In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 56

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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 56

As we entered the banquet hall, dragging people’s gazes behind us like the heavy train of a dress, the situation became even more interesting.

The people filling the enormous space parted like the sea, creating a path, and looked at the three of us with faces full of various emotions.

“It’s the Lombardi family…”

Someone’s muttered words reached my ears so clearly that the banquet hall had already become quiet.

But it was strange.

Despite so many people watching us, no one actually approached.

Everyone stayed several steps away, whispering among themselves.

Grandfather seemed accustomed to this situation, showing a relaxed expression as he looked around at the crowd.

And those who met Grandfather’s eyes all either averted their gaze or bowed their heads.

It was like the reaction of encountering a wild beast.

Meanwhile, the female nobles couldn’t take their eyes off Father.

I looked up at Father, who was holding my right hand.

His tall height compared to other men, his lean yet slender frame, pale skin, and fine brown hair that reached his shoulders and was tied back made him stand out like a crane among chickens even in the crowd.

Especially his gentle green eyes with long eyelashes sparkled in the banquet’s light.

To define him in one phrase, he was ‘a handsome man with a warm aura.’

Perhaps sensing my upward gaze, Father looked down at me.

And he showed me a comfortable smile.

It seemed to mean I didn’t need to be nervous.

However, it wasn’t me but the women who had been watching Father who felt the tension-relieving effect of that smile.

I could see women here and there stumbling as their legs gave out from Father’s smiling face.

And surprisingly, there was me, receiving as much attention as Father and Grandfather.

“That child must be Gallahan Lombardi’s daughter, right?”

“Oh my, how adorable. As expected of Lombardi children…”

“She looks just like her father!”

Fortunately, the reaction to my first impression was good.

But then I heard other comments.

“She’s an only daughter, isn’t she?”

“She’s the only heir for now.”

Since Father became an enormous asset holder through his ready-to-wear business, such comments came up.

And when we passed by a group of elderly ladies, I heard this:

“I heard Gallahan’s daughter is very clever and receives all the family head’s affection.”

“Has there ever been an heir that the Lombardi family head personally brought to a banquet before?”

“She must be about ten years old now. She’s just the right age, similar to my grandson.”

And there were also the reactions I had been waiting for.

“Whose work is that dress? It’s a design I’ve never seen before…”

“I’ll have to find out later. It’s so cute…”

“Look at those jewels attached there. My goodness, they say Lombardi and Gallahan Clothing Store are making all the money in the Empire these days…”

Indeed, being the object of someone’s envy and jealousy feels good.

This feeling is the best, so thrilling.

As we continued walking along the path created by people parting like the Red Sea, there was someone standing at the end.

It was Empress Lavinia, wearing a blue dress that highlighted her gorgeous blonde hair.

True to her nature of enjoying being the center of social circles, she had arrived separately from the Emperor and was already enjoying the banquet.

As we approached the Empress, I could feel the surrounding air becoming tense.

Now everyone who should know, knows.

That the relationship between Lombardi and Angenas is very poor.

After Grandfather publicly became Peres’s guardian, social circles had been buzzing about it for quite some time.

Everyone was swallowing nervously, wondering what would happen if Angenas’s Empress and Lombardi’s family head clashed at a banquet where so many people had gathered.

But then, something happened that surprised everyone.

“The star of today’s banquet has arrived.”

Because the Empress approached us first with a beautiful and harmless smile.

People who had been expecting sharp verbal sparring between the two families were dumbfounded.

But Grandfather, as if he had expected Lavinia to act that way, greeted her with an equally benevolent smile.

“Thank you for preparing such a beautiful and grand banquet, Empress.”

“When Lombardi’s Sir Gallahan is receiving His Majesty’s medal, we should do at least this much. Don’t you think so?”

From their outward appearance, they seemed like the best of neighboring families.

“It’s been a long time, Your Majesty the Empress.”

Father greeted her first.

The last time Father faced the Empress, the situation wasn’t very good.

The Empress had tried to gain the upper hand over Father by using guards to break agreements, and Father had formally protested such behavior to the Emperor.

But from the Empress’s appearance as she smiled gently and received Father’s greeting, no such signs could be felt at all.

Then the Empress looked at me as I greeted her beside Father.

“You’ve grown a lot since I last saw you, Pirenthia. In just a few more years, social circles will be stirring because of the beautiful Young Lady of Lombardi.”

Having said that, Lavinia asked Grandfather.

“Lombardi children have traditionally had their marriages arranged early, haven’t they? What about Pirenthia?”

For a moment, I could see Grandfather’s smiling eyes turn coldly.

The Empress’s statement just now was a political remark using the audience surrounding us.

It was intended to make it seem as if the Empress was interested in me as a match for Astana.

“…That’s an old story. My grandsons and granddaughters don’t need to do that.”

This time the Empress’s face hardened.

It was understandable since she had just heard ‘I don’t need your son’ to her face.

I almost burst out giggling, but the conversation with invisible blades ended there.

Because the Emperor had arrived at the banquet hall.

The music stopped, and everyone who had been dancing and conversing bowed their heads before the Emperor.

But the hall, which had been quiet as a mouse, suddenly began to stir.

Emperor Yobanes was not alone.

He was walking with a beautiful boy with black hair.

Tall, wearing noticeably high-quality clothes, with an expressionless face that looked down on everyone, he had a charm that made it impossible for viewers to easily look away.

People could quickly deduce the boy’s identity.

“Uh… could that person possibly be?”

“His Highness the Second Prince?”

People were shocked.

While everyone had known of the Second Prince’s existence, no one had ever seen him.

The Empress had thoroughly excluded Peres from the Imperial Palace, and the Emperor had allowed it.

But today the Emperor had the Second Prince attend the Founding Day banquet.

And he brought him personally.

The implications were significant.

It was the Emperor formally introducing the existence of the second prince to the Empire’s nobles, and it was telling the Empress not to exclude the Second Prince anymore.

I quietly turned my head to look at the Empress.

Incomparably worse than her expression that had hardened during the conversation with Grandfather, her face was horribly distorted.

Her trembling eyelids and pale face showed how great the shock was.

Grind.

A terrifying sound came from between the Empress’s clenched teeth.

I quietly moved away from the Empress.

Peres, whom she had confined to a pavilion and tried to kill by poisoning, had not only received a respectable palace in the east but now stood proudly as a prince before the Empire’s nobles.

Now, whether she liked it or not, as the Empire’s Empress, she could no longer ignore Peres.

Moreover, the fact that all of this was the will of the Emperor she had trusted must be even more infuriating.

Emperor Yobanes had many aspects I disliked, but this time it was a nice shot.

How satisfying, how satisfying.

The Emperor and Peres were walking toward where the Empress and we were standing.

Peres’s figure, which had been hidden behind Yobanes’s large frame, was now beginning to come into view.

That kid has grown a lot.

Though his face still hadn’t lost its youthful appearance, the first thing that caught my eye was how much taller he had grown.

The last time I saw him, he was so small and thin that he didn’t look his age at all.

It seems Kaileus and Kaitlin took good care of him, as he had grown up very healthy.

But his personality of showing fewer emotions than others seemed unchanged, as his expressionless face hadn’t changed at all.

I was watching Peres with the proud feeling of observing a nephew I hadn’t seen in a long time, when suddenly our eyes met.

The kid, who had been indifferently looking at the nobles staring at him with eyes somewhere between curiosity and shock, fixed his gaze on me.

And I could see his eyes curve as if he was about to smile.

No!

The fact that we know each other and have been in constant contact must not be discovered yet.

Of course, Grandfather, who would receive reports from Kaitlin, would know, but I didn’t even tell Father because I didn’t want to cause unnecessary worry!

I glared at Peres with all my might.

Don’t smile!

Don’t act like you know me either!

Fortunately, Peres seemed to catch on quickly.

A smile had been slowly blooming on his face, but then an ‘oops!’ thought seemed to cross his mind, and he quickly returned to his original expressionless face.

That’s right, that’s right. Well done!

Even so, the kid didn’t look away or anything.

He continued to look at me with a face that didn’t reveal his inner thoughts, just as I had instructed.

Since we haven’t met in a long time, he probably wants to exchange greetings of joy.

But greetings can wait until later.

When everyone is distracted by the banquet and there are no more watching eyes.

A simple greeting like ‘It’s been a while’ can be done then.

“Gallahan!”

The Emperor called out Father’s name with a hearty laugh.

Standing next to Yobanes, who had such thick features and looked somewhat like a bandit that it was hard to believe he was Peres’s biological father, Father really looked like a delicate work of art.

A hand like a pot lid heavily patted Father’s shoulder.

“Do I have to bestow a Founding Day medal just to see your face!”

“I am honored, Your Majesty.”

As I felt before, the Emperor is really good at acting friendly.

In a way, I thought that hiding one’s true feelings and skillfully acting might be a virtue for someone in politics.

Watching Yobanes exchange jokes with Father and Grandfather loud enough for everyone else to hear, I realized one thing.

The conversation was deliberately flowing while excluding the Empress.

He didn’t even cast a glance toward the Empress.

I could see the Empress’s face, which had turned pale earlier, now flushing red with anger.

The Emperor was quite a fox-like person too.

With a face that seemed completely removed from politics, he was weighing Lombardy and Angenas in both hands.

Now the Empress and Angenas would have to be wary of the Emperor giving more power to our family, and would have to offer more and work harder to please the Emperor.

While I was observing the adult world like this, one side of my cheek felt hot.

When I looked toward where I felt the gaze, it was indeed Peres.

The kid was looking at me without blinking even once.

Perhaps frustrated by having to pretend we didn’t know each other, his pale face was slightly flushed.

I didn’t dislike seeing Peres like that either.

To think he would be so happy to see me, someone who had been acquainted with him since childhood and helped him a little.

The occasional exchange of letters we’d had must have been effective.

Thinking about the future, it was truly a positive reaction.

I should find somewhere later to share half a chocolate cookie with him.

It was when I turned my head again while thinking this that my eyes met with someone who had been watching us.

It was Emperor Yobanes.

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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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