In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 53
—————
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 53
“…What?”
Cleribane’s handsome face turned pale.
His tall body swayed once, then he gripped the sofa backrest and asked me with a face like the world had ended.
“Did I do something wrong….”
He’s clearly misunderstanding what I said.
He’s even starting to tear up.
They say Cleribane’s nickname is ‘Cold Handsome Guy’.
Where exactly on that face is the cold part?
I felt a slight urge to tease Cleribane, so I pretended not to notice and said.
“Weren’t you expecting this to some degree, Cleribane?”
“No, I….”
Cleribane rubs his face with a complicated expression.
At this rate, he’s going to cry.
I said with a mischievous smile.
“Not the clothing store. Preparing to submit your resignation to Grandfather.”
“Ah, then….”
Joy flashed across Cleribane’s face as he understood my meaning.
I smiled brightly and answered him.
“My eleventh birthday is coming up soon, isn’t it? I should start preparing gradually.”
The day I would finally gain my freedom was not far off.
Of course, there was one hurdle I had to overcome before then.
A bright smile bloomed on Cleribane’s face as he looked at me.
“And this, could you deliver it to Kaitlin? She’s probably in Grandfather’s study right about now.”
I handed Cleribane the letter envelope that Loril had sealed just moments ago.
Cleribane nodded as if he could guess who the letter was written for.
* * *
The training ground of Poirak Palace.
Peres stood with his sword in the well-organized spacious area, eyes closed, feeling the wind.
His black hair and collar fluttered in the wind, but the tall, agile boy remained unwavering.
He simply stood quietly with a beautiful face like a masterpiece painting.
The swordsmanship instructor assigned by the head of Lombardy had teaching methods slightly different from other knights.
Apart from sparring, he never raised his voice, nor did he roughly handle his students.
Rather, Peres spent much of his class time meditating like this.
He was reviewing in his mind the sparring session he had just had with his swordsmanship instructor.
Peres was a diligent hard worker, unlike what one would expect from someone with natural talent.
Sometimes the swordsmanship instructor had to forcibly stop his training.
However, today was a little different.
Peres’s swordsmanship instructor Yubes looked strangely at his student who couldn’t concentrate on the lesson.
The student who absorbed everything at a frighteningly fast pace from a teaching perspective occasionally had days like this when he was scattered.
It seemed like such days came periodically.
Eventually, Yubes let out a small sigh and said.
“…Let’s stop here for today, Your Highness.”
Despite not being able to concentrate on the wind’s movement and constantly twitching his eyebrows, Peres stubbornly squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.
“I’ll do more.”
It had been almost three years since he regained his rightful position as a prince.
He should be able to live a little more comfortably now.
The Second Prince’s appearance, still obsessively devoted to swordsmanship and academics to a degree that suggested obsessive-compulsive disorder, was worrying to those who watched.
Yubes thought this was actually good timing.
Since he had never missed a single day of swordsmanship lessons, he wanted to use this opportunity to make the Second Prince rest.
“You keep losing concentration and composure, but there’s no point in just mimicking the movements. Please lower your sword.”
At the stern tone, Peres finally slowly opened his eyes.
Through his black hair blowing in the whooshing wind, ruby-red eyes redder than rubies revealed themselves.
At thirteen years old, now standing at the very edge of boyhood, Peres possessed a very beautiful appearance.
Sometimes it was so excessive that it seemed unrealistic.
However, Yubes, who had been very close to Peres all this time, knew that this beautiful boy was actually someone lacking in many things.
He had almost none of the emotions that a person should naturally possess.
Even when he did, they were faint.
The only times Peres showed expressions with emotion were occasionally when eating sweet hard candy or when looking at fully bloomed spring flowers.
Even when deliberately pushing physical training to the extreme, Peres would only grit his teeth.
From what he heard, his attitude was the same in academic classes.
While his growth rate was dazzling, Yubes worried about where this ‘blindness’ of the Second Prince originated.
So today, taking advantage of Peres showing an uncharacteristically scattered appearance, he planned to trace back the stem of that blindness.
“Are you waiting for someone by any chance?”
Remembering how he kept looking toward the palace entrance, Yubes asked.
“…Yes.”
Peres, who flinched slightly, answered.
“Who are you waiting for?”
“I’m waiting for Kaitlin to return home.”
“Why is that?”
“…I cannot tell you.”
For the first time, Peres, who had always told only the truth, refused to answer.
As if hiding the most precious secret in the world, his still young lips stubbornly pressed shut.
Yubes even felt a trace of betrayal.
“Please tell me.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Your Highness.”
“I said I don’t want to.”
Peres was now even harboring wariness.
Yubes spoke with the intention of testing his feelings.
“Since you refuse to follow your teacher’s words, I will give you punishment. Do 1000 vertical cuts.”
“Yes.”
Now even Yubes was at a loss for words.
He would rather do 1000 cuts than tell the reason for waiting for Kaitlin.
He shook his head in disbelief.
Soon the training ground was filled only with Peres’s rough breathing and the whooshing sound of his sword.
When it passed 500 times.
With his back to the sweat-drenched Peres, Yubes spoke as if trying to persuade him.
“I don’t know for what reason, but I’m worried about Your Highness.”
Whoosh, whoosh.
“Just as understanding and tolerance toward others is important, having a generous attitude toward oneself is also important.”
Whoosh, whoosh.
“Your Highness, whom I have observed all this time, lacks in that regard. You don’t need to be perfect in every aspect at all times. People should naturally….”
Something was strange.
The regular sound of the sword cutting through the air was no longer audible.
Puzzled, Yubes turned around to see Peres running at full speed.
It was a side view of him running madly toward somewhere, holding his sword in one hand and the scabbard in the other.
“Y-Your Majesty?”
It was the first time.
Peres had never lost his composure like that before.
No, for a brief moment, those brilliant eyes that reminded one of red rubies even flashed with something like madness.
And in the direction Peres was running toward, there was a carriage just entering Poirak Palace.
Yubes stood there dumbfounded, watching the scene in disbelief.
Peres, who had rushed over and positioned himself in front of the carriage, couldn’t stay still even during the brief moment when the footstep was placed and the carriage door opened.
He quickly sheathed his sword and frantically wiped his dirt and sweat-covered hands on his pants.
Finally, the carriage door opened, and Kaitlin, the head maid of Poirak Palace, stepped gracefully onto the ground.
Upon discovering Peres standing right in front of her, she smiled gently and took something from her handbag to hand to him.
“A letter…?”
It was definitely a small pink letter envelope.
And a faint smile spread across Peres’s face as he received it.
His red lips formed a beautiful arc, and his sharp eyes curved into gentle crescents.
It was unmistakably a smile.
“Ha…”
Yubes let out an involuntary chuckle at Peres’s smile, which he was seeing for the first time.
Who was that pure boy over there, so overjoyed he didn’t know what to do with himself?
Standing still was only momentary.
Peres ran into the palace interior with the letter in hand.
Even abandoning the sword he never separated from his body.
Seeing the sword lying on the ground, Yubes muttered in bewilderment.
“Well, if anything, I suppose it’s fortunate.”
* * *
“Young Lady, can’t I sleep over here tonight?”
“No.”
“Why not? There are plenty of spare rooms.”
“Why would you sleep at someone else’s house when you have a perfectly good home? Go back quickly.”
“Waaah, Young Lady, you’re so mean…”
Loril dropped her shoulders and pouted her lips, but that doesn’t work on me.
Remembering the last time I thoughtlessly gave permission and ended up having to listen to Loril’s chatter until just before falling asleep…
I shuddered involuntarily.
“Waaah. Then I’ll come early tomorrow.”
Saying that, Loril bowed to me and went outside.
Tomorrow’s her day off though.
She knows that, right?
But if I called her back once, I might really have to let her sleep here.
I sprawled out on the drawing room sofa to enjoy the quiet that had finally arrived.
Thanks to receiving various help from Loril, my days had become much more comfortable, but sometimes I needed time alone.
I leisurely closed my eyes.
But the quiet didn’t last long.
Bang-!
The door opened with a loud sound.
“Loril, what did you forget this time… Father?”
The person gripping the door handle and panting heavily was definitely Father.
I sat up in surprise.
“T-Tia…”
Father called my name and walked over unsteadily.
Then he stopped in front of the sofa where I was sitting and thud, dropped to his knees.
Father’s face, now at a similar eye level to mine, was on the verge of tears.
“F-Father is… Father is…”
After stammering several times, Father finally managed to continue.
“Father is receiving a medal!”
—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————