In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 156

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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 156

What woke me was a very small noise.

The sound of ‘click’ – a hand letting go of a door handle.

At that sound, I came to my senses and opened my eyes wide.

But my vision was still pitch black.

For a moment, I was startled with fear.

Had I dreamed of being rescued?

Was I still trapped inside the carriage?

But the soft texture of blankets that touched my reflexively moving hand told me that wasn’t the case.

At the same time, all the tension that had built up in my body drained away.

And I could think clearly again.

I quietly moved my hand to touch around my eyes.

As expected, they were covered with an eye mask.

Since I hadn’t seen light for so long, opening my eyes immediately to see bright things would hurt my eyes.

Someone had done this for my sake.

Thinking that, I felt completely at ease.

And through senses other than sight, various information began to come in.

The smell of fire from burning firewood.

The soft and warm texture of bedding.

And voices having a conversation a little distance away.

“Why isn’t she awake yet? She’s not seriously hurt anywhere, is she?”

Ah, that’s Giliou.

“She’s been sleeping for three days already. Shouldn’t we wake her up?”

A voice slightly lower than Giliou’s – that’s Meylon.

“Lady Pirenthia is very exhausted. The only injury is the wound on her forehead, so don’t worry too much.”

Estira came too.

Hearing familiar people’s voices instead of pitch-black silence kept making me smile.

I felt like I could lie here and listen for hours like this.

“How are your shoulders, you two?”

Estira asked.

“I’m fine, but Giliou was groaning all night.”

Meylon answered.

“Mmm. I guess it’s because this was the first time I used so much aura like that. Could you give me more of that ointment, Dr. Estira? It was very cool and nice.”

“Of course. I can give you as much as you need, so don’t hold back and use plenty, Lord Giliou.”

They seemed to be talking about Estira’s ointment.

Then Meylon said,

“Shouldn’t Uncle apply it too? You were busy writing replies to letters until late yesterday.”

“Haha, then maybe I’ll borrow some too. My wrist is aching a bit.”

Ah, that’s Father.

That gentle voice with a hint of laughter was definitely Father.

Aivan is so far away, how did he come here?

“Are there many letters asking about Lady Pirenthia’s well-being?”

Estira asked Father.

“Don’t even mention it. Father, Sister Shannet, Larane, and even Creny. They use emergency telegrams several times a day from Lombardy to here – it’s complete chaos. If Lord Cleribane hadn’t helped write replies, I probably would have stayed up all night.”

“Everyone was very worried. Hehe, when Lady Pirenthia wakes up, everyone will get scolded. She’ll ask how they could use emergency telegrams so carelessly like that.”

“Haha, probably so.”

At Father’s laughter, my suppressed laughter burst out too.

“I’ll write the replies to the next letters myself, Dad.”

“Tia!”

I heard several people simultaneously rushing toward the bed where I was.

“This is still Aivan, right? What are you all doing here?”

I asked with a smile.

“Of course we rushed here as soon as we heard news about Tia!”

“Right! We barely made it from Lombardy to here in just four days!”

“Do you know how worried we were about Tia?”

The twins answered quickly, competing with each other.

“I arrived yesterday, Lady Pirenthia. I’m sorry for being a bit late because I came by carriage.”

“No, it’s fine. It took me over ten full days to get from Lombardy to here. If you arrived yesterday, you must have traveled without rest all night. Thank you, Estira.”

“The eye mask must be very uncomfortable, right? I’ve made the room dark, but it could still strain your eyes, so I covered them. You should be able to try removing the eye mask once it gets dark later.”

“Okay, I understand.”

Having that conversation with Estira, I suddenly realized something.

There was someone who hadn’t said much yet.

“Dad, are you okay?”

“…Tia.”

Oh my.

As expected, Father’s voice was completely choked up.

My crybaby Father.

“I’m fine now, though. You must have been very shocked, I’m sorry.”

I turned my face toward where Father’s voice came from and smiled even more brightly on purpose as I spoke.

“It’s just that the road happened to collapse when I was passing by. My luck was just a bit bad…”

I had to stop speaking.

Because trembling fingers touched my hair that had slipped down slightly.

“…Yes, I’m glad you’re okay. Really glad.”

I could tell without seeing.

What expression Father must be making right now.

I took Father’s hand and said,

“Everything’s fine now, Dad.”

Father continued to stroke my forehead silently.

I smiled, feeling more at ease than ever from that touch.

As I felt that happiness for a moment, other curiosities began crowding into my head.

“But what happened to Lord Migente Aivan? Is he okay too?”

The answer came from Estira.

“His leg was broken and time passed, so there will be aftereffects, but he’s recovering smoothly.”

“Aftereffects means…”

“He’ll probably limp on one leg.”

“Ah…”

I had thought his leg looked a bit strange, but it was broken.

Now I understood why his condition was particularly worse than mine.

“Then what about Peres?”

“Why are you asking about His Highness the Crown Prince?”

Father asked me back, seeming puzzled.

“Since I was trapped down there, I don’t think Peres would have just stayed still.”

It was a vague deduction, but the credibility was very high.

Father was silent for a moment.

Then he answered in a somewhat sulky voice.

“His Highness the Crown Prince is fine. He used a lot of strength rescuing you, but he’s recovering quickly. Ah, there he comes now.”

Along with Father’s words, I heard a clicking sound from the direction of the door.

“Peres?”

Not being able to see is so inconvenient.

Thud, thud.

Instead of an answer, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching me.

“We’ll step out for a moment, Tia. Have a little chat.”

For some reason, Father and the others quietly cleared the room.

After everyone left, only Peres and I remained.

I reached my hand toward where Peres was.

Fortunately, a large hand immediately grasped mine.

“Did you eat?”

But he didn’t answer.

“Peres, you know I can’t see right now, right? I won’t know if you don’t speak.”

“…Sorry.”

Peres’s voice was deeply cracked.

“For what?”

“For letting you go through that alone.”

Ah, I could roughly understand what he was thinking.

“I’m grateful you’re worried, but don’t think like that. What would have happened if you were in there with me too? It’s because you were outside that you could get me out, right?”

Peres silently gripped my hand even tighter.

“It would have been better if none of this had happened, but I think it occurred under the best possible circumstances. I came out perfectly fine like this.”

Actually, thinking about that narrow, dark carriage still scared me a little.

I spoke as calmly as possible.

“And honestly, it wasn’t as scary as I thought it would be. I believed you would save me.”

This was sincere.

I gripped his hand tightly just as Peres had done and said,

“Especially knowing you were outside made me feel secure. The waiting time was a bit boring though.”

“Tia…”

“I’m going to put that incident behind me and return to ordinary daily life. Then I’ll feel relieved. So you do the same, Peres.”

“…Alright.”

He answered obediently.

But his voice still lacked energy.

Hmm, then I have no choice.

I lifted the eye patch very slightly.

As Estira had said, thick curtains were drawn in the room, so the interior wasn’t very bright.

After blinking a few times, there was nothing wrong with my eyes at all.

I removed the eye patch completely.

“Tia!”

Peres was startled, but I didn’t stop.

And I slightly opened my closed eyes.

Right in front of me, I could see Peres’s face full of worry.

“I knew you’d be like this.”

His pupils were shaking as if an earthquake had struck, and the corners of his eyes drooped downward.

I raised my hand and lightly touched Peres’s cheek.

Of course, his insane beauty hadn’t gone anywhere, but he looked quite haggard and hurt.

“Aren’t you in worse condition than me?”

“…I’m fine. My aura is recovering well too. You’re more…”

“Both you and I need to eat well for a while.”

I deliberately spoke more lightly as I removed my hand from Peres’s face and naturally let go of the hand I was holding.

I felt Peres’s gaze linger there for a moment.

“What about the head of Aivan?”

“He resigned the day you were rescued. And the next day, he formally passed the head position to Migente Aivan who had regained consciousness. It seems he’s trying to take full responsibility for your accident, but we won’t let that happen.”

Peres’s voice sounded a bit ominous as he said this.

“He must take responsibility for what he’s done.”

“No, Peres. Let Jerome Aivan shoulder it all.”

But I shook my head and stopped Peres.

“Migente Aivan is someone who will definitely cast his vote for you when you’re appointed Crown Prince. If the Northern representative suddenly changes from Aivan to another family at this point, there would be no point in me coming all the way to the Northern Region and going through this hardship.”

Peres looked at me for a moment.

His red eyes were deeply sunken.

It had been a long time since I’d seen such an expression, so I unconsciously flinched slightly and asked,

“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Don’t tell me you came to the Northern Region, connecting Lombardi and Pellet Trading Company for relief efforts, because of me?”

“Why wouldn’t it be? Peres, you should start preparing soon too. You know they’ve already started working on their side, right?”

That’s why they bought up all those Triva trees.

But Peres’s expression continued to look serious.

The moment I thought it reminded me of that day by the lakeside, Peres’s hand touched my cheek.

I was so surprised that my eyelids trembled involuntarily as I looked at Peres.

It was strange.

It felt completely different from when I had touched Peres’s cheek just moments before.

And before I could stop him, Peres’s lips touched my forehead.

Thump thump.

My heart began beating fast, stretching vigorously for the first time in a while.

After removing his lips from my forehead, Peres stared intently at my face for a moment.

His intense gaze made me feel like everywhere his eyes touched was burning.

Peres remained motionless in that state.

As if waiting for me to be ready.

I unconsciously bit my lip once.

I didn’t know why.

I was filled with impatience, like just before opening a long-awaited gift.

And as if that was a signal, Peres’s face slowly approached.

I could have avoided it if I wanted to.

But instead, I closed my eyes.

Peres’s lips, approaching a bit faster than I expected, very lightly touched my lips.

I could feel his warm body temperature through the thin skin.

Suddenly, the image of Peres I had seen several times in dreams came to mind.

That face looking down at everyone with cold eyes from atop a horse.

And at that moment, Peres urgently rubbed his lips against mine.

As if one tender kiss wasn’t enough to satisfy him.

When that feeling was conveyed, my heart pounded and surged greatly once more.

The difference between Peres from my previous life and his current appearance became complexly mixed up in my head.

Firm fingers were digging into my hair to come even closer.

I could feel Peres’s body that had drawn near.

It was as if he was speaking with his whole body.

Asking me to accept him.

My heart was also speaking.

Telling me to accept Peres.

Without realizing it, I raised one hand and placed it on Peres’s chest.

And I grabbed his clothes to pull him closer.

Or rather, I tried to.

But when I realized how much I wanted Peres, I suddenly came to my senses.

I quickly pulled my body back and forcefully separated our tightly intertwined lips.

“Wh-what are you doing?”

I almost got swept away!

At my outcry, Peres looked at me with eyes that still held their burning heat.

And without taking his eyes off me, he casually wiped his wet lips with his thumb.

Then he spoke in a somewhat languid voice.

“You said it before, Tia. ‘Love that isn’t expressed isn’t love.'”

“Hey! Th-that was just something I said to Avinox….”

“I almost lost you once already, Tia.”

Peres reached his hand toward me.

“I won’t hesitate anymore.”

And he lightly traced my lips with his finger.

“Because now I think I know your heart too.”

Peres’s eyes looked down at the wrinkles left on his shirt as he spoke.

It was exactly the spot I had unknowingly gripped tightly just moments before.

He touched those wrinkles with a somewhat proud expression.

Then he smiled a very deep smile that resembled a red rose and said.

“From now on, I’m going to express it, Tia. Until you’re ready to accept my heart.”

That was a declaration of war.

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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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