In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 63

Florentia did not approach Gallahan. She stood far off at the doorway, spoke briefly with Clerivan, and then left. At that, Gallahan smiled bitterly and said to Lauriel, “Lauriel, would you help Tia get ready for bed?”

“……Yes, Lord Gallahan.”

Lauriel bowed her head deeply and hurried out, following Florentia. Now, only Rulac, still seated in his chair, and Clerivan, standing at the doorway, remained in the room with Gallahan.

“It seems I’ll have to rely on Miss Lauriel’s help even more in the future. This is a big problem.”

In the future, there would be more and more things he couldn’t do. It was only one leg now, but he didn’t know when the paralysis would spread to other parts of his body.

“Half a year…”

That was the lifespan Doctor O’Malley had told him he had left. He had said that after Tlenbru developed, people usually didn’t live more than half a year.

“I’ll bring another doctor tomorrow, so get examined again.”

“Father…”

“It’s such a rare disease, how can he know just by looking at it for a moment? I’ll find other doctors. You have Tlenbru disease, you say. That’s ridiculous…” Clerivan’s face stiffened at Rulac’s grumbling.

“Tlenbru…”

“I said no!”

Finally, Rulac roared. His terribly distorted face was hardly recognizable as the usually calm and composed Rulac.

“There’s no way Gallahan could have caught such a terrible disease!”

“Father…”

Gallahan looked at Rulac, then nodded and said, “I will get examined by another doctor.”

“Yes, that’s right. It seems Doctor O’Malley’s skills have rusted.” Rulac abruptly stood up. “It’s not like that leg can’t be perfectly fine again tomorrow.”

But even as he said that, Rulac’s gaze remained fixed on Gallahan’s stiff leg. It looked so fine on the outside.

“You are still too young, Gallahan.” Too young to be afflicted with a deadly, incurable disease. Rulac said those words and turned away. “And don’t let this leak out. You… stumbled and broke your leg at the imperial banquet. Understood?”

“…Thank you, Father.”

The impact of a rumor that Gallahan, who had been making a clear mark inside and outside the family lately, had health problems would be enormous. It would be an unprecedented piece of good news for competitors constantly looking for an opening, and a huge obstacle for those who hoped to work with Gallahan’s Clothing Store.

“Someone might visit at any time, so put a splint on that leg.”

“Haha. Yes, Father.”

Gallahan laughed, and Rulac called his son ‘a silly fellow’ before leaving the room. With the click of the door closing, the smile faded from Gallahan’s face. Then, in a calm, subdued voice, he said to Clerivan, “Lord Clerivan.”

“Yes, please speak.”

“It seems I’ll have to prepare a few things.”

“What are you referring to?”

Gallahan sighed softly at Clerivan’s question. “We need to prepare in case my illness truly is Tlenbru disease.” It was a sigh closer to resignation than frustration. “Tia will be left alone, won’t she?”

Clerivan could say nothing to Gallahan, who habitually smiled faintly again. Instead, he clenched his fist so tightly that the note Florentia had written and handed him crumpled with a crunch.
***

As morning dawned, Perez, as was his long-standing habit, took his sword and headed to the Phorak Palace training ground. The day he first met Florentia. The day he was told he ‘must practice swordsmanship.’ Since that day, he had never missed a morning training session. The banquet yesterday had ended after midnight, and he had only gotten a few hours of sleep. But today was no exception. His body felt heavy, but as he began to wield his aura, that feeling quickly disappeared.

Perez, having sweated profusely, sat on the training ground floor and recalled what had happened last night. Florentia, who had met him in the forest and instantly taken everything from him, had not changed over time. For Perez, only Florentia remained visible. Even when she first walked into the banquet hall. Even during the sweet, fleeting moments on the terrace. Even when Astana drew his sword. All Perez saw was Florentia. And even when Gallahan collapsed and everyone was looking at the fallen Gallahan, Perez was looking at Florentia.

“Will she be okay?” Florentia seemed very close to her father, unlike him. Her face, biting her lip as she watched Gallahan lying unable to rise, kept coming to mind. He wished he could go and see her. But Florentia had told him not to let anyone know they knew each other. Perez put his sword back in its sheath and suppressed his own feelings. But, he wanted to see her. Perez’s shoulders kept drooping as he returned to the palace.

“Q-Queen!”

He had just reached the Phorak Palace building. At Catherine’s flustered voice, Perez raised his head. He saw the Queen, kicking open her carriage door herself and striding towards him. And he also saw her right hand, raised high to slap him. To Perez, it was a movement slow enough to make him yawn.

‘Should I get hit?’ That thought momentarily flashed through Perez’s mind. He could guess why the Queen was trying to slap him. Perez stood still, then subtly shifted his body at the last moment. The Queen’s hand narrowly missed Perez’s face.

“Agh!” The Queen became even more enraged. “How dare! How dare that lowly one point a sword at my son!” Lavini screamed, trying to hit Perez somehow, but each time Perez dodged by a hair’s breadth, seemingly taunting her.

“Seize that lowly one!” Finally, the Queen commanded the knights accompanying her. But even the approaching knights flinched when they saw the sword strapped to Perez’s waist. The fact that the Second Prince was a skilled aura user was already widely known throughout the Imperial Palace. And a clear, distinct blue aura at that. Though young, it was already proof that he possessed skills on par with the knights. And sure enough. The Second Prince had already retreated exactly two and a half steps, as if he had grasped their next move. It was a distance where even if the knights drew their swords, the tips wouldn’t reach him. It was as if their every move had already been anticipated.

While the knights hesitated, the Queen hurled all sorts of insults at Perez. “I should have killed you then! Should have buried you with your lowly mother! You dirty, rootless wretch! How dare you… my son…”

“Rootless, what do you mean, Empress?”

The Empress’s outburst stopped as if by magic. It was the Emperor, who had been waiting for Perez in the Phorak Palace garden and came out at the commotion. The knights who had approached Perez quickly retreated.

“Is it not enough that the Prince is my son? Or…?” The Emperor spoke, not hiding his displeasure. “The roots the Empress speaks of, are they me?”

“T-that’s not what I meant…”

Lavini was flustered for a moment but soon regained her composure and replied. Her chin slightly raised, she looked quite confident. “I heard what happened to Astana yesterday. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“What should I have told you? That my fourteen-year-old son, lacking all sense, pushed Gallahan’s daughter, and then tried to harm her right in front of the Lombardi patriarch?” Jovanes scoffed.

“Astana must have had his reasons!” Lavini shrieked, angered. But the Emperor frowned and shook his head. “As a prince of this empire, he should know by now how to win the Lombardi family to his side.”

Those words finally made Lavini’s anger explode. “Why! Why do you always cater to Lombardi?! You are the master of this empire, Your Majesty! The Durelli family!”

“So?”

“In a situation like yesterday, you should have taken Astana’s side! Don’t let that lowly, maid-born wretch dare point a sword at Astana and insult him, you should have taught that Lombardi girl who made Astana so angry a lesson!”

The Emperor now simply clicked his tongue with a weary expression and asked, “Are you telling me to pick a fight with Lombardi because of Astana now?”

“Your Majesty has countless noble families, why do you rely only on Lombardi! If Lombardi neglects the Imperial Family…”

“Angenas would try to seize that position.”

“T-that…”

“Push out Lombardi and fill that spot with Angenas. How much more foolish of an Emperor do you want me to be?” Jovanes scoffed. “Empress.” The Emperor’s voice calling Lavini abruptly lowered. “Angenas can never replace Lombardi. They lack the ability. So don’t be too greedy.”

The Queen Dowager trembled, but the Emperor didn’t care. It wasn’t just what was apparent. Lombardi was like a giant pillar supporting this empire and the Imperial Family. In his youth, it had been incredibly difficult to admit that, but Jovanes had grown wiser. He had accepted that fighting Lombardi would be self-destructive, and as Rulac had said, he had used them. Sometimes empowering them, sometimes pretending to push them away.

However, there was one thing that Rulac, as cunning as a fox, would never tolerate: matters concerning his own blood. If Perez hadn’t stepped forward immediately yesterday, Jovanes would have had to publicly reprimand Astana to appease Rulac’s wrath. Yet, Jovanes still didn’t know why Perez had drawn his sword and protected Florentia. He had come to Phorak Palace to ask about it today. But he hadn’t expected the Queen to come running too. Thinking of Astana, who must have tattled to his mother, his anger flared. ‘That useless fellow.’

Then, his eyes fell on Perez, who stood silently to one side. He remembered how the boy hadn’t taken his eyes off Gallahan’s daughter as they entered the banquet hall. And a strange impulse suddenly arose. Jovanes stood with his back to the Queen and said to Perez, “You will go visit Gallahan Lombardi in my stead.”

A glimmer of joy lit up Perez’s previously indifferent face.

“And on your way, take my letter and deliver it to the Lombardi patriarch. It’s a letter stating that I will make Gallahan’s daughter your companion.”