In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 245

The house was larger than I expected.
The warm-colored living room and kitchen, visible as soon as the door opened, were particularly impressive.
The bedrooms must be upstairs.
I thought as I looked around the house.
“You kept this house all this time?”
I asked my father.
“Of course. I spent the happiest time of my life in this house.”
My father answered, then quickly waved his hand and said,
“That’s not to say the time I spend with my daughter isn’t happy!”
“Of course, of course. I know what you mean.”
When I replied, my father let out a small sigh of relief and finally smiled.
Then he gestured towards me as I entered the kitchen.
“Feel free to look around, Tia. I’ll make some tea.”
And he began to clatter things, taking various items from the cupboard as if he was very familiar with the place.
He must have visited this house often by himself.
The house showed almost no signs of being lived in, but it was clean and dust-free, so it seemed like someone was looking after it.
I began to cautiously look around the interior of the house, feeling like I was visiting someone else’s home.
“It’s a warm house.”
Even in winter, the house felt warm.
It was as if sunlight filled the large windows, embracing the entire house.
I slowly approached the window, as if possessed.
After standing still and basking in the sunlight, I carefully sat in the rocking chair placed in front of the window.
Creak.
A small noise was heard, perhaps because someone was sitting in it after a long time, but it soon firmly supported my body.
Rock, rock.
As I leaned my head back, my body slowly began to move with the chair.
Just enough to calm my mind.
And strangely, sitting there, I could see my father’s back perfectly as he busily moved in the kitchen.
“Tia, the tea’s ready.”
Just then, my father, who had turned around holding two large cups, was a little surprised to find me sitting in the rocking chair and smiled.
“Do you want to take that chair?”
“Me?”
My eyes widened at the sudden question, and my father chuckled again.
“That rocking chair was Shan’s favorite in this house. But now it’s just guarding an empty house without anyone sitting in it. Wouldn’t it be better for the chair if you took it and sat in it once or twice?”
“Th-that’s true, but…”
I really liked the rocking chair.
It looked light but was surprisingly sturdy and heavy.
And touching its smooth surface somehow made my heart feel at ease.
But somehow, it felt like I was taking away my father’s precious possession.
As if reading my mind, my father set the cups on the table and said,
“Your mother would want you to have it, Tia.”
“Then… I’ll take good care of it.”
I ran my hand over the armrest of the chair and nodded.
“Ah, it’s warm.”
The tea my father made was a kind I had never tasted before.
But as soon as I drank it, all the tension in my body seemed to melt away, and I let out a gasp of admiration.
“It was in this house that I found out you were coming, Tia, and your mother lived here until she was full-term.”
My father said, cradling his cup with both hands and looking around the house.
Longing seemed to seep into every corner of his gaze, and I quietly swallowed my tea.
Then, my father pointed to my finger.
“You happened to be wearing that ring.”
“That’s right. This was my mother’s ring.”
It was the purple sapphire ring my father had given me on my coming-of-age day.
The one my father had given my mother when he proposed.
Even if I took off all other jewelry, I wanted to wear this ring.
I touched the sapphire, giving a slight meaning to what might have been just a coincidence.
“Tia.”
My father called me gently.
“You resemble your mother a lot. You know that, right?”
“Yes, you just said so a moment ago. That I look just like her when I dress like this.”
“Yes. But what I meant wasn’t just your appearance. Your personality truly takes after your mother, Tia.”
My father chuckled softly.
“Ah, it’s such a relief that your personality isn’t like mine.”
Then he began to stroke my head, just like when I was little.
“Shan, your mother, never backed down if there was something she wanted. She was also incredibly smart, sometimes getting what she wanted in surprising ways.”
Ah.
Now I understood a little why my father said I resembled my mother.
“Especially when she was angry, her green eyes would sparkle as she meticulously argued her point, and I couldn’t even refute her. Not that it was ever possible to be angry at Shan in the first place.”
My father muttered this, then gazed at me deeply.
“So, I hope you don’t give up too much to become the head of Lombardi, Tia.”
I guessed the meaning of my father’s words.
“Perez… you mean?”
My father smiled slightly instead of answering.
But this time, I couldn’t immediately nod and agree.
The reason I regressed was to save my doomed family.
So, Lombardi was more important to me than anything else.
I now knew the extent of my feelings for Perez.
It felt a little unfair, but I also thought that dreaming of a ‘happy life’ might be very difficult without him.
But.
‘What if a future with Perez hinders me from leading Lombardi?’
These worries still made me hesitate.
“I’m contemplating.”
That was all I could answer.
My father smiled gently again and nodded.
“Yes. Take your time, but think deeply.”
He had probably brought me here to tell me that, but my father didn’t pressure me.
“Love is more important in life than you think.”
He said that and then simply leaned back comfortably in his chair and drank his tea, as if stepping back.
Since we’re being honest with each other, maybe I should say something too.
I tapped the handle of the cup with my fingertip and asked,
“Dad, do you have any thoughts on remarrying?”
“Cough! …Cough!”
My father, who had been coughing for a long time as if he had choked, asked me back with a reddened face,
“Are you suddenly curious about that?”
“I’m an adult now, and you’re still young, Dad. If you happen to find a good person, I’m just telling you not to worry because of me.”
“Tia…!”
My father exclaimed, as if embarrassed, and shook his head.
“Your mother is the only love of my life.”
Saying so, my father smiled shyly, as if he had truly returned to his youth.
“So there’s no love left to give to anyone else.”
It was a somewhat lonely statement, but my father’s expression was the opposite.
“When you talk about Mom, your face changes. You look so happy.”
“Do I? Haha. Of course.”
My father said, scratching his cheek awkwardly.
“Your mother and I had a love we wouldn’t regret.”
***
The next day.
When I woke up in the morning, the butler informed me.
It was my grandfather’s summons.
As soon as I simply washed my face and changed my clothes, I immediately headed for my grandfather’s office.
“It feels a bit chaotic, doesn’t it?”
That’s what I felt as I walked from the annex to the main building where my grandfather’s office was located.
The employees usually started their day early, but they seemed unusually busy.
“Is there some event at the mansion today?
No. There’s no schedule.”
No matter how much I racked my brain, there was no reason for the employees to be so busy today.
The social season started in spring, so no banquet was being held.
Nor was it anyone’s birthday in the family.
I’ll ask Grandpa later.
Thinking so, I knocked on the office door.
“Grandpa, it’s me. I’m coming in.”
I opened the door and entered as usual.
“…Oh?”
I felt a strange sense of incongruity.
The office looked the same.
But something was different.
I was certain when I looked towards the window.
The bust of my grandmother, which I had commissioned Alpheo to make for him when I was little, was not in its place.
“Oh, Tia, you’re here? Come here.”
My grandfather, who had been sitting on the drawing-room sofa, stood up and gestured to me.
“Grandpa… something feels a little off?”
“Does it?”
My grandfather, with an enigmatic smile, gently pushed my back as I slowly entered the Patriarch’s office, leading me somewhere.
As I looked around the office and walked where my grandfather led, I suddenly paused and stopped in my tracks.
“Grandpa…”
My grandfather smiled at me, then placed both hands on the Patriarch’s desk chair.
And he said,
“From today, this is your seat, Tia.”
“But that’s…”
The place where only the Head of Lombardi could sit.
My grandfather, seeing me frozen and unable to move, said in a low voice, as if to confirm it again,
“From today, Florentia Lombardi, you are the Head of Lombardi.”
No sound was heard.
My thoughts stopped too.
And the next moment, I realized I was already sitting in my grandfather’s chair.
No, in my chair now.
After seating me in the chair, my grandfather stood on the opposite side of the desk and looked at me.
“How does it feel?”
“…Good.”
“Hahaha! As expected of my granddaughter!”
My grandfather burst into loud laughter.
Should I have said something more humble?
What to do, it really feels good.
Slowly, I ran my palm over the Patriarch’s desk.
At the same time, goosebumps rose on my arms.
Me.
The Head.
Of Lombardi.
I covered my mouth with both hands.
Because I felt like I would scream if I didn’t.
My grandfather’s words from a moment ago, amidst the chaos, vividly replayed in my ears.
“From today, Florentia Lombardi, you are the Head of Lombardi.”
Florentia Lombardi, the new Head of Lombardi.
I couldn’t say anything.
I quietly looked at my grandfather.
“Sometimes it will be scary. Sometimes you will be full of passion. And sometimes, you will feel crushed by the name Lombardi. When that happens, remember only one thing.”
My grandfather said to me,
“That you are Lombardi, and Lombardi is you. Don’t forget that.”
Lombardi is me, and I am Lombardi.
I slowly nodded.
My hands were unconsciously gripping the armrests of the chair tightly.
Just then, there was a knock, and Butler Johan entered.
“I greet you again. I am Johan, the Patriarch’s butler.”
“Ah…”
Johan was now speaking to me, not my grandfather.
I had forgotten.
Johan wasn’t my grandfather’s butler, but the butler who served the Patriarch.
“The banquet preparations are almost complete, Patriarch.”
“Banquet…?”
To my bewildered self, my grandfather said,
“It’s a banquet to celebrate the inauguration of the new Patriarch. Your father and Shananet worked hard to prepare it, I hear.”
“Ah, so that’s why!”
So this was why the employees were so busy.
“For the next three days, the mansion gates will be open, and the banquet will continue. It’s a Lombardi tradition.”
My grandfather said proudly and led me outside.
The banquet hall was already set up, and tables were being placed one by one in the spacious garden.
To me, staring blankly out the window, my grandfather said softly,
“After this banquet, nothing should happen in this mansion without your knowledge, Head of Lombardi… Ugh, as expected of Lombardi! So cool!”
My two fists, neatly placed on the windowsill, clenched involuntarily, and my grandfather seemed even cooler.
I looked straight into my grandfather’s eyes and said,
“I will make this family even greater, Grandpa.”
Then my grandfather patted my shoulder and replied,
“Yes. Florentia, you can do it.”
These were the words of my grandfather, who had led the family more successfully than any previous Head of Lombardi.
And it was the future I would realize.
From today, I am the Head of Lombardi.

As my grandfather said, the banquet continued for three days and nights.
Nobles of the Empire and citizens of Lombardi alike gathered and enjoyed eating and drinking.
And on the afternoon of the third and final day.
“Matriarch.”
“What is it, Johan?”
“A guest has arrived from afar.”
A completely unexpected guest came to see me.
“Lady Shan’s mother, who claims to be the Matriarch’s grandmother, requests to meet you in the garden.”