In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 49

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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 49

The first thing I pulled out from the bundle of gifts was a thick autumn and winter cloak.

It had a similar design to the black cloak that adult Peres used to wear frequently.

After giving it a big shake to roughly dust it off, I wrapped it around Peres’s neck area.

The boy just moved his red eyes to watch the thick cloak being placed over his shoulders.

“Mm, it suits you well as expected.”

There was a reason he wore only that like a school uniform constantly.

The neat black cloak made Peres’s black hair and flawless skin stand out much more than a cloak with fancy patterns would.

“Don’t go around cold, wear it properly.”

Feeling pleased as I watched Peres obediently wearing the cloak I had wrapped around him, I took out the second gift.

It was a wooden sword that was already sticking up from the bag.

“Ugh, it’s heavy.”

Even with both arms, it’s too much for me to lift.

“I know you already have a wooden sword, but when I saw it last time, it seemed too light for you. So I brought this.”

Actually, it would be more accurate to say I took it from what the twins were using, but Peres doesn’t need to know the details.

“Try swinging it once.”

At my words, Peres lifted the wooden sword with one hand and swung it briefly.

Whoosh!

Because there was a very heavy and thick iron core embedded in the wooden sword, even the sound of cutting through the air was different.

“Ah.”

The boy’s previously indifferent eyes widened.

“How is it? Do you like it?”

“…Yeah.”

“Then take this too.”

What I pulled out from the bag was a swordsmanship manual.

Peres, who received the book covered in rough and sturdy leather, read the title written on the cover aloud.

“‘Brown Swordsmanship Manual’?”

“That’s right. It’s the ‘Brown Swordsmanship Manual’, not the ‘Empire Swordsmanship Manual’!”

I boasted proudly, but Peres didn’t seem to understand the difference between the two.

This makes giving a luxury gift feel unrewarding.

I ended up having to explain it directly.

“The ‘Empire Swordsmanship’ and ‘Brown Swordsmanship’ are actually similar. What used to be called ‘Brown Swordsmanship’ became so commonly used that it’s just called ‘Empire Swordsmanship’ now. So all the books that come out these days carry the title ‘Empire Swordsmanship Manual’. But doesn’t this one look somewhat old at first glance?”

“Yeah, it does.”

“Then what do you think it means?”

“This book has the real ‘Brown Swordsmanship’ written in it?”

“Yes! Exactly right! Moreover, this is the real deal that the previous head of House Brown personally revised and organized!”

It was unexpected luck that this book came into my possession.

When I discovered it stuck in a corner of the study that Grandfather had made for me, I immediately thought of Peres.

This original Brown swordsmanship manual was the perfect gift for the boy.

Unlike me who was extremely excited, the boy just looked down at the book in his hands once more with his usual calm expression.

But he seemed to like it quite a bit, as I could see him stroking the book cover with his fingers.

“But it might be a little disappointing, but that’s not yours.”

“Then?”

“For now, look at that book to your heart’s content. But later, someone might ask for it. Then you’ll have to give it back.”

“…I don’t want to.”

“What?”

The boy who had always nodded and obediently followed whatever I said or asked him to do said he didn’t want to for the first time.

I asked back, a little flustered.

Peres looked at my surprised face for a moment with eyes slightly covered by his black bangs, then lowered his gaze and answered.

“…I understand. I’ll give it back.”

What, you startled me.

But well, it must mean he liked the book that much.

I added words to comfort the boy.

“I’ll get you something even better later. Don’t be too disappointed.”

Whether he was listening to me or not.

Peres’s small fingers gripped the corner of the swordsmanship manual tightly.

Somehow I feel guilty.

It’s like I’ve become a bad adult who gives a toy to a child and then takes it away.

“Hey, I said I’ll give you an even better book later, didn’t I?”

But the boy didn’t answer.

He just nodded his head.

To sulk over something like this.

Thinking of Peres’s future self, who was so cold that not even a needle could penetrate, made me think he was being like this because he was still young, and I found it endearing.

This is all for your sake, future Crown Prince.

Thinking that someday he would understand my deep intentions, I rummaged through the bag.

I definitely needed something to cheer up Peres’s sulking mood.

“Here, look!”

What I held out was a bottle full of candy, the same as what I had given him along with the Melcon medicine last time.

The sight of colorful round hard candies inside the transparent glass bottle was pleasant to just look at and enjoy.

“Ah, this… Sweet stuff.”

Peres, who had been holding the book tightly as if he didn’t want it taken away, finally shifted his attention to something else.

A child is still a child after all.

I deliberately shook the glass bottle to make a rattling sound and placed it in Peres’s hands.

“Do you like sweet things?”

“Not usually, but I like this…”

“Then shall I give you something even sweeter and more delicious?”

“Something even sweeter and more delicious?”

Having successfully caught Peres’s interest, I pulled out a small box from the bag.

Something that was always placed on the table in my study and our house’s drawing room.

“Ta-da! Chocolate cookies!”

“Chocolate?”

Peres looked curiously at the black things embedded in the fragrant cookies.

“Have you ever tried this?”

It feels a bit like being a show-off saying ‘your house doesn’t have this, does it?’

But I already knew through Estira that chocolate wasn’t something you could commonly encounter yet.

I picked up one chocolate cookie about the size of my palm and gave it to Peres.

“Try it!”

The boy, who had hesitated for a moment at my words, seemed to gather courage and took a bite of the chocolate cookie.

“…It’s delicious.”

“Right? Look at this. I brought this much for you to eat!”

They say chocolate is something others might never see in their lifetime, but in our house it existed like tissues placed in every space I frequently visited.

I had gathered all the ones placed throughout the house – in my room, the living room, and so on – so there must be well over thirty of them.

“I should eat one too. Ah, I’m hungry.”

I placed another one in Peres’s other hand and took a big bite of a cookie myself.

The sticky yet incredibly sweet taste spreading in my mouth made me feel a bit more alive.

“I couldn’t even eat breakfast and have been moving around since dawn. Yawn, I’m dying of sleepiness.”

Honestly, aside from it being ‘sweet’, I can’t really tell what flavor the cookie is.

I roughly shoved it into my mouth and flopped down on my side.

Peres, who had finished one and was about to eat the other one, looked at me.

“Yawn. Don’t mind me and eat. I need to… sleep a bit.”

As soon as I became aware of being tired and sleepy, drowsiness washed over me.

I looked at Peres eating cookies while struggling to lift my increasingly heavy eyelids several times.

I could see chocolate crumbs stuck to the corner of his mouth.

I wanted to tell him to wipe it off, but I was already falling asleep before I could.

The way he fixed his red eyes on me lying down while munching looked just like a rabbit.

It was amusing that such a cute kid would later become that cold Crown Prince.

At the same time, I was relieved that he wouldn’t have to suffer anymore.

I thought while looking at those red eyes still fixed on me.

Still, I’ve done this much for him, so he won’t completely ignore me later, right?

At least when he becomes Crown Prince and I try to become clan head, he won’t interfere, right?

Yeah, that’s enough.

It was when I was spending more time with my eyes closed than open.

I felt the bed gently sway as Peres flopped down across from me.

You were tired too, huh.

Well, the sun had just fully risen.

It was too early for a young child to be up and moving around.

I’ll just sleep a little and wake up.

The last thing I saw before falling asleep was Peres’s pale face looking at me with cookie crumbs still on his lips.

* * *

“What should we do?”

A voice asked in hushed tones.

“Both of them are sleeping so soundly…”

Then another replied in a small voice.

“For now, you all go downstairs and pack His Highness’s belongings.”

At the quiet command, several sets of light footsteps began moving in unison.

“By the way, if I had the skill, I’d want to capture this adorable scene in a painting.”

The one speaking while covering his mouth as if not knowing what to do was Kaileras Hering, a court attendant belonging to the Imperial Palace.

Kaileras, with his dark blonde hair and kind blue eyes, was the second son of House Hering, one of the vassal families of the Lombardi Family.

Though he was a young man who had been working at the Imperial Palace for 10 years now, he was already an elite among elites with first-class attendant qualifications.

And beside him, looking at the bed with equally affectionate eyes, was Kaitlin Brown, Deputy Maids-in-Waiting of the Imperial Palace.

However, both of them had changed affiliations just an hour ago.

The place they willingly transferred to upon receiving orders was the Second Prince’s Palace.

“Let’s let them sleep for now. We need time to organize downstairs first anyway.”

“Yes, I’ve heard much about Lord Gallahan’s daughter, but this is my first time seeing her like this. Same with His Highness.”

Kaileras, who naturally loved children, could hardly take his eyes off them.

“But how can they both be so adorable?”

Though it was somewhat exaggerated, Kaitlin completely agreed with Kaileras’s words.

The two children lying face to face on the bed scattered with sweet treats were fast asleep, oblivious to the world.

Both Pirenthia with her curly brown hair and Peres with his somewhat tousled but night-sky-black hair had such adorable appearances that anyone would look twice.

Moreover, what most tugged at Kaileras and Kaitlin’s heartstrings was that the two children were sharing a small black cloak as a blanket.

“I should cover them up properly…”

Kaileras, who had been carefully approaching to re-cover them with the cloak in case the children might wake up, saw something and covered his mouth again.

When the curious Kaitlin stood on her tiptoes, she could see Peres’s hand tightly holding Pirenthia’s small hand under the cloak.

“Ooh…”

Kaileras squeezed his eyes shut like someone who had taken a fatal blow, trying not to make a loud noise.

It was because the sudden overwhelming cuteness had caused an overload.

After taking several deep breaths in that state, Kaileras tried to cover Pirenthia’s shoulder with the cloak again.

Thud.

If it hadn’t been for the strong grip that caught his arm.

“Second Prince…”

Peres, who had been sleeping soundly just moments before, was now wide awake and gripping Kaileras’s wrist firmly.

“Who are you.”

“Ah, well… I am…”

Kaileras was speechless from the grip that seemed ready to break his wrist.

Wasn’t this just an eleven-year-old child?

But what was this strength?

Instead of the flustered Kaileras, Kaitlin spoke in a calm voice.

“It’s our first meeting, Your Highness the Second Prince. We are those who will be serving Your Highness closely from today. I am Kaitlin Brown.”

“I, I am… Kaileras, Kaileras Hering, Your Highness.”

Kaileras barely managed to answer.

But the wariness didn’t easily disappear from Peres’s face.

That’s when it happened.

“Mmm…”

Making a small sound, Pirenthia slowly opened her eyes.

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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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