In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 33

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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 33

Romasie Dillard, the current head of the Lombardi Guild, entered the manor early in the morning after receiving a summons from the clan head.

The Dillard family had been a family that relied on and assisted the Lombardi family for several generations, and their loyalty was tremendous.

There was even a joke that the Dillard family’s emperor lived not in the Imperial Palace but in Lombardy.

“It’s been a long time since you’ve visited, Lord Romasie.”

The manor’s butler politely greeted him at the entrance of the manor.

“Is the clan head in his study?”

“No. Today there was an order to escort you to the meeting room.”

“The meeting room? Hmm.”

Romasie stroked his shortly trimmed beard and reacted as if this was unusual.

Romasie, the general manager of the Lombardi Guild, had aged but had never once stepped back from the front lines of work.

Even now, all contracts and business dealings of the Lombardi Guild passed through his desk.

Clearly there was no urgent business with the guild that required seeing the clan head, yet he was urgently summoned, so he thought inwardly with tension that something big must have happened.

But to be told to come to the meeting room.

Romasie asked the butler.

“Are there others besides me who have come?”

Then the butler smiled slightly and answered.

“Currently, representatives from the Breiga, Heringga, Bilkeiga, Devonega, and Wearega families have already arrived. You are the last one, Lord Romasie.”

Romasie’s face became even more confused.

The families the butler mentioned were all families that served the Lombardi family like the Dillard family.

Like the Dillard family, they were also those who took charge of and were responsible for major businesses such as banking, education, transportation, agriculture, and construction.

Romasie quickened his steps and hurriedly opened the door to the meeting room.

The Head of the Heringga Family was the first to greet Romasie.

“Oh, it’s been a long time.”

“Do you know what this is all about?”

But he too shook his head in the same manner.

Romasie found an empty seat and sat down, then asked the same question to the Eldest Son of the Breiga Family who was sitting in the seat next to him, but the answer that came back was similar.

“I don’t know well either. I came after suddenly receiving contact yesterday…”

“This is strange. It’s not common for him to summon us like this…”

Romasie’s words were correct.

For this many people to gather at once only happened at the New Year’s gathering at the beginning of the year or at Rulak’s birthday banquet.

Then, the door opened and one more person entered.

“Oh, even you, Cleribane?”

It was Cleribane with a face still full of sleepiness.

Cleribane, who briefly scanned the assembled group, naturally came and sat next to Romasie.

Romasie, who had been momentarily surprised by Cleribane’s appearance, first offered a greeting in a small, quiet voice.

“It’s been a long time, Cleribane.”

Cleribane, who had been rubbing his eyes as if tired, nodded his head slightly and also answered in a small voice.

“Yes, Father.”

Cleribane’s surname Pellet was taken from his mother’s surname.

Cleribane, who was Romasie Dillard’s illegitimate child, had left the Dillard family after coming of age and lived independently.

The retainers in the assembly, who were well aware of the relationship between this father and son, pretended not to hear the greeting the two exchanged.

A moment later, Rulak Lombardi opened the meeting room door and entered.

Everyone except the elderly Head of the Wearega Family stood up from their seats and greeted him.

Rulak gestured for them to sit down and smiled toward them.

“Everyone is here.”

Unlike what they had worried about, his beaming face looked very pleased.

Thanks to this, the assembled retainers became even more puzzled.

“The reason I called everyone today is…”

Tension flowed through the assembly.

When Rulak gestured once, a servant came out carrying something on a tray.

Clank.

One small jar was placed in front of each person.

They couldn’t tell what it was, tied tightly with a pretty red string.

“Hmm? What is this smell?”

Romasie carefully brought his face close to the jar and asked.

“It has a sweet and refreshing smell… It’s a smell I’ve never encountered before.”

“Indeed…”

Those with impatient personalities were already holding their jars and gently shaking them.

Rulak, who had been watching them with a smile, said.

“It’s medicine.”

“…Medicine?”

They had guessed from the slightly bitter smell.

The retainers looked blankly at each other’s faces.

“May we open it?”

When Cleribane asked, Rulak nodded his head refreshingly.

To the retainers who were competing to untie the red ribbons out of curiosity, Rulak gave additional explanation.

“It’s a universal ointment to apply to painful areas. It’s especially effective medicine for muscle pain or people like me who have poor joints.”

“Ooh…”

The retainers, who had developed uncomfortable spots here and there as they aged, looked at the ointment with even brighter eyes.

“Ah! But don’t apply it to peeling skin or bleeding wounds!”

Rulak raised his index finger and spoke firmly.

“But why are you giving us this…”

Finally, the Head of the Devonega Family asked in a small voice.

Rulak grinned as if he had been waiting for that question and said.

“Do you know who made that ointment?”

“Well, I wonder…”

“It was my granddaughter!”

Soon after, Rulak’s loud laughter of ‘Uhahahaha!’ followed.

“Granddaughter… you mean.”

The current third generation of the direct Lombardi line were still young.

The oldest, Larane, was only 11 years old.

But suddenly saying a granddaughter made it.

Everyone wondered if the clan head had another grown granddaughter they didn’t know about.

Then Cleribane asked in a quiet voice.

“Do you mean Lady Pirenthia?”

Rulak, who had been shaking his shoulders with endless laughter, stopped laughing and looked at Cleribane.

The retainers in the assembly instead became restless and noisy.

“Pirenthia, you mean Gallahan’s…?”

“She should still be young…”

But neither Rulak, who had proudly presented the ointment saying his granddaughter made it, nor Cleribane looking at such Rulak seemed to be joking.

“Hahaha!”

Suddenly Rulak burst into laughter again.

It was when everyone was sighing in relief, thinking it must have been a joke.

“It’s no joke. It really was made by my granddaughter Pirenthia. It’s a collaboration with a scholar named Estira who entered the Academy this year as a researcher with my recommendation letter.”

“Ah, a collaboration!”

“Hahaha! It was a collaboration!”

People finally burst into laughter.

Well, of course.

Since it was made by a young child, they wondered what could possibly be special about it, but it turns out it was a collaboration with an excellent scholar.

At most, she probably just picked the color of this ribbon.

That’s what the retainers thought.

“This product will be officially sold starting next month. By then, you’ll be grateful since you won’t be able to buy it due to shortage!”

“The head of the family must be very proud of his granddaughter!”

The Head of the Heringga Family responded with a laugh.

“I don’t know how much you’ll believe my words, but you should have seen my granddaughter bringing that ointment and negotiating with me so shrewdly!”

“Negotiating? With you, my lord?”

The retainers were surprised.

It had taken them quite a long time to sit together with Rulak like this, laughing and chatting.

Ordinary children would cry hysterically just being held in Rulak’s arms.

But she negotiated with such a family head. And that young child at that.

“Pirenthia isn’t afraid of me. She’s a very shrewd child.”

“Oh my… That’s quite surprising.”

While everyone seemed skeptical about Pirenthia creating the ointment, they appeared to half-believe that she was a shrewd child who wasn’t afraid of the family head.

“By the way, I didn’t know you were the type to brag about your grandchildren like this.”

The Head of the Wearega Family, who was the oldest present and had a close friendship with Rulak, said with a hearty laugh.

“That kid must be incredibly clever for me to act like this.”

Though he seemed somewhat like a doting grandfather, Rulak didn’t mind and smiled brightly.

Everyone had rushed over in the morning thinking something big had happened, only to end up listening to the family head brag about his granddaughter and even getting ointment as a bonus, so the conversation was in full bloom.

However, among them, Cleribane was quiet.

With his characteristically cold yet unfathomably deep eyes, he looked down at the jar placed before him.

And he fingered the end of the red ribbon.

It was the same color as the hair tie Pirenthia wore most often.

“Cleribane, what’s wrong?”

Romashie, who had been watching him from the side, called his son with curiosity.

“I’m probably thinking the same thing as Father and those gentlemen.”

Cleribane’s eyes looked toward the retainers who were laughing and chatting in a relaxed manner.

But intermittently, there were moments when their eyes lingered on the jar.

“Everyone must be gauging why the family head gathered everyone to show them this ointment.”

In the kingdom called Lombardy, it was the retainers’ job to read the family head’s intentions and carry them out accordingly.

Everyone seemed to be chatting without much thought, but that was only on the surface.

“Isn’t Father also thinking about when, how, and where the Lombardi Guild should distribute this ointment?”

Romashie shrugged his shoulders and nodded as if his thoughts had been exposed.

“And one more thing…”

Cleribane once again took in the red ribbon with his eyes.

Something that could be called instinct or intuition was telling Cleribane.

To keep watch over the owner of this red ribbon.

Cleribane carefully cradled the small, round jar in his hands.

* * *

Class was over.

“Red really suits you well, Pirenthia.”

Larane said as she tied a red hair ribbon in my hair.

“White suits you well, Larane.”

I wasn’t just saying that.

Whether it was because of Larane’s white skin, or because of the blue eyes she inherited from the Angenas side.

White really suited Larane well.

“…Thank you.”

She had complimented me first, but now that she received a compliment, she was embarrassed.

She was so kind, pure, and tender-hearted that I wondered if she was really born from the same womb as Belesack.

She was too beautiful a flower to go far away alone and wither without being loved.

With such thoughts, I said to Larane.

“You like dolls, right? There’s one that came as a birthday gift before, but I hate dolls. Would you like to have it?”

“Really? Wow, I’d love to!”

Larane showed the kind of happy smile I might show if someone gave me gold bars.

“What about me? What about me!”

“Give me a present too, Tia!”

The twins whined while organizing the books and cushions I was going to tidy up.

“Alright, alright.”

There was one reason why I was having such trivial chatter with the kids right now.

“Yawn.”

I pretended to yawn loudly while sneakily looking around.

Still watching, still watching.

Cleribane was looking at me with eyes that seemed ready to shoot lasers.

He had been like that before class started, and throughout the lesson he kept asking me questions whenever he had a chance.

And now after class ended, he was being completely obvious about it.

I’m dying from the attention.

But I couldn’t exactly say, ‘Your staring is killing me, so please look somewhere else!’

I’m an innocent child who knows nothing right now, an innocent child.

As I was chanting that mantra to myself, someone tapped my shoulder.

“Ah, you startled me!”

“Why are you so surprised?”

It was Cleribane.

“Well, you were over there just a moment ago… Why, why are you doing this, teacher?”

I asked while showing the most sickeningly sweet smile possible.

“Please come with me.”

“Pardon?”

Larane and the twins beside me also tilted their heads in confusion.

I didn’t mishear.

“I said please come with me, Lady Pirenthia.”

What did I do wrong?

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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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