In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 10

“What? Why are you here?”
Bellesac sprang up from where he was lying and shouted.
His voice was certainly loud.
He seemed quite surprised, but I had no intention of answering him.
“…Florentia?”
A voice so small it would have been missed if the room hadn’t been quiet came to my ears.
It was Lorraine, peeking out from near Bellesac, looking at me.
“Ah…”
I was flustered and instinctively paused for a moment.
It had been so long since I had seen Lorraine.
Lorraine, a delicate and refined flower, so much so that one wondered if she truly came from the same womb as Bellesac.
As soon as she came of age, she was married off by the Empress to a much older man.
People called it a successful marriage of convenience.
Even though the noble was old, he was a brave hero in war and would soon inherit his father’s title, so Lorraine, who was ordinary apart from being of Lombardi blood, was considered lucky.
No one knew.
How quickly a single flower, left alone in her husband’s distant territory far from Lombardi, which was right next to the Emperor’s direct domain, would wither.
Later, I learned that her husband was not a man who cared deeply for his family enough to cherish a young wife, and his servants used that as an excuse to disrespect and ostracize Lorraine.
When Lorraine sought help from her birth family, Viese had already initiated various businesses with his son-in-law.
The only answer she received from her trusted parents was, “You should try harder.”
And so, Lorraine withered away and soon returned to the earth.
At such a tragically young age.
The last I saw of Lorraine was her crying, not wanting to leave Lombardi after her wedding.
“Are you also taking lessons now?”
She was five years older than me, but hugging a large doll tightly, she still looked like a young lady from a noble family who had only known beauty.
“Yeah. I came to take lessons starting today.”
I nodded, answering Lorraine’s question.
Bellesac huffed, perhaps irritated that I had ignored his question and answered Lorraine.
“Liar!”
He strode purposefully towards me, acting as if he would do something to me immediately, but in the end, all he did was bark from a distance.
“Liar! Someone like you taking lessons?!”
This confirmed it.
Bellesac hadn’t been hit enough yet.
How many more times would I have to pat him down for that mouth of his, which had only learned bad things from adults, to become gentler?
“What kind of ‘someone like me’?”
I deliberately asked provocatively.
“Someone like you! A lowly…”
“Shall I tell Grandfather?”
At the word ‘Grandfather,’ Bellesac snapped his mouth shut.
“Grandfather scolded you last time, telling you never to call me lowly again, right? Are you breaking that rule now?”
I had heard from Father.
Grandfather had called Bellesac separately and given him a stern talking-to.
“Bellesac.”
I smiled sweetly and deliberately stepped closer to Bellesac.
“There are so many books here, aren’t there?”
Bellesac looked frightened by the books scattered everywhere.
Yes, all those will become weapons in my hands, you puppy.
I delivered the decisive blow to the stammering Bellesac.
“Shall I go tell Grandfather now?”
“Y-you little…”
The boy, who had been retreating and frowning, finally spun around and stomped back to where he had been lying.
Oh, and of course, he didn’t forget to kick an innocent doll nearby out of frustration.
Yeah, that temper isn’t going anywhere.
I sighed softly, relieved that I had successfully warded off the dog that was about to pounce, when an intense gaze, stinging my cheek, made itself felt.
It was Giliou and Mayron, sitting side by side by the window.
The two were eleven years old this year, sons of Aunt Shananet, Father’s eldest sibling.
“…Why are they looking at me like that?”
I was flustered.
In truth, among my cousins, these two were the ones I had the least information about.
They were identical twins, equally handsome, and always engrossed in their own world, showing no interest in their surroundings, which played a big part.
If other cousins, excluding Lorraine, ignored me, these two were thoroughly indifferent.
The kind of indifference that would have them walk right past me without a change in expression, even if they saw me being bullied and crying.
Moreover, after Shananet divorced and the two left to follow their father to the Schulz family, there was no contact at all.
Even more so after they no longer used the Lombardi surname and became Giliou Schulz and Mayron Schulz.
Their handsome looks and early knighthood seemed to have earned them quite a name in high society, but it was a world apart for me, who was busy working.
“Florentia.”
The two spoke simultaneously, as if on cue.
“You hit Bellesac, didn’t you?”
“And you won, didn’t you?”
But something felt off.
Giliou and Mayron, who always wore sulky expressions, seemed to have a newfound liveliness on their faces.
Moreover, both were faintly smiling.
What’s wrong with them? This is scary.
I decided to strategically retreat and sat on a large sofa near the window, opposite Bellesac.
Since this room was mostly used by children, I liked that the chairs were low enough that I didn’t have to climb.
Just then, Giliou tapped the windowsill and spoke to me.
“Come sit here.”
“What?”
“We said, come sit with us.”
Mayron chimed in.
The sunlight streaming in from outside made their golden hair shine even brighter.
I glanced at them for a moment, then said,
“If you want to sit with me, then both of you come over here.”
I saw both their golden eyes widen at the same time.
“Don’t tell me what to do.”
I said that and quickly turned my head away again.
Though I didn’t remember them being mean to me, I felt annoyed that they were already trying to boss me around with just a few words.
Lombardi children were proud.
So, Giliou and Mayron would soon get angry like Bellesac…
Thump.
The sofa I was sitting on shook slightly.
“W-what?”
The two had come over and sat down as I had told them, on either side of me.
“You said to come here if we wanted to sit with Florentia?”
“So we came, Tia.”
“Yeah, right. Let’s call her Tia.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.”
They exchanged banter like a comedy duo, then laughed, seeming pleased.
I don’t understand their mental world.
I shrugged.
If they wanted to sit together, I couldn’t tell them to sit elsewhere.
It was when I had half-given up.
The door opened, and Clerivan entered.
“Everyone’s here. Then let’s begin the lesson.”
Huh? Just like this?
I looked around, flustered.
However, no one else seemed flustered except me.
But there were no books, no teaching aids?
Just then, I noticed the paper and writing implements in a corner of the room.
Did he mean for us to take them if needed?
But my other cousins were just looking at Clerivan empty-handed.
I should observe for a bit.
I hugged a cushion and watched Clerivan, who stood in front of the blackboard.
“Starting today, we will learn about commerce, one of the Lombardi family’s important businesses.”
Ooh, commerce. Interesting.
And so, the full-fledged lesson began.
And I was flustered.
“…Commerce is…”
Behind Clerivan’s quiet voice, there was a sound like background music.
“Grrr… Phew. Grr…”
It was Bellesac’s snoring, sprawled on the sofa.
Though not loud, Clerivan couldn’t have failed to hear it.
I glanced over, thinking he might wake him, but he continued the lesson as if he hadn’t seen him.
At that moment, I felt a slight chill.
A teacher who scolds and forces students to learn is, paradoxically, a kind teacher.
Clerivan had no intention of forcing those who weren’t concentrating on the lesson.
He didn’t wake him up, letting him sleep.
But it would certainly go into the report after class.
I felt Mayron, sitting next to me, lose interest in the lesson and open a book he had beside him.
Then, I saw Clerivan briefly glance in that direction.
He’s watching everything, after all.
I quickly corrected my posture.
And I began to show with my whole body, ‘I’m listening intently!’
I kept my eyes wide open, sometimes nodding.
At first, it was an act, but later, I found myself concentrating immensely without realizing it.
It might have been a bit boring for children, but it was an interesting lesson where I could feel Clerivan’s deep knowledge of commerce.
“Alright, that concludes today’s lesson.”
I had been so engrossed that I forgot the passage of time, and it was already over.
Feeling a slight pang of regret, Bellesac, who had been sound asleep, suddenly opened his eyes, wiped away some drool, and sat up.
He sure hears the sound of the lesson ending like a ghost.
“Today, you have a special assignment.”
“An assignment?”
Lorraine, who was just gathering her doll to get up, asked back in surprise.
It seemed that assignments were not common, as Bellesac and even the twins looked surprised.
“The deadline is before the next lesson. The assignment is…”
Clerivan, smiling strangely, brought something from behind the blackboard.
Thump.
When he placed it on the floor, a surprisingly heavy sound reverberated.
“A log?”
What Clerivan brought out was a thick log, with its top and bottom neatly cut off.
It must have been a quite large tree originally, as its circumference was about an adult’s embrace, and its height when standing was up to Clerivan’s knee—truly a raw log.
“This is Bibo wood, which grows quickly, is hard yet light, and is widely used for various purposes across the continent.”
“What are we supposed to do with it?”
Bellesac asked sullenly.
But Bellesac wasn’t the only one surprised by Clerivan’s sudden action.
Lorraine and the twins were also staring blankly at the log placed before them.
My expression probably wasn’t much different.
Clerivan surveyed us, then smiled strangely and said in a remarkably refreshing tone,
“You are to sell this by the next lesson.”