In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 25

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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 25

“No, I won’t die.”

I spoke firmly without a moment’s hesitation.

“Won’t die? But….”

Peres’ gaze instinctively glanced toward where the Empress’ Quarters were located.

Even a young child would know this much.

That the Empress was the one who killed his mother, stole everything that should have been his, and was even slowly killing him as well.

Peres looked at me with surprised eyes for a moment, then shook his head again.

“No. Everyone who helped me either died, got hurt, or disappeared. So you should go too. You can’t stay here.”

My heart clenched.

This time it really clenched.

Shouldn’t anyone in his position be grabbing onto someone and begging for help, pleading to be saved?

With my heart clenched, I roughly opened my handbag.

And took out the medicine bottle I had brought.

I could feel his red eyes watching it intently.

“Don’t worry. They can’t touch me.”

“Why?”

“Because….”

I felt like harsh words would pour out in my anger, but since I was still in front of a young child, I did my best to soften them.

“My grandfather is a hundred times stronger than the person who’s tormenting you.”

“Grandfather?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s nice….”

Peres said while fidgeting with his small fingers.

I wondered if I shouldn’t have brought up grandfather to a child who was all alone, but instead I casually patted the Second Prince’s shoulder and said.

“And I’m going to help you. So don’t worry about me and just drink this.”

I hurriedly poured the amount of medicine Estira had told me about into the bottle cap.

Since it was a concentrated solution, it should have been mixed with water to reduce the bitter taste, but this was the best I could do for now.

Peres quietly looked at the small cap I offered, then obediently took it and drank it.

“Hey, Peres.”

“What?”

Even though it was obviously bitter enough to make his whole body tremble, the kid didn’t even frown once.

“You can’t just carelessly eat things strangers give you like that. Well, I’m fine, but. What if you just accept things without suspicion like that?”

I was seriously worried about the Second Prince’s attitude, which showed not even a speck of wariness.

Since I knew Peres’ past, present, and future, even though I met him for the first time today, it felt like I’d known him for a long time.

But the Second Prince was seeing me for the first time today.

At my scolding, Peres tilted his head and answered.

“I’m already dying anyway. Even if what you gave me was poison, it wouldn’t make much difference.”

Ah, this kid really knows everything.

I had wondered if he might not yet know that the Empress was putting poison in his food.

I wished he just didn’t know.

“And you said you’d help me.”

At Peres’ words, the soft fabric of my handbag twisted in my tightly clenched fist.

“There haven’t been many people who said they’d help me so far. But even if that’s not the case, it doesn’t mat… Mmph!”

I shoved a piece of hard candy into the mouth of the kid who was about to say something dark again.

It was something I had packed in my bag along with the bitter medicine.

“Children shouldn’t say things like that. Just eat candy.”

It would have been better if he acted like a promising little rascal like my cousins Belesack or Astaliou.

This appearance of crouching alone in darkness was rather torturous for me to watch.

As I was grumbling like that, Peres asked me.

“You’re a child too.”

Well, I am a child, technically.

“I’m eleven years old. How old are you?”

“I, I’m… eight years old.”

“You’re just a little kid. You eat candy too.”

But I said while offering my handbag to the Second Prince.

“Although you’re older, I know more than you do, so it’s fine.”

The kid’s cheek bulged with the candy in his mouth.

“I don’t have much time today, so I’ll keep it short. From now on, take this medicine twice a day, every day. Take the same amount I gave you just now each time.”

Peres quietly accepted the medicine bottle and handbag I handed him.

“This medicine will detoxify the poison and make you healthy again.”

“This medicine?”

The Second Prince looked into the golden, shimmering liquid and asked me.

“Is it okay for me to live?”

As if he wasn’t sure whether that was really okay, his voice lacked conviction.

“Mother told me to live. She told me to survive, but it’s too difficult.”

Peres seemed exhausted.

His body, too thin for a child, trembled even in the gentle breeze.

I felt like I should comfort him at that sight, but I deliberately spoke in an indifferent tone.

“What’s there to worry about? Of course you have to overcome everything and survive. Your mother said so, right? Then that’s what you should do.”

“…Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

The Second Prince was silent for a moment.

Then he suddenly asked me.

“What about you? Do you want me to live? Do you think it’s okay for me to live?”

“Yeah, I want you to live. No, I think you have to live.”

Because you’re someone who will soar more brilliantly than anyone else.

Even though you look as pitiful as a larva that must hide and live in damp soil right now.

When the time comes, you’ll fly higher than anyone else, become the Crown Prince of this Empire, and finally be able to get your rightful revenge.

“I have to go now. There are a few things you need to follow until we meet next time.”

I stood up and brushed the grass off my bottom as I spoke.

“First, even if you take the medicine, it’s better not to eat poisoned food, but if you do that, they might notice. So for now, eat it.”

It felt really unpleasant.

Telling a young child to eat food that I knew contained poison.

But I had to make the Empress believe that her plan was working.

That way, she wouldn’t try other things I couldn’t stop in her attempt to eliminate Peres.

“And there’s a maid who brings you food, right?”

The Second Prince nodded.

“When that person comes, you always have to lie down and pretend to be sick. You don’t even need to act deliberately. Just lie there weakly and show her you’re sleeping.”

“Okay.”

“And… do you happen to have a wooden sword?”

At my question, Peres brought over a wooden sword that had been placed some distance away and showed it to me.

“My wet nurse gave it to me as a birthday present last time.”

As if it was quite precious to him, longing filled his red eyes.

“Good, you don’t have a proper teacher, but you need to practice with the wooden sword every day.”

The Second Prince had accomplished the amazing feat of graduating as the top military student at the Academy with swordsmanship he learned late.

So if he practiced consistently from now on….

Whoosh-. Whoosh-.

“Like this?”

At my words, Peres picked up the wooden sword and swung it several times.

But the sound was far from ordinary.

I may not be well-versed in swordsmanship, but would a normal eleven-year-old casually swinging a sword make such sounds?

And a sick child at that? With a wooden sword?

Unlike my bewildered self, Peres swung the sword several more times with an expressionless face.

Whoooosh-. Whirrr-.

It seemed like he was just playing around with the sword without putting much effort into it.

Each time the blunt wooden sword cut through the air, a heavy whooshing sound echoed.

Even I, who knew nothing about swords, could tell.

Something more powerful than human strength was moving together with the sword that the boy was casually swinging.

“This is totally a cheat character…”

An eleven-year-old who had never received proper sword training and had even been poisoned possessed such ability.

I knew that the Second Prince had grown like a fish in water from the moment he entered the Imperial Academy, beyond the Empress’s reach.

But I didn’t know he had such monstrous abilities from such a young age.

I thought he was just a pitiful child, but was he actually a formidable one!

“Have you learned swordsmanship somewhere before?”

I asked just to be sure.

“No.”

“Then did you have any other wooden sword before receiving this one?”

“No.”

Really. He really is a cheat character.

Perhaps finding my continuous questions strange, Peres tilted his head.

“Am I doing it wrong? Isn’t this how you do it?”

It seemed like he didn’t even realize what kind of ability he possessed, having no point of comparison.

I thought for a moment before answering.

“No. It’s not bad. I think you’ll do well if you keep practicing!”

I considered telling him the truth.

That he seemed to have tremendous talent.

But if I did that, Peres might make different choices from his previous life.

Those words of mine might stimulate that tremendous desire for revenge crouched somewhere inside that boy.

The boy obediently responded to my words, saying he understood.

“Tia! Where are you!”

Just then, I heard Father’s voice calling for me.

Ah, right. I needed to return quickly.

“Well, I’m going. See you next time.”

“…Yeah.”

Perhaps disliking being left alone again, Peres’s shoulders drooped.

“…I’ll try my best to meet you again as soon as possible. Until then, take your medicine properly and do what I told you.”

Deep red eyes stared at me intently.

I had come to give the Second Prince, who would become Crown Prince in the future, what he needed and build trust in advance.

But I ended up feeling like I had become some child’s guardian.

However, after seeing the Second Prince’s wretched state, I couldn’t just casually throw him some medicine and leave.

“I’m going. Goodbye.”

“…Goodbye.”

Well, he’s someone who would become Crown Prince on his own even if left alone anyway.

What could happen from helping him not be sick when he’s young?

As I turned away, leaving Peres alone in the forest, I truly thought that way.

Not knowing what changes this kindness of mine, born from natural human compassion, would bring about.

Not knowing that the boy would engrave every single word of mine in his mind.

Not knowing what meaning my outstretched hand would have for Peres.

I truly never anticipated any of it.

* * *

I rushed out of the thicket calling for Father.

“Dad!”

“Tia!”

Father, with a startled face, ran toward me.

“Where did you go? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Fortunately, since the time I had disappeared was short, Father didn’t seem too shocked, but his eyes examining me were still full of worry.

“Did you find her?”

Two guards who had been searching for me from the other side hurriedly approached.

“Even though this is inside the Imperial Palace, you still can’t just disappear like that. I was worried.”

“I’m sorry…”

“Why did you suddenly get out of the carriage?”

“Well. Those men told me to get out… I thought I had to…”

At my words, the guards’ shoulders flinched.

“So I got out, and I saw a cute squirrel over there, so I followed it…”

It was the moment the Second Prince instantly became a ‘cute squirrel.’

Father looked at me, then sighed softly and laughed helplessly as if he couldn’t help it.

“We’re sorry…”

“We were just following orders…”

The two guards were scratching their heads awkwardly when they spoke.

“What are you sorry about?”

There was a splendid woman accompanied by several maids, looking at us with a smile as if she had come out for a leisurely stroll.

It was the Empress of the Lambru Empire, Lavinia Angenas Durelli.

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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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