In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 237

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

This Life, I Will Become the Clan Head Episode 237

“Cough!”

Biejie, who had been drinking water, coughed until his face turned bright red.

Rulak waited quietly without saying another word until Biejie’s commotion ended.

“Leave the manor!”

Biejie shouted at Rulak.

“If, if I leave the manor, where am I supposed to go!”

“Well. That’s something you’ll have to decide.”

Even at Biejie’s excited outburst, Rulak showed no reaction.

He only responded with a consistently flat, dry voice throughout.

It was a thoroughly businesslike attitude.

Biejie found this side of his father quite unfamiliar.

He was also suddenly frightened.

Those brown eyes had always looked at him with displeasure.

But even in those stern eyes, there had always existed something like his father’s compassion or affection.

However, now Rulak seemed to be treating him like a complete stranger.

“I’ve already spoken to Lorels. He said he would go to his wife’s family, the Gineporc House.”

“But Father…”

Biejie shifted his buttocks perched on the edge of the chair and approached.

He was thinking of somehow trying to plead his case.

“I don’t even have in-laws anymore! With Angenas in that state…”

Biejie spoke with the face and voice he always used to touch his father’s weak spots.

Surely, surely he wouldn’t cast out his eldest son.

“How are Ceral and Belesack doing?”

Rulak asked.

“What? Oh, those two are…”

Biejie couldn’t answer easily.

It was natural.

He had heard that Belesack was released, but hadn’t seen his face since then.

The same was true for Ceral.

One day he came back dead drunk, only to find that all of his wife’s valuables had disappeared from the annex.

“…Pathetic fool.”

Rulak clicked his tongue and said.

“You don’t even know what’s happening to your own wife and children… You should have at least looked after your own family.”

“Do you happen to know where my wife and Belesack are?”

“You have no right to know.”

Rulak said that and clicked his tongue once more.

“I won’t speak at length, Biejie. I’m thinking of passing the clan head position to Tia soon. So you should leave before then. It’s the last thing you can do for Lombardy’s future.”

“Tia, Tia! Father, do you only care about that girl with no proper background!”

Biejie sprang up convulsively and shouted angrily.

“That girl is going to lead this clan? You’re going to give everything to her! Ha! The entire Empire will laugh! Passing the family to a granddaughter born from some wandering nomad’s belly! You’ve gone senile!”

Biejie spat as he spoke, the veins bulging in his neck.

“The Pellet Trading Company being hers must all be lies too! She’s been cunning and wicked since childhood, who knows what tricks she pulled!”

His alcohol-soaked body couldn’t sustain the loud shouting for long.

“Huff, huff…”

Biejie, who had roughly wiped around his mouth where his beard had grown unkempt with his sleeve, finally pointed his finger at his father and said.

“Right now, Father, you’re destroying this family with your own hands! This great family! You’re destroying Lombardy!”

“Do you really think so?”

Rulak asked quietly.

“Do you think things would have been different if you had sat in that position, Biejie?”

“Of course…!”

Biejie was about to say it was obvious.

But his breath suddenly got stuck.

He didn’t know why.

But no matter how hard he tried, the words “I would have done better” wouldn’t come out.

Watching Biejie open and close his mouth like a goldfish, Rulak let out a sad sigh.

Then he took out a letter from the desk drawer and handed it to Biejie.

“Belesack’s handwriting…”

With hands trembling from alcohol-induced tremors, Biejie opened the letter.

Inside was news of Belesack and Ceral’s current situation, written calmly in much neater handwriting than he remembered.

“Tia looked after Belesack until the end.”

Rulak said to Biejie.

“The Empress sent people to kill Belesack and disguise it as suicide.”

“…Suicide?”

“It must have been intended to make Belesack a scapegoat for Astana. But Belesack was able to stay safe thanks to Tia.”

“Such… a thing…”

“That was the first thing that child did after becoming the heir. Not only that, she also found a house where Ceral and Belesack could live quietly.”

Rulak pointed to the letter in Biejie’s hands.

“That’s a letter Belesack sent to express his gratitude for that.”

Biejie read the rest of Belesack’s letter with shaking eyes.

Although it was rough, low-quality letter paper incomparable to what they used at Lombardy Estate.

The fact that Belesack’s life had become much more stable than before was sufficiently conveyed in just a few lines.

[…I only feel sorry and grateful. Please also convey my apologies to Pirenthia, no, to the Deputy Lord.

I will pray from afar that Lombardy’s future path be filled only with peace…]

Belesack was sincerely apologizing.

“Tia did something more befitting a clan head than anyone else.”

Setting aside personal feelings and embracing and protecting the clan members.

That was the most important duty of a clan head.

“So Biejie, let me answer for you. You would not have been a good clan head. And Lombardy will become even greater under Tia’s leadership.”

Rulak’s words carried unwavering conviction.

Biejie hung his head low, wearing a pained expression.

And he spoke as if sobbing.

“I was… lacking… I was insufficient…”

Biejie was truly repentant.

But it was too late.

“When the next clan head is decided, those who competed with them can choose. Leave the family, or work for the family with the clan head’s permission.”

Half of Rulak’s brothers had left the family, and half had remained.

It was an unavoidable procedure.

“But you have no choice, Biejie. It’s punishment for the foolish actions you’ve taken all this time.”

Rulak quietly continued his judgment of Biejie.

“People don’t change. The thought that this small realization will make you a different person is just foolish hope. So go far away, Biejie.”

At this moment, Rulak thought only of Tia, who would succeed him.

He made a choice for the granddaughter who would inherit the family.

“Pack your things and leave the manor before Tia inherits the clan head position. You don’t need to say goodbye separately.”

Biejie looked at Rulak with empty eyes for a moment.

He realized that nothing was left for him now.

No family, no clan.

Even if he drank all the alcohol in the world, it was a fact he could never forget.

Thud.

Biejie quietly placed Belesack’s letter in front of Rulak.

And after giving a final bow to his father, he turned and walked away.

Thump, thump.

With powerless steps, he was just about to open the door of the head family’s office and leave.

“Biejie.”

Rulak spoke.

“Don’t drink too much alcohol. Take care of your health.”

It was the last advice a father could give to his son.

* * *

Creny and I had dinner together as promised.

Giliou and Meylon, who happened to be on holiday, heard the news and came over, so the four of us gathered together after a long time.

“Is Peres still that popular at the Academy?”

“Of course! Second Prince is a legend, a legend!”

Creny’s fan devotion remained unchanged even at the Academy.

Completely forgetting the fact that he didn’t recognize him and created a terrifying atmosphere.

“That Second Prince remembered my name!”

He says this.

Yes, yes. Being happy just from receiving a glance is what fan devotion is about, isn’t it.

I patted Creny’s head like when he was young and said.

“I should have attended the Academy too. It sounds fun.”

“If you had attended the Academy, sister… it would have been amazing.”

Creny covered his mouth and muttered, imagining something.

Meylon filled the wine glass in front of such Creny with red wine and said.

“Then we could have followed along too. Right, Giliou?”

But he’s pouring quite a lot with that gushing sound.

Creny just came of age this year, so he’s incredibly weak with alcohol.

Look how red his face has become.

I subtly pulled Creny’s wine glass back and said.

“Meylon, if Creny gets drunk like that, you’ll have to carry him yourself.”

“Ah… Then I’ll drink this one.”

Meylon subtly took the glass he had poured for Creny and poured less than half of half that amount into a new glass, placing it in front of Creny.

“Hehe.”

Creny smiled and took the glass, then gulped down the wine.

Then he asked the twins.

“Will you two continue to stay with the Lombardi Knights in the future?”

“Us? Well, I suppose so.”

“I don’t know about Meylon, but my goal is to become the Lombardi Knight Commander.”

“What, you’re weaker than me though.”

Giliou and Meylon started bickering again.

But Creny’s expression while watching those two is strange.

He seems to look envious, but also sad.

“Is something wrong, Creny?”

“Huh? Ah…”

Creny took another sip of wine and answered.

“I just wish we could continue living like this forever. But that would be difficult, wouldn’t it? I miss sister Larane too.”

Creny smiled bitterly.

I roughly understood what was going on.

“Grandfather must have had a conversation with uncle.”

“Huh, how did you know…”

Creny’s eyes widened in surprise.

And soon he spoke in a gloomy voice.

“My parents are thinking of taking my brother and me to the Gineporc House.”

I nodded.

Having a family home to return to isn’t bad.

It’s not such a bad situation for Lorels.

Creny just keeps gulping down wine again.

“Still, I hope you’ll come to my graduation ceremony, sister… Mmph!”

“Stop drinking and eat something.”

I pushed a cracker topped with cheese into Creny’s mouth as he smiled with an unsuitable bitter expression.

“Mmm, th-thank you.”

“So. What do you want to say, Creny.”

I looked at Creny and propped my chin on one hand.

“I’ll listen, so go ahead.”

“Sister…”

Creny hesitated.

But his hesitation didn’t last long.

Soon he looked straight at me and opened his mouth.

“When I was young, I didn’t understand why you made me read so many books. I just read them because I liked being in the study with you.”

Once he started talking, there was no more stammering.

Yes, that’s how my cousin who received early education from me should be.

“But after studying at the Academy, I realized how much the things you taught me would help my future.”

His voice, which seemed a little shaky at first, gradually became more stable.

“And the more I studied, the more I thought this wasn’t right. Because my studies had no purpose. So I thought about it. Where do I want to use my knowledge.”

“So what answer did you find.”

“I want to work for Lombardi, sister.”

Creny’s red face became even redder.

But his clear eyes didn’t waver at all.

“I want to help you, sister, who will become the Lombardi family head. Please allow me, sister.”

I watched such Creny for a moment, then slowly nodded.

“Do that.”

“R-really?”

“Why do you think I gave you early education, Creny?”

Just as I needed grandfather in my previous life, I also need someone I can trust and assign work to.

That’s why I thought it would be good if Creny, the most intelligent among my cousins, could fill that position.

“But you can’t lose your top position at the Academy until graduation. That means don’t slack off on your studies.”

“Yes! I can do well!”

Creny answered in a loud voice.

“Good! It’s a good day, so let’s drink!”

“Let’s open another bottle!”

The twins, as if they had been waiting, pulled out two bottles of new vintage wine and said.

“Which one should we drink first?”

“I don’t know, anything!”

“Wait.”

At my words, the twins who were laughing cheerfully and about to open the wine in their right hand stopped abruptly.

They glance at me cautiously.

“Not that one, that one.”

These kids don’t know anything.

“That one tastes better. Hurry up and open it.”

“Got it!”

While the twins were opening the new bottle, I thought of the letter that arrived this morning and spoke to Creny.

“You’ll be able to see Larane soon too.”

At that, Creny nodded with a shy smile.

And if I said that smiling face was the last memory of that night, would you understand what I mean?

* * *

At the same time.

Peres was walking down the stairs leading to the underground dungeon.

Thud, thud.

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed through the damp and cold air.

“O-Oh, you’ve arrived, Your Highness!”

“…Where is the prisoner?”

“Over there!”

The soldier guarding the prison door answered in a crisp military voice and walked ahead.

After walking a short distance, Peres stopped in front of an iron cell.

And he spoke to the person sitting upright in a shabby chair.

“Are you having a peaceful night, Empress?”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————