In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 33

Romassie Dillard, the current head of the Lombardi Merchant Guild, entered the mansion early in the morning, having been summoned by the Patriarch. The Dillard family had served the Lombardi family for generations, their loyalty profound. It was even jokingly said that the Dillard family’s emperor resided not in the imperial palace but at Lombardi.
“It’s been a long time since you’ve visited, Lord Romassie,” the butler of the mansion greeted him politely at the entrance.
“Is the Patriarch in his office?”
“No. He ordered that you be escorted to the meeting room today.”
“The meeting room? Hmm.” Romassie stroked his closely trimmed beard, reacting as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. Romassie, the general manager of the Lombardi Merchant Guild, was aging but had never retreated from the front lines of work. All contracts and trade of the Lombardi Merchant Guild still passed over his desk. He had been secretly nervous, thinking some major issue must have arisen since he was urgently summoned despite having no pending business with the Patriarch regarding the guild. But to be summoned to the meeting room?
Romassie asked the butler, “Are there others besides me already here?”
The butler chuckled softly and replied, “Currently, the Bray family, the Herring family, the Bilke family, the Devon family, and the Wear family have already arrived. Lord Romassie, you are the last.”
Romassie’s face became even more confused. The families the butler mentioned were all families, like the Dillard family, who served the Lombardi family. Just like the Dillard family, they were each responsible for major businesses such as banking, education, transportation, agriculture, and construction.
Romassie quickened his pace and hurriedly opened the door to the meeting room. The head of the Herring family was the first to greet Romassie. “Oh, it’s been a long time.”
“Do you know what this is all about?” But he, too, shook his head. Romassie found an empty seat and asked the same question to the eldest son of the Bray family, who was sitting next to him, but the answer was similar. “I don’t know either. I received a sudden call yesterday and came…”
“Well, this is unusual. It’s not often we’re summoned like this…” Romassie was right. Such a large gathering only happened at the New Year’s reception or Rulac’s birthday banquet.
Just then, the door opened, and one more person entered.
“Clerivan, you too?” It was Clerivan, his face still full of sleepiness. Clerivan briefly scanned the room and naturally came to sit next to Romassie. Romassie, briefly surprised by Clerivan’s appearance, greeted him first in a low, quiet voice. “It’s been a long time, Clerivan.”
Clerivan, rubbing his eyes as if tired, gave a small nod and replied in a quiet voice as well. “Yes, Father.”
Clerivan’s surname, Pellet, was his mother’s surname. Clerivan, Romassie Dillard’s illegitimate son, had lived independently after becoming an adult and leaving the Dillard family. The vassals present, who were well aware of their relationship, pretended not to hear the greetings they exchanged.
A moment later, Rulac Lombardi opened the meeting room door and entered. Everyone, except the elderly head of the Wear family, rose from their seats and greeted him. Rulac smiled, gesturing for them to sit down.
“Everyone’s here.” Contrary to their worries, his cheerful face seemed to be in a very good mood. This made the assembled vassals even more puzzled.
“The reason I called you all today is…” A sense of tension flowed through the room. Rulac made a gesture, and a servant came out holding something on a tray.
Clink. One small jar was placed in front of each person. No one could tell what it was, tightly bound with a beautiful red string.
“Hmm? What’s this smell?” Romassie cautiously brought the jar closer to his face and asked. “It’s sweet and cool… I’ve never smelled anything like it before.”
“Indeed…” An impatient person had already picked up the jar and was shaking it slightly. Rulac, watching them with a smile, said, “It’s medicine.”
“…Medicine?” They had vaguely guessed it might be medicine due to the slightly bitter scent, but the vassals stared blankly at each other.
“May I open it?” Clerivan asked, and Rulac nodded heartily. To the vassals who, out of curiosity, scrambled to untie the red ribbons, Rulac added, “It’s an all-purpose ointment for aches and pains. It’s especially effective for muscle pain or for those with bad joints like me.”
“Ohh…” The vassals, who had developed various discomforts with age, looked at the ointment with shining eyes.
“Ah! But they said not to apply it to broken skin or bleeding wounds!” Rulac raised his index finger and stated firmly.
“But why is this…?” Finally, the head of the Devon family asked in a small voice. Rulac grinned, as if he had been waiting for that question, and said, “Do you know who made that ointment?”
“W-well…”
“It’s my granddaughter!” A loud “Hahahaha!” from Rulac followed.
“Your granddaughter… you mean.” The third generation of the current Lombardi direct line were still young. The oldest, Lorraine, was only 11 years old. But he suddenly said his granddaughter made it. Everyone wondered if the Patriarch had another grown-up granddaughter they didn’t know about.
Then Clerivan asked in a quiet voice, “Young Lady Florentia?” Rulac, who had been shaking with incessant laughter, stopped and looked at Clerivan. The vassals in the room, on the other hand, stirred and became noisy.
“Florentia, you mean Galahan’s…?”
“She’d still be young, wouldn’t she…?” But neither Rulac, who proudly presented the ointment as made by his granddaughter, nor Clerivan, who looked at Rulac, seemed to be joking.
“Hahaha!” Suddenly, Rulac burst into laughter again. Everyone was sighing, thinking he was joking. “It’s no joke. My granddaughter, Florentia, truly made it. It’s a collaboration with a scholar named Estira, who entered the Academy this year as a researcher with my recommendation.”
“Aha, a collaboration!”
“Hahaha! It was a collaboration!” People finally burst into laughter. Of course. They had been wondering what was going on, with such a young child making it, but it was a collaboration with an excellent scholar. At most, she probably just chose the color of this ribbon. That was what the vassals thought.
“This product will officially go on sale next month. You’ll be grateful then, as you won’t be able to buy it otherwise!”
“The Patriarch seems very proud of his granddaughter!” The head of the Herring family laughed and retorted.
“I don’t know how much you’ll believe me, but you should have seen my granddaughter skillfully negotiating with me, holding that ointment!”
“Negotiating? With the Patriarch?” The vassals were surprised. It had taken them quite a long time to even sit down and laugh and talk with Rulac in one place like this. Usually, young children would cry hysterically even when just held in Rulac’s arms. But to negotiate with the Patriarch? And a young child at that.
“Florentia isn’t afraid of me. She’s a very shrewd child.”
“Ohh… that’s quite surprising.” Everyone seemed to disbelieve the claim that Florentia had made the ointment. At best, they seemed half-convinced that she wasn’t afraid of the Patriarch and was a shrewd child.
“By the way, I didn’t know the Patriarch was one to boast about his grandchildren like this,” said the oldest and closest to Rulac among them, the head of the Wear family, chuckling.
“That child is just so clever, you see.” Though a bit doting, Rulac didn’t mind and kept smiling broadly. Having rushed in early in the morning thinking a major incident had occurred, they were now getting a bonus of the Patriarch’s granddaughter’s boasting and an ointment.
Amidst the lively conversation, Clerivan remained silent. He gazed down at the jar in front of him with his characteristic cold yet unfathomably deep eyes. And he fiddled with the end of the red ribbon with his finger. It was the same color as the hair tie Florentia wore most often.
“Clerivan. What’s wrong?” Romassie, who had been watching him from beside him, called his son, puzzled.
“I’m probably thinking the same as you, Father, and those gentlemen.” Clerivan’s eyes briefly glanced at the vassals who were laughing and chatting comfortably. But occasionally, their eyes lingered on the jar. “They’re all probably trying to guess why the Patriarch gathered everyone and showed them this ointment.” In the kingdom of Lombardi, it was the vassals’ job to read the Patriarch’s mind and carry out his intentions. Everyone seemed to be chatting carelessly, but that was just their outward appearance. “You’re also thinking, aren’t you, Father? When, how, and where the Lombardi Merchant Guild should distribute this ointment.” Romassie shrugged and nodded, as if his thoughts had been exposed.
“And one more thing…” Clerivan looked at the red ribbon again. Something that could be called instinct or intuition was telling Clerivan to pay close attention to the owner of this red ribbon. Clerivan carefully held the small, round jar in his hand.
***
The class ended.
“Florentia, red really suits you,” Lorraine said as she tied a red hair tie in my hair.
“Lorraine, white suits you well.” I wasn’t just saying it. Perhaps because of Lorraine’s fair skin, or her blue eyes inherited from the Angenas side, white really suited Lorraine.
“…Thank you.” She had complimented me first, but she was shy when she received a compliment in return. She truly had a kind, pure, and gentle heart, so much so that I wondered if she was really born from the same mother as Bellesac. She was too beautiful a flower to wither away unloved, left alone in a distant place.
Thinking that, I said to Lorraine, “You like dolls, right? I received one for my birthday, but I don’t like dolls. Would you like to have it, Lorraine?”
“Really? Wow, yes!” Lorraine gave me a happy smile, the kind she might show if she had received a gold bar from someone.
“What about me? Me!”
“Give me a present too, Tia!” The twins whined, tidying up the books and cushions I had been about to organize.
“Alright, alright.” There was only one reason I was having such a trivial chat with the children right now.
“Yawn.” I pretended to yawn widely and subtly looked back. He was still watching, still watching. Clerivan was staring at me with eyes that could shoot lasers. It was the same before class started, and throughout the class, he kept asking me questions whenever he had a chance. And after class, he was openly doing that. It was driving me crazy. But I couldn’t just say, “Your glaring eyes are killing me, look somewhere else!” I was an innocent child now, an innocent child.
Someone gently tapped my shoulder as I silently chanted that to myself.
“Whoa, you startled me!”
“Why are you so surprised, Young Lady?” It was Clerivan. “You were over there just a moment ago… Why, why, what’s wrong, Teacher?” I asked with my most disingenuous smile.
“Come with me.”
“Huh?” Lorraine and the twins beside me also tilted their heads. I hadn’t misheard.
“I said, come with me, Young Lady Florentia.” What did I do wrong?