In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 81

“Tia sent this?”
A large box full of desserts was delivered to Phorak Palace.
“…All of this?”
Perez asked, bewildered, as he opened the lid of the box.
What was delivered was at least 30 kinds of sliced cakes and desserts.
“It’s from ‘Caramel Avenue’! It’s a very popular patisserie these days.”
At Catherine’s explanation, Perez’s ears turned red.
That was all the outward expression, but Perez was extremely happy.
Although he was a little sad that Tia didn’t visit the imperial palace often, she thought of him too.
“Which one would you like, Your Highness?”
Catherine, equally delighted, began to prepare a plate.
Perez stared blankly at the inside of the box.
Which one did Tia eat among these?
Which cake did she like the most?
As he slowly scanned them, he saw a chocolate cake topped with white cream.
“That must be it.”
Chocolate, cream.
Everything Tia liked was gathered there.
Recalling Tia happily taking a generous bite of the cake, a faint smile spread across Perez’s face.
“This one.”
It was just as Catherine was placing the cake Perez had pointed to on a small plate.
The Emperor’s attendant arrived at Phorak Palace.
“It is His Majesty’s command that you come to the imperial gardens, His Royal Highness the Second Prince.”
“…Now?”
“Yes, that is correct.”
Perez looked at the cake box with eyes full of regret.
The attendant, seeing his expression, said, “We have refreshments prepared in the central palace, but you may bring that with you if you wish…”
“No.”
Perez flatly refused.
“I’ll just go.”
He had no intention of sharing the gift Tia had sent him with anyone else, especially the Emperor.
“Kailus.”
“Yes, Your Highness. I will guard it.”
Kailus said reassuringly with a smile, as if he understood Perez’s feelings completely.
Perez nodded to Kailus and followed the attendant.
In the central palace’s garden, there was a large glass greenhouse.
It was mainly used to protect valuable plants that had been presented as tributes but did not grow well in the imperial capital’s climate.
And because of its well-maintained temperature, it was also frequently used as a place for tea time.
Upon arriving at the garden, Perez paused for a moment, seeing the inside of the greenhouse.
The one leisurely enjoying flowers and drinking tea inside was not the Emperor.
It was Empress Lavini.
He glanced at the attendant, who smiled and opened the greenhouse door, as if confirming that this was indeed the place indicated by the imperial command.
Thump.
Perez’s footsteps echoed loudly as he entered the greenhouse.
“Oh, you’ve arrived.”
Empress Lavini, who had been examining the petals of a nearby flower, raised her head and greeted Perez with a smile.
“Come and sit here.”
Her bright smile seemed quite genuine, but Perez merely stood there, looking at the Empress with dark, sunken eyes.
“Didn’t I tell you to sit?”
The Empress spoke with an even brighter smile and a sweeter voice.
Instead of answering, Perez pulled out the chair the Empress had indicated and sat down.
Lavini, with a satisfied smile, personally placed a tea set in front of Perez and attended to him.
Meanwhile, Perez looked at the flower Lavini had just been touching. It was a Mallet P’Shan.
A virulent poisonous plant, the more potent its toxicity, the brighter yellow its flowers bloomed.
However, the shape of the flower itself was beautiful enough to captivate anyone.
Its delicate petals swaying in the breeze greatly resembled the Empress’s dazzling golden hair.
Drip, drip.
With a monotonous sound, Perez’s teacup was filled.
It was a clear, transparent yellow.
“You must be wondering why I called you here, aren’t you?”
Perez leaned back against the chair instead of answering.
At his relaxed demeanor, Lavini’s long eyelashes trembled slightly.
However, the smile on her face deepened, as if exuding the fragrance of a flower.
“I’ve been neglectful of you until now. I truly apologize. So, the reason I called you here today is none other than…”
The Empress paused.
Her gaze fell on the teacup in front of Perez.
“Why aren’t you drinking, Prince?”
It was a polite but clear pressure.
Drink the tea in front of you immediately.
The Empress’s smile commanded as such.
But Perez did not yield.
He didn’t even touch the teacup, meeting the Empress’s gaze with an indifferent expression.
“It’s not ordinary tea. It’s a special herbal tea I prepared just for you… Do you not like it?”
Listening only to Lavini’s voice, Perez felt as if he was becoming an ungrateful person who was refusing the Empress’s thoughtful offering.
Not that Perez would care about such a thing.
His red eyes looked at the transparent yellow tea in the teacup.
And he slowly opened his mouth.
“I am fine. I’m tired of herbs now.”
Perez pushed the saucer of the teacup in front of him towards the Empress.
“Please drink my share as well.”
“…That’s a shame.”
What was a shame?
Perez felt an old anger surging up and took a silent, deep breath.
A rusted sword posed no threat when aimed.
It was still time to sharpen and hone it further within its sheath.
However, that resolve immediately wavered at the Empress’s next words.
“The reason I called you here today is to tell you that I will be your mother from now on.”
Mother.
The moment that word flowed from the Empress’s lips, Perez envisioned himself slitting the Empress’s throat.
First, he would stab Astana repeatedly, leaving him in tatters at his feet, and then kill Lavini right before his eyes, just as his mother, who had breathed her last cursing the Emperor in the collapsing annex, filled his vision.
The dried tears of his mother, who had worried about her young son being left alone, still felt as if they were dampening his hands.
Perez glared at Empress Lavini.
Only by being drenched in the blood of those two, mother and son, could this rage be appeased.
Perhaps sensing the spark that flashed in his eyes, the Empress smiled even more playfully.
“I also spoke with His Majesty. Although I am not your birth mother, I wish to care for you as my own child from now on.”
Crumble.
Finally, the armrest of the iron chair crumpled in Perez’s grasp.
“You are still at an age where you need a mother’s help, aren’t you? His Majesty was so proud. So, after much consideration, I came up with the best education method for you.”
The Empress said, her eyes curving beautifully.
“Go to the academy, Prince.”
If he stayed here any longer, he truly would…
Thump.
Perez immediately stood up, no longer listening.
“Prince!”
The Empress, somewhat startled, frowned and raised her voice.
“What is the meaning of this, Prince! My words are not yet finished!”
“I apologize.”
Perez looked down at the sitting Empress with cold eyes and said,
“I am uneducated.”
Leaving those words behind, Perez left the greenhouse without regret.
He heard the Empress shouting something behind him, but he paid it no mind.
After she learned that Perez could control aura, there were no knights by the Empress’s side bold enough to forcibly detain him.
Perez returned to Phorak Palace on foot, and Catherine and Kailus looked at him with worried eyes.
Perez’s face, with gritted teeth, was horribly distorted.
No one dared to approach him and speak.
Kailus stomped his foot nervously.
He felt that if Perez would just shout and break things, watching him wouldn’t be so agonizing.
His appearance, sitting with his head bowed, not even shedding tears, seemed so small today.
He had clearly just returned from a visit to the imperial palace, and this was the first time he had collapsed like this, so they didn’t know what to do.
At that moment, Catherine, who had been watching Perez, began to move.
It wasn’t anything grand.
She simply placed a slice of chocolate cake in front of Perez and a warm glass of milk beside it.
At the clink sound, Perez looked at the cake.
His long, dark eyelashes trembled.
The slice of cake quietly resting on the table felt as if it was looking back at him.
The accumulated anger, which had been burning as if to consume his reason, began to cool.
His heart, which had been pounding as if it would burst, gradually settled.
The trembling in his hands, which had been itching to grasp a sword, ceased.
Perez calmly picked up the fork with those hands instead.
As Tia would have done, he pushed a large piece into his mouth.
Sweet cream and cake melted and blended in his mouth.
Without a word, silently.
When he had finished the entire slice of cake, moving only his hands and mouth, Perez had returned to his usual self.
“Sweet.”
Perez mumbled, wiping the white cream from the corner of his mouth with his thumb.
***

I visited the Pellet Trading Company office after hearing that Violet had finished her investigation into the ‘Lyra Coal Mine’.
Violet handed me a thick, well-organized report.
“The Lenkanta family is said to have a total debt of around 7,000 gold. Of that, 600 gold is an immediate debt, so the auction starting price is expected to be around that.”
600 gold is quite a large sum for an ordinary noble family.
Enough to understand why they would dispose of a mine.
“The estimated remaining coal deposits in the Lyra coal mine are very small. And after some separate inquiries, I found that Angenas’s people visited this area a few months ago.”
“Did you find out exactly who it was?”
“It was Croyton Angenas, the head of the Dyurak Trading Company,” Violet said with a confident voice.
“Didn’t they come secretly?”
“They arrived quietly without any special notice, but it’s a place that usually has no dealings with the Angenas Trading Company, and they knocked on the lord’s castle gate in the middle of the night to get a room because they didn’t like the inn facilities in Lyra, so a rumor seems to have spread in the area.”
Oh dear, to go on a secret investigation and then complain about the lodging.
I shook my head.
“What about the rumors about iron?”
“The expert who accompanied the head of the Dyurak Trading Company said there’s a good chance of iron ore being deposited nearby.”
Yes, there is.
Though only a little, enough to be depleted if dug for just three months.
“So the winning bid is expected to be between 1,300 and 1,500 gold.”
I nodded.
But the Lyra coal mine would be auctioned for 2,000 gold, just as I had said.
Of course, Violet’s prediction was reasonable.
It was just that I knew the future winning bid, and Violet didn’t.
“Just in case, let’s prepare generously with about 2,100 gold, including contingency funds.”
“Yes, understood.”
Just as I was about to conclude the discussion.
Clerivan, who had been quietly listening to Violet and my conversation, spoke up.
“You might need to prepare a little more than that.”
“Why do you think so?”
“Lombardi is planning to participate in the Lyra mine auction.”