"Who is it?" Dwayne Dantès's somewhat weak and hoarse voice came through.
Walter turned the handle and pushed the door open a crack:
"Sir, Bishop Elektra has come to visit you. Would you like to receive him in the living room or the sitting room, or shall I invite him directly into the bedroom?"
Under normal circumstances, visitors are not allowed to enter the master's bedroom; it is quite impolite, but visiting the sick is an exception.
After a brief silence, Dwayne Dantès replied:
"Invite him to the bedroom."
"Very well, sir." Walter gestured for
Soon, Elektra entered the bedroom and saw Dwayne Dantès lying on the bed, looking somewhat haggard.
"Richardson, bring a chair for the bishop." Dwayne Dantès smiled, his face slightly pale.
Richardson was already prepared and promptly brought a high-backed chair and placed it near the bed.
Elektra stepped forward, looked at the face of the newly arrived rich man, and asked with concern:
"Dwayne, how are you feeling? Have you called an internist?"
His spiritual intuition was not triggered, so he didn't try anything else; this was just a normal visit to a devout believer out of concern.
Dwayne Dantès coughed lightly and smiled:
"Actually, I'm almost better. I think I can go to church tomorrow or the day after to listen to your sermon."
"That's good. I was thinking whether I should pray to the Goddess for protection for you." Elektra laughed, stepped back, and sat down on the chair Richardson had brought.
At this, Dwayne Dantès glanced at the bishop and chuckled:
"Actually, I've always had a question: can the clergy of the Church of the Goddess marry?"
Elektra, who was two years short of forty, sighed and laughed:
"This question has troubled us for a long time.
"At many ancient theological conferences, the archbishops had heated arguments over this.
"One side believed that the servants of the Goddess must remain chaste, regardless of gender, otherwise it would be blasphemy against the Goddess; the other side found the Goddess's words in the 'Nocturnal Revelations' and other scriptures, believing that the Goddess encourages marriage and equal and normal interaction between the sexes, and that the clergy should be role models rather than counterexamples, which is the greatest respect for the Goddess.
"In modern times, this issue has basically been shelved; the Church neither prohibits nor encourages it, with the only requirement being that married clergy cannot have their families live in the church."
Dwayne Dantès nodded slowly and smiled:
"Bishop, do you have a wife?"
Elektra, with a lean face, not particularly handsome but somehow pleasant-looking, sighed and said with a smile:
"Two years ago, I entered marriage under the witness of the Goddess, and this year I had a child.
"I originally intended to remain single to serve the Goddess, but in the end..."
He laughed at himself and shook his head.
Before Dwayne Dantès could delve deeper into the topic, Bishop Elektra asked back:
"You seem to be single too; are you considering marriage?"
He seemed to assume that Dwayne Dantès indeed had such an idea, directly taking the answer to the previous question as confirmation, and then asked:
"What kind of woman do you like? Maybe I can introduce you to a suitable candidate."
Dwayne Dantès coughed again and said with a smile:
"In the past, in order to accumulate wealth, I always chose to take risks, so I didn't want to marry, afraid of burdening the other party. Hah, I like many types; I'm not picky.
"Women older than me, who can give me warmth and make me feel at ease, I like..."
Before he finished, his valet Richardson suddenly froze, then turned his head to the side, and uncomfortably lowered his head, his face inexplicably feeling a burning pain.
Dwayne Dantès, seemingly unaware, continued:
"Women much younger than me, innocent, lively, who make people feel like they are seeing the morning, unconsciously full of vitality, I also like..."