In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 245
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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 245
The house was larger than I had expected.
As soon as I opened the door, the warm-colored living room and kitchen that came into view were particularly impressive.
The bedroom must be upstairs.
I thought as I looked around the house.
“Have you been keeping this house all this time?”
I asked Father.
“Of course. I spent the happiest time of my life in this house.”
Father, who answered that way, quickly waved his hands and said.
“That doesn’t mean the time I spend with my daughter isn’t happy though!”
“Of course, of course. I know what you mean.”
When I answered, Father let out a small sigh of relief and finally smiled.
Then he gestured toward me as I entered the kitchen.
“Feel free to look around, Tia. I’ll make some tea.”
And he began taking various things out of the cupboard and clattering around, seeming very familiar with it all.
It seemed like he had been visiting this house alone quite often.
Though the house showed almost no signs of being lived in, it was clean and dust-free, so there seemed to be someone taking care of it separately.
“Hmm.”
I began carefully looking around the interior of the house, feeling like I was visiting someone else’s home.
“It’s a warm house.”
Even in the winter weather, the inside of the house felt cozy.
It was as if the sunlight streaming through the large windows was embracing the entire interior of the house.
I slowly approached the window like someone enchanted by something.
I stood quietly, receiving the sunlight with my whole body, then carefully sat down in the rocking chair placed in front of the window.
Creak.
Perhaps because someone hadn’t sat in it for a long time, there was a small noise, but it soon supported my body firmly.
Rock, rock.
When I leaned my head back, my body began to move slowly along with the chair.
Just enough to calm my mind.
And strangely, sitting in that spot, I could see Father’s back as he moved busily in the kitchen very clearly.
“Tia, the tea is ready.”
Just as he said that and turned around holding two large cups, Father discovered me sitting in the rocking chair and smiled with a bit of surprise.
“Do you want to take that chair with you?”
“What?”
When I widened my eyes at the unexpected words, Father laughed heartily once again.
“That rocking chair was Shan’s favorite thing in this house. But now it’s just guarding an empty house with no one to sit in it. Wouldn’t it be better for the chair if you took it and sat in it once or twice?”
“Well, that’s true, but…”
I did like the rocking chair very much.
It looked light but was surprisingly sturdy and solid.
And when I touched its smooth surface, it somehow put my mind at ease.
But somehow it felt like I was taking away Father’s precious possession.
As if reading my mind, Father set the cups down on the table and said.
“Mother would want our Tia to use it well too.”
“Then… I’ll use it carefully.”
I nodded while stroking the armrest of the chair once.
“Ah, it’s warm.”
The tea Father made was a type I had never tasted before.
But as soon as I drank it, all the tension remaining in my body seemed to melt away, making me exclaim in admiration.
“We found out Tia was conceived in this house, and we lived here until Mother was full-term.”
Father said while holding his cup with both hands and looking around the house.
His gaze seemed filled with longing everywhere, so I quietly swallowed my tea.
Then, Father pointed at my finger.
“You happen to be wearing that ring.”
“Right, this was Mother’s ring.”
It was the purple sapphire ring Father gave me on the day I came of age.
The one he gave to Mother when he proposed to her.
Even though I took off all other jewelry, I really wanted to wear this ring today.
I caressed the sapphire while giving slight meaning to what might have been just a coincidence.
“Tia.”
Father called me affectionately.
“You resemble Mother a lot. You know that, right?”
“Yes, you said so just a moment ago. That I really look like Mother when I dress like this.”
“Yes, but what I meant wasn’t just your appearance. Tia’s personality really takes after Mother.”
Father smiled softly.
“Ah, how fortunate that your personality doesn’t take after me.”
Then he began stroking my head gently like when I was little.
“Shan, Mother never backed down when she wanted something. She was also very smart, so sometimes she would get what she wanted through surprisingly clever methods.”
Ah.
Now I think I understood a little why Father said I resembled Mother.
“Especially when she was angry, her green eyes would sparkle as she argued point by point, and I couldn’t even argue back. Though there was never any reason for me to be angry with Shan in the first place.”
Father, who muttered that way, looked at me deeply.
“So I hope you, Tia, won’t give up too many things to become the head of Lombardi.”
I could guess what Father’s words meant.
“You’re talking about… Peres, aren’t you?”
Instead of answering, Father smiled slightly.
But this time, I couldn’t immediately nod and say I would do that.
The reason I regressed was to save a family destined for ruin.
So Lombardi is more important to me than anything else.
I now know how I feel about Peres.
Though it’s somewhat frustrating to admit, I also thought that dreaming of a ‘happy life’ without that guy might be quite difficult.
But.
‘What if a future with Peres interferes with leading Lombardi?’
This kind of worry was still making me hesitate.
“I’m thinking about it.”
That was all I could answer.
Father nodded with another gentle smile.
“Yes. Think about it slowly, but deeply.”
Though he probably brought me here to say those words, Father didn’t pressure me.
“Because love is more important in life than you might think.”
He just said that and stepped back, leaning comfortably in his chair and drinking his tea.
Since we’re being honest with each other, maybe I should say something too.
I tapped the handle part of the cup with my fingertip and asked.
“Father, don’t you have any thoughts of remarrying?”
“Cough! …Cough!”
Father, who coughed for a while as if choking, asked me back with a reddened face.
“Are you suddenly curious about that?”
“I’m an adult now, and you’re still young, Father. If there’s someone good, I’m telling you not to worry about me.”
“Tia…!”
Father exclaimed as if embarrassed and shook his head.
“For Dad, the only love of his lifetime is Mom.”
Father smiled bashfully as he said this, as if he had truly returned to his youth.
“So there’s no love left to give to anyone else.”
Though it was a somewhat lonely statement, Father’s expression showed the complete opposite.
“When Mom comes up in conversation, Dad’s face changes completely. You look incredibly happy.”
“Do I? Haha. I can’t help it.”
Father scratched his cheek sheepishly as he spoke.
“Because Mom and Dad shared a love we’ll never regret.”
* * *
The next day.
When I opened my eyes in the morning, the butler came to inform me.
It was a summons from Grandfather.
After quickly washing my face and changing clothes, I immediately set off for Grandfather’s study.
“Something seems a bit chaotic?”
This was what I felt while walking from the annex to the main building where Grandfather’s study was located.
The employees usually started their work early in the morning, but they seemed unusually busy today.
“Is there some event at the manor today? No, there isn’t. There’s nothing scheduled.”
No matter how much I searched my mind, there was no reason for the employees to be so busy today.
The social season starts in spring, so it wasn’t time for banquets.
And it wasn’t anyone in the family’s birthday either.
I’ll have to ask Grandfather about it later.
With that thought, I knocked on the study door.
“Grandfather, it’s me. I’m coming in.”
I opened the door and entered as usual.
“…Huh?”
I felt a strange sense of unease.
The study looked the same as always.
But something was different.
I became certain when I looked toward the window.
The bust of Grandmother that I had commissioned from Alfeo as a gift when I was young was no longer in its place.
“Oh, Tia, you’re here? Come over here.”
Grandfather, who had been sitting on the drawing room sofa, stood up and gestured to me when he saw me.
“Grandfather… something seems strange.”
“Does it?”
Grandfather smiled with an unreadable expression and gently pushed my back as I slowly entered the head family’s office, leading me somewhere.
As I walked where Grandfather led me while looking around the study, I suddenly stopped and froze in place.
“Grandfather…”
Grandfather looked at me and smiled, then placed both hands on the chair at the head family’s desk.
And he said:
“From today, this is your seat, Tia.”
“But that’s…”
The place in Lombardi where only the family head could sit.
Grandfather spoke again in a low voice, as if confirming it once more to me who had frozen and couldn’t move.
“From today, Pirenthia Lombardi, you are the head of Lombardi.”
I couldn’t hear any sound.
My thoughts stopped as well.
And the next moment, I realized I was somehow sitting in Grandfather’s chair.
No, now it was my chair.
After seating me in the chair, Grandfather stood on the opposite side of the desk and looked at me.
“How does it feel?”
“…Good.”
“Hehehe! That’s my granddaughter!”
Grandfather burst into loud laughter.
Should I have said something more modest?
What should I do, it really does feel good.
I slowly stroked the family head’s desk with my palm.
At the same time, goosebumps rose on my arms.
I am.
The head of.
Lombardi.
I covered my mouth with both hands.
Because I felt like I would scream if I didn’t.
What Grandfather had said earlier in the midst of all the confusion came vividly back to life in my ears.
“From today, Pirenthia Lombardi, you are the head of Lombardi.”
Pirenthia Lombardi, the new head of Lombardi.
I couldn’t say anything.
I quietly looked at Grandfather.
“Sometimes it will be frightening. Sometimes you’ll be filled with passion. Sometimes you might feel crushed by the name Lombardi. When that happens, just remember one thing.”
Grandfather said to me.
“You are Lombardi, and Lombardi is you. Just don’t forget that.”
Lombardi is me, and I am Lombardi.
I slowly nodded my head.
Without realizing it, my hands were gripping the armrests of the chair tightly.
Then, with a knock, Butler Johan entered.
“Allow me to introduce myself again. I am Johan, the family head’s butler.”
“Ah…”
Johan was now speaking while looking at me, not Grandfather.
I had forgotten.
Johan wasn’t Grandfather’s butler, but the butler who assists the family head.
“The preparations for the banquet are nearly complete, Master.”
“Banquet…?”
To me, who was bewildered, Grandfather explained.
“It’s a banquet to celebrate the new family head’s inauguration. Your father and Shannet worked hard to prepare it.”
“Ah, so that’s why!”
That was why the employees were so busy.
“For the next three days, the manor’s doors will be open and banquets will continue. It’s a Lombardi tradition.”
Grandfather said proudly as he led me outside.
The banquet hall was already set up, and tables were being placed throughout the vast garden.
As I stared blankly out the window, Grandfather said quietly to me.
“After this banquet, there should be nothing happening in this manor without your knowledge, Head of Lombardi.”
Wow, this is truly Lombardi! So cool!
My two fists placed neatly on the windowsill clenched involuntarily, and Grandfather looked even more magnificent than before.
I looked straight into Grandfather’s eyes and said:
“I will make this family even greater, Grandfather.”
Then Grandfather patted my shoulder and replied:
“Yes. Pirenthia, you can do it.”
These were the words of Grandfather, who had led the family more successfully than any Lombardi family head in history.
And this is the future I will realize.
From today, I am the head of Lombardi.
* * *
As Grandfather said, the banquet continued for three days and nights.
The Empire’s nobles and Lombardi’s citizens all gathered together without distinction, eating and drinking merrily.
And on the afternoon of the final third day.
“Master.”
“What is it, Yohan?”
“A guest has come from far away.”
A completely unexpected guest came to see me.
“Someone who identified herself as Shan’s mother and your grandmother is requesting to meet you in the garden.”
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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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