In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 74

“Hello, Perez…”
I was surprised.
“You, why are you so… tall?”
Perez had been punished with self-reflection for his irresponsible act of sneaking out of the imperial palace alone in the middle of the night.
Thanks to that, we hadn’t met in person since.
We had only exchanged letters as before.
“It’s a growth spurt.”
Right, a growth spurt.
That’s why he grew taller.
But when a child who was already tall enters a serious growth spurt, he becomes even more enormous.
He’s about to have his fourteenth birthday, but he’s only thirteen.
In terms of height, he’s as tall as the twins, who are the tallest among their peers.
“You dropped this.”
Perez handed me the handkerchief again as I stared blankly up at him.
“Oh, this isn’t mine. It’s his.”
“…Oh, really?”
Perez looked at the boy I pointed to.
“H-His Highness, the Second Prince… gasp!”
The boy bowed, then looked up at Perez and gasped in fright.
I tried to look at Perez’s face, wondering what was wrong, but it was hidden by his hair and the sunlight.
But there seemed to be nothing unusual.
He had a frail impression, but perhaps his true personality was also like that.
“Take it.”
“No! I-it’s alright!”
The boy, waving his hands, refused to take his handkerchief and fled, his face pale.
“Why is he like that?”
“…I don’t know.”
“Did he need to go to the restroom?”
If I held him up when he was in a hurry, I’d feel a little sorry.
As I tilted my head, I heard Mayron mumbling beside me.
“He must have wanted to go to the restroom. Even if he didn’t originally.”
“…Who?”
Perez looked at Mayron, who was standing right next to me, and asked.
But the atmosphere was a bit strange.
His red eyes seemed to have deepened slightly.
Is it because I haven’t seen him in a long time?
Or is it just the shadow?
If I didn’t know Perez’s personality well, I might have called it ‘hostility’.
“I’m Tia’s cousin. Mayron Lombardi.
And this is,”
“Giliou Lombardi.”
“Ah… Hello.”
As expected, I must have seen it wrong.
He was just shy.
Perez’s face returned to what I knew.
Looking up at the sky, the sun, which had been slightly hidden by clouds, shone brightly again.
“I’m Perez.”
“I know.”
But this time, the twins’ atmosphere was strange.
They glared at Perez, looking displeased.
“What’s wrong with you two?”
The shy one took courage and introduced himself first!
“You’re not being petty or territorial, are you?”
“N-no, that’s not it!”
“We just!”
The twins raised their voices, as if they were incredibly wronged.
“It’s okay, Tia. They’re probably just shy. I am too, aren’t I?”
Perez said, as if admonishing me.
“Wow!”
“Oh, come on!”
The twins thumped their chests.
I glared at them and then introduced the other cousins present.
“This is Lorraine. Bellezac’s older sister.”
“…That Bellezac?”
“You’ve met my younger brother?”
“Briefly, a few times.”
Perez nodded in reply, and Lorraine smiled wryly.
“And this is… Craney. You’ve met him before, haven’t you?”
Craney was already hiding behind me.
Well, he had good reason to be scared.
Last time, Perez had simply chopped down the tree Craney was hiding behind.
“Did I?”
Perez didn’t seem to remember Craney.
I sighed softly and stroked Craney’s small, round head as I explained.
“He’s Astaliu’s brother. He was eavesdropping on our conversation last time.”
“…Astaliu?”
“Hmm. The big kid who was always with Bellezac.”
“Ah.”
Only then did Perez seem to remember, nodding his head and looking at Craney.
“Ugh.”
Craney burrowed further behind me, trying to hide himself.
“Hello, nice to meet you. Sorry about last time.”
Perez said, lowering himself slightly.
But it was no use.
Craney was still scared of Perez and remained wary.
“Hmm. Let’s go get something delicious to eat. Sweets, sweets.”
I pointed to the chocolate fountain in the distance and said.
Perhaps if we ate something sweet, this awkward atmosphere would dissipate.
Thinking that, I led the twins, Lorraine, Perez, and Craney, who was holding onto my skirt, to another spot.
***

Galahan was conversing with the surrounding nobles when he suddenly looked towards his daughter.
The child, who had been wandering around the banquet hall alone a moment ago, was now surrounded by her cousins and the Second Prince.
‘They’re going towards the chocolate fountain.’
Galahan confirmed what was in the direction Florentia and the children were walking and quietly smiled a small smile.
He had specially prepared it for Tia, who was particularly fond of chocolate.
A spiteful voice, breaking the mood, spoke to him.
“You’re still so peculiar.”
“…Brother.”
It was Viese and Galahan, meeting face to face after quite a long time.
“To hold a banquet like this for an eleven-year-old girl’s birthday, and a girl’s at that.”
Viese looked around the banquet hall with a sneer and clicked his tongue.
“Isn’t it too wasteful?”
“Today, Lombardi only borrowed this banquet hall, so rest assured. All arrangements were made with my personal expenses.”
“…That’s fortunate then. But even if it’s your money, this is too much. Aren’t you spending money too lavishly?”
“It’s alright.”
What was the point of earning so much money if not to spend it on his beloved daughter?
“It’s not alright. Money should be used for bigger things.”
He tried to endure it in front of people, but.
Galahan’s patience was now running out with the constant nitpicking.
“How money is spent depends on the person who earns it.”
“What?”
“I don’t think I’m in a position to take advice from you about money, brother.”
Viese was about to burst out in anger, true to his personality, but then realized there were many eyes watching and instead glared.
“You almost died, and now you have no fear.”
“Yes.”
Galahan said, smiling, yet not hiding his hostility towards Viese.
“While lying sick with a fatal illness, it became clear who was an ally and who was an enemy.”
After his recovery, Galahan first investigated who had leaked the secret to Angenas.
As a result, Dr. O’Malley, who had diagnosed Galahan, opened his mouth on the condition that he would not be prosecuted, and his testimony pointed to Viese.
It was said that Viese had laughed so triumphantly upon hearing that Galahan had contracted Tlenbru disease.
“Thanks to that, I feel like my eyes have been opened.”
To protect Tia, he created the ready-to-wear business.
And he received territory to pass on to Tia.
He had thought complacently that would be enough.
As soon as Viese learned that he had an incurable disease, he tried to seize even that.
No, he had taken the ready-to-wear business from his bedridden brother and obediently offered it to Angenas.
In Galahan’s eyes, there was no longer the same affection and lingering attachment towards Viese as before.
It had taken a long time to distinguish between friend and foe.
But Galahan was not so soft as to show naive compassion to someone who had once turned into an enemy.
Though he had inherited much from his mother, Galahan was also Rulac’s son.
He had no intention of forgiving, nor of retreating and humbling himself as before.
“Th-that matter…” Viese cleared his throat and said.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“You wouldn’t, would you?”
A faint sneer crept into Galahan’s tone.
“This is a birthday banquet I hosted for my daughter. If you have any complaints, you are free to leave.”
“What? Galahan, that’s going too far!”
Viese fumed, but Galahan ignored him.
And he added with a calm smile,
“Farewell, brother.”
The surrounding nobles chuckled softly.
They simply dared not burst out laughing in front of Viese.
It was a well-known fact among the central nobility that Viese, the eldest son of the Lombardi family, was somewhat clumsy.
However, he might become the next Lombardi family head, and he had a wife from Angenas, so they dared not openly disregard him.
Viese stood glaring at Galahan as if to kill him, then turned and left the banquet hall, but Galahan didn’t even look his way.

The atmosphere of the banquet was ripening.
The music grew livelier, and more people started dancing in the designated area in the center of the banquet hall.
Sometimes adults filled the floor in pairs, and sometimes children who had not yet reached adulthood danced group dances, separating into boys and girls then gathering again.
The twins and Lorraine, who had been guarding my side, joined in, and Craney was called away by his parents.
“Why are you standing so far away?”
When we were alone, Perez was four or five steps away from me.
“You said it before. I shouldn’t appear too close to you yet.”
“Ah, that.”
I had said that because I was afraid of being caught in the middle of the confrontation between the Empress and my grandfather, and the First and Second Princes, like a shrimp whose back is broken.
“That ship has sailed.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I’ve become your escort, and on top of that, the rumor that you saved my father has already spread widely, hasn’t it?”
Moreover, Angenas even tried to seize my father’s ready-to-wear business.
My father, the Empress, and Angenas had already established a thorough confrontation.
My grandfather also seemed very angry because of that incident.
The reason he started attending noble meetings again was probably because of Angenas.
Just looking around this banquet hall, there are almost no people from pro-Angenas or pro-Empress families.
The nobles had already begun to slowly choose sides.
One fortunate thing was that Emperor Jovanes was balancing things out, weighing both sides in the middle.
It had become a bit troublesome, but.
Anyway, Angenas and I were bound to have a falling out eventually.
“Since things have come to this, there’s nothing we can…”
I stopped talking and looked at Perez, who was now next to me.
“Why?”
When I glared, Perez tilted his head with a somewhat brazen expression.
“You’ll regret it later, you know? It’ll be a big problem if rumors spread that we’re more than just friends.”
“…Why?”
“Because.”
In my previous life, the only time I saw Perez, mingling among the sightseers, he wasn’t alone.
Behind the horse Perez was riding, with his cold face dismissing everyone, was the carriage carrying that woman.
“Anyway, don’t do anything you’ll regret later.”
I subtly pushed Perez away.
No, I tried to push him away.
But Perez, with a somewhat sulky expression, didn’t budge.