In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 146

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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This Life, I Will Become the Clan Head Episode 146

Thump thump.

My heart was beating like crazy.

It seemed like the reason was because I had unintentionally ended up looking like I was caught peeping at Peres’s bathing scene.

Or maybe.

Thump.

Once again, my heart beat loudly as if it was sinking down.

It was the moment I met Peres’s brightly shining eyes.

Beautiful.

That was the only thought that came to mind.

His face with wet hair swept back, and his deep eyes and nose bridge with shadows cast heavily by moonlight.

His muscular body that shone pale from being wet with water, and yet the hot body temperature of Peres that was transmitted from where our bodies touched.

The long eyelashes that hung over the eyes looking down at me.

And the worry about me contained in his thick eyebrows furrowed with concern.

Held in Peres’s strong arms, I still couldn’t do this or that and just hoped for my heart’s loud pounding to subside.

“…Tia?”

It was Peres who helped me stand up.

Large hands with moisture grabbed both my shoulders and set me upright.

“Ah….”

At that moment, a sense of loss I had never felt before washed over me.

What exactly is this emotion?

And before I could even find the reason for it, Peres bent his large body to match mine and approached.

Calloused hands cupped my cheeks.

“You still seem to have a bit of a fever.”

Yes, I would have a fever.

It might not be a fever from a cold, but my cheeks would be somewhat hot.

I finally came to my senses and stepped back half a step.

“Sorry, Peres. I heard the sound of water and followed it, then unintentionally. I’ll apologize properly.”

I spoke while hiding my trembling voice as much as possible.

“…It’s fine.”

“No. Of course this is a public place, but anyway, when I realized you were undressed, I should have turned back right away….”

As I said that and looked at Peres’s body, I saw things that hadn’t caught my eye just moments before.

“What are all these… What are these scars?”

Peres’s broad chest and back were covered with small marks.

“They’re not wounds, they’re scars.”

“Right, so scars! Why are there so many!”

Most of them were thin like thread, but the ones on his left arm and right side were quite large and deep.

They looked like traces of dark red, hideous snakes that had passed over Peres’s body.

“If scars remained like this, just how big were the original wounds?”

“It’s something that happens often during training.”

Peres said nonchalantly.

“Training? What kind of training do you do so intensely? Were there people bullying you at the Academy too? No, more importantly, isn’t training supposed to be done with wooden swords or something?!”

At my words, Peres chuckled and answered.

“Handling a sword is ultimately a fight between the intent to kill and the instinct to survive. You can’t improve without using real swords, Tia.”

“Ah….”

That’s right. A sword is.

Since he wasn’t wearing clothes, I could also see the small scars on Peres’s hands and arms.

And I pointed to the dark red wound on his waist that had been bothering me the most and asked.

“Just tell me the name of the person who left this on your body. This was definitely some other intention disguised as training.”

“…I don’t really know either.”

“Why don’t you know the name? It must have been someone from the Academy.”

“This isn’t a wound from training.”

Then I remembered.

“Sometimes there were sudden attacks.”

Those words about how the Empress used to send people to kill Peres.

“I can’t ask a dead person their name now.”

The fact that Peres is standing here now means the assassin sent by the Empress died.

I looked up at Peres quietly.

I keep making mistakes.

Just because I intervened in young Peres’s life and created a better environment doesn’t mean everything became easy.

His life is still fierce.

As much as these deep scars that remain here.

I brought my hand over the roughly remaining scars.

“It must have hurt a lot.”

I could almost picture the devastation of that day when this wound was made.

But when my hand touched his waist, a change occurred.

Peres’s body flinched slightly and his stomach tensed firmly.

The perfectly sculpted muscles revealed an even more tense appearance.

The body temperature of Peres felt through my fingertips also became hotter.

Clench.

I could see his firm arms with blue veins protruding as he made fists.

I raised my head to look up at Peres.

“….”

I met eyes that had become deep and dark.

I could read something tightly drawn and precarious within them.

From Peres’s bare chest that rose and fell quietly but greatly, I could feel the heat being suppressed and endured.

His long eyelids trembled once as he looked down at me.

At that moment, the surrounding sounds that had been pushed somewhere returned, and I could realize the current situation.

Under the moonlight, I could finally see myself touching Peres’s body and him with only a cloak roughly draped around his waist.

“Hup!”

I quickly removed my hands from Peres’s body and said.

“I, I’ll go back to the carriage! I, I need to sleep a bit more!”

Then I hurriedly walked along the forest path that made rustling sounds with each step.

Splash!

I heard the sound of Peres jumping back into the lake behind me.

* * *

We safely arrived at the Aivan Estate.

Since we had moved on such a fast schedule, everyone was extremely tired and exhausted, but the journey ended without major incident.

The estate residents, who were busy with castle wall reconstruction work, welcomed us with both arms raised, as we were like the advance guard of relief supplies that would continue from the central government.

The problem began after we entered the Aivan Manor.

“Welcome, Your Highness the Crown Prince. And welcome to the Lombardi young lady and the Ruman young master as well. I am Migente Aivan.”

Migente Aivan is the second son of the Aivan House head and the younger brother of the Deputy Lord of Aivan House in the Imperial Capital.

“…Where is the Aivan House head?”

Avinox and I aside, the Crown Prince had come carrying supplies to help Aivan under imperial orders.

But the one greeting the Crown Prince and his party wasn’t the Aivan House head himself.

This was an enormous political discourtesy.

If this had been Astana, the entire territory would have been in an uproar by now.

Peres’s face had also hardened stiffly.

“Father is… this morning there was another landslide, so he urgently had to…”

Migente Aivan hurriedly made excuses before finally bowing his head and saying.

“I apologize, Your Highness.”

I quietly observed the situation.

After all, the representative of this procession was Peres, who had received the imperial command.

“…It’s good to see him prioritizing the safety of his people.”

So he’s going to wait and see for now.

At Peres’s words, Migente said with slight embarrassment.

“We have prepared an evening banquet. Please rest and recover from your journey, and we’ll send someone to guide you, Your Highness.”

“Do so.”

A servant provided by Aivan came out and guided me, Peres, and Avinox to our respective rooms.

“See you in a bit.”

Ever since that incident by the lakeside, Peres and I had become somewhat awkward.

It couldn’t be helped.

The atmosphere that day had warranted it.

Left alone in my room for the first time in a long while, I found a comfortable chair and sat down.

“Ah, this is comfortable.”

A maid named Beki, provided by the Aivan family, had said she would prepare warm bath water.

So until she returned, I was alone.

I propped my feet up on the low table in front of the armchair and thought.

“It seems like the Aivan patriarch intends to be quite difficult.”

* * *

My prediction was correct.

The Aivan patriarch was quite difficult to deal with.

“I will not accept the relief funds.”

These were the first words spoken by the Aivan patriarch seated at the banquet table.

“Father!”

Migente cried out as if to stop him, but the Aivan patriarch didn’t budge.

“Are you refusing the imperial command?”

At Peres’s words, the Aivan patriarch raised his darkly shadowed eyes.

It was quite different from the Aivan patriarch in my memories.

Gone was his always hearty demeanor befitting a northerner.

The atmosphere had become as sharp as his hardened face.

“I’m saying I won’t accept money. Though I will shamelessly accept the timber prepared by the Lombardi family and the relief supplies from the Ruman family.”

The Aivan patriarch said with a slight bow toward me.

“What is your reason?”

Peres asked in a calm voice.

It wasn’t a reproach, but a question born of pure curiosity.

The Aivan patriarch seemed to sense this, softening his tone slightly as he spoke.

“Since this happened due to Aivan’s mistake, Aivan will take responsibility.”

“Hmm.”

Migente seemed to already know of this decision by the Aivan patriarch, showing a reserved demeanor.

“Is there a reason you must take the difficult path? These are relief funds gathered out of concern for the north. Please reconsider.”

Peres said.

But the Aivan patriarch still stubbornly shook his head.

“Aivan alone is sufficient to take responsibility for the north.”

Having said this, the Aivan patriarch rose from his seat without even eating.

“I must go out again at dawn. May I excuse myself first?”

“…Do so.”

“Thank you for coming from so far away, Lady Lavinia Angenas and Young Master Ruman. Let us meet again.”

With that, the Aivan patriarch left.

In the dining hall left with only awkward silence, only Migente’s low sighs continued at length.

* * *

The next day.

While the engineers from Lombardi Construction went to inspect the walls and collapsed buildings.

I moved alone without bringing a maid.

My destination was the Pellet Company branch located in the Aivan territory.

“Lady Pirenthia!”

As soon as I opened the door and entered, a familiar voice greeted me.

“It’s been so long, Violet!”

“Wasn’t the journey difficult? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Perhaps because we were meeting after almost a year, Violet grasped my hands with both of hers and asked various questions.

“I’m fine. You’re the one who’s had a hard time in this distant place. But you seem to be doing well.”

The Aivan branch of Pellet Company was a small place, but it was very neat, directly reflecting the meticulous and orderly personality of Violet, who was in charge.

“I’ll escort you to the study, Lady Pirenthia.”

The study located upstairs was so very much like Violet.

It was organized so well that it was hard to believe it was a space used daily.

Violet, who immediately brought tea, took a seat across from me.

“So how have things been lately, Violet?”

“Since there’s no more timber purchasing, I’m so leisurely that I feel ashamed toward the others.”

“You’ve worked hard all this time, so rest a little. I heard from Cleribane that the Monark trading post was quite troublesome.”

“Ah, yes…”

The smile slightly faded from Violet’s face.

“I know that Nosier, the official head of the trading post, stays in the Imperial Capital. Who exactly is it? The person who troubled you so much in the north.”

“The person in charge of the Monark trading post is… quite a difficult person to deal with.”

“A difficult person?”

This was the first time I’d heard Violet evaluate someone like that.

“I suppose they’re the type who schemes a lot?”

“No, if that were the case, I wouldn’t have struggled so much…”

Violet said with a somewhat bitter smile.

“Rather, they’re far from schemes or tricks. Despite being young, there isn’t an auction they don’t attend, more of the type who works with their feet.”

“You mean diligent? Enough to trouble Violet?”

“Yes, to just call it diligent is a bit… The word ‘desperate’ would be more fitting.”

Desperate?

Violet was someone who would be hurt to be called second in diligence among people I knew.

She was on par with Grandfather, who woke up at dawn every day and worked until night.

But for such a Violet to make that evaluation.

“She also has the nerve needed for auctions, so all the items from auctions I couldn’t personally attend went to the Monark trading post.”

“You mean it’s a woman? The person in charge of the Monark trading post?”

“Yes, a woman named Ramona. Since she doesn’t use a surname, she seems to be a commoner.”

“That person’s name is… what did you say?”

“Ramona, Lady Pirenthia.”

Ramona.

The moment I heard that somewhat familiar name, it felt like something had dropped with a thud deep inside my chest.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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