As the morning sun shone through the arched windows on the top of Sophia Cathedral and penetrated, Roger lay quietly on the platform on the second floor.

He couldn't see what was happening in the hall.

The people who came and went in the hall could not see him.

Even if he was not seen, the Varangi Guard was responsible for inspecting the soldiers on the second floor.

The soldier walked over Roger and the other eight Normans who were also lying against the outer wall and came over again.

He seemed to have not seen the Norman on the platform on the second floor at all.

He shouted to the bottom: "The second floor is safe."

Then the soldier disappeared into the corridor from the slope.

After a while, Roger's sensitive ears heard the slogans of the army coming from outside the church.

He heard a lot of people walking outside.

He heard that all nine gates of the church were opened.

There is a slightly old voice, which is said below:

"Great Caesar, the shepherd of God pays homage to you."

Then, Roger heard a strange voice.

The voice was calm and with a hint of majesty, he said:

“I am just a mortal before Jesus.”

Roger quietly climbed to the edge of the platform on the second floor, and he looked down through the gaps in the railings.

He saw the servants and staff in the hall leaving, and the nine gates were closed one by one.

Soon, there were only two people left in the spacious church hall.

One is an old man dressed in a gorgeous white hat with gold emblem on his head, a huge gem-inlaid cross in his neck, and a beaded jade staff in his hand.

Another middle-aged man with a short stature, ugly appearance, dark eyes, hair and skin like a Moorish one.

The middle-aged man was wearing a purple dress, a crown on his head, and did not have much decoration on his body.

Roger speculated that the old man was the Patriarch of Constantinople, and the middle-aged man in purple should be the deputy emperor John.

He heard John say, "I will repent for the sufferings suffered by the people under my rule, and they died at the hands of the Royal Guard, although it was not my instruction."

Roger saw the Patriarch directing John to the altar.

So John knelt down toward the statue of Jesus.

The Patriarch did not stand in front of John, but stood on the side of John.

John closed his eyes, prayed in his mouth, and muttered words.

Roger greeted his men with gestures, and they moved carefully to the platform behind the Patriarch.

Then he quietly threw down the rope tied to the gallery column.

Then they immediately slid down the rope from the second floor.

The Patriarch did not notice the abnormality behind it.

The moment John said, “I am guilty”, he opened his mouth and recited the Bible:

"Therefore, the Lord tells us: 'All sins and blasphemy of man can be forgiven, but only blasphemy of the Holy Spirit can be forgiven. Anyone who speaks and commits sin against the Son of man can be forgiven; but only those who speaks and commits sin against the Holy Spirit can be forgiven in this life and in the next life.'"

Then the Patriarch said, "You have never committed the devout Caesar, John of the Komuning family, to blasphemy the Holy Spirit, and therefore the Lord will forgive your sins."

Roger knew that the passage that the Patriarch recited came from the Gospel of the Bible, Matthew.

So he also chose the words in the Gospel of Matthew and said:

"If the blind man leads the blind man, both of them will fall into the pit."

Roger said, pulling out the "mosquito bite" and walking forward and putting it on John's shoulder.

Henk also placed his sword next to the shocked neck of the Mu Head.

Roger seemed a little surprised to see John at first, but he quickly calmed down.

He praised John's performance in his heart.

But he was not forgiven at all, he said:

"Your sin is too great. Not only can the small chapel in the palace not accommodate it, but this cathedral cannot accommodate it either."

John said calmly: "What do you want to do?"

Roger felt that he had controlled the situation, so he relaxed a lot.

He said in a playful tone: "I'll talk to you about some private matters."

Then he looked at the Patriarch and said, "Sorry, I've pulled you in. It has nothing to do with you."

The Patriarch trembled with his lips and said, "Then I'll go out and avoid it."

Roger said: "I can't let you go out for the time being, why don't you 'sleep' for a while first."

He asked the guard to cut the stool foot and signaled the guard to knock the captain unconscious with the wooden stick.

The Patriarch said in a panic: "Don't, don't hit me, I, I will do it myself, I will do it myself."

Roger asked his guard to hand over the wooden stick to the Patriarch.

The old man pulled off his white hat, held the wooden stick nervously with both hands, and hesitated.

Roger was impatient and said, "Come and help him."

The Patriarch was like a cat with a stomped on his tail, and was shocked.

He said, "No, no, I can do it, I can do it!"

Then he gritted his teeth and smashed the stick on his forehead.

He didn't faint at once, but he smashed it again.

Two, three.

All the blood came out.

Roger shook his head, he thought, this is just unprofessional, just change me.

The Patriarch seemed to have made his promise, and he swung his stick and smashed it to his forehead desperately.

"Bangbangbangbangbang"

Finally, he tilted his body and collapsed, lying on the ground and stopped moving.

Roger knew this man was a smart man.

No matter whether the Patriarch is really dizzy or fake, after such an operation, no one will hold him accountable, or silence him because he listens to what he shouldn't have heard.

Roger no longer cared about the Patriarch, he said to John:

"Before talking about the serious matter, please help open the certificate of the letter."

John said calmly: "No problem, please give me the pen and parchment from the cabinet next to you."

The guard brought it to John.

John said, “Can I get up and write?”

So Roger withdrew his sword.

John stood up, spread the parchment on the altar, dipped his pen into ink, and then he said:

"Your name, the title you want."

Roger said: "It's not me, it's Boschmond, who wants to inherit Prince Antioch."

So John wrote on parchment.

Soon he finished writing, and then he took off his ring, dipped it ink, and covered his insignia on the seal.

John handed the letter to Roger and said:

"Now I know who you are, what's next?

"Would I write another letter of conferment and appoint you as Prince of Apulia, Calabria and Sicily? Or the King?"

Roger was stunned and threw the letter to Linardi.

Linardi checked it quickly, then carefully rolled it up and stuffed it into her arms.

Roger said: "What does it mean?"

John said, "Those places were the territory of Eastern Rome before, and were occupied by you Normans. If you are willing to be loyal to me, I will make you king."

Roger pretended to be stupid: "That's the territory of the Norman nobles, I'm just a mercenary captain."

John said: "Although it is not clear why you set up a mercenary group called 'Catalonia' and serve as the leader of the group.

"But as the Count of Sicily and the actual controller of Calabria, Lord Roger, I still recognize your abilities.

"As long as you are willing to be loyal to me, I will appoint you as the emperor.

"And the territory you control can be an independent military district, and I will not interfere with your rule.
Chapter completed!