In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 70

Perez’s words, “as many as I could,” were true.

“Where in the world did you get all these books?”

“I brought some from the Imperial Library in the Central Palace, and these herbalism books are ones I already owned.”

He seemed very accustomed to turning pages as he answered. A sudden thought occurred to me, and I asked Perez.

“Perez, have you been researching Tlenbru’s medicine on your own all this time?”

I saw it. Perez’s shoulders flinched significantly. And his lack of response was also evidence, if evidence were needed. Because Perez was the kind of person who would rather say nothing than lie to me.

“Thank you.”

Perez’s ears turned bright red as he silently rummaged through the bookshelves. I smiled soundlessly and picked up a book. Yes, simply leaving everything to Estira and pacing around wouldn’t suit my personality. Doing anything to find the last piece of the Tlenbru cure felt more comfortable.

While we spent time reading in the library, Catherine and Kailus took turns bringing us plenty of food and drink.

“Ugh, my back.”

How many hours had passed? Suddenly, my back ached as if it were breaking, and I looked up. It was already afternoon. Looking at Perez across from me, he still hadn’t taken his eyes off the bookshelf. Next to him, the books he had already skimmed formed a small mountain.

I was looking out the window, not wanting to disturb the concentrating Perez, when—

“Shall we go out for a bit?”

Perez was already looking at me.

“The garden is quite nice for a walk.”

Unlike Perez’s simple observation, Phorak Palace’s garden was magnificent. As if knowing that the palace’s owner often visited the garden, various flowers and trees blended naturally around the walking paths.

“Oh, this flower… isn’t this the flower you sent me before?” I asked, pointing to a familiar-looking red flower.

“Yes, that’s right. Bomnia flower.”

“The season is a bit different from when you sent me this flower.”

“It bloomed and withered last spring. But for some reason, it seems to have bloomed once more this year.”

“Really? That’s amazing. To bloom twice in one year.” I approached and smelled the sweet fragrance of the flower.

Pluck.

Perez plucked a Bomnia flower and handed it to me. I tore off a sweet petal and put it in my mouth, asking, “What’s at the end of this path?”

“The Imperial Garden.”

“I see…”

Moving my body even a little seemed to clear my head. How long did we walk? At the end of the path, I thought I saw the Imperial Garden Perez had mentioned. And just then, walking through that garden, was someone I truly didn’t want to encounter.

“Let’s go back.”

“Okay.” Perez also frowned, clearly annoyed, and responded. We immediately turned around and tried to go back the way we came.

“Hey, you two there.”

Until that unpleasant voice followed us deliberately.

“Phew.”

I already had a bad feeling. I clenched my teeth and turned around to greet him.

“Greetings, Your Imperial Highness the First Prince.”

“Yes. It was you after all.” Astana approached with an unpleasant smirk.

Perez was already staring at Astana with cold eyes, as if he might draw his sword again like last time.

Let’s just let this go quietly this time. I resolved.

But that resolve immediately wavered at Astana’s words.

“I hear Gallahan Lombardi has a deadly illness?”

“This crazy bastard.”

A curse burst from my mouth without my realizing it. Astana’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Y-you just cursed at me…”

Watching Astana mouth silently like a goldfish, I tried to calm myself again. I had gotten too excited because it was about my father. But ominously, I saw something flicker across Astana’s face. It was a sneering smile, as if he had found a weakness to torment me with.

“Your father is dying, and you’re here fooling around in the imperial palace with that low-born fellow. Are you sure you’re not his real daughter?”

“Stop it.” Perez, beside me, warned in a low voice.

But Astana merely shrugged and continued to taunt. “If it were my father, I wouldn’t leave his sickbed for a moment. Well, I guess low-born people are called low-born for a reason.”

“Astana.”

“Her mother was a wanderer of unknown origin, so who knows, maybe…”

“Shut your mouth.” Perez said, putting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

“You know what? Wanderers sell their bodies to anyone just to find a place to sleep for the night…”

Slap!

With a loud sound, Astana’s face turned sideways. A red handprint slowly rose on his cheek. It was I who had slapped him with all my might.

“Y-you hit me…?” Astana mumbled, clutching his cheek with one hand.

I glared directly at him. Tears welled up in my eyes from the overwhelming rage.

“I-I’ll tell Mother, no, His Imperial Majesty! You, you hit my cheek?!”

I knew his personality was rotten to the core. A trashy bastard.

“Go ahead and tell them. I’ll also tell Grandfather everything that happened today.” I said, biting off each word to Astana. “Not a single word omitted.”

Only then did Astana’s foolish face contort, as if he recalled what he had said. No matter how much of an imperial prince he was, to utter such filthy words about the Lombardi family, especially about the current head of the family who was sick in bed, and his deceased wife, he wouldn’t get away with it unharmed.

If I had my way, I’d kick him between the legs instead of slapping him. But I’m not the Head of Lombardi yet, so I’ll endure.

I glared at him until the very end, then turned away. I roughly wiped away my tears with my sleeve. The sweet taste from the Bomnia flower petals just moments ago had turned bitter.

Because of the incident where I slapped Astana’s cheek, I was ordered to a month of self-reflection. Of course, I wasn’t severely scolded. Instead, I had a hard time stopping Grandfather from rushing out to kick Astana himself. Actually, I couldn’t freely go outside the mansion until after my eleventh birthday anyway, so it was pretty much like not being punished. I heard that Astana, who always liked to roam around, was quite miserable, having been ordered two months of confinement.

I sat in my study, flipping through the herbal medicine books I had borrowed from Perez. I wasn’t expecting to make some amazing discovery that Estira couldn’t, especially since I didn’t have much background knowledge in this field. It was just that doing something to find my father’s cure made me feel more at ease.

Rustle, rustle.

I was turning pages with one hand propping up my chin when—

“Oh? Bomnia flower? This can be used as a medicinal herb too.”

I stopped at a familiar flower illustration and read the description. “Bomnia is a plant that grows only in the extreme southern parts of the continent, and its flowers, leaves, and roots each possess different properties, exhibiting unique efficacies…”

My fingertip, which had been tracing the lines of text aimlessly, stopped.

“However, Bomnia’s most potent efficacy appears when its flowers, leaves, and roots are used together. Although the exact mechanism is unknown, it stably maximizes the effectiveness of other herbs used with it…”

A plant that originally grew only in the south. And Estira in my previous life, who had gone on vacation to her hometown. The pieces of the puzzle seemed to fit.

Just then, Estira burst into the study, panting and sweating, as if she had run all the way here.

“G-Grandmother’s reply came… Among the common flowers around the village…”

“Bomnia?”

“Oh, how did you know?”

As expected.

The last ingredient for the cure was Bomnia.

Estira, seeing my smiling face, made a tearful expression and said, “B-but Bomnia is a wild herb that only grows in the south, and its flowering season has already passed…”

“No. I know where there are Bomnia flowers blooming.”

In the Imperial Garden of Phorak Palace, bright red Bomnia flowers were blooming, I was sure of it. I quickly rushed to the desk and wrote a letter. The recipient was Perez.

I wanted to run to Phorak Palace myself and get the Bomnia plants, but I couldn’t enter the palace because I was still in my period of self-reflection. Damn Astana!

I scribbled down that Bomnia plants were needed for my father’s cure and that the flowers, leaves, and roots must be together. My hands trembled as I folded the letter. The joy of finding the last puzzle piece lasted only a moment before anxiety overwhelmed me.

What if the Bomnia flowers had all withered in the past few days? Perez also said it. That flowers that weren’t supposed to bloom at this time of year had bloomed.

Please, please.

I sent the letter, praying desperately.

As night fell, it began to rain. I stayed up all night, watching the torrential downpour outside.

“Damn it, damn it.”

The sound of rain hitting the window mixed with the sound of me biting my nails. What if the Bomnia flowers all withered in this rain? It had already been several days since I last saw them. If even the remaining flowers fell… My insides felt like they were burning.

Just then.

“Is that a carriage?”

I, who had been pressing my head against the window, doubted my eyes. A carriage was making its way to the annex, cutting through the torrential downpour. Through the hazy streaks of rain, I vaguely saw the imperial crest.

No way.

I jumped downstairs in surprise.

Thump, thump, thump.

With heavy knocking on the door, the annex butler was already approaching the door with a lamp.

Creek—.

The door, which had been tightly closed all night, opened with a long creaking sound.

And there stood a boy, completely drenched in rain.

“Perez?”

Perez, who spotted me, took something precious he was holding from his arms. It was a large wooden box.

Click.

As the lid opened with a small sound, the distinct smell of wet earth and rainwater wafted out. The box contained a cluster of red flowers covered in soil, their roots neatly exposed.

“I brought the Bomnia flowers.”

Perez smiled widely, his face pale from the rain.