In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 55

“Perfect.”
With a crimson ruby hair clip placed in my half-updo, meticulously braided by Lauriel, I looked cute even to myself in the mirror.
It was a truly perfect banquet dress, combining the ready-to-wear clothing from Gallahan’s Clothing Store, made by Father, with the Lombardi family’s wealth.
“How is it, Lauriel? Does it look expensive?”
“Milady, do you know how much just one of these emeralds attached here is worth? There probably won’t be anyone at the banquet today dressed as splendidly as you!”
“Then it’s good.”
I deliberately made it more extravagant to change the perception that ready-to-wear clothing was cheap.
“Oh, I could die happy now.”
Lauriel said rapturously, carefully adjusting my hair, which she had painstakingly styled.
“To see our Milady grown up like this and going to a banquet.”
Anyone would think you raised me.
But I knew Lauriel’s affection for me well, so I also laughed.
“Milady, you look so pretty today. The banquet will be a sensation!”
“It’s not that much. Don’t exaggerate.”
“No! Milady, you don’t realize how pretty you are! Though that’s even cuter…”
Lauriel went ‘ooh’ and looked at me as if she wanted to bite me.
“Besides, today is, in a way, the first time Milady is making a public appearance, isn’t it?”
“Is it…?”
Now that she mentioned it, Lauriel was right.
Unlike my cousins, who diligently attended banquets here and there even before their official social debut, I had never attended such an event.
Father was usually uninterested in such things, and recently, he had been so busy that I barely saw his face.
Shananet had suggested we go together many times, but I had often refused.
“Remember how much commotion there was after Lady Lorraine made her social debut a while ago! They said the Lombardi lady possessed beauty as well! But truly, it’s not just because I serve Milady, but our Milady is far prettier and cuter than Lady Lorraine…”
Lauriel sighed deeply, saying, ‘It’s such a pity I can’t see it myself.’
“Later, we’ll have to attend banquets together until we’re sick of them, you know.”
At my casual remark, a bright smile bloomed on Lauriel’s face.
“Yes, that’s right. It will be.”
After a final check in the mirror, I left the room.
In the reception room, Father and Grandfather were waiting for me, drinking tea.
“Milady is ready.”
At Lauriel’s voice, both of them looked up.
And.
“Gasp.”
Father saw me and covered his mouth.
Grandfather, sitting next to him, frowned.
The deep wrinkles between his brows indicated something serious.
What? Lauriel clearly said I was pretty.
A sudden feeling of unease came over me.
“Father? Grandfather?”
At my voice, the two began to move as if playing ‘freeze tag.’
“Tia…”
Father rushed over and hugged me tightly.
His face held a subtle expression, as if he was about to cry and burst into laughter at the same time.
“My daughter, you’re so beautiful.”
It wasn’t my imagination.
“When did you grow so much?”
Father’s voice was definitely tinged with emotion.
I pulled away and looked at Father’s face.
His eyes were certainly looking at me, but…
I could feel it in the way his gaze lingered on the contours of my face, and in the way he looked deeply into my eyes.
That Father was seeing my mother’s face in mine right now.
Though I had no memory of her, her face must have been as vivid to Father as yesterday’s memory.
“If she’s like this now, it’ll be a sight to behold when the child makes her social debut later,” Grandfather, who had approached with his hands behind his back, said jokingly to Father.
“So, social debut… gasp.”
The mere thought seemed to overwhelm him with emotion; Father, who had just calmed down, suddenly stood up, turned his back, and finally rubbed his temples.
“Florentia.”
Grandfather approached the spot where Father had been.
And with his brows still furrowed, he said, “When you go to the banquet today, stick close to either this grandfather or Gallahan.”
“Yes, Grandfather.”
“If any strange fellows come and talk to you, just ignore them.”
“Yes, Grandfath—… Yes?”
As I habitually nodded and replied, something felt a little off.
“If they still bother you, just kick them away. Leave the aftermath to this grandfather.”
And then he muttered softly, “That rascal, why is she so cute, I wonder.”
Both Father and Grandfather.
I think they both have a severe case of doting parents’ syndrome.

At the same time, Phorak Palace.
Catherine and Kailus, who were attending to Perez, exchanged silent glances.
It was the time of day when everyone felt languid after lunch.
Perez, as usual, had a book open, but the atmosphere was different.
Kailus looked at Perez, who had been extremely tense since morning, with worried eyes.
If one were to ask how the outwardly expressionless Perez could be tense, Kailus would point to the page of the book that hadn’t moved for an hour.
Catherine also watched him, then quietly approached and said, “Your Highness, if you are so uncomfortable, why don’t you go out for a walk? There is still a long time until sunset when the banquet begins.”
Kailus also chimed in, “Or perhaps we could bring you some chocolate cookies, which you like?”
Thud.
Finally, the book Perez was holding closed with a dull sound.
“Am I… showing my tension?”
“Yes.”
“Hmph.”
Perez sighed softly, tracing the corner of the ‘Brown Swordsmanship Manual.’
“It’s understandable that you’re tense. It’s your first official appearance…”
Kailus tried to soothe Perez.
Although he was a person with little emotional fluctuation, unlike a thirteen-year-old, today was a day when anyone would be nervous.
“Actually, the National Foundation Day banquet isn’t that special. You just need to enter with His Majesty the Emperor, show your face, and then return.”
“Both I and Kailus will be right by Your Highness’s side.”
How much of a burden must it be?
To be forgotten and then stand before people for the first time as the Second Prince of the Lambru Empire.
It was too great a burden and emotional weight for the young prince to bear all alone.
Perez, who had been quietly watching their sympathetic faces, said, “I’m not worried about the banquet.”
“Then… perhaps you’re worried about Her Majesty the Empress?”
Kailus asked cautiously.
He realized there was one more thing besides the banquet that could make His Highness tense.
Now he also knew.
Why young Perez had been left alone in the crumbling annex, and why he had been so frail when they first met.
Fortunately, after moving to Phorak Palace, Perez had no encounters with the Empress.
The Empress still treated Perez as if he didn’t exist, and excluded him from all imperial events.
The only changes from the past were that Perez now lived in Phorak Palace instead of the annex, and that he was properly educated and cared for as a prince, instead of living a neglected life.
Thus, the only imperial schedule Perez had was dining with the Emperor once a month.
“Her Majesty the Empress probably doesn’t know that Your Highness is attending the banquet. But even so, she’s not so reckless as to cause a scene in front of everyone…”
“That’s not it either.”
Perez shook his head.
Catherine, unable to watch any longer, said, “Your Highness, if you would tell us what troubles you, we could…”
“Tia.”
“…Yes?”
“Tia is coming to the banquet.”
Perez casually dropped those words, then reopened his book and bowed his head.
His ears, slightly visible through his fine black hair, were red.
“So…”
Kailus asked, disbelieving his own ears.
“It’s not the banquet where you’ll stand before hundreds of nobles, nor is it seeing Her Majesty the Empress again. It’s meeting Lady Florentia that makes you nervous?”
Perez gave a small nod.
And then said in a tiny voice, “…Because it’s been a long time since I’ve seen her.”
Having said that, Perez retreated back into his book.
Ultimately, the page remained unmoved until it was time to depart for the banquet hall.

We arrived at the Imperial Palace in Grandfather’s Lombardi family-exclusive carriage.
Emperor Jovanes seemed determined to showcase the imperial family’s extravagance this time, as the scale of the National Foundation Day banquet was different.
Unlike previous years, when the grand banquet halls of the Emperor’s or Empress’s palaces were used, this year an entire large annex palace was decorated for the banquet.
The bright lights of the banquet hall could be seen from afar.
The long line of carriages belonging to nobles attending the banquet, stretching from the main gate of the Imperial Palace to the banquet hall, was also a magnificent sight.
However, the carriage bearing the Lombardi crest ignored that long line entirely and stopped quickly in front of the banquet hall, as if on a highway.
While the coachman prepared the carriage step, I looked out the window and realized one thing.
“Lombardi is the best, after all…”
Nobles invited to an Imperial banquet were likely influential families in their own right.
And everyone must have prepared meticulously for their visit to the Imperial Palace.
Yet, even the carriages of those families looked utterly shabby next to the Lombardi carriage.
They were somehow smaller and didn’t seem as sturdy.
Just before the carriage door opened, Grandfather turned to me and said, “Remember what I told you. Just kick them away.”
“Yes, Tia. And call Father.”
Now Father joined in.
Fortunately, our conversation ended as the coachman opened the door.
Grandfather descended first, followed by Father.
And I, escorted by Father, descended last.
As my feet touched the ground, the cool night air and the sweet melody of music from inside the banquet hall reached my ears.
To be honest, this was my first time attending such a grand banquet, both in my previous life and this one.
I was a little nervous.
I walked, holding Father’s hand in one hand and Grandfather’s hand in the other.
That was all.
No one announced our arrival loudly, and we simply walked a few steps towards the banquet hall.
But with each step we took, a change occurred.
One person, then two.
As if word had spread, they turned to look at us.
And by the time we reached the banquet hall entrance, everyone’s gaze was fixed on us.