In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 76

“How long have you been saving it?”
Lauriel approached, weighed my allowance pouch in her hand, and asked.
Well, all of it since I regressed?
“Most of my allowance is in the Lombardi Bank, and this is just a portion.”
“Indeed, I suppose so. Considering Young Lady’s allowance…”
Lauriel’s voice trailed off as she untied the pouch and looked at its contents.
“Young Lady?”
“Hm?”
“Are you planning to take all of this money?”
Lauriel sighed softly.
She probably thought I had brought an exorbitant amount of money, not knowing the situation outside the mansion.
“Even if you only take a quarter of a quarter of the money in this pouch…”
“No, I need all of it.”
“But Young Lady, with this much money…”
“I know. With that much money, I could buy a building in Lombardi city.
I know that.”
Lauriel’s expression became blank at my words.
“How did you know that?”
“I have my ways of knowing everything.”
I did live alone for a few years outside the mansion, you know.
“Anyway, I’m taking all this money because I need it.”
“If you’re going to buy dresses and jewelry, why don’t you just write a promissory note at the Lombardi mansion? You don’t necessarily need to take cash like this…”
“I never said I was buying dresses or jewelry.”
I smiled reassuringly at Lauriel, who was still tilting her head, unable to guess my intentions.
“Finally going out.”
I got into the carriage wearing a simple ready-to-wear dress from Galahan Garment Shop, without any special adornments.
I had occasionally ridden in a carriage with my father and grandfather to the imperial palace, but this was my first time going out alone like this.
No, not alone.
“The day has come for me to go out with the Young Lady!”
Because I was with Lauriel, who was even more excited than me.
“Let’s go to Lombardi Square first.”
As Lauriel relayed my words to the coachman, the carriage slowly began to move.
Familiar scenery flashed past the window.
Not long after we left the Lombardi mansion and drove straight along the main road, we arrived at the square.
“Young Lady, please alight carefully!”
Lauriel got off first and took my hand.
“Wow.”
Walking in the square after a long time felt even more amazing than I expected.
“Splendid.”
Both the busy square with many people coming and going, and the statue of the first Lombardi patriarch standing in the center, felt much larger than in my memory.
Honestly, compared to the always quiet and pristine Lombardi mansion, it wasn’t a particularly beautiful sight.
But there was definitely something invigorating about the dust raised by passing carriages and the noisy chatter of people.
I took a deep breath, filling my lungs with the bustling air of the square, and said,
“Let’s go that way.”
I took Lauriel’s hand and pulled her towards a side street of the square.
“What’s over there, Young Lady?”
“Yeah. The most delicious bakery in the world.”
We left the main road and walked along familiar alleyways.
Lauriel kept marveling, looking around, saying she had never been this way before either.
Turning a corner, I saw the building I used to rent far away.
The small room on the second floor of that shabby building was my sanctuary.
Perhaps now, someone else would lay their tired body there every night, finding solace to live another day.
And in front of it was the bakery where I bought fresh bread every morning.
Unable to resist the fragrant smell of bread any longer, I let go of Lauriel’s hand and ran.
I saw Aunt Peri, who was just arranging freshly baked bread.
Her face was younger than I remembered, but her unique warm and kind expression remained the same.
“Hello, Auntie!”
“Hmm? Yes, hello. You’re a new face. Did you just move nearby?”
When I was cast out of the Lombardi mansion and first moved in with just a bag, Aunt Peri had greeted me with these same words, welcoming me.
Smiling warmly, as if she had met someone who would be a long-time neighbor.
“My name is Tia!”
“Yes, Tia. You can just call me Aunt Peri. What kind of bread would you like today?”
Ah, I can finally eat it!
My heart pounded.
“Two baguette sandwiches, please!”
“Oh, it seems you heard somewhere that our special menu is delicious?”
I had missed this sandwich so much for the past few years, a sandwich not on the menu, only known to regular customers.
“Young Lady! How could you run off like that alone!”
Lauriel, who had caught up late, said panting.
“Young Lady…?”
Aunt Peri looked back and forth between me and Lauriel with wide eyes.
Ah, dear.
“She’s my sister-in-law! I have an older brother with a big age gap… Haha. Even when I tell her to call me by my name, oh dear.”
“Oh my, so she’s the youngest in the family! No wonder she looks so loved! Here you go.”
The sandwiches, made from short, plump baguettes from the day before, split in half and filled with common ham and cheese from the nearby market, were now in my hands.
“Ah, it smells so good.”
It was a cheap sandwich incomparable to the food at the Lombardi mansion, but I had missed this so much.
“Goodbye!”
“Yes, come again!”
Aunt Peri smiled and waved.
After walking a few steps, Lauriel whispered in my ear.
“Young Lady, what if you get a stomach ache from eating such food?”
“Don’t worry about that. Just try it, Lauriel. It’s really delicious.”
I opened my mouth wide and took a big bite.
“Yes, this is the taste.”
Aunt Peri’s sandwich, eaten while walking on the street!
I missed it so much. Lauriel, a noble lady from the Dillard family, hesitated, unable to understand my behavior.
Indeed, for typical noble ladies, eating food on the street was unheard of.
Even for Lauriel, who was relatively free, it would be something she had never done before.
“If you’re not going to eat it, give it to me.”
Try it, try it.
At my words, Lauriel checked that no one was passing by and timidly took a bite.
“…Oh my!”
“Isn’t it delicious?”
“Yes! Wow, it’s really delicious!”
She was surprised and kept eating two, three more bites.
I watched her with satisfaction and started eating my sandwich again.
Ah, salty and savory! Delicious!
“We should become regulars there!”
Lauriel said, her eyes sparkling.
I took advantage of Lauriel being engrossed in the sandwich and naturally walked to our next destination.
It was the bustling Lombardi city market.
I didn’t go to the chaotic central area where people bought and sold all sorts of goods like fruits, food, and household items.
I turned slightly and arrived at the new district that had formed next to it.
On a somewhat more organized street than the market, a dark green building could be seen.
It was the second branch of Galahan Garment Shop, which had opened recently.
“Are you going to the garment shop?”
“Yeah. It’s a new place. I want to look around.”
I urged Lauriel as I watched people constantly entering and exiting the garment shop.
“I need to check something quickly. Let’s go in separately. And don’t say my name unless people recognize me first. Understood?”
“Yes, Young Lady…”
Upon opening the door, I saw the well-organized interior of the garment shop.
So this is what it looks like.
I had only heard about it from Clerivan, but this was my first time seeing it in person.
The garment shop had an atmosphere similar to what I knew as a ‘clothing store’.
The first floor was for women’s clothing, and the second floor was for men’s clothing.
I was personally checking everything I had only received in written reports.
A staff member immediately attended to Lauriel, who was clearly a noble young lady, but no one paid attention to me, a young child who had come alone.
“Hello, customer. Did you come alone?”
Just as I was about to be slightly disappointed with Galahan Garment Shop’s customer service.
A gentle voice spoke to me.
It was a woman with black hair and purple eyes.
“I didn’t come alone, I’m waiting for my dad.”
“Ah, I see. Then please call me anytime if you need anything?”
The woman smiled brightly at me, then went to another customer and started a friendly conversation.
I watched her and the other staff working in the garment shop, pretending to browse clothes.
That’s when a loud voice was heard.
“No, I told you I bought these clothes just recently!”
A middle-aged man was angrily arguing with a staff member about something.
“Why don’t you believe what I’m saying?”
In front of the man, about ten navy-blue, neat dresses were stacked.
It seemed like someone returning clothes.
“Are you daring to call a person from the Livatin family a liar now? Is that it?”
The middle-aged man spoke imperiously, thrusting out his chin.
As the surrounding gazes gathered, the garment shop employee’s face turned red, and he reluctantly bowed his head.
“No, that’s not… I’m sorry, I will refund it.”
“You should have done that from the start!”
The man’s smiling face felt somewhat sly.
Something’s wrong.
Just as the employee was about to create a promissory note for the price of the clothes and give it to the man.
“Excuse me for a moment.”
The woman who had spoken to me earlier gently stepped in front of the employee and smiled.
“Hello. My name is Violet, and I oversee the Lombardi branch. You said you were from the Livatin family, correct?”
“Y-yes, I am?”
“Then, are you the Livatin family’s butler?”
“Ahem, I wasn’t going to reveal it. Yes, I am.”
The man said grudgingly, frowning.
“At our Galahan Garment Shop, we create a ‘receipt’ for every transaction. Even if you buy one pair of gloves, it’s the same. You just said you bought 40 pieces of this clothing and wish to refund 10 of them. In that case, you must present the receipt for those 40 pieces.”
“I’ve never heard of such a thing…”
“As a butler, you would certainly know this, wouldn’t you?”
Violet’s smile was still on her face, but it was chilling.
The man, realizing his mistake, quickly tried to explain.
“O-our family’s first transaction with a garment shop was…”
“The Livatin family you mentioned has had three transactions with us at the Lombardi main branch, not here. I was present for each of those times, but I apologize, I don’t recall seeing your face. Excuse me, may I know your name?”
“I, I mean… grunt!”
The man ground his teeth, glared at Violet, and then rushed out of the garment shop.
“Whew…”
Violet sighed softly, quickly regained her smiling face, and apologized to the customers.
“Manager, I’m sorry…”
The employee, who had almost been tricked into giving money to the man, approached Violet and said.
“It’s okay. But next time, be sure to check the receipt. And remember information about frequently dealing families. Did you forget that the Livatin family was robbed recently?”
“Ah! That happened, right…”
Watching Violet pat the distressed employee’s shoulder, I secretly smiled.
Good, she’ll do.
Just as I was feeling satisfied.
Violet, who had checked outside the window at the sound of a carriage stopping, approached me, bent down to meet my eye level, and said,
“Lord Galahan has arrived, Lady Florentia.”