In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 149

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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 149

My hand, have you gone crazy?

Why are you holding Peres’s hand like that?

My heart, have you gone crazy too?

Why are you beating so frantically like this!

It was when my mental state was collapsing due to these body parts acting up completely against my will.

“Tia.”

That was all.

Peres had simply called my name.

Thump thump.

But my heart beat even more ridiculously.

And my eyes kept turning toward Peres’s face.

No, to be precise, to his lips.

Like being drawn to a magnet, I kept finding myself staring at his lips.

Peres must have sensed this change in me too.

The gaze that was firmly fixed as if entangled with my eyes grew hot.

Completely exposed to that gaze, I couldn’t move.

Slowly.

And taking advantage of that moment, his fingers slipped between each of my fingers and interlocked firmly.

“…Ugh.”

It was the same this time too.

It was just that, but it felt so, excessively close.

But I couldn’t push him away.

“Too…”

Handsome.

Right, all of this was because of Peres’s insane good looks.

I squeezed my eyes shut tight.

Because it seemed like I’d regain my senses only if I couldn’t see Peres’s face.

“Pe, Peres.”

“…Yeah?”

I was wrong.

With my eyes closed, how spine-tinglingly good Peres’s voice was only became more nakedly apparent.

I opened my eyes and spoke, pulling up my self-control from the very bottom of my feet.

“We can’t do this.”

“What do you mean by ‘this’?”

“Ah, you know! This kind of thing!”

I half-shouted while lifting up our still-interlocked hands.

“You have someone you’re seeing! I don’t have the bad hobby of stealing taken men!”

Echo-, echo-, echo-!

My small cry became an echo that rang through the empty corridor.

Peres looked down at me and quietly frowned with his dark eyebrows.

“…Someone I’m seeing?”

There was something displeased mixed in his low voice.

After thinking for a moment, Peres asked.

“…You?”

“No, not me! That, that…”

Peres doesn’t know that I know about Ramona.

He doesn’t even know that I know about the connection between Peres and the Monak Guild.

If Peres asked me here ‘How do you know about Ramona?’, what should I say?

‘Actually, Violet, who competed fiercely with Ramona over the Triva tree, is my person’?

Or should I say ‘Actually, I regressed from a future where you and Ramona became the Empire’s official couple’?

I could only ask a half-deflated question in the end.

“Ah, a woman you met at the Academy?”

“There’s no such thing.”

Peres answered immediately.

“There are female classmates I met at the Academy, though.”

Our interlocked hands gripped my hand even more firmly.

“There isn’t…?”

“There isn’t.”

Peres said decisively.

There seemed to be no lie in that appearance.

No, originally Peres doesn’t lie to me.

On top of that trust, one thought quietly raised its head.

Then they’re not in that kind of relationship yet?

At the same time, I felt relief washing down my chest.

Then someone called us from the other end of the corridor.

“Your Highness, Lady Pirenthia.”

It was Avinox with a fresh smile covering his face.

“What are you doing without going in?”

I quickly turned my body toward where Avinox was coming and let go of the hand I was holding.

I felt Peres turning his head to look at me from the side.

“We were having a brief conversation before going in, Lord Avinox.”

“Is that so? If your conversation is finished, shall we go in together?”

“Shall we?”

I tapped Peres’s arm and gestured that we should go inside now.

“…Alright.”

I entered the banquet hall together with Peres on my left and Avinox on my right.

However, my head was filled with only one thought.

Why was I relieved?

* * *

The banquet ended briefly.

Today too, the head of House Aivan didn’t attend, and his second son Migente hosted us instead.

But Migente Aivan didn’t linger at his seat long after the meal ended either.

After briefly having some conversation with Peres in a corner, he told us to ‘rest comfortably’ and left the banquet hall.

“Then I should also…”

Perhaps because I was tense due to Peres, I was tired.

I was also about to leave my seat, putting my napkin down on the table as I started to speak.

Grab.

Someone grabbed my hand that was still holding the napkin.

“…Lord Avinox?”

“Lady Pirenthia…”

Who gave this guy alcohol?

Avinox’s face was bright red and his eyes were already unfocused, seeming completely drunk.

And to make matters worse.

“…Sniffle.”

Who is it! Who gave this guy alcohol!

Avinox had tears welling up in his eyes while his shoulders drooped as he sniffled.

This was a completely different side from his usual bright, sun-like appearance.

This is getting troublesome.

Hunched over and crying like that, he’s clearly ready for counseling or venting!

“Lord Avinox? Please don’t do anything you’ll regret when you sober up in the morning, and hurry back to your room…”

“What should I do, Lady Pirenthia?”

It was already too late.

“I really like her so much, but I don’t know what to do.”

Avinox had already started his rambling.

“Um… Lord Avinox, I’ll listen, so please let go of this hand first.”

“Does she dislike me?”

I don’t know if she dislikes you or not, but if she saw you being clingy while completely drunk like this, she might dislike you a bit.

Just as I was about to pull my hand away.

Step, step.

Peres, who had briefly left his seat to get another slice of cake after I said the dessert cake was delicious, returned to the table.

Then, without giving me a chance to stop him, he roughly pulled Avinox’s hand away from mine.

“Oh!”

Startled, Avinox looked back and forth between Peres, who was glaring with sharp eyes, and me, then quickly apologized.

“I’m, I’m sorry, Lady Pirenthia. I made a mistake.”

Now he seems to be sobering up a bit.

“It’s alright, Lord Avinox.”

I said with a smile.

But Avinox seemed to interpret that “it’s alright” a little differently.

“I have a concern, would you listen to it?”

“What kind of concern… I’m not sure if I can be of help.”

When he says it like that, I can’t refuse to listen.

“I… have a woman I like.”

I listened to Avinox’s story while eating the cake Peres had brought me.

“She probably doesn’t even know that I like her. No, it seems like she might know, but I’m not sure.”

“What, what kind of talk is that.”

“Pardon?”

My true thoughts almost slipped out without me realizing.

“Oh, no. I mean, you need to explain the situation clearly for this to be proper counseling, don’t you think, Lord Avinox?”

“Ah… That’s right.”

Avinox said, dropping his shoulders even more.

“So, we first met at a social gathering. It was the most famous reading club in the Imperial Capital, and I attended without much thought, but I truly fell in love at first sight. With her beautiful appearance.”

Avinox’s eyes were full of hearts as he described that person.

He really does like her.

“After that, we met several times at banquets and various gatherings, large and small. So I gave her books as gifts and spent time drinking tea together.”

“Then doesn’t she have feelings for you too, Lord Avinox?”

“I thought so too. But…”

Tears welled up in Avinox’s eyes again.

“Recently, she told me that she would soon have a marriage partner arranged by her family…”

Along with his increasingly quiet voice, dark clouds gathered on Avinox’s face.

“If she marries someone else, I don’t think I can live anymore.”

“Wait, hold on.”

I held up my hand in a stop signal and asked.

“So that woman told you that she would soon be getting married? Specifically?”

“Yes…”

“And it’s not a love marriage she wants, but an arranged marriage decided by her family?”

“Yes…”

What, that’s a complete green light.

I looked at Peres, not understanding why Avinox was sniffling.

With the feeling of ‘isn’t he a bit pathetic?’

But for some reason, Peres was patting Avinox’s shoulder.

He looked like he was very sympathetic.

Men without courage.

I asked Avinox.

“Lord Avinox, have you confessed to that woman?”

“I haven’t… confessed, but I have conveyed my feelings in other ways.”

“For example?”

“Getting her rare books or giving her flowers… or when I find good tea leaves, drinking tea together…”

“You’ve done everything except confess?”

“That, that’s… Yes…”

Oh my, this fool.

I sighed softly and shook my head.

“Lord Avinox, you need to confess.”

“But, but we’ve shared many conversations and also spent time…”

“So you both have good feelings for each other, but there’s no certainty.”

“Certainty…”

Avinox muttered with a dazed expression.

“I think there’s a reason why she told you about the engagement beforehand, especially about something that hasn’t even been decided yet.”

To think he’s making that deathly expression and worrying over such a problem.

Ah, how tiring.

I wiped the corners of my mouth after eating the chocolate cake with a napkin, stood up from my seat, and said.

“Express your feelings, Lord Avinox. Love that isn’t expressed isn’t love.”

I casually quoted a phrase I had heard somewhere before.

Ah, whatever. It became famous because it’s useful to many people.

“Love that isn’t expressed isn’t love…”

“Yes, that’s right, Avinox…”

It wasn’t Avinox.

The one repeating what I had said wasn’t Avinox, but Peres.

And his red eyes looked up at me standing after getting up from my chair.

I was a bit flustered and my shoulders twitched.

Why are you taking those words to heart?

* * *

It had been half a year since Mrs. Seo-Seo-u had been bedridden.

Though she had been quite healthy for her age, after slipping badly on a rainy road and getting seriously injured, she hadn’t been able to leave her bed.

Finally, Mrs. Seo-Seo-u made a decision.

She decided to give up the position of head of the Seosseou family that she had held onto for so long without passing it on.

It was Chanton Seosseou, the son of her late husband’s cousin.

Chanton was one of the Empire’s finest knights who had served as captain of the Imperial Guard until his forties before returning to his hometown a few years ago.

The succession of the family headship had taken place quietly a month ago.

After installing the wise and upright Chanton as head of the family, Mrs. Seo-Seo-u was focusing only on treating her illness with peace of mind.

Until she heard strange news today.

Mrs. Seo-Seo-u immediately summoned Chanton to her bedroom.

“Aunt, you called for me?”

Chanton entered, abandoning the complicated titles and affectionately calling Mrs. Seo-Seo-u “Aunt.”

Though he had an ordinary-looking face with short-cut brown hair, he exuded the unique sharpness of a swordsman who had handled a sword for a long time and the composure of a strong person with every step.

“How is your health, Aunt?”

“Much better. Are the preparations for going to the Imperial Capital proceeding well?”

Mrs. Seo-Seo-u asked, placing the book she had been reading on her lap.

“Yes, I’m preparing everything well step by step. I was worried when you suddenly called for me. What’s the matter?”

“I heard something strange today, Chanton. They say the reason you’re leaving for the Imperial Capital tomorrow is because of the Empress’s letter.”

After finishing her words, Mrs. Seo-Seo-u observed Chanton’s expression.

He was a magnanimous person without pretense, like a tree that provided cool shade.

That’s why he had many friends and many people who followed him.

For Mrs. Seo-Seo-u, it had been a stroke of luck that such a Chanton had stepped down from his position as Imperial Knights commander and returned to his hometown.

Because she trusted Chanton so much, the lady had called for him without believing the rumors she had heard.

“…Yes, that’s correct.”

Mrs. Seo-Seo-u swallowed a deep sigh at Chanton’s calm answer, when she had expected him to vehemently deny it.

“Having worked in the Imperial Palace for so long, you wouldn’t be ignorant of Imperial affairs. I trust that you will make the right judgment for Sersheu, Chanton.”

However, even as she said this, Mrs. Seo-Seo-u’s expression wasn’t very good.

The lady, who had been quietly staring at Chanton still wearing his good-natured smile, finally added one more remark.

“Be careful of Angenas. You must never trust them.”

Chanton, who had been silently listening to those words, nodded with a gentle smile.

“Yes, I’ll keep that in mind, Aunt.”

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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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