In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 214

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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 214

“Although the situation is flowing favorably for the Second Prince, ultimately it is His Majesty the Emperor who will make the decision.”

Brey, who had been listening quietly, spoke up.

“Moreover, even though Angenas’s territory has shrunk and their momentum has been broken, isn’t Angenas still the representative family of the west?”

“I think so too.”

The Head of the Heringga Family also stepped forward in agreement.

“If the current size of territory owned by Angenas and Brown is similar, His Majesty the Emperor will side with Angenas.”

Everyone seemed to be in agreement.

After all, Angenas was still the Empress’s family.

“No. The western representative will change.”

Definitely in this great council.

But at my words, the Head of the Heringga Family shook his head.

“It will be difficult with the current situation, Lady Pirenthia.”

It was a polite but firm assertion.

“I’m telling you it will change.”

“I’m telling you it will be difficult.”

“My goodness. It will change.”

“Even though I’m telling you it’s difficult!”

Oh, getting a bit heated, are we?

I asked with a slightly mischievous smile.

“Then would you like to make a bet with me, Lord Hering?”

“Sh-shall we!”

As the atmosphere spread like this, the vassal family heads began to freely ask me questions.

“Then could we hear Lady Pirenthia’s thoughts on the other regions excluding the west?”

It was Romasie Dillard.

As someone who operates the Lombardi Guild across the entire Empire, he knows how to see the bigger picture.

“What’s most concerning is the south.”

“The south, you mean Sercheu?”

“Yes, currently grain from Sercheu is spreading throughout the entire Empire. Especially the west is accustomed to lower grain prices due to the close agreement between the Empress and the Sercheu Marquis. But what would happen if the Sercheu Marquis raises the price of grain now?”

“Hmm.”

Low murmurs flowed from various places.

“Of course, I’m not just talking about the financial benefits from simple price differences. What’s even more frightening than that is…”

“The initiative that Sercheu has taken.”

Romasie Dillard said while stroking his beard.

“Yes, that’s right. Right now, there’s nowhere else that can stably produce large quantities of grain without worrying about drought like the south.”

In other words, if there were a crop failure in the Empire, people would have no choice but to buy Sercheu’s grain whether they liked it or not.

“Until now, the Sercheu family has sold grain at cheap prices without great greed, but the new Sercheu Marquis isn’t that kind of person.”

Everyone seemed to agree with my words, nodding their heads.

“Then what about the east and north?”

“The north won’t have any major changes for a while. The new Aivan is just settling into his position, and he’ll be overwhelmed just with recovery from the massive damage caused by the landslide. And the east is…”

I looked at Romasie Dillard once more and said.

“The guild master needs to work harder.”

At the barbed words, I could see Romasie Dillard pressing his lips tightly together.

“I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to give such sharp words in a place like this, but Grandfather told me to answer honestly.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Grandfather smiled with satisfaction.

“To continue, how many Lombardi Guild branches are currently established in the east?”

“Five.”

“I see. I was expecting about ten to be established by now.”

“…I apologize.”

Romasie Dillard furrowed his brow.

“The fact that we still haven’t seized control of eastern trade from the Pellet Trading House is certainly something to reflect on. Does the Lombardi Guild fall short of the Pellet Trading House in scale or in funds?”

Even though it’s my company.

The Pellet Trading House is still small in scale compared to the Lombardi Guild.

But the fact that the Lombardi Guild still hasn’t gained control in an important market like the east was a serious problem.

“I heard that Lord Dillard is also choosing a successor these days. Your eldest son has been running the guild for the past few years, hasn’t he? Is that the reason?”

If so, it means the eldest son doesn’t have the qualities to lead the Lombardi Guild.

Without waiting for an answer, I threw out the next question.

“The Pellet Trading House has secured three ports in Chesayu harbor and will expand to four next month. So how many designated ports does our Lombardi Guild possess?”

“Two… ports.”

Romasie Dillard’s voice was somewhat dejected.

“Lord Dillard.”

I still smiled politely as I spoke.

“You understand without me having to say more, don’t you?”

“…I will correct it.”

Romasie Dillard, who was known among the vassals for being meticulous and having a stiff attitude, completely bowed his head before me as he answered.

Then, the head of the Devon family, Clang Debon, called me with some hesitation.

“Lady Pirenthia, may I ask a question that might be somewhat impertinent?”

“Yes, please do.”

“If you become the acting clan head and official successor… what happens to your engagement with the Second Prince?”

As if everyone was curious about this, they turned their heads and looked at me with burning gazes.

Ah, that.

I reflexively raised the corners of my mouth slightly.

I’m smiling properly now, right?

I felt a bit worried too.

“What’s most important to me is Lombardi.”

I tried to speak in as calm a tone as possible.

“I will never abandon the Lombardi name.”

“Phew.”

I could hear Clang Debon quietly exhale a sigh of relief.

After that, several more questions were exchanged.

None of them were difficult or hard for me to answer.

“Then I’ll ask the last question.”

Grandfather said, leaning forward from the back of his chair.

“Lombardi is the family closest to the Imperial family, but at the same time, it’s also the only family that can keep them in check. The Empire’s nobles rely on us Lombardi for many things.”

That’s true.

No noble wants the Emperor to have all the power and wield it as he pleases.

“But at the same time, they don’t want Lombardi to hold power that surpasses the Imperial family either. Because we already have many things.”

At Grandfather’s words, all the vassals let out small laughs.

“But if, as you say, the Second Prince becomes Crown Prince and eventually ascends to the throne, there will be voices of concern that the Lombardi clan head and the Emperor are too close. Since the Lombardi clan head could control even the Emperor at will, it would appear as dangerous power. What do you think about this problem?”

Grandfather was already asking assuming that Peres would become Emperor, and that I would become not just the successor but the clan head.

I fell into thought.

But my contemplation wasn’t long.

“First of all, the Lombardi clan head is not a position that needs to seek permission from other nobles of the Empire. There’s no reason for me to soothe their worries.”

“Haha, yes, that’s right.”

“But their ‘fear’ is certainly something to be wary of.”

“Fear?”

“It doesn’t matter if the power Lombardi possesses becomes an object of envy and jealousy for the Empire’s nobles, but if it becomes threatening, unnecessary noise could arise.”

Isolated power doesn’t last long.

Lombardi’s mighty power comes from maintaining our current position as the ‘representatives of the nobility’.

“But I’m not too worried about it. As time passes, the nobles will come to know that I’m quite a clever person. But if they still complain despite that, I’d rather ask them something.”

I looked around at the nobles sitting in a circle, and finally met Grandfather’s eyes.

“Has there ever been anyone who sat on the imperial throne without Lombardi’s permission?”

Grandfather was silent for a moment.

He was just looking at me with his usual smiling face.

And at some point, that smile deepened, and Grandfather looked around at his retainers and said.

“Could it be any more perfect than this?”

* * *

“The official announcement will be made tomorrow. You’ve worked hard, so go back and rest, Tia.”

Grandfather gently patted my head.

“Yes, Grandfather.”

I greeted Grandfather and the retainers and left the meeting room.

“Whew.”

The anxious feelings I had been holding back burst out all at once in a big breath.

In my hands was a heavy bundle of documents that Grandfather had given me.

He had prepared the basic things I needed to know about the Lombardi family.

Of course, these were things I already knew from reading them in my previous life.

“Let’s go back to my room for now.”

There might be something new mixed in, so I should skim through the documents once.

I began walking slowly toward my room.

It was an ordinary day.

The manor’s employees, huddled up in the chilly weather, greeted me warmly when they saw me.

I likewise greeted them back with a smiling face.

But my body gradually became heavier.

Like waterlogged cotton, and later it became difficult even to climb the stairs.

When I finally arrived at my room, my body even swayed slightly.

“Hah.”

I leaned against the closed door behind me and caught my breath.

From the head family meeting room to this place.

I had only walked slowly over a short distance.

Yet I was exhausted as if I had walked a long, long journey.

“Should I rest for a bit?”

Originally I planned to skim through the documents as soon as I arrived, but in my current state, it was obvious that not a single word would register.

I roughly placed the documents on the desk and collapsed onto the bed.

“I’ll just rest for a moment.”

The moment I muttered that while feeling the soft blanket, terrible fatigue overwhelmed me.

When I regained consciousness, it was already dark night.

My head was still drowsy from sleep.

As soon as I lifted my eyelids, I saw Peres in front of me.

He was lying on my bed with me, facing me.

His red eyes were shining like jewels in the moonlight.

“Beautiful.”

I murmured like a sigh.

“Is this a dream?”

But Peres didn’t answer.

The eyes that always lit up with joy when seeing me were quietly settled.

It must be a dream.

I thought so and slowly reached out my hand.

Soon Peres’s cheek touched my palm.

Looking back.

On every day when something important happened, we lay facing each other like this.

The day I rescued Peres from that cold and terrible pavilion was like this, and the day I found Father’s cure was too.

Peres and I fell asleep lying together like this.

I spoke in a tone that had become somewhat clumsy from sleepiness.

“I officially became the deputy clan head. The successor announcement will be made tomorrow.”

Then the red lips that had been frozen like a painting slowly moved.

“Congratulations, Tia.”

It was a quiet voice.

“You achieved your dream.”

“Almost.”

Yet I couldn’t smile.

“Peres.”

“Yeah.”

“I chose Lombardi.”

Peres blinked.

“When the successor announcement is made, our fake engagement will end too.”

“I never thought of it as fake.”

“You know I can’t become empress.”

A resentful tone came out without me realizing it.

“The emperor cannot change the imperial regulations that apply to himself.”

Just like how Yobanes couldn’t escape monogamy no matter how much he wanted it.

But the red eyes just looked at me alone.

“I’m sorry, Peres.”

“Why?”

At his question, I hesitated for a moment.

And I spoke the words I had hidden away because I couldn’t bear to say them to the real Peres.

“I’m sorry for coming to like you.”

But he smiled.

A smile spread across his face that had been frozen like a white statue, like paint spreading.

“Why are you smiling?”

“Because you said you like me.”

“…Really, like a fool.”

Sob.

Something welled up inside me.

“Don’t you hate me?”

Instead of answering, Peres kissed my finger that was touching the tip of his lips.

Carefully, without taking his eyes off me for even a moment.

That warmth touching my fingertips was so precious that I burrowed into Peres’s embrace.

“Peres.”

Just like he had done to me once.

I rubbed my face against Peres’s chest like acting spoiled.

I buried my face in that place where I could hear his low heartbeat and mumbled.

“I don’t regret it.”

At the end of this life, I will wish for a next life where I stand by your side.

Even if time turns back and the moment comes when I meet you again for the first time.

I would want you to look at me again with those blind eyes.

I would just want to hold your hand and find happiness in that warmth.

But not in this life.

I will become the head of Lombardi.

“Tia.”

Then Peres quietly called my name.

“It’s okay.”

His hand gently stroked my head.

“Everything’s okay.”

As if he could read my mind like that.

He whispered for me not to worry about anything.

“Don’t think about anything. Sleep a little more. Tomorrow will be even busier.”

At that moment, sleep came over me like magic.

Like waves that had receded suddenly rushing back in.

“Trust me. You’ll have good dreams.”

I closed my eyes again to his soothing touch and gentle voice that comforted me.

Feeling Peres’s warmth at the tip of my nose.

And when I opened my eyes again, I was alone.

That afternoon, Grandfather announced the succession in the name of the Lombardi clan head.

Pirenthia Lombardi is appointed as Deputy Lord and official heir of the Lombardi Family.

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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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