In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 11

Was it my imagination, or did Clerivan look rather pleased as he brushed the wood chips off his clothes?
Silence briefly filled the classroom.
The children, including myself, just blinked, busily looking back and forth between the log in front of us and Clerivan.
“Sell… that?”
Bellesac was the first to break the silence.
The boy, who had been sprawled on the sofa throughout the lesson, sat up awkwardly, frowning as he asked.
“Yes, that’s right. Selling this log and bringing back money is this assignment.”
Bellesac could complain all he wanted. Clerivan’s smiling face remained unchanged.
“You may use any method to sell the item. You can cut or split this wood, and if necessary, even burn it.”
In short, it meant we just had to sell it, no matter the means.
“Hmm…”
I, too, couldn’t think of any clever ideas.
As Clerivan said, it was just a log, and it didn’t seem to have anything special about it.
Even if it was Bibo wood, which was light for timber, it was clear I wouldn’t be able to lift and move it by myself.
Moreover, such wood was common; at best, I might be able to sell it to someone who needed firewood.
Just as I was contemplating what to do.
“However, forced sales using your status are not allowed. You must only sell this wood to someone who genuinely needs it.”
“Ah…”
A small sigh escaped from right beside me at Clerivan’s final condition.
It was Mayron and Giliou.
The two boys lowered the corners of their eyes and sighed softly, as if very disappointed.
What? What were they thinking?
As I looked at them with very suspicious eyes, Lorraine, who had been quietly listening to Clerivan, cautiously raised her hand.
“Um…”
“Yes, Lady Lorraine. Please speak.”
“Do we… have to carry it ourselves?”
Her fair face turned bright red, as if embarrassed to ask the question.
“Don’t worry about that. This is just a sample; one should already be delivered to each of your residences.”
“Oh, good.”
Lorraine smiled with pretty dimples forming in her cheeks, seemingly relieved that she wouldn’t have to struggle carrying the heavy log.
“I don’t like it.”
While I was admiring the lily-like Lorraine, a sulky voice was heard.
I didn’t even need to look to know who it was.
It was Bellesac’s grumpy voice.
“Why do I have to do such a thing?”
That guy’s words were short. As expected.
His lips were still smiling, but the amusement had left Clerivan’s eyes.
“What is ‘such a thing,’ Lord Bellesac?”
“Selling things directly like that.
Why should I do something that only the lower class does?”
“Why do you think that is something only commoners do?”
“My mother said so. That dealing with money is vulgar.”
It was such a typical Selal statement that I almost chuckled.
Selal, from the Angenas family, one of the most ancient and renowned noble families in the Lambrew Empire, was truly an ‘aristocratic’ person.
In fact, in the past, directly dealing with money and being concerned with it was considered unaristocratic.
However, that was all in the past.
The sight of Lombardi, starting with commerce and seizing everything with the power of money, shocked the nobles.
One by one, they realized the power of assets and began to actively engage in commerce, either by lending money at high interest or setting up merchant guilds with their dormant wealth.
That’s why even the Angenas family, who held out until the very end, created the Dyurak Merchant Guild to enter the textile market.
I recalled the Dyurak Merchant Guild, who had visited the mansion last time to seek Lombardi’s help.
Yet, Bellesac, a descendant of Angenas, was spouting such carefree nonsense.
“Then there’s no choice.”
Clerivan said, sounding regretful.
“I’ll have no choice but to give you a failing grade for this assignment, Lord Bellesac.”
“Failing grade?”
Bellesac’s face, which had been blankly muttering the words ‘failing grade’ for a moment, soon turned bright red.
“Why am I getting a failing grade?!”
“There’s nothing to be done, is there? This assignment is to sell the item, and since Lord Bellesac refuses to do so, it can only result in a failing grade.”
“Then you just have to change the assignment, Professor! The problem is that the assignment itself is flawed from the beginning!”
“Is that so. Understood.”
That was the end of it.
Clerivan didn’t get angry, nor did he try to make Bellesac understand.
He simply turned away and spoke to the rest of us, excluding Bellesac.
“You may keep the money from selling the wood, and there will be a reward for whoever earns the largest amount, so please do your best.”
Bellesac, completely excluded in the end, huffed and then stormed out, opening the door with a bang!
No one cared, though.
I went a little closer and examined the log.
“Hmm.”
I wondered if I was missing something, but it was just an ordinary log.
Clerivan had clearly said we could use any method.
I squatted in front of the log, poking its rough bark, and began to furiously rack my brain.
Wood. Where can wood be used?
If I just sold it as it was, it was obvious I wouldn’t get much.
That meant I had to process it.
The moment I thought that, a memory flashed through my mind.
Ah, that person was there.
The person who could transform this utterly crude log into a work of art.
That person was in Lombardi right now.
The room my father and I used was more like an apartment than just a ‘room.’
It had only one entrance, but it connected to four other rooms, including a living room that also served as a reception area.
Compared to where my father’s other siblings lived, it seemed quite small, but for us, it was perfectly suitable.
Unless Father littered the entire reception room with books, as he did today.
I came out of the room and stood there blankly, surprised by the messy state of the living room, but Father was too engrossed in his work to notice me.
Carefully avoiding the books scattered on the floor, I approached Father and saw him diligently drawing something.
“Dad…?”
“Oh, Tia, you’re out.”
Hearing my voice, Father looked up and smiled freshly.
“Are you busy?”
“No, not busy.”
Father said that and smoothly pushed what he was drawing far away.
Even though I was his daughter, it might be a little annoying to be interrupted when he was so concentrated.
Instead, Father hugged me tightly.
“Actually, I have a favor to ask you, Dad.”
“Oh, our Tia has a favor. Your dad will grant anything.”
“It’s… please draw a picture for me.”
“A picture?”
Father tilted his head.
“Alright, what kind of picture should I draw for you?
Flowers? Trees? Or cute animals?”
“Grandma’s face.”
“Grandma’s… face?”
Perhaps surprised by my request, Father just blinked silently.
“Yes. I’m curious what kind of person Grandma was.”
Grandmother had passed away a few years before I was born.
I had seen her in portraits a few times, but that was all.
Understanding my curiosity, Father scratched his cheek but picked up the sketchbook he had pushed aside a few moments ago.
“Well… it’s been too long since I last saw her. I don’t remember well, but…”
Even as he said that, Father’s hand quickly moved.
Without hesitation, the graphite in his hand moved like a dance on the white paper.
I sat quietly beside Father and watched him.
Only the scratching sound filled the reception room.
“…She was this kind of person.”
“Wow!”
It wasn’t fake applause.
I gasped in admiration at the finished drawing without realizing it.
The grandmother Father remembered had a benevolent smile.
There were a few faint wrinkles around her eyes, and the corners of her eyes curved downwards, similar to Father’s.
Although it was only drawn with black lines, I could feel the affection for her son clearly contained in her two eyes.
“Mother was a very kind person.”
Father’s voice trailed off as if in longing.
And he stroked the edge of the paper a few times with his thumb, then carefully tore off a page and gave it to me.
“But why did you suddenly ask me to draw Grandma’s picture, Tia?”
“Hmm, because there’s someone I want to show it to.”
“Someone to show it to?”
Father seemed to want to ask more, but I rolled up the paper, held it in one hand, and jumped down from the chair.
“I’ll go play outside for a bit. I’m leaving!”
“Huh? Outside?”
Father, who seemed momentarily flustered, shouted loudly at my back as I opened the door and ran out.
“Be careful not to fall and play!”
I won’t fall, Father.
How old do you think I am?!
Actually, I wondered if Father had the ability to read the future.
Thud.
“Ugh!” I was happily heading towards my destination after leaving the main building where we lived when I tripped badly over a stone.
“Hmph!”
I managed to use all the strength and balance a seven-year-old could muster, planting my other foot on the ground to avoid falling, but the pouch tied at my waist fell to the ground.
Oh, my snack pouch.
I saw a single candy roll out of the loosely tied pouch.
It rolled on the ground, but luckily, not much dirt got on it.
I quickly picked it up, blew on it, and dusted it off.
No one’s watching, so what.
After checking that there was no visible dirt on the surface, I popped it into my mouth.
“Hee-ik!”
What was that sound?
I looked towards the source of the sound and saw two small heads quickly disappear behind a distant wall.
They were somehow familiar heads.
“Come out.”
Even though I spoke towards that direction, there was no reply, only silence.
“Giliou, Mayron.”
When I called their names, the twins finally shuffled out and approached.
But their expressions were strange.
Giliou stared at me, and Mayron seemed somewhat fidgety.
“You ate something that fell on the ground.”
“We were told to throw away things that fall on the ground.”
Ah, they saw me after all.
“Why? What? What’s wrong with that?”
I was incredibly embarrassed to be caught eating candy off the ground, but I decided to act confident.
“You’ll die if you do that, Tia.”
“Let’s go to Dr. Omally, Tia.”
The twins each grabbed one of my arms and tried to pull me.
“People don’t die from just that much.”
Annoying kids.
“Why were you two following me?”
I changed the subject before they could harp on it further.
“Th-that…”
Fortunately, the twins fell silent, as if suddenly at a loss for words.
“If you have nothing to say, I’m leaving. Goodbye.”
I didn’t have time to waste here.
I was in a hurry.
Mayron urgently spoke to me as I turned to leave.
“We want to go too!”
“How do you know where I’m going?”
“We don’t, but it’ll be fun!”
“Right! Because Tia is fun!”
Are these kids making fun of me right now?
That thought briefly crossed my mind, but one thing was clear:
They weren’t the kind of kids who wouldn’t follow even if I told them not to.
“Then just be quiet so you don’t bother me. I’m busy.”
“Okay!”
“We’ll be quiet!”
The twins, smiling with their identical faces and nodding, were quite cute.
They showed signs of beauty from a young age, those two.
And I began to move towards my original destination again.
I thought I was walking fast, but my legs were still too short, so I couldn’t go as quickly as I wanted.
“But where are we going now?”
Giliou, walking leisurely as if out for a stroll, asked me while I was panting.
“You’ll know when we get there.”
Ugh, this is exhausting.
Fortunately, the person I was looking for wasn’t far away.
Among the grand buildings of the Lombardi mansion, it was in the outermost but most lively area.
A very small village where houses with an atmosphere completely different from the main building where we lived were gathered.
“Oh, wow! Where is this?”
“I didn’t know there was a place like this in the mansion!”
The twins said, looking around with their mouths agape.
“This is where the resident employees of Lombardi and their families live.”
I wiped the sweat dripping down my chin and explained triumphantly.
“Now all we have to do is find him by asking around.”
The genius sculptor who blossomed late in his thirties.
The artist from Lombardi who would later sculpt the Emperor’s bust.
Sixteen-year-old Alpheo Gian was somewhere around here.