In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 227

Just as the sun was about to set.
I arrived at the Lombardi mansion.
The carriage door was already open, but I didn’t get out immediately.
As I sat there for a moment, two familiar faces popped into the carriage.
“Tia, aren’t you getting off?”
“Let’s go eat dinner quickly.”
A family dinner was planned, as promised before leaving the mansion.
“Yes, I should go.”
I answered, but my bottom didn’t easily leave the seat.
Mayron tilted his head and asked me.
“Did Uncle not know either?”
“That Tia is the owner of the Pellet Merchant Guild?” When I didn’t answer and subtly avoided their gaze, the twins’ eyes widened in surprise.
“No way, even Grandpa?”
“Everyone’s going to be so surprised.”
“What if Grandpa gets too surprised and collapses again!”
“Ah, really! Stop teasing me, you two!”
I’m already nervous enough to die!
When I yelled, the twins burst into laughter with identical faces.
Then they shrugged and said.
“What’s there to be so nervous about?”
“Yeah, it’s Tia anyway, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean? What do you mean, ‘it’s me anyway’?”
Giliou answered my question first.
“Grandpa and Uncle. Everyone will be surprised at first, but they’ll eventually be happy.”
“As expected of Tia! They’ll say something like that, right?”
Mayron patted my shoulder.
A warm hand wrapped around my shoulder.
“Because we were like that.”
Two pairs of gentle golden eyes smiled at me.
“Even though it was a little sad that you didn’t tell us directly.”
“But we understood. We thought there must be a reason why Tia didn’t tell anyone all this time.”
“You two…”
When did you two grow up so much?
It felt like just yesterday you were running away, saying you didn’t want to read and wanted to play hide-and-seek.
But I felt my heart relax with their playful comfort.
“Thank you, Giliou, Mayron.”
When I spoke in a slightly tired voice, the twins grinned.
“If you’re ever having a hard time, just tell us.”
“We’ll protect you right by your side.”
I squeezed their hands tightly and then got out of the carriage.
My legs felt strong, as if I hadn’t hesitated at all.
Step by step, I headed to my father’s room.
Knock knock.
“Dad, I’m coming in.”
As I carefully opened the door, I saw my father putting books back on the bookshelf.
“Tia!”
He usually cherished those books so much.
As soon as my father saw me entering the room, he practically abandoned the books and approached me.
“Did the great council end well?”
My heart, which had calmed down a bit thanks to the twins, started pounding again.
My mouth felt dry from nervousness.
When I didn’t answer, my father looked at me worriedly.
“Tia?”
Dad, he’ll cry, right? He’ll definitely cry.
But I couldn’t let him hear about me from someone else.
I had to tell him myself.
“If the matter of changing the representative family didn’t go well…”
“Dad, let’s talk.”
I led my father to the center of the drawing-room.
But my father didn’t sit in the chair.
He just stared at me with eyes full of worry.
Hoo-up.
I took a breath and clenched my fists.
“Dad.”
“Yes, Tia.”
“Actually, Clerivan and I are not master and disciple.”
“…What?”
A slight wrinkle appeared between my father’s brows.
“What do you mean, Tia?”
My father’s voice seemed to have suddenly dropped.
“It’s not master and disciple, but more like an employer-employee relationship…”
I found myself beating around the bush.
No. It’s much better to rip off a bandage all at once.
I clenched my fists again and said.
“Actually, I am the owner of the Pellet Merchant Guild.”
My father’s eyes blinked slowly once.
He seemed to be trying to understand my words… No, did he just freeze?
I hesitated and stepped closer to my father.
“D-Dad…?”
At that moment, my father swayed as if his legs had given out and then plopped onto the sofa.
It was a good thing there was a chair nearby.
Otherwise, my father would have collapsed onto the floor.
“So… you, Tia…”
“The owner of the Pellet Merchant Guild.”
“Yes, the owner…”
My father muttered to himself blankly, then shook his head.
“But you were only eleven years old then… Did you receive it through a transfer in the middle?”
A momentary urge to say ‘Yes, that’s right’ and get it over with flashed through my mind as I looked at my father’s confused face.
“No. The Pellet Merchant Guild was mine from the very beginning.”
“Haa…”
My father sighed heavily and ran a hand over his face.
No matter how kind and gentle my father is, he must be angry this time.
Because I had hidden it for over ten years.
To avoid suspicion, I sometimes lied and acted.
So his disappointment must be even greater…
“D-Dad?”
My father’s arms strongly embraced me.
With a sound like a whoosh.
I carefully looked up at my father’s face.
“Are you okay?”
Confusion still lingered on my father’s face.
He seemed to still be trying to accept what I had said.
But before that, my father seemed to have something more important to do first.
“…You’ve worked hard, my Tia.”
That was to encourage me.
My father’s warm hand gently patted my back.
“From that young age until now, you’ve worked hard.”
My father prioritized comforting me over his own surprise.
“Dad…”
“I did suspect that your relationship with Clerivan was not a typical master-disciple one. But I never imagined you were the owner of the Pellet Merchant Guild…”
My father muttered with a somewhat weak laugh.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier.”
I said, burying my face in my father’s embrace.
“It’s okay. There must have been a reason why you did that, Tia.”
Ah, it’s true.
My father was saying the same thing the twins had said.
The tension eased, and my body, which had been so stiff, relaxed a little.
After releasing the hug, my father continued to stroke my head.
“For a while, every noble you meet will only talk about you…”
My father suddenly stopped speaking and asked me.
“Tia.”
“Yes?”
“Does Grandpa know?”
“…Ah.”
I had forgotten for a moment.
That the final boss was still remaining.
***
Before the Lombardi mansion’s dinner began.
Clerivan was leaving the dining room with a small basket.
It contained simple snacks like bread and fruit, packed by the dining room staff.
“It’s about to begin.”
Clerivan muttered, looking around the long dining table.
The dining room was already filled with delicious dishes for the banquet.
But the sight didn’t make him hungry.
He wasn’t bold enough to join a direct family dinner as a dependent living in the Lombardi mansion after his own house was attacked.
More than anything, he knew that today’s dinner was going to be an awkward occasion.
“Ugh.”
Clerivan suddenly shuddered, imagining himself awkwardly squeezed into that seat.
Just the thought of it made him so uncomfortable.
“I should go back to my room quickly.”
Clerivan, who had come out into the dim corridor, tucked the basket under his arm and began to quicken his pace.
Just as he was turning the corner.
“Clerivan.”
Gallahan called out to Clerivan from the other end of the corridor, walking towards him.
His face was full of the fresh smile that hadn’t changed at all despite his middle age.
“Ah, Sir Gallahan.”
But Clerivan wasn’t particularly happy to see Gallahan today.
“Did… your conversation with Lady Florentia go well?”
Clerivan asked cautiously.
“Haha, yes. I was a little surprised, but we talked well.”
“I see.”
Clerivan said with a half-sigh of relief, but his heart was still uneasy.
Because he, too, had been deceiving Gallahan all this time.
Clerivan, having made up his mind, opened his mouth.
“Sir Gallahan, I also…”
But Gallahan cut him off.
“Clerivan.”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
Gallahan, who had abruptly said that, bowed deeply.