In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 178

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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 178

“Are you trying to properly win my favor?”

I muttered while looking at the imperial palace carriage that had arrived right in front of me.

It had arrived at the Lombardi estate precisely on time for the Empress’s dinner that I had reluctantly agreed to attend.

While it was indeed a very luxurious carriage that others would find overwhelming, my carriage was actually better.

“Greetings, Lady Lombardi. I have come to escort you from the Empress’s quarters.”

It was proper treatment, with even a servant from the Empress’s quarters coming personally.

“Or is this coercion?”

Don’t even dream of not attending?

Either way, it left me feeling equally unpleasant.

“…Pardon?”

“No, it’s nothing.”

When I smiled brightly, the servant’s face turned slightly red.

“I think I’ll need a step.”

When I pointed to the front of the carriage where nothing was placed, the servant from the Empress’s quarters startled and replied.

“Ah! My, my apologies! I’ll bring a step right away!”

While the servant hurriedly retrieved the step, I turned my head toward the side of the main building.

I had been feeling an intense gaze from that direction for a while now.

“Why is he glaring so menacingly again?”

It was Ceral who was staring at me as if he wanted to kill me.

I hadn’t noticed it usually, but that glaring face looked exactly like Empress Lavinia’s.

As expected of cousins.

He must have realized I was looking at him.

But Ceral didn’t hide or avoid my gaze.

Instead, his eyes blazed even more fiercely.

The reason for his behavior was obvious without asking.

He was probably jealous that I was going to the Empress’s dinner while he had been pushed to the annex.

Ceral must know too.

That ultimately, this had nothing to do with my will—it was all the Empress’s intention.

It’s just that it was easier to hate me than to hate the Empress, so he chose that option.

But regardless of Ceral’s feelings, if he keeps glaring at me like that.

“It makes me want to tease him more.”

Just then, the servant placed the step in front of me.

“Thank you.”

When I thanked him, the servant smiled bashfully.

I stepped lightly on the step and climbed into the carriage.

Then I opened the window.

I could see Ceral still glaring at me.

In this situation, typical nobles would glare back at Ceral once, snort with disdain, and close the window.

That would be the normal reaction.

But I looked at Ceral and raised my hand.

And then, gently.

I waved it while smiling softly.

Then I saw Ceral’s eyes widen as even his hands gripping his dress hem trembled.

From the way his mouth was moving, it seemed like he was pouring out a stream of curses at me.

But since we were far apart, I couldn’t hear his voice anyway.

He was only hurting his own mouth.

Until the carriage departed and I could no longer see Ceral through the window, I kept smiling and waving at him.

* * *

By the time we left Lombardi and entered the imperial palace, the sun had completely set.

But as I gazed blankly at the brightly lit imperial palace, a somewhat familiar road suddenly came into view.

“Oh, this is where I first saw Peres.”

The place where Father had suddenly been stopped for a carriage inspection by guards acting on the Empress’s orders.

The carriage carrying me was passing through that very road.

It was dark so I couldn’t see well, but Peres’s black head had flashed by beyond that forest.

And taking advantage of the carriage stopping, I had secretly slipped out to meet Peres.

Little Peres, small and gaunt, eating grass to survive.

“Time really flies.”

That kid who had been ridiculously small for his age due to malnutrition had grown so much.

If nothing else, I was quite surprised when he helped Larane escape.

The physical ability to hold me with one arm and leap up to a terrace far above with his bare hands.

I felt a bit proud too.

Though it was Kaitlin and Kaileus who had worked hard raising him.

Even if I didn’t raise him myself, it felt like I had.

Especially those arms that held me securely so I wouldn’t be afraid…

Thump.

My heart beat loudly as I recalled that night.

At the same time, a corner of my heart felt slightly uncomfortable.

“Ahem.”

I cleared my throat and looked away from the dark forest.

Fortunately, the carriage was already approaching the Empress’s quarters.

“Phew.”

I took a deep breath to compose myself.

I needed to put thoughts of Peres aside for now.

Because.

Click.

The carriage stopped and the door opened.

And as soon as I stepped down, the Empress in a splendid dress approached me.

“You must have had a hard journey, Lady Lombardi.”

For the Empress to come out directly in front of her quarters to greet me like this.

It was uncommon treatment.

And the Empress’s face with slightly upturned lips seemed to expect me to appreciate such treatment.

“Thank you for inviting me to dinner, Your Majesty.”

But I only gave a plain greeting.

‘Sending a carriage for me—I don’t know what to do with myself. Thanks to you, what a comfortable journey I had…’

I didn’t add the typical flattery that usually followed.

I could see the Empress’s eyes turning cold.

But I wouldn’t be intimidated by just that much.

What was she going to do by glaring coldly?

I stood facing the Empress directly with the same smiling face, not avoiding her gaze.

The Empress was breathtakingly beautiful in her elaborate attire.

She had clearly put in much more effort than usual.

She had wrapped her entire body in more expensive dresses and more expensive jewels.

So much so that every time the Empress moved, you could hear the clinking sound of jewels bumping against each other.

And I could feel the Empress’s blue eyes scanning me from top to bottom.

She was trying to find fault with one of the clothes or accessories I was wearing.

I had already heard that this was a method the Empress frequently used to gain the upper hand in aristocratic circles.

“….”

But the Empress’s silence unintentionally grew longer.

Because there was nothing to find fault with.

My appearance right now was perfect from head to toe.

Of course, I wasn’t ostentatiously adorned with jewelry like the Empress.

I wore a dress made with only the finest materials in gold and red, gorgeous yet dignified.

The Empress, having a discerning eye, would have immediately noticed.

That these shining things visible on my dress weren’t just glittering pigments, but small gems that craftsmen had delicately embedded one by one.

It was probably more expensive than the dress the Empress was wearing.

Not to mention it had a more beautiful and elegant design.

The simple earrings I wore were special pieces made exclusively for me by Croily Grandfather at the Pellet Trading Company Diamond Workshop.

The circlet draped long along my hair was made by that disciple, delicately connecting platinum and diamonds one by one.

The Empress’s long eyelashes trembled as she looked at me.

She must have felt it herself.

That her own appearance, beautiful but laden with dangling ornaments, looked ridiculous.

It seemed she had tried to break my spirit with all the flashy jewels and accessories she had gathered.

You shouldn’t try to beat Lombardi with money.

That’s a very poor strategy.

“Empress?”

I called to the Empress with a bright smile.

With an innocent face that knew nothing.

“Yes. Has Lavinia Angenas ever attended my banquet before?”

The Empress asked, managing her expression instantly like someone experienced in aristocratic circles.

“I came with Father when I was very young, Empress.”

“Ah, yes. To think that Lavinia Angenas, who was so young then, has grown up to become engaged to the Second Prince.”

The Empress spoke with a very pleased expression.

“How delighted I was when I heard the news of the Second Prince and Lavinia Angenas’s engagement.”

So delighted that you smashed everything in the Empress’ Quarters?

The Empress’s reaction on the day the primogeniture law was defeated was specially made into a book at Beit’s request and kept in storage.

I don’t know how good it makes me feel whenever I read it when I’m bored.

“Today I didn’t invite any other guests and prepared a place exclusively for Lavinia Angenas. We’ll soon be one family, won’t we?”

The Empress said with a chuckling laugh.

I knew this would happen.

It was already bothersome being invited to the Empress’s banquet, but sitting face-to-face with the Empress alone through a long course meal.

Absolutely not.

I prepared for this knowing it would happen.

Instead of answering, I glanced around once.

“Ah, they’re coming.”

I could see a group of people approaching across the large avenue to the east, opposite the Empress’ Quarters in the west.

I thought they might not be able to come on time since they were supposed to be at the hunting grounds.

I smiled brightly and called to the person at the front of the approaching group.

“Lord Peres.”

Having arrived at the Imperial Palace, changed clothes and finished preparing, Peres walked toward me showing off his usual radiant beauty.

And the first thing he did was.

“Tia.”

With a low voice, he kissed the back of my hand.

It was an act that completely ignored the Empress, who was clearly an elder of the Imperial family.

But Peres only looked at me.

“Lavinia Angenas.”

Until the Empress called me.

“Did you… summon the Second Prince?”

“Yes, since the Empress graciously invited me to the banquet, I sent a letter asking if he could join us.”

“That would be improper…”

“It’s fine to have a warm meal together, isn’t it, Empress? We’ll soon be one family.”

I blocked her from saying anything more.

Given what she had said earlier, and knowing that getting angry at me over this issue would end the banquet before it even started, the Empress mechanically pulled up the corners of her mouth.

“Yes. The more guests, the better. Please join us, Second Prince.”

Having said that, the Empress glared at me slightly at the end of her words.

Why? What? Didn’t you say we’d soon be one family?

It was truly a tedious affair.

The Empress persistently tried to win my favor to the point where I thought calling Peres was a stroke of genius.

And as the conversation continued, the Empress’s purpose for inviting me here today became increasingly clear.

“I hear that Chesayu is growing into an important commercial city connecting the central and southern regions? Where does Gallahan Lombardi usually stay these days, Lavinia Angenas?”

With all the questions directed toward Father like this, it was impossible not to know.

“He usually stays in Chesayu. You could say Chesayu is like a second child to Father, he’s so devoted to it.”

“Oh my, is that so? That must be why Chesayu is growing so rapidly day by day.”

The Empress seemed more interested in Chesayu than I was.

Wanting to end this gathering quickly, I casually mentioned something seemingly meaningless.

“It connects the central and southern regions, but what makes Chesayu most prosperous these days is the maritime trade with the eastern region.”

Clatter.

As expected.

The Empress’s knife, which had been quietly cutting steak, made a jarring sound.

At the same time, the atmosphere at the table became slightly chilly.

Good! Let’s end the banquet like this!

But the Empress, who wiped her lips with a white napkin, attacked me from a completely unexpected direction.

“But the Second Prince and Lavinia Angenas are somewhat surprising.”

Peres, who had been drinking wine, also seemed to realize the flow was strange and put down his glass.

“I heard you have such deep affection for each other that you’d rush together before His Majesty. But I don’t feel any of that from how you two look now.”

It wasn’t just casual talk.

The Empress’s smiling face held some strange conviction.

She was clearly suspicious of the relationship between Peres and me.

Her blue eyes, which strangely never lost their light even at night, looked sharply at Peres and me.

“That’s…”

Just as I was about to counterattack.

Smoothly.

Peres, who had been sitting to my left, suddenly took my hand.

It wasn’t light skinship like simply placing his hand over mine.

It was something more intimate, threading through my fingers to interlock them.

And before I could stop him, he slowly pulled my left hand toward him.

“Pe, Peres…”

Peres’s red eyes gazed at me as if to burn me.

And his lips pressed deeply against my finger wearing the engagement ring.

At such close distance, when I flinched slightly at the hot body temperature I felt against my skin, I could clearly see the hint of laughter that crossed Peres’s eyes.

“Second Prince!”

The Empress cried out as if it were rude.

But Peres only answered leisurely.

“Once I touch her hand like this, I can’t bear to let go, so I was restraining myself. But it must have looked that way to the Empress.”

Peres’s thumb secretly caressed the tender flesh between my fingers.

And he smiled slightly at the Empress as if to show off.

“Then may we adjourn from this seat and move to a place where we won’t be disturbed, Empress?”

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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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