In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 247

Even though she knew she would die.

Those words pierced my chest, throbbing painfully.

“When Shan left the tribe, I tried to stop her. I told her that bad futures could be avoided. But she just smiled brightly and said, ‘My husband and child, whom I haven’t even met yet, are so lovely that I can’t help but go.'”

My mother had met my father, knowing what would happen to her if she gave birth to me. ‘I’ve decided to love my destiny,’ was that her last message?

It seemed to be a very painful memory for my grandmother. “I still vividly remember the day Shan left. A mother can never forget the day her daughter leaves.”

Her face, full of the marks of time, looked at me. “Just once, when you were in her womb, she sent a letter to the village. Do you know what Shan said then?”

I shook my head slightly. My grandmother said in a low voice, “‘My daughter will live a brilliant life.'”

“Ha.” I let out a sound like a deflated balloon.

“That’s why I came to see you today, Shan’s daughter, on the day you are happiest.”

My mind felt tangled, yet at the same time, I clearly understood. My mother truly was a person with powerful abilities. And perhaps my regression was a predetermined fate.

“Shan loved her destiny, Florentia. She sacrificed her life to bring you into this world. So don’t waste that life.”

Waste? My life, both in the previous one and this one, was far from wasted. I had always thrown everything into living.

“No. You are living a complacent life right now.”

“No. You don’t know me. I’m not someone who wastes time.” I argued without realizing it. I couldn’t tolerate such words, especially when they belittled my affection for Lombardi.

“I mean, don’t live a complacent life.”

“I’m not living complacently.”

“So, are you talking about a next life?”

“…Pardon?”

“Aren’t you boasting that you’ll be satisfied with becoming the Lord of Lombardi in this life? And that you can achieve the rest in the next life?”

“That’s…”

“Can you say no?”

I couldn’t refute it. It was true that I occasionally had such thoughts implicitly. There were times I convinced myself to only focus on becoming the Lord of Lombardi in this life.

“As if you’ll naturally have a chance at another life. Right?” Her hazy, misty eyes looked at me sternly. “You’re a half-breed. You, who have escaped the shackles, will have no next life, Florentia.”

A life that leaves regrets as if I could regress again. A life that doesn’t even try to achieve everything I desire. That is indeed a complacent life.

“So move. Because this life is your last.”

Last life.

As soon as I heard those words, only one person came to mind.

“I, I suddenly have somewhere I need to go.” My heart raced. It felt like my feet were tapping impatiently. And as quickly as my urgent heart, a plan unfolded in my mind. A plan to have everything I wanted in this life.

“…Yes, you should go quickly.” My grandmother, as if reading my thoughts again, smiled gently.

“If you don’t mind, please stay at the Lombardi mansion. There’s so much I want to know, Grandmother.”

“Hmm.” My grandmother thought for a moment, then nodded. “For a few days, I’ll try to persuade Onta.”

So the name of that grumpy-faced red-haired man was Onta.

Just then, a familiar face appeared behind Onta and Anai. It was my father’s face, looking flustered as he saw my grandmother and me.

“And I think there’s one more person who wants to talk to Grandmother over there?”

“…It’s Gallahan,” my grandmother said softly, looking directly at where my father was, even though she couldn’t see well.

My father, who had received her gaze, flinched in surprise for a moment, then bowed his head deeply in greeting.

“Then I’ll be going!” I hurried my steps.

Just then, I saw a coachman tidying the Lord’s carriage in front of the main building. I impulsively opened the carriage door, climbed in, and shouted, “To the Imperial Palace!”

I arrived at the Imperial Palace and only regained a bit of my composure when it was time to alight from the carriage.

“The time is a bit awkward now.” It was midday, with the sun still high in the sky. Perez would be busy with his duties.

“I don’t want to interrupt his work.” He was so busy that he hadn’t even visited the three-day-and-night banquet celebrating my ascension as Lady. I had received a letter that morning saying he had only managed to make time for this evening.

“Should I go back and wait for now?”

As I rode in the carriage, my impulsive plan had gained more details. Tasks I needed to do to leave no regrets were neatly stacked according to that plan. A way to maintain my position as Lord Lombardi while also not giving up on Perez. It wouldn’t be easy. No, it was impossible under current law.

But.

“If it can’t be done, I’ll make it happen.” Who do you think I am?

But everything has a sequence. The first thing to do was to talk to Perez.

Just then, Perez walked out of the Central Palace building where I was standing.

“Oh? Perez?” Forgetting the guards and servants passing by, I called his name without thinking.

“…Tia?” Perez’s eyes widened in surprise as he saw me.

“Why are you here…”

“Wait, talk to me for a bit.” I grabbed Perez’s sleeve and said, “I was going to wait until you came to the mansion tonight. But since we’ve met, let’s get it over with.” I hated just waiting anxiously.

“Is there anywhere private?” Perez thought for a moment at my question, then replied, “I know a suitable place.”

“Hmm. Yes. No one would disturb us here.” It seems I can’t escape the forest today.

The place Perez took me was a forest near the detached palace where he used to live.

“This is where we first met, right?” I pointed to a small, round bush a little distance away. “You were eating grass there, Perez.”

“Yes. No one will disturb us here,” Perez said, nodding with satisfaction.

He’s really an odd one. I chuckled involuntarily.

Perez looked closely at my laughing face and said, “Actually, there’s something I wanted to show you, Tia.”

“Something you want to show me?” Perez then extended his hand to me and said, “Shall we walk a bit?”

“This hand…” Is he asking to hold hands?

Looking closely at Perez’s hand extended towards me, I saw its tip trembling ever so slightly. He’s nervous. So I readily took his hand.

“Ti-Tia?” Perez looked surprised in turn. He probably didn’t expect me to grab his hand without hesitation, as if I’d been waiting. Once I’ve made up my mind, I don’t hesitate anymore.

“Why? What?” I walked ahead, my chin slightly raised, a little shamelessly. Perez, whose ear tips were a bit red, quickly caught up with his long strides.

“Ahem.” The hand I was holding felt more awkward than I expected. My heart pounded, and only the sounds of the two of us were heard in the forest. Feeling suffocated, I wiggled the hand I was holding slightly, and Perez’s large hand firmly enveloped mine.

Is it because it’s cold? Perez’s hand was as cold as my tense one.

Perez led me to the ruins where he used to live. No, the ruins were no longer there. Only a neatly built, modest detached palace stood.

“Did you rebuild this in just a few weeks?” Perez nodded at my question.

“Because it’s no longer a place I want to forget. Rather, I want to remember it for a long time.”

“Indeed.” Money and power are the best. He hadn’t been appointed Crown Prince yet, but he was practically one.

“They must have worked hard.” I briefly mourned for the laborers who must have worked in this cold winter. But I was also genuinely happy.

“That’s a good idea, Perez.” I patted Perez’s back. This detached palace was a symbol of the darkest and most tragic days of Perez’s life. The fact that he had rebuilt the abandoned palace so magnificently after leaving it, perhaps meant that his wounds had healed a little. A vague thought crossed my mind.

“You brought me here to show me this…!” I turned to Perez with a smile, unable to finish my sentence.

“What are you doing, Perez?” Perez slowly released my hand and took a step back. Then he looked at me and slowly knelt on one knee.

“You’re not seriously…”

Just then, Perez pulled something from his pocket. It was a neatly folded piece of paper. He handed it to me.

“What is this?” I quickly opened it, and saw the Emperor’s seal clearly stamped on the paper. Below it, in poor handwriting, but clear letters, was written:

[I, Jovanes, Emperor of the Lambru Empire, by imperial decree, grant the following:
First, the Empress’s right to family succession and inheritance.
Second, the Empress’s right to retain her original surname.
Third, the Empress’s right to retain independent property and authority originating from and derived from her family.
This is my will, and the officials and nobles of the Empire shall not object.]

The Emperor’s will. It was like a living testament, an absolute command that no one could defy.

“Perez, how… how did you get this?” My voice was trembling. It was a terrible voice, as if I were being strangled.

But my surprise didn’t end there.

“Tia,” Perez called my name. It was when our eyes met, his red eyes, reflexively. At that moment, I realized what Perez looked like. Kneeling on one knee, his eyes fixed only on me.

Instinctively realizing what was about to happen, my heart began to beat even faster.

Then, Perez slowly pulled my hand towards him, clasped it, and asked in a low voice, “Lady Florentia Lombardi, will you marry me?”