In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 234

Perez saw Tia and the Lord of Lombardi off to the front of the Imperial Palace.
“Second Prince.”
Rulac, who was about to board the carriage, called Perez.
“His Majesty ordered it, so I’ll allow it. But don’t even think about overworking our Tia.”
It was the Lord of Lombardi, who, despite his evident fatigue, was looking out for his granddaughter.
“That paltry Angenas money is neither here nor there. Let the Prince handle most of it himself.”
Perez was well aware of Rulac’s extreme affection for his granddaughter, so he silently nodded.
“Grandfather! But that’s a lot of money!”
Tia grumbled beside him in a dissatisfied voice.
“Clerivan and Pellet Corporation need to be compensated.”
“Take what you need from Lombardi. Wouldn’t that be enough? I can’t stand to see my granddaughter cleaning up the mess made by the Imperial Family.”
“You forgot that Pellet Corporation is also mine? Are you telling me to take money from our house to fill the holes in my business?
Then it’s even more of a loss!”
“T-that’s true, but…”
Even the formidable Rulac faltered, unable to retort to Tia’s words.
“I’ll tear down the Angenas mansion and sell the bricks if I have to, to get all that money back.”
Tia said, clenching her fist.
A mumbled remark followed, ‘I wonder who would buy them, they’re so unlucky.’
Rulac could no longer say anything to his granddaughter and briefly glared at Perez.
“Handle it well, Second Prince.”
“Yes, understood.”
Tia lightly tapped Perez’s shoulder as he readily replied.
‘Understood what, understood what!’
Even without uttering a word, her eyes conveyed her message clearly.
Perez quietly smiled and escorted Tia so she could comfortably board the carriage.
“Get some rest.”
Tia said to Perez through the closing door.
“Don’t overdo it.”
It was warm nagging, full of concern.
Click.
The carriage door closed, and Lombardi’s carriage departed.
Perez stood watching its retreating form for a moment, then began to move busily.
He confirmed that the Empress had arrived at the underground dungeon and created a list of imperial knights who had followed the Empress.
Then he dispatched reliable troops to the Angenas family townhouse in the capital and sealed its entrance.
He sent letters explaining the crimes committed by the Empress’s family and the imperial command to strictly punish them to important families, including the chairman of the Killian Noble Council.
Finally, he sent Emperor Jovanes’s faintly written imperial decree appointing the Crown Prince to the representative families of each region.
As if he had been doing this for a long time, Perez’s handling of affairs was seamless.
The officials assisting him were surprised, their eyes wide.
Everything was finished in just a few hours.
Perez, who had worked like a machine without eating, drinking, or resting, suddenly rose from his seat.
“I will go alone.”
He left only those words to the imperial knights following him and continued walking.
Perez’s steps, which continued as if he had no destination, stopped abruptly when he arrived at a certain place.
Whoosh—.
As winter arrived, the bare, leafless branches made a mournful whistling sound in the wind.
Perez raised his head and looked at the detached palace nestled within the desolate forest.
Creak, thud.
Perhaps the doorknob was broken, for the rusty door rattled with a screaming sound every time the wind blew.
Perez took a few more steps towards the detached palace.
Rustle.
His foot stepped on fallen leaves that had not yet rotted away.
“Mother.”
Perez slightly frowned at the words, which felt awkward after such a long time.
It was as if he was wearing ill-fitting clothes.
The word ‘mother’ didn’t suit him.
And indeed, Perez’s mother, the maid-turned-lady-in-waiting Caila, was far from maternal.
“Your Highness, Your Royal Highness.”
His mother always called Perez that.
As if he were a master to be served, not a son.
Even Caila would smile brightly when Perez read books and talked about their contents.
Even to young Perez’s eyes, that smiling face was quite beautiful, and it made him happy.
So Perez diligently read books.
Still, there was one time.
A moment when Caila showed something akin to affection.
He remembered the hand that wiped the sweat from his forehead, soaked from running around the detached palace in midsummer.
Perez still remembered that gentle hand, which wiped away his sweat without a hint of disgust.
“‘Are you, in too much pain?’… Sadly, after that, most of his memories of his mother were like that.
Her sobbing voice, searching for a physician.
“Just, kill me. Kill me now, please.”
And her dry fingers, clinging to the soldier the Empress had sent to prevent any physicians from entering the detached palace.
Caila wanted to die.
And after ‘that incident,’ she refused to eat food herself.
It was Caila’s only resistance against a world that wouldn’t grant her the grace of death, even without the help of a physician.
Creak—.
Perez opened the precariously rattling door and entered the detached palace.
Flap!
He heard the sound of startled birds, which had built their nests in the crumbling ruins, flying away.
The few feathers they had dropped were the only things worth seeing in this detached palace.
Inside the building, which looked like it could collapse at any moment, there was only dust, neither completely black nor completely white.
“Mother. Don’t die, Mother.”
Perez strained his ears, as if he could hear his own trembling voice from childhood somewhere in this ruin.
Caila, her eyes dry, unable to even shed tears from not drinking water, said.
“Poor, Your Highness. You must live.”
She said this, choosing death and leaving behind her son, who was only eleven years old.
“I have a favor to ask, Your Highness.
You like me, so you’ll grant it, won’t you?”
“I will grant it. I will obey your words…”
“Live and kill that Emperor, that Empress. If you pity me, avenge me.
Her ordinary, powerless brown eyes glinted wildly at that moment.
“Before that, Your Highness must not die. Not until you have avenged me.”
“Mother…?”
“You like me, so please grant my wish. Survive and avenge me…”
Using a child’s blind love for his mother as bait, Caila made her cruel last wish.
“It’s not over yet.”
Perez’s dry voice echoed in the high ceiling of the detached palace.
“Are you a little satisfied now?”
Mother.
He swallowed that word in the end.
A breeze blew from somewhere, tickling Perez’s bangs.
The gentle breeze, unsuited for this ruin, felt like the hand that wiped his sweat, and Perez slowly closed his eyes.
The dark shadow of that time, when he craved even a sliver of affection and struggled to survive alone, seemed to seep into his entire body again.
It was then.
“I told you to rest.”
The gloomy aura that had been oppressing Perez shattered instantly at the bright, clear voice from behind him.
“Is our future Crown Prince no longer going to listen to me?”
He didn’t need to turn around to know.
“…Tia.”
“What are you doing here, Perez?”
Tap, tap.
His heart pounded at the sound of small footsteps approaching without hesitation.
“I was just, clearing my head.”
Perez slowly turned around.
“Yeah, I thought you might come here.”
Tia looked at him, her green eyes shining.
And looking around the old detached palace, she said.
“It’s been a long time here too. A place of memories.”
“…Memories?”
“Isn’t it? We first met in that forest out front, and the second time we met, we shared chocolate cookies in the bedchamber upstairs.”
“Ah.”
Perez’s red lips parted slightly.
“If I’m the only one who thought that, I’d be a little disappointed.”
Tia laughed.
“No, me too.”
Perez said, as if quickly making an excuse.
“Just kidding, Perez. I knew what you were feeling by coming back here, so I deliberately teased you.”
Saying that, Tia reached out her hand to Perez’s chest.
“It’s a strange feeling, isn’t it?”
“Uh…”
“Still, you should be proud. It’s all something you achieved.”
Tia’s clear green eyes were intense, as if piercing through everything.
“Can I, though?”
“Of course. You survived and came this far.”
Tia said softly.
“You’ve worked hard. You’re truly amazing. So now, live a life for yourself, Perez. For no one else but yourself…!”
Grab.
Perez pulled Tia into a hug.
His hands trembled as the fear of hurting her by holding too tightly battled with the desire to hold her even closer.
Tia, who had paused, slightly surprised, soon patted Perez’s back.
“Tia.”
“Hmm?”
“Thank you.”
Holding her body even tighter once more, Perez thought.
Now I will live a life for you.
I will live a life for you and me, for us.
And he revised his plan to immediately tear down this detached palace.
“I need to rebuild this building.”
“Why suddenly?”
To Tia’s slightly muffled voice, buried in his chest, Perez quietly smiled and replied.
“As you said, Tia, it’s a place filled with our memories.”
This small, nameless detached palace in the forest near the Empress’s Palace would now be remembered by him with that meaning.
***
“A child of a new nation, no, an adult child, now it’s time to go to work!”
I shouted, checking my appearance in the mirror.
“Are you that happy about organizing Angenas’s assets, Young Lady?”
Lauriel asked, smiling at me.
“Of course! They had a surprising amount of hidden assets! They had no money to pay off others’ debts, but they had money to collect expensive jewels.”
How many secret places there were in the large townhouse mansion, hidden with expensive items.
Today was the third day of organizing the Angenas family, and it felt like a treasure hunt.
“What will I find today? Rubies? Diamonds?”
I was humming that tune and had just stepped outside.
“Sister!”
“Oh, Craney!”
From afar, a much taller Craney approached with a bright smile.
“I heard you were back from the academy. But I was so busy I completely forgot.”
“I thought so, so I came to see you first.”
The tall Craney had a much brighter face than he did at this time in my previous life.
Perhaps my early education had paid off.
It was only natural, as he was achieving much better grades at the academy than in my previous life.
“Where are you going?”
“Oh, just to do some cleaning.”
“Cleaning?”
“Something like that. Is it urgent?”
Craney shook his head at my question.
“No. I just came to say hello because I wanted to see your face.”
“Oh, you sweet thing.”
I said, stroking Craney’s head as I used to when he was little.
“When I get back tonight, how about we have dinner together for old times’ sake?”
“Yes! I want to tell you about what happened at the academy, and I also have a gift I bought for you!”
“Okay. Tonight, oh!”
I was talking with Craney and going down the stairs when I missed a step.
“Uh-oh, are you okay?”
I almost twisted my ankle badly.
But Craney, who was beside me, immediately caught me, so I didn’t get hurt.
“This won’t do. I’ll escort you to the carriage, Sister.”
I thought he had only grown tall, but the strength in his hand holding mine was quite firm.
“When did you grow so big?”
I said that and was about to stroke Craney’s head again.
“…Craney?”
Until I saw Craney’s face, which had been smiling just a moment ago, turn pale.
And the reason was immediately revealed.
Thud, thud.
“Who, are you?”
Perez was approaching with a cold gaze.
His eyes fixed on my hand, which Craney was holding tightly.