Rosie’s tea-colored irises shimmered like a cool spring pool. A gentle breeze rippled across the surface, stirring faint waves.

  She was quiet, almost eerily so. Having endured too much malice from adults, she harbored an extreme, bitter loathing for the world.

  Most of the time, her eyes were hollow and numb. No matter how lively the people around her were or how beautiful the scenery outside, she remained untouched, as if her world was so silent that only she existed within it.

  At Star Luo Residence, Rosie’s presence was so faint that even the maids often forgot she was there. Her days were spent practicing swordsmanship, studying, and eating meals on schedule. She rarely spoke unless absolutely necessary.

  Perhaps the only time she showed a flicker of childishness was when she was with Luo Wei.

  To be fair to both children, Luo Wei reached out and patted Rosie’s head as well. Her hair, unlike Roman’s soft locks, felt dry and coarse from long-term use of hair dye.

  She’d once had beautiful reddish-brown hair, but to hide her identity, she’d had no choice but to dye it black.

  “Hair dye damages your scalp,” Luo Wei said gently. “Use it less from now on. If the roots show, just wear a hat or scarf.”

  “Yes, Miss,” Rosie replied, her voice hoarse but obedient.

  “Miss, I want to dye my hair black too!” Roman squeezed back into the conversation, tugging at his short flaxen-brown hair. “I want to dye it the same color as yours!”

  Luo Wei raised an eyebrow. “Absolutely not.”

  This kid must have hit his rebellious phase early.

  Looking at Roman’s exquisite face—like that of a moon elf—she softened her tone and coaxed him patiently. “If you dye it black, it won’t match your eyebrows. You look best just the way you are now.”

  “Really?!” Roman’s misty peach-blossom eyes lit up. When he smiled, his eyes curved into crescent moons. “Miss, do you think I look the best?”

  Beside him, Rosie, who’d been shoved aside, nearly rolled her eyes. When had Miss said he looked the best? He was just putting words in her mouth!

  But to Rosie’s disappointment, Miss didn’t refute him. Instead, she went along with his words.

  “That’s right—you look the best. So don’t dye your hair black. If you do, you won’t look good anymore,” Luo Wei humored him.

  Roman’s personality was worlds apart from Rosie’s. He’d grown up scraping by in society, clever and calculating. Though he appeared cheerful, he was smooth and slick beneath the surface.

  Before Luo Wei found him, he’d lived hand-to-mouth, but he’d never been pushed to the brink of death. The malice of strangers wasn’t like the malice of familiar people in a fixed social circle—it didn’t weave webs to trap and kill him.

  When food was scarce, mental suffering didn’t matter much. The torment Roman endured was mainly physical, so he didn’t harbor the same hatred for the world that Rosie did.

  Mentally strong people don’t blame the world—they reflect on why they aren’t strong enough. Roman was just like that.

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  Even without Luo Wei, Roman would have survived. He just would have lived more miserably. Because of this, he was confident in his own abilities and felt a detached indifference toward his peers’ suffering—the way a smart person can’t empathize with a fool.

  This kind of proud, confident child responded better to carrots than sticks. To educate him, you had to stroke with the grain.

  Sure enough, after hearing Luo Wei’s praise, Roman grinned from ear to ear. “Okay! Then I won’t dye it!”

  “Good boy!” Luo Wei patted his head again and sat back down on the stone bench. “How’s the training going for the kids I put you in charge of?”

  Two months ago, she’d had Roman recruit twenty-one street children and fourteen children from poor families pretending to be street kids.

  After the mulberry orchard was completed, all thirty-five children had been sent there to raise chickens and ducks.

  Roman and Rosie visited the orchard every few days. This was Luo Wei’s requirement.

  Those children not only had poor living habits but were also illiterate. Luo Wei had Roman and Rosie regularly inspect their daily routines and teach them arithmetic and reading.

  This was a win-win-win arrangement. First, it let the children learn some basic knowledge. Second, it trained Roman and Rosie’s leadership skills. And third...

  The oldest of those kids was already twelve—old enough to marry and have children in this era. The youngest was six, the golden age for instilling loyalty.

  Teenagers’ thoughts were easiest to influence. They were eager to accept new things. Being educated by adults made them rebellious, but having peers subtly influence them was much easier.

  Both Rosie and Roman were “Luo Wei fans.” Their feelings were sincere and intense, making them highly infectious.

  Plus, Roman was a former street kid himself. Standing before those children, he was a role model—a walking success story who could motivate them to work harder.

  They said it took twenty-one days to form a habit. After two months, even if they weren’t completely transformed, they should have improved significantly.

  “They’re a bit slow, but they study hard. Right now they can only write simple greetings and number words. They’re better at arithmetic—they’ve already learned addition, subtraction, and multiplication up to ten,” Roman reported confidently.

  In Luo Wei’s view, learning that much in two months was already impressive. Even now, some students at the academy still couldn’t do multiplication.

  “Some of them are smart, some are slower to react,” Rosie offered a more balanced assessment. “They’re very serious when they study, and they follow the rules we set.”

  “Washing hands before meals, lining up for food, keeping their bodies clean and rooms tidy, and doing morning sword practice to exercise—they do all of it well. The chicks and ducklings are also very healthy.”

  It was clear Roman and Rosie had divided responsibilities when training these children. Roman handled teaching knowledge, while Rosie managed daily life.

  “Very good,” Luo Wei praised. “You didn’t let me down. You completed the task excellently.”

  Roman and Rosie puffed out their chests, smiles unconsciously appearing on their faces.

  Luo Wei: “Now, I’m giving you a second task.”

  Roman and Rosie immediately wiped away their smiles and became serious. “Miss, please tell us!”

  “My friend is in trouble. Her family is under siege by Moon God worshippers. If we want to save them, the best way is to turn them into Sun God worshippers, but they’re unwilling to give their most loyal faith to the Sun God.”

  Luo Wei looked at the two children and slowed her speech. “So what do you think we should do in this situation?”

  Both lowered their heads and thought deeply.

  After a few seconds, Roman spoke first. “Miss, do you want the Moon God worshippers to believe that your friend’s family has become Sun God worshippers?”

  “Yes.” Luo Wei nodded.

  Roman said, “If that’s the case, then we just need to spread the news among the Sun and Moon Gods’ followers—say that your friend’s family already worships the Sun God.”

  This child was truly too clever. Luo Wei marveled internally. While thinking about how to achieve the goal, he’d also first figured out her intent.

  That’s right. His method was exactly what she’d been thinking.

  Getting Count Wesley to actually worship the Sun God—even if he agreed, it would be psychologically difficult to do immediately. But announcing to outsiders that he worshipped the Sun God was much simpler.

  It was just an announcement. They didn’t even need to truly believe it.

  The Moon God worshippers definitely wouldn’t believe it. The Sun God worshippers might not believe it either.

  But as long as they created a psychological illusion—making each side think the other side had already believed it—the war in Gelu City could dissolve into nothing.

  In communication studies, this was called the third-person effect.

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