In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 47

“Are you alright, Tia?”
Grandfather asked, dusting off my clothes where Perez had been holding them.
“I’m fine, Grandfather. This child here is my friend…”
“Perez Brivacheu Durelli.”
It was his full name, spoken without a hint of emotion, as if pronouncing a sentence.
Perez’s shoulder twitched slightly.
However, Grandfather’s cold gaze merely swept him up and down, as if evaluating an object.
“Grandfather?”
Since it was the first time I had seen him like this, I cautiously called Grandfather.
“Yes, this is the Second Prince. I could tell even if I met him on the street outside the palace.”
“Why?”
Grandfather answered, not taking his furrowed eyes off Perez.
“You, boy, resemble the former Emperor greatly. So much so that one might think you are the former Emperor’s child, not Jovanes’s.”
At those words, Perez’s eyes wavered for a moment.
“Has no one ever told you?”
When Grandfather asked, the boy nodded slightly.
“Indeed. Your mother would never have seen the former Emperor, and Jovanes wouldn’t have wanted to recall his father. So he would have distanced himself even more.”
“Was Emperor Jovanes not on good terms with the former Emperor, Grandfather?”
“Well now.”
Grandfather chuckled.
“I’m still not certain that Jovanes didn’t poison his father’s medicine.”
What a dysfunctional family, huh?
I thought the Lombardi family was a mess, but the Imperial family was even worse.
At least Viese had quietly waited until Grandfather passed away from old age.
As I stood there silently, Grandfather finally noticed me and quickly added,
“Of course, it’s nothing for our Tia to worry about. Forget what your grandfather said.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
I quickly replied like a well-behaved granddaughter.
“Alright, alright. And you…”
Grandfather’s gaze returned to Perez.
It was better than before, but still somewhat cold.
“Are you living in this annex alone?”
Nod, nod.
“Without maids or servants?”
Nod, nod.
“Seeing as you haven’t starved to death yet, someone must bring you food occasionally, right?”
Nod, nod.
“Is the Emperor’s son a mute?! A person should be able to answer with words!”
Grandfather let out a loud roar.
Then Perez, shrinking his shoulders, hid behind my back.
“That boy…!”
Grandfather, seemingly still displeased, reached out to grab Perez by the scruff of his neck.
But for some reason, Grandfather paused for a moment, stopping his action.
I took the opportunity to quickly grab Grandfather’s hand and chuckled.
“Grandfather! Let’s go inside and talk! My legs hurt…”
Actually, my legs wouldn’t hurt from standing this much, but I exaggerated.
“Alright. Florentia, you go inside for a moment.”
“What about Grandfather?”
“Your grandfather will talk to this boy for a bit and then come in.”
Grandfather’s expression was firm.
If I insisted on staying here, it felt like he would pick Perez up and throw him into the carriage again.
For now, I had to listen to Grandfather.
I reluctantly turned and headed into the annex.
I communicated with Perez, who stood there watching me, through my eyes.
‘I brought your lifeline with great difficulty! Make a good impression!’
***
Click.
Florentia entered the annex, and the old door closed.
Rulac stood with his hands behind his back, looking down at the Second Prince.
He deliberately did not hide his sharp and heavy presence.
When Rulac was like this, even proper adults could not easily lift their heads.
But Perez was different.
His bright red eyes looked directly up at Rulac.
His unchanging face, like a white porcelain mask, was filled only with sharp vigilance.
It was a completely different appearance from when Florentia was next to him.
A moment ago, when Rulac reached out, he even had a murderous glint in his eyes for a brief moment.
“Impressive.”
Seeing him run out excitedly at his granddaughter’s voice and obediently listen, Rulac had thought he was just a pathetic puppy who had lost its mother.
But now he saw he was a cunning tiger cub.
Rulac chuckled.
“I thought he only resembled his grandfather in appearance, but his personality is also a spitting image.”
Jovanes was not bold at heart, and would furiously hiss and raise his fur at the slightest sign of danger.
But the young Perez in front of him was now evaluating Rulac.
A forgotten prince with a weak body that could be strangled with a mere reach of a hand.
A solitary figure whom no one would mourn even if he died.
His enraged appearance greatly resembled the former Emperor.
The former Emperor, who, as a human, was an utter scoundrel, but as an Emperor governing the empire, he had done his job quite well.
And paradoxically, that very point poked at the deep-seated spite within Rulac.
He wondered if he should just ignore him and let him die.
“Do you want to live?”
Rulac asked Perez mockingly.
“With a word from me, you live. What will you do? Shall I save you?”
Perez was seen clenching his fist, still small enough to be amusing.
His blood-red eyes gleamed with hostility towards Rulac, who was mocking his life.
He could almost understand why the Empress would shudder at the color red.
It was said that she would dispose of every ruby that came in as a gift without even touching it to her body, and it made sense.
Rulac imagined Lavini Angenas gritting her teeth and trembling at the sight of Perez, and he felt pleased.
In fact, that alone was a sufficient reason for Perez to survive.
“Yes, I’ve decided. I will save you.”
Rulac wore the smile of someone giving moldy bread to a hungry person.
“Consider it fortunate that your existence makes the Empress terribly unbearable.”
Perez did not rejoice.
Instead, he said with a voice full of hostility,
“Florentia doesn’t resemble you at all.”
“What? Hahahaha!”
Rulac doubled over, bursting into loud laughter.
“Yes, it’s a great relief, isn’t it? That my granddaughter doesn’t resemble me and has no tainted corners.”
Then, in an instant, Rulac’s smile vanished from his face.
And he warned in a low voice,
“So, don’t even think about sticking to my granddaughter and tainting her. She is not a child you can covet. Do you understand?”
Rulac remembered the look in Perez’s eyes when he looked at Florentia a moment ago.
It wasn’t a child’s pure friendship.
Given a little time and growth, it would quickly become a spark that would glow red and cause a fire.
The fact that Perez was of the Emperor’s bloodline was not important in the slightest.
To Lombardi, being a member of the Imperial family was, if anything, a definite drawback.
Perez did not answer, but Rulac did not need an answer.
As of today, Rulac held Perez’s power over life and death.
If the unknown dog or tiger got too close to his granddaughter, he would simply pull the leash he held.
Rulac, giving Perez a final, meaningful look, turned and searched for his granddaughter.
“Where are you, Florentia!”
His cheerful voice, shouting loudly as he opened the annex door, sounded like a completely different person.
***
While Perez and Grandfather were talking, I was looking around inside the annex.
The annex, though large and spacious like a palace building, was desolate and completely unkempt.
I cautiously stepped onto the stone stairs to the second floor.
Even those were broken in places, so I had to be careful with my steps.
Naturally, there would have been no one to light the fires on time, so I saw the only open room door on the far side of the dim corridor.
“Wow, seriously…”
I opened the bedroom door and was speechless.
My expectation that it would be terribly dirty and messy, as a child lived alone without adult care, was completely off.
If it had been, I wouldn’t have been so surprised.
Perez’s bedroom was empty.
All that was there were a large bed, simple furniture, and neatly stacked books.
Aside from the old dishes by the fireplace, there was no trace of someone living in this room.
There were no common decorations or valuable items.
It was unlikely that any valuable items would still remain in an annex guarded only by a child without an owner.
Except for two items I found when I sat on the bed.
The wooden sword placed by the bedside and the medicine bottle I had given him.
Those two items lay neatly on the disheveled blankets.
Just then, Grandfather’s voice was heard.
“Where are you, Florentia!”
“I’m here!”
I quickly ran down the stairs.
Fortunately, Perez seemed perfectly fine, with no injuries.
Of course.
My grandfather isn’t such a bad person that he would be mean to such a pitiful child, no way.
I skipped over to him, and Grandfather slightly bent down to meet my eye level and said,
“Your grandfather has to go somewhere for a moment, so wait here. I’ll leave a knight outside, so don’t worry.”
A knight, whose face looked a little familiar, held the bag I had brought and bowed.
“Yes, Grandfather. Come back quickly!”
“Haha, that rascal…”
Grandfather stroked my head one last time and went outside.
The Lombardi carriage, which had been waiting, no matter how it found its way here, carried Grandfather and began to drive along the forest path.
I waved my hand and then asked Perez, who was standing next to me,
“What did you talk about with my grandfather?”
“…Nothing much.”
“You were outside for quite a while. What did you talk about?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
So did he get scolded by Grandfather and then came in?
Well, nothing major must have happened.
I dismissed my curiosity and offered Perez a hand.
He stared at me, as if asking what that meant.
“Let’s go. I brought all sorts of things for you.”
The way up the stairs was quite rough.
If such a scrawny boy stumbled and fell, he might get seriously hurt.
It was with that in mind that I offered my hand for him to hold.
Whether he was always slow in action, Perez blinked slowly and took my hand.
I gripped his hand, which truly held mine so gently, and started climbing the stairs first.
I wondered if he disliked holding my hand, but fortunately, he followed quietly, step by step.
And when we arrived at the bedroom, Perez was holding my hand even tighter.
***
Jovanes walked down the palace corridor with a hardened face.
His steps revealed his impatience.
When he arrived at his office, the knight standing in front of it quickly opened the door for him.
The sky was completely tinged with the rising red sun, and the sunlight streamed intensely into the office through the wide-open window.
And there was someone who received that light directly and greeted Jovanes.
“It’s been a long time, Your Majesty.”
It was Rulac Lombardi, sitting and drinking tea as if it were his own office.