In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 148

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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 148

A few days later.

Migente Aivan entered the study carrying his father’s medicine.

“Over here, Migente.”

The Aivan clan head, sitting in an armchair by the window with a tired face, called out to Migente.

“I’ve brought your medicine, Father.”

“Mm, yes, bring it here.”

Migente watched his father drink the medicine with a weary expression.

The Aivan clan head had only recently risen from his sickbed after his long-standing chronic illness had worsened.

The family physician kept telling him he shouldn’t overwork himself like this, but the clan head wouldn’t listen.

Knowing his father’s nature well—that once he set his mind on something, he wouldn’t change it—Migente didn’t try to dissuade the Aivan clan head. Instead, he took on the internal affairs of the territory himself to share the workload.

But that didn’t make the heavy worry in his heart for his father disappear.

“You’ll collapse at this rate, Father.”

“This much won’t affect me.”

The Aivan clan head spoke with a troubled expression.

Since the landslide, he hadn’t had a single proper night’s sleep.

When he closed his eyes, he could hear again the thunderous roar and people’s screams from that night of the landslide.

“The territory’s people are suffering more than I am.”

The Aivan clan head felt the weight of responsibility for this incident more than anyone.

And because Migente understood this feeling, he had quietly helped his father with his work, but today he carefully gathered his courage.

“How about accepting the relief funds?”

But the Aivan clan head ignored those words.

He downed all the remaining medicine in the bottle in one gulp, roughly wiped his mouth with his sleeve, and stood up from his seat.

“I’ll be back late tonight. I’m going to deliver the Triva lumber to Onyx Estate, so while I’m gone, you take care of entertaining the guests at the manor.”

“Couldn’t you just send people to deliver the lumber? No, I’ll go instead. Father, please rest a little.”

“No, I, as the clan head, need to show my face so their grievances can be lessened even a little.”

“If you really want to help them, please accept the Imperial relief funds.”

“…I’ll be going now.”

“Father!”

“Don’t you understand yet!”

Finally, angry voices were exchanged between father and son.

“Nothing good will come from getting further entangled with the Durellia Imperial House! This whole incident happened because Ronchent dragged the Imperial family into Aivan’s business!”

The Aivan clan head, who had shouted until veins bulged on his wrinkled forehead, swayed for a moment.

It was because his vision had momentarily darkened.

“Father!”

Migente quickly approached the Aivan clan head and helped him sit back down in the chair.

“Huu…”

The Aivan clan head sighed deeply and said,

“It’s all my fault. I shouldn’t have entrusted the family’s affairs to Ronchent.”

“But brother’s words had merit too. The succession struggle will break out soon, won’t it? So there’s nothing wrong with cooperating with Angenas, the Empress’s family. According to brother, the Crown Prince will be the First Prince anyway.”

“Ha!”

The Aivan clan head snorted as if incredulous and asked Migente,

“Now you’ve seen the Second Prince too. How did he appear to you? Do you still think the First Prince will naturally become Crown Prince, Migente?”

Migente avoided answering.

The Aivan clan head clicked his tongue as if he had expected this.

“Right. I knew my eldest son wasn’t very bright, but I didn’t know he was blind too.”

“Brother’s judgment about His Highness the Second Prince might be wrong. If so, shouldn’t we accept the Imperial subsidies even more? Since this is the Second Prince’s first assignment, we should cooperate well with him.”

At Migente’s words, the Aivan clan head was silent for a moment.

Could he be changing his mind?

Migente waited with an anxious heart.

But the Aivan clan head soon shook his head.

“Angenas money always comes with strings attached. No matter how much they call it a fine, if we accept it, who knows what they’ll say later.”

Having said that, the Aivan clan head stood up from his seat.

“It’s right to solve this without the Imperial family’s help, Migente.”

“Father…”

After the Aivan clan head left the study, Migente, left alone, sighed out of habit.

His father had always preferred helping others rather than receiving help.

However, his anger at himself for being bedridden with worsening illness at such a crucial time, and his distrust of the Empress, had become thoroughly mixed together.

He was denying the reality that they needed to accept help of any kind.

Though his father would realize this in time, it was the northern residents who would suffer in the meantime.

“This can’t continue.”

Just then, Migente’s eyes fell on a document placed on the clan head’s desk.

Judging by the red seal stamped on it, it was an urgent report.

“His Highness the Second Prince is personally managing relief funds and distributing food to the residents of Aivan and nearby territories…”

Aivan was also distributing relief supplies, but it was woefully insufficient.

It would be solved if they went outside the northern region to buy food and manpower, but Aivan currently lacked the money.

After staring at the report for a moment, Migente folded it in half and put it in his pocket.

“I can’t hide it completely, but I can buy some time.”

As he quietly left the study, Migente spotted Peres returning to the manor on horseback.

It had already been five days since the prince’s party arrived in the north.

During this time, neither Lombardi’s young lady nor Ruman’s heir had idly spent time at the manor, but the Second Prince had been so busy moving around that they could barely meet him face to face.

He had wondered about this, but it turned out it was because he was personally going around distributing food.

After watching Peres’s retreating figure from the window for a moment, Migente returned to his own study.

He selected a few documents from those he had been reading that morning and left his study again.

It was strange.

What he was doing now was an enormous thing.

Even though he was a son, he could be charged with insubordination against the Aivan clan head.

That’s why he had been agonizing over it for days.

But strangely, there was no more hesitation in his heart.

After learning today what the Second Prince had been doing, it seemed like the muddy water in his heart had settled calmly.

Knock knock.

“This is Migente Aivan. May I come in for a moment, Your Highness?”

Migente knocked on the Second Prince’s bedroom door.

“Come in.”

Peres was just taking off his outer coat.

“What brings you here, Migente Aivan?”

“I have something to give you.”

Migente handed the documents he was holding to Peres.

“This is…”

“These are the exact damage reports from the lords of the landslide-affected areas and the compensation amounts they requested from Aivan. With these documents, Your Highness should be able to distribute relief funds to each region without my father’s consent.”

* * *

It’s already been ten days since we came to Aivan.

During this time, I’ve been frantically busy taking Lombardi’s technicians to visit places they were needed and coordinating so that the lumber Lombardi purchased from Pellet Trading Company could be delivered throughout the northern region.

Today too, for my sake since I had no time, Violet came to Aivan Manor carrying flowers as if making a personal visit, and was reporting on Pellet Trading Company’s affairs.

“Starting tomorrow, we’ll open the second storehouse. Of those, 50 trees will go to Aivan, and the remaining 130 trees will be distributed equally among the surrounding territories.”

“Opening the storehouse is slower than planned?”

“It seems there’s a shortage of manpower to transport the lumber.”

“If we buy labor from other places, it would progress much faster. Though it would be expensive since it’s harvest season.”

“The Jonic Estate located southeast of Aivan says they’re buying labor from central cities starting today.”

“Really? Did they have some extra money?”

While the Aivan lord continues to stubbornly refuse the Imperial Court’s relief funds, it’s fortunate if even one estate is recovering quickly.

Just then, my body shivered slightly from the cold wind that came through the open window.

“The northern region already feels like mid-autumn, Violet.”

“Once summer ends, the weather quickly turns cold like this. Please dress warmly, Lady Pirenthia.”

“Actually, Father sent me thick clothes through the Gallahan Clothing Shop Aivan Branch, about as much as that pile over there.”

I said, pointing to the clothes neatly organized in one corner of my bedroom.

“But that’s not all – he says he’s sending another batch tomorrow morning.”

Then Violet smiled softly and said.

“Lord Gallahan must be very worried. This is the first time Lady Pirenthia has left Lombardy, isn’t it?”

“Even so, there aren’t many days left before returning to Lombardy. I’ll end up going back without even trying them on once.”

I said that and picked up one of the dresses I had pre-selected from those Father sent.

It was a dress made of deep rose-colored silk that would make my green eyes stand out more, adorned with thin black lace.

Now I need to change clothes.

“I’ll help you, Lady Pirenthia.”

“Would you? Thank you, Violet. I just need to change into the dress.”

After changing clothes with Violet’s help, I sat in front of the vanity to choose appropriate accessories from what I brought.

“Hmm. Of all things, this one matches.”

What I chose was the ruby hairpin that Peres had given me as a gift long ago.

“What’s wrong, Lady Pirenthia?”

“This hairpin. It matches the dress I’m wearing really well, doesn’t it?”

“It does. It’s as if they were made as a matching set.”

But Peres will also be coming to tonight’s dinner.

That thought came first.

I fiddled with the pin with my fingertips and eventually put it in my hair.

It matches well, so it would be strange to deliberately not use it.

“Then I’ll see you at Pellet Trading Company tomorrow, Violet.”

Confirming it was almost time for the dinner to begin, I said goodbye to Violet and opened my bedroom door.

And.

“Huh?”

I bumped into Peres right in front of me, who had one hand raised as if he was about to knock on the door.

“Hello, Peres.”

I greeted him in a nonchalant voice.

But Peres looked somewhat surprised.

His red eyes looking straight at me seemed strangely unfocused.

“…Hello, Tia.”

Peres, who had been silent for a few seconds, greeted me a beat late.

“I came to escort you.”

“Mm. Yes, thank you for being considerate.”

“That person…”

Peres said, looking at Violet beyond my open room door.

“She’s from Pellet Trading Company, right?”

He seems to already know who Violet is.

“She came to greet me knowing I was at Aivan Estate. We’re close since I’ve known her since childhood.”

“I see.”

Peres nodded and extended his hand to me.

It meant he would escort me.

I hesitated for a moment, looking down at that hand.

It’s just an escort.

My heart, which had been pounding since I encountered Peres earlier, beats even more frantically.

My mind was arbitrarily drawing unnecessarily vivid images of what happened at the lakeside.

Peres’s body temperature I felt where we touched, his low voice, and his deep red eyes that looked at me.

And Peres’s body that was beautiful under the moonlight…

Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts!

I held back the urge to shake my head vigorously and grabbed Peres’s hand with the most nonchalant, relaxed smile I could manage.

We walked down the corridor without conversation.

An inevitably awkward atmosphere flowed.

The Aivan employees we occasionally encountered were welcome to the point of relief.

No, perhaps the awkwardness was only on my part.

Because Peres was staring intently at my profile as I looked straight ahead.

“Ah, we’ve arrived now.”

Fortunately, it wasn’t a very long distance from my room to the dining hall.

Though the perceived distance was a slightly different matter.

“It’s not that far, right?”

I said that somewhat and tried to let go of Peres’s hand.

“…Peres?”

But Peres’s hand didn’t let go of mine.

Instead, he held it even more firmly.

“F-first, we need to open the dining hall door…”

“Tia.”

When I tried to pull my hand away once more, Peres called me urgently and stepped closer.

Now his face was right in front of me.

“You’re wearing the hairpin I gave you.”

At the sound right by my ear, I unconsciously startled and flinched my shoulders.

“It’s, it’s pretty! I wear it often normally too!”

“Really? I’m happy.”

Peres said with a smile.

It was no different from usual, that characteristic smile of his where only the corners of his mouth turn up.

But why does that smile look more seductive today!

Finding it hard to keep looking at Peres’s face, I lowered my gaze.

“…Huh?”

And I had to be surprised once more.

No, I was genuinely surprised incomparably more than before.

Because at some point, my hand was also tightly gripping Peres’s hand.

As if I didn’t want to let go of that large, warm hand.

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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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