In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 89

“I’m also thinking of gradually becoming independent from Lombardi, and I’d like Lord Clerivan to help me a little.”
“Independence, you say…”
“To break up and return to Schulz. I’m sick of the Lombardi kin.”
“But divorcing Lombardi without a valid reason won’t be easy. The alimony would be considerable.”
“Ah, I have a plan for that, so it’s fine. I’ve suffered immense emotional distress dealing with Lombardi all this time, so I should be the one receiving alimony. Anyway, don’t worry about it.”
Worry, he says. Why would I worry about a shameless cheater like him?
Clerivan was displeased.
Vestian’s behavior, as if he mistook Clerivan for a colleague, was nauseating.
“So, what can I do to help?”
“It’s about the Lyra coal mine, no, the diamond mine. How about entrusting the mining rights of that mine to our Schulz family?”
It was precisely the second reason Florentia had predicted.
‘Ah, as expected, Lady Florentia.’
Clerivan gained strength to deal with the rubbish in front of him, thinking of her, the hope and light of Lombardi.
“Hmm. I’ll have to think about that a bit.”
Vestian couldn’t hide his disappointment at Clerivan’s words and tried to persuade him with various arguments, but Clerivan only maintained the stance of “I’ll think about it.”
It was partly true.
He had to follow Florentia’s wishes after all.
“All right. Please consider it carefully.”
***
Vestian reluctantly backed down for now.
Instead, he made an appointment to meet Clerivan again in a few days.
At that time, he planned to adjust the contract terms, such as lowering the mining fees.
However, he was annoyed that the deal hadn’t gone through immediately, so he roughly flung off his coat upon arriving at the Lombardi mansion.
‘I need to secure the mining rights for the diamond mine so I can leave this tiresome Lombardi.’
Just then, a familiar voice spoke from behind him.
“When did you arrive, Vestian?”
It was his wife, Shananet.
Vestian, who had inwardly cursed with a distorted face, turned around.
“Shananet.”
Only the gentle smile of Vestian Schulz, known to the world, remained on his face.
However, Shananet’s expression was not bright.
Her face was heavily shadowed as she stood before Vestian, holding a bundle of documents.
“Let’s talk for a moment.”
At Shananet’s cold words, Vestian inwardly clicked his tongue.
For the past few months, their marital conversations had always been like this.
It had started as soon as Maria left the Schulz territory and moved nearby.
Shananet suddenly began asking about Vestian’s overnight stays, which she had never cared about before, and also started putting a stop to his associations with her brother-in-law, Viese.
And she slowly began showing interest in the affairs of Lombardi Mining, which had been entirely Vestian’s domain.
As if she knew something.
“What is it again, Shananet?”
Vestian hid his annoyance and spoke with a weak smile.
“If it’s because I didn’t come home yesterday, I couldn’t help it because I was busy…” Thud.
Vestian stopped speaking when he saw the documents Shananet had placed on the dressing table.
“Why do you have the mining company’s transaction history?”
Vestian’s words were sharp.
He couldn’t help it.
It was the record of the money he had been embezzling from Lombardi all this time.
“Vestian.”
Shananet’s calm voice echoed in the bedroom.
“I’m sorry for meddling in your affairs without your consent. I know you’ll be displeased.”
Shananet calmly apologized first.
“But I had to confirm it.”
Since accidentally overhearing Vestian’s conversation with the head of the Durak Trading Group, Shananet hadn’t had a single day of peace.
At first, she thought she must have misheard, but when she heard that Lombardi had failed in the Lyra coal mine auction, she fell into despair.
If it hadn’t been for the variable of Pellet Corporation, the coal mine, or rather, the iron buried beneath it, would have gone entirely to Angenas, as Vestian and the head of the Durak Trading Group had promised.
Shananet had to accept it.
The fact that her husband was colluding with the Lombardi family’s rival.
Slowly, she began investigating what her husband had been doing.
And the documents in front of her were the result.
“Explain it, Vestian. What exactly is going on?”
Nevertheless, Shananet truly wanted to believe.
That Vestian had his own reasons.
“…How did you get these? These are all confidential matters.”
However, her husband was only curious about how she had gotten her hands on the documents.
“You wouldn’t be able to access the mining company’s secrets without my consent. How…”
Vestian, flustered and rambling, found the answer himself.
“Yes, that’s right. You’re a Lombardi.”
A direct descendant of the Lombardi family had the authority to intervene in any business under Lombardi whenever they wished.
It didn’t matter who the original person in charge was.
The moment they wished, a superior authority arose.
It was an absolute power not granted to those who became Lombardi through marriage.
“So, what do you want to say, Shananet?”
“How can you be so brazen, Vestian?”
Shananet shook her head.
“You’ve been embezzling a lot of money from Lombardi. And now that I know. How can you…”
“It was all for us.”
“For us…?”
Vestian feigned a sad expression.
Shananet was soft-hearted.
He decided to exploit that.
“Shananet. I loved you so much. As a man, I married you, even enduring the shame of not being able to pass on my family name to my children.”
It seemed he had been caught stealing Lombardi’s money, but there was still a way out.
“But your family members kept disrespecting me. And the Schulz family along with me.”
It was mainly Viese and Laurels who disrespected Vestian and the Schulz family.
However, in the end, it was those two whom he kept closest out of necessity.
But Vestian conveniently omitted that fact and continued speaking.
“So I had no choice. I wanted to make the Schulz family a family worthy of Lombardi, even just a little.”
“By embezzling Lombardi’s assets?”
“Do you think my heart was at ease having to do that?”
Vestian continued to appeal to Shananet’s sympathy.
“There’s the support fund Lombardi gives to the Schulz family, isn’t there? Couldn’t you have been satisfied with that money?”
Thousands of gold were provided to Schulz annually.
It was Rulac’s consideration for his in-laws.
Hit in a sore spot, Vestian sighed as if frustrated.
“Yes. It’s true that I arbitrarily gave Lombardi’s money to Schulz.
But, that amount of money is nothing to Lombardi, is it? It was all my own effort to find a way for our couple to be happy.”
It didn’t matter.
However much it was, it was Lombardi’s property.
It wasn’t money Vestian could give to his family as he pleased.
Shananet knew that fact.
But she couldn’t pour out those words to Vestian.
She loved her husband too much to do that.
At the words, ‘It was all for us,’ Shananet felt sad instead.
“The fact that no one knew it was gone for several years is proof. It’s meaningless money to Lombardi, but it was desperately needed by Schulz.”
Shananet wanted to cry.
She had accepted countless things as unavoidable fate, being born a Lombardi.
But it felt like even her beloved husband was being sacrificed for her lineage.
A heavy sense of guilt settled upon her.
Finally, Shananet shook her head and said, “I won’t tell Father about this right now.”
As expected!
Vestian inwardly cheered.
“But no more. And the money that went to Schulz… Let’s consider it a loan from Lombardi to Schulz. Even if it takes a long time, everything must be returned to Lombardi.”
Of course, Vestian had no intention of doing so.
But he nodded enthusiastically.
Shananet, with an incredibly weary face, left the bedroom and said one last thing to Vestian.
“The children miss their father. I know you’re busy, but please show your face a little more for the twins’ sake, Vestian.”
Shananet left and the bedroom door closed.
Left alone, Vestian’s face twisted.
“Still acting so high and mighty.”
He always found it so disgusting how she always acted so noble alone.
It was chilling how she maintained such a calm expression no matter what happened, as if she wasn’t human.
Just then, an object on the dressing table caught Vestian’s eye.
It was Shananet’s most cherished memento from her mother.
The shabby necklace, with no special embellishments, was already an eyesore as she meticulously cleaned and polished it.
“I wonder if she can still remain so calm after this?”
Vestian chuckled nastily and put it in his pocket.
***

“What should we play today?”
“Indeed… Haa.”
That damned brat.
It was as if Craney had infinite stamina.
No matter how much I played with him, he never got tired.
Lorraine, who had been overexerting herself playing with Craney, finally fell ill with a fever.
Astaliu tried to take Craney, who was crying that he didn’t want to go hunting, so I had no choice but to bring him with me.
He was a child who would collect bread crumbs for even a mouse living in the kitchen, saying it was cute.
Why would Astaliu take such a child to a hunting ground, risking anything happening to him?
“Shall we go read a book? Or should we make flower crowns again like last time?”
“I’m going to see the twins.”
It was a holiday today.
The twins would be home from training.
Among the people I knew, only they could handle Craney’s wild energy.
If I dropped Craney off there, they would probably have fun playing together on their own.
Walking while listening to Craney’s constant chatter, we soon arrived near the twins’ house.
“But why is the atmosphere like this?”
The front door was wide open, and the atmosphere was chaotic.
“Oh my, what happened…”
“Who on earth…?”
I heard some servants whispering as they looked at the open door.
“Craney, come here.”
I took Craney’s hand and cautiously stepped inside.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!”
“I’m guilty of a mortal sin!”
The first thing I heard was someone’s loud voice.
Going into the reception room, I saw two maids, presumably the owners of the voices, bowing their heads.
Their faces were pale as they continuously apologized for something.
“We are so sorry, Lady Shananet!”
One of them was a head maid in charge of the main building.
Shananet, the recipient of the apology, stood with her back to them, so her face was not visible.
The head maid looked up at Shananet’s back in despair, then closed her eyes tightly again and exclaimed, “The, the necklace… we will find it no matter what!”