The more Roman thought about it, the more embarrassed he felt.
A vague desire welled up inside him, leaving him with a shameless sense of guilt.
“Pa. Pa.”
He patted both cheeks lightly, forcing himself to snap out of it.
“You’re right.”
However, he was being a little insincere now, but fortunately, Sylvia didn’t notice.
“Mm..”
Sylvia pulled Roman’s hand and sat him down on the stone bench, holding his hand in her palm as she asked.
“Did you have any objections to my arrangements last night?”
“Objections?”
Sitting upright beside Sylvia, Roman blinked, looking utterly confused.
From Sylvia’s angle, she could only see the left side of Roman’s face just now.
She didn’t rush to speak, instead observing him with a gentle, affectionate gaze.
She reached out and touched the side of Roman’s face.
Roman’s blinking grew a little uneasy, and after hesitating and shifting his gaze several times, he finally accepted Sylvia’s affectionate gesture.
Sylvia’s cool fingers traced along Roman’s cheek, slowly moving down to his jaw.
Suddenly, her loving expression froze for a moment.
Following her finger, she saw Roman’s skin hidden in the shadow of his collar.
Roman’s skin was baby-soft, pale with a hint of pink, making it so that even a light touch would leave red marks.
Sylvia’s gaze followed and landed on the strawberry marks scattered like raindrops over Roman’s collarbone.
Clearly, this child had done some homework before meeting her, with obvious traces of Magic Power concealment.
Unfortunately, Life isn’t all-powerful—at least not in this regard.
It could only make the storm of marks left by Loxia on his body a little less obvious.
Sylvia adjusted quickly.
The next moment, her expression returned to normal, and she smiled as she continued.
“Mm, with your status, even placing you in the position of Archbishop would be more than justified. But in the end, I only made you a Medical Officer of the Saint Key Knight Order.”
“Don’t you have any objections to my decision?”
Roman’s confused expression slowly faded.
He shook his head with a small, self-deprecating smile.
“You’re overthinking it. In fact, I’m grateful for your decision.”
“Grateful?”
Sylvia knew Roman wasn’t the type to say empty flattery, and her curiosity piqued.
She wanted to hear what reason he would give her.
“Mm.”
Roman nodded.
“If you placed me in a high and mighty position, I’d only feel lost, not knowing what to do at all.”
“I’m not like Milis, who has enough strength to command respect. If it were me, I’d probably just end up troubled.”
Sylvia didn’t look happy at Roman’s answer—instead, she frowned.
“If that’s what you’re worried about, then you’re overthinking it.”
“As long as I’m on the throne, no one would dare speak against your actions. I can’t control what happens in the shadows, but anyone who shows even the slightest hint in public. I’ll tear them to pieces myself.”
When she said ‘pieces,’ she wasn’t exaggerating.
She meant it in the literal, physical sense.
In the early days when Sylvia became Pope, there were those who opposed and looked down on her.
Some even spoke sarcastically to her in meetings.
The consequences for those people were obvious—so miserable that no one wanted to recall it.
As a Cardinal of the Cathedral, he was literally torn apart by Sylvia with a Space-Time Rupture.
The scattered ‘parts’ at the meeting left those old geezers utterly terrified.
Yet, from Sylvia’s perspective, the man was just a bit unlucky.
She wasn’t a bloodthirsty person, but she enjoyed this fearsome image.
That day, she decided to pick an unfortunate one as an example to kill the chicken to scare the monkeys.
The death of a Cardinal was no small matter.
After that, Sylvia never wasted unnecessary Magic Power on ruling the Cathedral.
Of course, just because she doesn’t do it anymore doesn’t mean she’s afraid.
For Roman, she’d do it again without hesitation.
As Roman’s longsword, Sylvia was willing—because he was now the most important person to her.
Roman was deeply moved by Sylvia’s protective words and expression.
He gently wrapped his arm around Sylvia’s and shook his head, showing affection.
“You don’t have to go that far. It’s not worth damaging your reputation for me.”
“Reputation?”
Sylvia laughed.
“You child, kindness is a virtue, but being too kind becomes a weakness.”
“As long as there’s enough reason, what’s the harm in killing someone? Those people are all scum—bullies who only submit to strength. Only by using both kindness and force can you make them truly loyal.”
“That still won’t do.”
Roman, holding Sylvia’s shoulder, shook his head.
“I don’t want you to do such things for my sake.”
Roman’s soft-spoken words and gestures even melted the heart of Sylvia, who had long been known for her iron will.
Sylvia felt that this child possessed a charm similar to Lainie’s.
No matter how hardened one’s heart was, it would soften in their presence.
“Fine, fine.”
She couldn’t help herself either.
“If you tell me not to, then I won’t.”
“Mm..”
Roman replied obediently, then after thinking for a moment, continued.
“Besides, I think just being in the Saint Key Knight Order is already the best outcome for me.”
“And why is that?”
Sylvia asked, curious.
“Mm..”
Roman’s thoughtful expression was also extremely adorable.
Long, curled lashes fluttered, and his small mouth was occasionally bitten by pearly teeth, as if organizing his words in his heart.
Sylvia accidentally found herself lost in thought, and after a few seconds, quickly withdrew her gaze.
Fortunately, Roman was naturally absent-minded.
When thinking, he was always absorbed, so he didn’t notice Sylvia’s change in expression.
“Because…the Rosetta Captain is there. With her around, I feel more at ease.”
In the end, Roman spoke, face slightly flushed.
Ha.
Sylvia was briefly surprised, then let out a helpless laugh.
She didn’t find it unpleasant.
On the contrary, she thought it was a wonderful piece of material she could use to tease Rosetta later.
First, because it was such a normal thing.
Second, she trusted Rosetta’s character.
If Roman had developed feelings of admiration for a questionable Knight, Sylvia would seriously consider whether or not to eliminate the person.
Every girl dreams of becoming a Knight when they’re young, and every gallant female Knight is the object of admiration for little boys.
It was only natural that Roman, as a child, would look up to Knights, and the Rosetta Captain was a Knight King-like figure.
Admiring her was completely normal.
Tsk tsk…
Sylvia felt a bit of displeasure at this thought.
No matter what, her status made it impossible for her to play the role of Knight at Roman’s side.
It was a kind of regret.
“Why does being near the Rosetta Captain make you feel more at ease?”
Sylvia asked with a teasing smile.