"I saw destruction, but I didn't know when it would come, nor did I know what would cause it. I was consumed by panic."
Lawrence did not interrupt. She merely bit her finger and looked at Roman.
He had seen destruction, yet knew nothing about it.
"My wish was to live on as a human, because I wanted to experience the happiness and fulfillment of being human. When I sat upon that throne, I hadn't lived for myself for even a single second. So I developed such an ordinary, almost laughably mundane wish." Roman gave a self-mocking smile.
".Don't say that, Roman. You and I both know that it was the most wonderful thing." Lawrence shook her head, affirming Roman's wish. "At least, for us, it was the most wonderful thing."
".Thank you, Lawrence." Roman looked up at Lawrence for a moment, then smiled and nodded at her.
The happiness and fulfillment of being human. After a life of great upheaval, that was often what one sought.
Because for a life of grandeur and turbulence, that was the most precious thing of all.
"Even if I wanted to pursue something like that, though... no one could remain unmoved after seeing something like that in the end, could they?" Shaking his head with a bitter smile, Roman let out an involuntary sigh.
"So, after becoming human, I began investigating."
"But there wasn't the slightest trace of anything."
"After all, I was no longer King Solomon. That wasn't me. Now, I was only Romani Archaman, an ordinary human."
Lawrence pressed her lips together. Looking at Roman's defeated expression and weary eyes, she did not know what to say.
Anyone would have been at a loss after witnessing such a sight.
After all, the destruction of the world—what a terrifying phrase that was.