sophie mouthed the word "Sister" silently.

It has been more than half a year since Alena stepped down as the head nun. It's not that she can't change her way of speaking, but she just can't find a more appropriate title, so she still uses the original title in private.

Alena smiled at her and looked at Eric again, "Your Highness..."

"It's okay, I just came to check on her." Eric also looked at her, "Why are you here so early?"

Alena pursed her lips, unable to speak, and said that she wanted to use busyness to suppress some thoughts that had nowhere to go.

Seeing her silence, Eric didn't ask any more questions, thinking that she was busy with something. This made Alena couldn't help but complain in her heart: Why didn't she continue asking? Didn't he care?
Eric really just came to take a look, and after staying here for a while, he was ready to go to the Saint's Tower to see a higher view.

Sophie naturally followed along.

As the two of them stepped onto the magic floating ladder and kept looking at Alena over there, they saw Sophie grab Eric's arm and lean over.

"..."

From a distance, she saw Sophie seemed to smile at her.

"Pay attention to my behavior."

"It's okay. Only Sister Alena is watching over this side."

Six lightning updates in a row!

The rest will be sent out tomorrow morning
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(End of this chapter)