In This Life, I Will Be The Lord - Chapter 58

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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 58

“Haha. You haven’t changed one bit, Aunt.”

Father laughed as if he had been defeated.

“Well, how easily does an old person change?”

Mrs. Sersheu also made a playful expression toward Father.

“Your brothers, they didn’t attend?”

Biejie and Lorels didn’t attend today’s banquet.

I had heard that recently the two of them have been busy trying to start a new business together.

But no one knew what that business was yet.

Shannet wanted to come to the banquet together, but the twins both caught a fever at the same time so she couldn’t join us.

Instead, she sent decorative buttons that would go well with the clothes Father wore today.

“Haha, they’re busy people, aren’t they.”

Father answered as if it was nothing, but Mrs. Sersheu clicked her tongue.

“The signs were yellow from childhood, your brother. That foolish Lorels was busy just grabbing onto Biejie’s coattails and following him around.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Biejie was so greedy that he once dislocated his jaw trying to stuff all the cookies meant for you and Lorels into his mouth at once. He’s the type who wouldn’t notice if his own belly burst from greed.”

“Pfft!”

Oh no, I laughed too loudly.

“Ahem, cough!”

I quickly cleared my throat and pretended otherwise, but Mrs. Sersheu’s glare was piercing.

She’s a lady who dislikes rude and ill-mannered people as much as her fiery personality.

It felt like sweat was flowing down my back.

I quickly said to Father.

“Can I go look around the banquet hall, Dad?”

“Hm? Sure, our Tia must be bored, right? Don’t go to dark places, just stay within this banquet hall.”

“Yes, Dad!”

I didn’t forget to politely greet Mrs. Sersheu before walking to another place.

For now, it’s a strategic retreat.

* * *

“Isn’t our Tia really pretty, Aunt?”

Watching Gallahan smile like a boy still in his teens, Betrix Sersheu felt a slight sadness.

Natalia and Betrix had been particularly close in their younger days.

Though they were sister-in-law and daughter-in-law who could have had an awkward relationship, the two were as close as real sisters.

When that Natalia left the world first and her dear face became blurry in memory, it was lonely.

But in Gallahan’s smiling face, Natalia’s gentle appearance lived on as vividly as if it were a lie.

It was also true that she sometimes worried whether Gallahan, who inherited Natalia’s gentle and quiet personality, would be okay among his strong-willed brothers.

“Doting fathers are unsightly to watch.”

“Is that so? But she’s so lovable…”

Affection dripped from Gallahan’s eyes as he watched his daughter’s round head moving away.

“I’m not saying this because she’s my daughter, but Tia is truly a smart child. Actually, the dress she’s wearing today was designed by Tia herself. She attached jewels and fabrics of different materials as she wanted.”

“Oh, really?”

Betrix’s wrinkled eyes took in Pirenthia’s dress anew.

Even to her eyes, it was very sophisticated clothing with an attractive charm that kept drawing her gaze.

She had been about to ask the name of whoever designed that dress.

But to think that a child who had just turned ten was the mastermind behind it.

Mrs. Sersheu watched Pirenthia’s figure disappearing into the balcony for a moment, then deliberately spoke as if joking.

“To have aesthetic sense, it’s fortunate she doesn’t seem to take after her father.”

“A-Aunt! What’s wrong with me…”

Instead of answering, Betrix looked Gallahan up and down with disapproving eyes.

“Born with such good looks, yet you can only utilize them to that extent while talking so much.”

His face slightly reddened, Gallahan turned the topic back to Pirenthia.

“Everyone says Tia resembles me…”

“That child?”

Mrs. Sersheu chuckled.

“A soft person like you is fundamentally different from that child.”

“But she is my daughter. If she doesn’t resemble me…”

“Shan, was it? That child’s mother’s name.”

Gallahan pressed his lips tightly shut.

Though many years had passed, it was still a painful name.

“Yes, that child resembles her mother. Especially those determined eyes.”

Eyes that were somehow calm, clear, and purposeful.

Setting everything else aside, they weren’t eyes that a mere ten-year-old child could possess.

How did this soft Gallahan manage to raise such a child?

Mrs. Sersheu also felt curious inwardly.

“Chesayu isn’t that large a piece of land. But with big mountains and rivers nearby and fertile soil, it won’t be lacking for a family to make a living.”

It sounded as if Chesayu were some small rural estate.

But it had been a major transportation hub connecting the continent’s center and south since before the Lambru Empire, and was a large granary boasting perfect plains and mild climate.

Sersheu had essentially given Gallahan quite a large piece of flesh.

“Originally that land was what Natalia was going to bring as dowry to Lombardi. But it remained with Sersheu only because the Previous Emperor didn’t want Lombardi’s territory to expand any further.”

“I didn’t know… that much.”

“Your father isn’t the type to talk about every little detail. Now that you have your own land, don’t worry about others’ opinions anymore.”

Gallahan’s shoulders flinched slightly.

“Naturally, the eldest son Biejie will try to become the next clan head. So when the time comes, take your daughter and come to Chesayu. The warm south will be better for the child to grow up in.”

“I’m truly… grateful, Aunt.”

Gallahan bowed his head in thanks.

Mrs. Sersheu’s voice mixed with laughter struck the top of his head.

“It’s not free.”

“…Pardon?”

“If you’re grateful, establish a branch of Gallahan Clothing Store in Sersheu.”

Gallahan’s eyes blinked.

“Sersheu, with its developed clothing and textile industry, would be more suitable than those people’s lands. Don’t you think so?”

Gallahan couldn’t answer easily and laughed awkwardly, “Haha…”

* * *

I pretended to move away while continuously watching Father and Mrs. Sersheu.

There was no reason for me to examine the curtain patterns of the banquet hall or check how transparently clean the wine glasses were polished.

Today’s meeting was important.

It was obvious that the wealthy people from each region who gathered in one place under the pretext of Father’s medal ceremony would covet branches of Gallahan Clothing Store.

So after considering various factors in advance and selecting branch candidates, Sersheu was the most suitable place.

The reasons were simply two.

One was because it was already a place where clothing and textiles were developed, so I thought it would have good compatibility with the ready-made clothing business, and the other was because of the climate conditions in the south where Sersheu is located.

The climate in the Empire’s center doesn’t have large temperature differences throughout the four seasons and the weather is mild.

The clothing store’s ready-made clothes were made to match that.

The excessively hot west or the conversely cold north have their own regional clothing styles, so to establish a clothing store there, new clothes would have to be created.

But in the south or east with similar climates, the clothes could be brought and sold as is.

However, the east has the disadvantage of a difficult journey with many mountainous areas along the way.

So what remained was the Southern Region, specifically Sersheu, the center of the south.

Moreover, since he was a relative who quite cherished Father, there was also the calculation that we might be able to save even a little on the taxes we’d have to pay.

From a distance, fortunately the atmosphere still seemed good.

It was the moment I was stroking my chest in relief while watching Father’s smiling face.

An arm reached out from behind the balcony and grabbed me, pulling me along.

“Huh?”

It wasn’t painful and the touch contained some consideration, but I was still startled.

In an instant, I went from standing in the brilliant, bright banquet hall to standing on the dark balcony.

“Hello.”

A voice that hadn’t yet reached puberty came from behind me.

Hair as black as pitch, barely distinguishable from the night sky, and eyes that glowed dark red in the darkness.

“Hello, Peres.”

When I called his name, the boy looked at me and smiled.

From his slightly raised corners of his mouth and gently curved eyes, Peres seemed to be smiling quite brightly.

“Tia.”

“You startled me by suddenly pulling me like that.”

“Sorry.”

His quick apology was similar to how he used to be.

The boy had changed a lot.

Gone was his small, thin frame that made him look nothing like his actual age, and now he had grown quite tall.

If he stood next to a grown man, his head would probably reach about shoulder height.

“It’s been a while. Have you been well?”

The boy asked, looking down at me.

Just then, the moon emerged from behind the clouds.

Peres’s pale skin glowed beautifully in the moonlight falling from the sky.

Wow, this kid has really good skin.

His smooth face without a single blemish looked like a perfect example of a teenager who eats well and lives well in a good environment.

How satisfying.

I couldn’t help but smile.

“Just as I said in my letters. I’ve been doing well. How about you? Palace life isn’t too difficult, is it?”

“…Are you worried about me?”

The boy spoke with a strangely pleased tone.

“Of course.”

He’s the one who helped me establish my position in the Imperial Palace, the future Crown Prince.

“Just like you said, Tia. I’m eating well and learning well. Though it’s sometimes difficult.”

“Difficult? Is your swordsmanship instructor giving you a hard time?”

I had heard about Peres’s swordsmanship instructor from Kaitlin.

She was quite worried because he was the type to conduct very strict training, and she was even more worried because Peres completed those difficult lessons without ever saying they were hard.

“It’s not that. Just sometimes…”

Peres’s eyes turned toward me.

And he stared at me silently.

“Sometimes?”

“Never mind. Earlier, did I do well?”

The boy who didn’t properly answer my question asked me instead.

“Earlier?”

“When entering with His Majesty the Emperor. I held back a lot.”

Peres answered.

“I was happy to see you after so long, but I didn’t act like I knew you. Because you said other people shouldn’t know that we know each other. So I held back.”

Don’t tell me, is he asking for praise right now?

“So, I did well, right?”

He is asking for praise, that’s right.

His appearance looks all grown up now.

But inside he’s still a child?

I swallowed a sigh inwardly and looked at Peres.

Even under the poor lighting, his bright, sparkling eyes looked only at me.

I really wanted to check the boy’s bottom to see if there wasn’t some black, fluffy tail somewhere.

“Lean down.”

I gestured to Peres as I spoke.

“Huh?”

Unable to understand what I meant, a big question mark appeared on the boy’s face.

“Come here.”

I beckoned with my finger again.

Finally understanding what I meant, Peres let out a small ‘Ah!’ and slowly bent his waist.

His shiny black hair gradually approached me.

Actually, it would be a big problem if anyone saw this.

Peres, a member of the imperial family, bowing his head to me.

But such concerns didn’t seem to exist for the boy.

“Good job.”

I firmly patted Peres’s head with emphasis.

“Very good job, Peres.”

The corners of the boy’s eyes softened gently.

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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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