In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 237

“Cough!”
Viese, who was drinking water, coughed until his face turned red.
Rulac waited silently, saying nothing more until Viese’s commotion ended.
“Leave the mansion!”
Viese shouted at Rulac.
“W-where am I supposed to go if I leave the mansion!”
“Well. That’s for you to decide.”
Rulac did not react to Viese’s agitation.
He merely responded in a consistently dry, even tone, maintaining a thoroughly businesslike attitude.
Viese found his father’s demeanor quite unfamiliar.
He was suddenly afraid.
Those brown eyes had always looked at him with disapproval.
But even in those strict eyes, his father’s compassion, or perhaps affection, had always been present.
Now, however, Rulac was treating him like a complete stranger.
“I’ve already told Laurels. He said he’d go to his in-laws, the Guinefort family.”
“But Father…”
Viese shifted his bottom, perched on the edge of the chair, and approached.
He intended to plead somehow.
“I don’t have in-laws anymore! Since Angenas is in that state…”
Viese spoke with the face and voice that always touched his father’s weak spot.
Surely. Surely he wouldn’t cast out his eldest son.
“How are Selal and Bellezac doing?”
Rulac asked.
“Huh? Oh, those two…”
Viese couldn’t answer easily.
It was natural.
He had heard that Bellezac had been released, but he hadn’t seen his face since.
The same went for Selal.
One day, he came home after drinking heavily, and all of his wife’s valuables were gone from the annex.
“…Worthless fellow.”
Rulac clicked his tongue and said.
“He doesn’t even know what’s happening to his wife and children… He should have at least taken care of his own family.”
“Do you happen to know where my wife and Bellezac are?”
“You don’t have the right to know.”
Rulac said that and clicked his tongue again.
“I won’t say much, Viese. I plan to hand over the headship to Tia soon. So you leave before then. It’s the last thing you can do for Lombardi’s future.”
“Tia, Tia! Father, do you only care about that low-born girl!”
Viese sprang up spasmodically and roared.
“That girl will lead this family?
You’ll give everything to that girl!
Ha! The entire empire will laugh! To hand over the family to a granddaughter born of a wanderer, who knows where she came from! You’ve gone senile!”
Viese spluttered, veins bulging in his neck.
“Pellet Corporation being mine must all be a lie! She’s been cunning and wicked since she was a child, so who knows what tricks she pulled!”
His alcohol-soaked body couldn’t sustain a loud voice for long.
“Hoo, hoo…”
Wiping his messy bearded mouth with his sleeve, Viese finally pointed a finger at his father and said.
“You are destroying this family with your own hands! This great family! You are destroying Lombardi!”
“Do you really think so?”
Rulac asked quietly.
“What do you think would have been different if you had sat in that position, Viese?”
“That’s…”
Viese tried to say, ‘I would have done better.’
But his breath caught.
He didn’t know why.
But no matter how hard he tried, the words, ‘I would have done better,’ wouldn’t come out.
Rulac, watching Viese mouth like a goldfish, sighed sadly.
And he took a letter from the desk drawer and handed it to Viese.
“Bellezac’s handwriting…”
With hands trembling from alcohol-induced tremors, Viese opened the letter.
Inside, in handwriting much neater than he remembered, was a calm update on Bellezac and Selal.
“Tia took care of Bellezac until the very end.”
Rulac said to Viese.
“The Empress tried to use someone to kill Bellezac and disguise it as a suicide.”
“…S-suicide?”
“It must have been an attempt to make Bellezac a scapegoat for Astana. But Bellezac was safe thanks to Tia.”
“Such… a thing…”
“That was the first thing that child did after becoming the heir to the headship. Not only that, but she also found Selal and Bellezac a quiet place to live.”
Rulac pointed to the letter in Viese’s hand.
“That’s a letter Bellezac sent to express his gratitude for that.”
Viese, with trembling eyes, finished reading Bellezac’s letter.
Although it was rough, low-quality stationery, incomparable to what was used in the Lombardi mansion.
It was clear from just a few lines that Bellezac’s life was much more stable than before.
[…I am only filled with regret and gratitude. Please convey my apologies to Florentia, no, to the acting head of the family.
I pray from afar that only peace will fill Lombardi’s future…]
Bellezac was sincerely apologizing.
“Tia did more than anyone else fitting for a family head.”
To set aside personal feelings and embrace and protect the family members.
That was the most important duty of the family head.
“Therefore, Viese, I will answer for you. You would not have been a good family head. And Lombardi will become even greater under Tia’s leadership.”
Rulac’s words carried unwavering conviction.
Viese hung his head low, his face filled with anguish.
And he said, as if sobbing.
“I was, I was lacking… I was insufficient…”
Viese was truly repenting.
But it was too late.
“When the next family head is decided, those who competed with him can choose. To leave the family, or to work for the family with the head’s permission.”
Half of Rulac’s siblings left the family, and half remained.
It was an unavoidable process.
“However, Viese, you have no choice. It’s punishment for your foolish actions until now.”
Rulac quietly continued his sentence for Viese.
“People don’t change. The small realization you have now is just a foolish hope that it will make you a different person. So go far away, Viese.”
At this moment, Rulac thought only of Tia, who would succeed him.
He made a choice for his granddaughter, who would inherit the family.
“Pack your bags and leave the mansion before Tia inherits the headship. You don’t need to say goodbye separately.”
Viese looked at Rulac with empty eyes for a moment.
He realized that he had nothing left.
No family, no relatives.
It was a fact he couldn’t forget, even if he drank all the alcohol in the world.
Thud.
Viese quietly placed Bellezac’s letter in front of Rulac.
And after a final bow to his father, he turned and walked out.
Thump, thump.
He was about to open the door to the family head’s office with weak steps.
“Viese.”
Rulac said.
“Don’t drink too much. Take care of your health.”
It was the last piece of advice a father could give his son.
***
Craney and I had dinner together as promised.
Giliou and Mayron, who happened to be on holiday, also heard the news and came, so the four of us gathered together after a long time.
“Is Perez still that popular at the academy?”
“Of course! His Highness the Second Prince is a legend, a legend!”
Even at the academy, Craney’s devotion remained.
Completely forgetting the fact that he hadn’t recognized him and had created a terrifying atmosphere.
“And His Highness the Second Prince remembered my name!”
That’s what he says.
Yes, yes. Isn’t it a fan’s heart to be happy just to receive a glance?
I stroked Craney’s head as I did when he was little and said.
“I should have gone to the academy too. It sounds fun.”
“If sister had gone to the academy… that would be cool.”
Craney mumbled, covering his mouth, imagining something.
Mayron filled the wine glass in front of Craney with red wine and said.
“Then it would have been good for us to follow too.
Right, Giliou?”
But the amount he pours is quite a lot.
Craney just turned adult this year and is very weak to alcohol.
Look at his face, all red.
I subtly pulled Craney’s glass back and said.
“Mayron. If Craney gets drunk, you’ll have to carry him yourself.”
“Ah… Then I’ll drink that.”
Mayron subtly took the glass he had poured for Craney and poured less than a quarter of that amount into a new glass, placing it in front of Craney.
“Hehe.”
Craney chuckled, took the glass, and gulped down the wine.
Then he asked the twins.
“So, will you two continue to stay in the Lombardi Knights?”
“Us? Well, I guess so.”
“I don’t know about Mayron, but my goal is to be the captain of the Lombardi Knights.”
“What? You’re weaker than me.”
Giliou and Mayron started bickering again.
But Craney’s face, looking at the two of them, was strange.
He seemed to envy them, and also seemed sad.
“Is something wrong, Craney?”
“Huh? Oh…”
Craney took another sip of wine and replied.
“I just wish we could continue like this. That’s a bit difficult, isn’t it? I also miss Lorraine.”
Craney smiled bitterly.
I roughly understood what was going on.
“Grandfather must have talked to your uncle.”
“H-how did you know…?”
Craney’s eyes widened in surprise.
And then he said in a gloomy voice.
“My parents are planning to take my brother and me to the Guinefort family.”
I nodded.
At least they had in-laws to go back to.
It wasn’t such a bad situation for Laurels.
Craney just kept gulping down wine again.
“Still, I wish sister would come to my graduation… Mmph!”
“Drinking only ruins your stomach.”
I pushed a cracker with cheese into Craney’s mouth, who was smiling with an uncharacteristic bitter expression.
“Mmm, th-thank you.”
“So. What do you want to say, Craney?”
I looked at Craney, resting my chin on one hand.
“I’ll listen, so go ahead.”
“Sister…”
Craney hesitated.
But the hesitation didn’t last long.
Soon, he looked directly at me and opened his mouth.
“When I was little, I didn’t know why you made me read so many books. I just read them because I liked being in the library with you.”
Once he started talking, he didn’t stammer anymore.
Yes, that’s my cousin who received early education from me.
“But studying at the academy, I realized. How helpful the things you taught me were for my future.”
His voice, which seemed a little shaky at first, gradually became more stable.
“And the more I studied, the more I thought I couldn’t go on like this. My studies had no purpose. So I thought about it. Where do I want to use my knowledge?”
“So what answer did you find?”
“I want to work for Lombardi, sister.”
Craney’s flushed face grew even redder.
But his clear eyes didn’t waver in the slightest.
“I want to help you, sister, who will become the head of Lombardi. Please allow me, sister.”
I looked at Craney for a moment, then slowly nodded.
“Do it.”
“R-really?”
“Why do you think I gave you early education, Craney?”
Just as my grandfather needed me in my previous life.
I also need someone I can trust to delegate work to.
That’s why I thought Craney, the most intelligent of my cousins, would be good to fill that position.
“Instead, you can’t lose your top spot at the academy until you graduate. That means don’t neglect your studies.”
“Yes! I can do it!”
Craney replied loudly.
“Good! It’s a good day, so let’s drink!”
“Another bottle!”
The twins, as if they had been waiting, took out two new bottles of vintage wine and said.
“What should we drink first?”
“I don’t know, anything!”
“Wait.”
At my words, the twins, who were gleefully about to open the wine in their right hands, stopped dead.
They subtly glanced at me.
“Not that one, that one.”
These kids don’t know anything.
“That one’s tastier. Open it quickly.”
“Alright!”
While the twins opened a new bottle, I remembered the letter that had arrived this morning and said to Craney.
“You’ll be able to see Lorraine soon too.”
Then Craney smiled shyly and nodded.
And if I said that smile was the last thing I remembered that night, would he understand?
***
At the same time.
Perez was walking down the stairs to the underground prison.
Thud, thud.
The sound of heavy shoes echoed in the damp, cold air.
“O-oh, Your Highness has arrived!”
“…The prisoner?”
“Over there!”
The soldier guarding the prison door replied in a disciplined voice and walked ahead.
After a short walk, Perez stood in front of a cell.
And he spoke to the person sitting upright on a shabby chair.
“Are you having a peaceful night, Empress Lavini?”