In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 173

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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 173

“To think you’d make me resort to such methods.”

I checked my appearance in the mirror before going out.

I don’t like rushing into anything.

But today is an exception.

Tomorrow morning, the Nobility Council will convene, and there they’ll decide whether the primogeniture law will be rejected or passed.

I only have today.

“Peres should be there right now.”

I was about to open my door, planning to visit the Monak Guild.

“Huh? Peres?”

Peres was standing in front of my door with one hand raised, as if he was just about to knock.

“Where are you going?”

Peres asked me.

He must have come in a hurry, as I could smell the wind on him.

“…To see you.”

“I figured as much, so I came here.”

“Come in first.”

I set down the handbag I was carrying on the table and led Peres to the drawing room.

Normally I would have offered him tea, but today I got straight to the point as soon as we sat down.

“You heard the news too, about the primogeniture law?”

“This was the Empress’s hidden card.”

Peres nodded with a stern expression and continued.

“If it passes in the Nobility Council, it takes immediate effect for the nobility. If that happens, you, Tia, and Lombardy will…”

Peres seemed to be worrying about me first after hearing about the primogeniture law.

The only person who knows my goal of becoming the clan head.

Of course, this bill the Empress proposed isn’t aimed at me.

At most, it was probably an attempt to tie Grandfather’s hands.

Either designate Biejie as the next clan head, or pair Larane with Astana’s child.

She was probably trying to force him to choose one of the two.

But the Empress unknowingly fired a direct hit at me.

So I understand why Peres is worried about me, but.

I shook my head and said.

“It’s been submitted to the Nobility Council, but if it passes, it will affect the throne too. This bill is also aimed at you, Peres.”

I was saying this wasn’t the time to leisurely worry about others.

But Peres spoke with a somewhat expressionless face.

“Fortunately, His Majesty only has two sons, me and Astana.”

…Only two?

“There’s also a way for me to become both the eldest son and the only son.”

“Ah…”

A way to become both the eldest son and the only son.

In other words, eliminating Astana.

I had forgotten for a moment.

How Peres had risen to the position of Crown Prince in my previous life.

He was the type who would do anything to achieve his goals.

“But you wouldn’t want to use such methods, Tia. That’s why I’m naturally worried about you.”

Peres said while gently brushing my slightly fallen bangs back.

“The term ‘eldest son’ completely blocks women from becoming heirs.”

Even if there are occasionally clan heads like our Grandfather who consider passing the family to a capable daughter, the primogeniture law makes that impossible.

Women are not sons, so they’re completely excluded from succession.

Only the ‘first son’ is the rightful heir.

“First, Grandfather needs to be able to attend the Nobility Council.”

A Nobility Council without Grandfather, without the Lombardi clan head, would be Angenas’s domain.

It’s basically a place where majority rule applies, and in a nobility council without Grandfather, the most influential person is still Duiji Angenas, the Angenas Patriarch.

He’s probably meeting with other nobles right now, persuading them for tomorrow’s vote.

Of course, the most effective method is money.

“In this situation where we don’t know when Grandfather’s house arrest will be lifted, even the families that usually follow Lombardy will have no choice but to watch Angenas’s reactions.”

So we need to send Grandfather to the Nobility Council.

Peres was listening to my words calmly.

I looked at his black hair, his face that seemed to emanate a deep fragrance, and his red eyes one by one.

I have a way to make the Empress eat her words.

But I can’t do it alone.

It’s only possible with Peres’s help.

I took a deep breath and spoke to him, who was quietly watching me as if waiting.

“Peres, I told you before to use me.”

Peres slowly nodded.

Just that slight movement made his black hair fall forward a little.

Suddenly my heart started pounding.

Why am I acting like this when it’s not even real!

Calm down, heart!

“How about we use each other.”

“Each other?”

I opened my handbag.

And I took out what I had intended to give Peres and handed it to him.

“…This is.”

Peres slightly frowned.

Oh, is he going to reject it?

I grabbed hold of my sinking heart and said casually.

“It’s a diamond.”

“I know.”

Peres touched what I had given him a few times with his fingers, then set it down.

Then he took out a small box from his chest and showed it to me.

“It’s a red diamond.”

A red diamond that was as red as a ruby and sparkled even in small light, true to its diamond nature.

“I think we were probably thinking the same thing.”

Peres said with a slight smile on his face.

“Or maybe we’re thinking different things.”

His red eyes, as red as the red diamond, gazed at my wavering gaze.

“That would be a bit disappointing though.”

Peres placed both small boxes side by side in front of me and said.

“You choose, Tia. Which way will you go – your way or my way.”

* * *

The day the Nobility Council convened.

The Empress burst into laughter at the news brought by Ceral and Biejie, whose faces had turned yellow.

“What did you say? Ahaha!”

Empress Lavinia looked truly delighted.

“Empress?”

Ceral and Biejie, who had thought everything was over, just stared at Lavinia in bewilderment.

“Ahahaha! That child Larane? That child ran away?”

Ceral trembled even more in fear at the sight of Lavinia laughing while wiping away tears from the corners of her eyes.

He thought her excessive anger was due to the news that Larane had dared to reject the marriage proposal with the Crown Prince and secretly fled in the night.

“Did you inform Duiji about this, Ceral?”

“I, I informed him before the nobility council meeting began. But we should personally tell the Empress and offer our apologies…”

Ceral’s voice inevitably trembled.

Having known Lavinia’s cruel nature since childhood, his fear was great.

“We, we’ve sent people to track her whereabouts, so we should find her soon. She’s a naive child who couldn’t have gone far…”

“Yes, do that. But even when you find her, you must keep her hidden somewhere, Ceral.”

“Yes…?”

Empress Lavinia spoke with an unusually bright smile.

“It seems heaven is surely trying to help my son.”

A victor’s smile spread across Lavinia’s beautiful face.

“Since Larane herself, the person involved, has fled, the Lombardi clan head now has no way to lift the house arrest, doesn’t he?”

“Ah…!”

Biejie, realizing the meaning of those words, slapped his knee.

“Then the primogeniture law could pass in today’s nobility council!”

“That’s right. It’s ridiculous that we have to create a separate law for what should naturally be the case, but what can we do?”

Lavinia spoke in a languid voice.

“Congratulations, Lombardi Lord. After today passes, you’ll be able to become the rightful heir with dignity.”

“Ah, thank you! Thank you, Empress!”

“And Ceral, when you find Larane, hide her well in a place where people won’t notice, as I said earlier. Once this matter is settled, we’ll need to pursue the marriage with Astana again, won’t we?”

“Yes, Empress.”

Ceral also exhaled a sigh of relief and smiled.

“The primogeniture law passing through the nobility council is now just a matter of time, and once we receive His Majesty’s approval, the consent of the representative families from each region will also be mere formality. When there’s only one heir to the throne that the law permits, what can they possibly do?”

Empress Lavinia was amazed at herself for thinking of such a clever plan.

It was indeed a strategy that would eliminate at once all the things that had been troubling her and blocking Astana’s path forward.

“But Empress, His Majesty…”

Ceral, who knew well Yobanes’ greedy nature, asked with some concern.

“His Majesty… we’ll just give him something he wants appropriately.”

There would be significant losses, but if Astana became Crown Prince, nothing would be irreparable.

“Now, we just need to wait leisurely…”

It was when Lavinia was speaking while opening the lid of the teapot.

“Empress!”

One of the Empress’s close maids rushed in, pale as death.

And seeing the tea set in Lavinia’s hands, she squeezed her eyes shut and shouted.

“The, the house arrest of the Lombardi clan head has been lifted, Empress!”

* * *

The nobility council chamber in the Imperial Capital.

Duiji Angenas was successfully driving the meeting according to the plan he had prepared in advance.

“The ‘Primogeniture Law’ is a bill to once again correct the Empire’s succession laws that have been in disarray.”

Starting with the legitimacy of the bill.

“Then the grounds for disqualification of the eldest son determined through discussion are as follows. When the mother’s bloodline is lowly, when involved in serious crimes like treason, and…”

Up to determining the narrowest possible grounds for disqualification together with the nobles he had bribed in advance.

Everything was proceeding smoothly as the Empress had ordered.

Duiji Angenas looked with satisfaction at the nobility council members sitting on the opposite side.

Originally, these were people who had stuck closely to Rulak Lombardi’s coattails and followed him around.

But once the house arrest order was issued against the Lombardi clan head and his return became uncertain, their momentum was completely broken.

“Hehe…”

Duiji Angenas let out a bitter laugh.

Among them, a few quick to change sides had already been successfully recruited yesterday to cast their votes in favor today.

Of course, he didn’t give them money.

They had come to him on their own feet, hoping to curry favor with Angenas in the future.

‘Moreover, even Larane Lombardi fled in the night. Rulak is finished now.’

Thinking of his father, Perdic Angenas, who had always been suppressed by Rulak Lombardi and couldn’t properly assert himself, Duiji Angenas clenched his fist.

“Then let’s begin the vote, Chairman.”

Duiji Angenas spoke to the nobility council chairman who was sitting there blankly holding the gavel.

“…Ahem.”

The chairman was also one of those who had followed Rulak Lombardi’s coattails.

Duiji planned to take that chairman’s seat for himself once this bill was settled.

“Then, then…”

It was the moment when the chairman, sweating uncomfortably under Duiji Angenas’s glaring gaze, was about to speak.

Bang-!

The large doors of the tightly closed meeting hall swung open forcefully on both sides.

“The, the Lombardi clan head…!”

The pro-Lombardi nobles who had been looking deathly pale jumped up from their seats.

“How, how are you here!”

Duiji Angenas also stood up in surprise, kicking his chair.

The meeting hall instantly became chaotic.

But the cause of that commotion, Lombardi clan head Rulak, walked steadily toward the center of the meeting hall without saying a word.

And with a stern face, he looked around at the nobles filling both sides.

With his hands clasped behind his back, one person at a time.

After looking at them with seemingly blazing eyes, Rulak opened his mouth.

“Deciding succession is the inherent right of nobles.”

His low, resonant voice spread throughout the meeting hall.

“In the early days of the nation’s founding, what was recommended to prevent excessive succession competition was precisely the ‘tradition of the eldest son inheriting the family.’ But!”

Rulak spoke while looking directly at Duiji Angenas.

“Selecting the heir who will carry on the weighty responsibilities and duties of the clan head and passing down the family is the clan head’s authority that no one else can interfere with!”

And he shouted sternly toward the nobles sitting around Duiji Angenas.

“Who among you foolish ones would support this bill that violates the sacred rights of nobles!”

Rulak’s shout, blazing with fierce light in his eyes, echoed and reverberated through the meeting room.

“Ugh…”

At that moment, Duiji Angenas squeezed his eyes shut, sensing the failure of the primogeniture law.

* * *

“Hmm…”

Emperor Yobanes stroked his chin while gazing at Peres and me sitting side by side.

Then he asked in a somewhat suspicious voice.

“So, you two are engaged?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

I answered with a bright smile.

While deliberately turning my body slightly so that the ring on my fourth finger would be more visible.

The transparent diamond sparkled as it caught the bright light coming from outside.

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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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