In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 240

There were a total of four types of meetings that led the empire.
First, the bureaucratic meeting, held by officials from each department.
Second, the noble meeting, held by nobles. The third was the grand council, where nobles and the Emperor gathered to discuss important imperial matters.
However, the most frequently held of the three mentioned meetings, and the one that discussed detailed agendas, was called the State Council.
It was a place where representatives from each department compiled the results of the bureaucratic meetings and reported them to the Emperor, with seven noble representatives attending to add their opinions.
And today was Perez’s first State Council, hosted as the Emperor’s proxy.
Chairman Killian and other noble representatives were seated, waiting for Perez, the Second Prince and soon-to-be Crown Prince, to arrive with the officials.
“The acting head of Lombardi is also a bit late.”
Chairman Killian said, looking at the still empty chair.
Then he spoke to the head of Maimbert, who was sitting next to him.
“Don’t you think today’s meeting will end quickly?”
“I was thinking the same thing.
Let’s have dinner together after the meeting, haha.”
“Let’s do it! How about everyone joins us?”
“That’s a good idea, hahaha.”
The nobles laughed leisurely and engaged in light conversation.
It was an unimaginable sight even during the last meeting presided over by Emperor Jovanes.
There was a reason they were so relaxed.
“They say His Highness the Second Prince handles matters so skillfully, don’t they?”
“That’s what I hear. My third son works in the Ministry of Finance, doesn’t he?”
“Ah, I heard he was recently promoted!
Congratulations!”
“Haha, thank you. But that’s not the important thing. They say that since His Highness began acting on behalf of His Majesty, the officials’ faces have all brightened up.”
“Is it that much?”
Chairman Killian’s eyes widened, joining the conversation.
“They say the burden of work has been halved.”
“Oh, come on, surely it hasn’t really been halved!”
Then the person who brought it up said, as if frustrated.
“It means it’s so easy to work that such words are being said!”
Then he lowered his voice slightly and continued.
“My third son attended a bureaucratic meeting a few days ago, and he said it was as if His Highness the Prince knew everything about all the tasks.”
“Know everything?”
“Originally, most of the bureaucratic meetings involved explaining and persuading His Majesty the Emperor about the agenda, which was cumbersome. But His Highness the Prince not only knew all the agenda items before the officials even informed him, but he also came up with solutions that the officials hadn’t even thought of.”
“Oh, that’s quite interesting.”
“And since he already gives separate instructions to resolve most things before they even come up as agenda items, everyone feels relieved that their work has become easier.”
Upon hearing that story, Chairman Killian leaned slightly towards the noble next to him and said.
“Didn’t we feel that way yesterday too?”
“Now that you mention it…”
Yesterday there was a noble meeting.
It had been a long time since one was held, so everyone had attended, prepared for a long meeting.
But the meeting time was less than half of the usual.
“Isn’t it all thanks to the acting head of Lombardi for organizing things so well?”
Chairman Killian honestly expressed his thoughts.
Then everyone nodded in agreement.
“I felt that way too. It was as if when the acting head of Lombardi intervened at the right time and said a word or two, the problem was completely resolved.”
“That’s right. Of course, it also seems to be because Angenas, who used to stir up trouble, is gone.”
“Ahem.”
When the name Angenas came up, the nobles each cleared their throats and made strange faces.
Angenas, once one of the most powerful families in the empire, had now become one of the forbidden words that should not be mentioned.
“Anyway, I expect today’s meeting to proceed smoothly as well, Chairman.”
“That’s right. His Highness the Prince will be here, and the acting head of Lombardi will also attend.
Ah, here she comes.”
Just as Florentia entered the meeting hall, Chairman Killian rose from his seat and said.
“Everyone’s already here.”
“Please have a seat here, Acting Head of Lombardi.”
“It’s a bit far from the Lombardi mansion. You must have had a hard time, acting head.”
Although Florentia was the age of their granddaughters or children, the nobles perked up their ears to hear her answer.
“Ah…”
But at Florentia’s slight hesitation, everyone looked downcast.
They seemed to think she didn’t want to dine with old people like them.
“Have you decided on a place?”
Chairman Killian was a little flustered by the question that came instead of an answer and shook his head.
“Then let’s go to a place I know.
The owner of Caramel Avenue just opened a new restaurant, and it has good reviews.”
“I heard the news too. But they said there’s a waiting list for several weeks…”
“It’ll be fine since I have a personal connection there. Let’s go there.”
“Oh, impressive!”
The influential nobles, who attended the State Council as representatives, followed Florentia obediently.
No one had yet realized that the leadership of the group had already shifted to Florentia.
***
“I’m really looking forward to it!”
“My wife also talked about that place a few days ago. Oh dear, I’m going to be disliked for having gone there first. Haha!”
As I slowly left the meeting hall and walked through the imperial palace, I heard such conversations behind me.
Despite how they seemed, these were the people who had been at each other’s throats like sworn enemies at yesterday’s noble meeting.
Because of their respective family backgrounds, they took a completely adversarial stance in official settings, but they were quite close in private, so it seems.
As expected, Bate’s information is exceptionally accurate.
By the way, there’s no better place to gather information than the one Bate runs, so I just blurted out that we should go.
However, since Caramel Avenue’s main clientele were noblewomen, there was a limit to the type of information that could be collected.
So this time, I lent them another building to open a high-end restaurant with private rooms that also served alcohol.
I gave them free rent for life again this time, so surely they wouldn’t kick me out at the door, saying they were busy.
As I was walking with such thoughts, Chairman Killian subtly spoke to me.
“I was truly relieved.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The acting head of Lombardi and His Highness the Prince.”
I roughly understood what he was going to talk about.
I smiled skillfully, pretending to listen to Chairman Killian, and looked straight ahead again.
“It’s not easy to return to a purely public relationship after being engaged, is it?”
“That’s right.”
I answered mechanically.
“So I was secretly worried if the two of them would be able to work well together as the future head of Lombardi and Crown Prince. But today, that worry completely disappeared.”
I hadn’t thought so before.
Chairman Killian, he was a talkative person after all.
I just nodded vaguely and gave appropriate responses.
And the moment I saw a couple in the distance.
My heart sank.
Chairman Killian asked me then.
“They must have ended their engagement well, too, right?”
Yes, I suppose so.
Did we break off our engagement?
At that moment, the people walking behind me noticed the man and woman I was looking at and said in surprise.
“Isn’t that His Highness the Second Prince and Lady Brown?”