In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Episode 92

“Grandfather! Dad!”
I ran to my father and grandfather and greeted them happily.
I knew in advance that they would be coming here today.
That’s why I brought Maria Patron here.
“If you had told us in advance, Dad and Grandfather would have hurried over a little more…”
Father said, stroking my head.
“I didn’t plan on coming either, but I suddenly ended up here.”
Saying that, I subtly turned to look, and saw Maria Patron and the ladies were in a frenzy.
Gallahan Lombardi, the owner of Gallahan Haberdashery, which was spread throughout the empire, and Rulac Lombardi, the family head.
They were whispering among themselves.
Father looked at those ladies and asked me, “Are those… Tia’s companions?”
They were clearly not in my age group to be hanging out with me.
Naturally, questions appeared on my father’s and grandfather’s faces.
Just then, Maria Patron and the ladies cautiously approached.
I naturally pointed to Maria Patron and said, “I spilled juice on Lady Patron’s clothes. So I invited her and her friends to buy her a new dress. Is that alright, Dad?”
Father, a little surprised, examined Maria Patron’s dress and said, “Of course. It’s perfectly fine. Oh dear, the dress is a mess…”
Father’s words stopped.
His gaze was fixed on Maria Patron’s necklace.
He kept looking at the necklace with trembling eyes, as if wondering if he was mistaken.
“I’m a little upset because it was a cherished dress, but it’s fine…”
Even as Maria Patron said that, Father couldn’t easily open his mouth.
He probably wasn’t certain.
Because the necklace was Shananet’s.
Finally, just as Maria Patron finished speaking and was about to turn back to the premium dresses.
“You there.”
Grandfather called Maria Patron in a low voice.
“Come here for a moment.”
Grandfather’s gaze was fixed precisely on one spot.
“Let me see the necklace you’re wearing.”

Rulac Lombardi carefully scrutinized the young lady standing before him.
Her dress was ruined with juice stains, but she stood with her chin slightly raised, looking quite audacious.
However, she couldn’t meet his gaze properly, subtly averting her eyes.
She already feared Rulac.
She was a common type: someone who wanted to appear confident but lacked true strength of character.
Rulac asked in a calm voice, “My granddaughter spilled a drink on your clothes?”
“Yes. There was a small incident like that.”
“For that, I apologize on her behalf.”
“Th-there’s no need for you to do that. She’s already compensating me with a new dress…”
Rulac nodded at Maria Patron’s words.
“Yes. That’s fortunate. Then, would you honestly answer my next question?”
“What question would that be…?”
“You, what is your relationship with my son-in-law?”
“…Yes?”
Maria Patron’s voice trembled greatly.
It was as if her hidden secret had already been exposed.
“I will assume this was a momentary mistake and give you a chance.”
“I-I don’t quite understand what you’re saying…”
“No. Think again.”
Rulac stared intently into Maria Patron’s face and said, “I asked you about your relationship with my son-in-law, Vestian Schulz, and you’ll need to give a much better answer than a clumsy denial.”
“Ugh…” Maria Patron was now completely overwhelmed by Rulac’s presence.
Her body trembled, and her feet shuffled as if she wanted to flee immediately.
However, Rulac showed no sympathy for her.
The moment Maria Patron approached, Rulac knew.
The necklace she was wearing belonged to his daughter, Shananet.
And the next thought that immediately came to mind was Vestian.
Specifically, how he had introduced her as someone from his hometown at the Pellet Corporation banquet.
“That necklace is my wife’s keepsake.
Now it belongs to my eldest daughter, Shananet.”
“Th-that can’t be! You must be mistaken!”
Rulac shook his head at Maria Patron’s words.
“I don’t know how the person who gave you that necklace explained it, but it is indeed my wife’s keepsake. My wife Natalia Lombardi’s initials are engraved on the back.”
Maria Patron, with trembling hands, turned the necklace over.
It was as Rulac had said.
Small initials were engraved, visible only if one looked closely.
“If it’s difficult, I’ll give you a choice. Will you become a thief who broke into Lombardi and stole a necklace, and be handed over to the Imperial Capital Security Forces?”
At the mention of the Security Forces, Maria Patron’s heart sank.
“Or will you confess your relationship with Vestian Schulz?”
“Th-that…”
Maria Patron bit her lower lip tightly.
She had always heard Vestian dismiss Rulac Lombardi as ‘the old man’ or ‘that old geezer.’
So Maria Patron had always looked down on the Lombardi family head.
As a foolish old man who didn’t even know that Vestian and she were stealing money right under his nose.
But Maria Patron realized that she was the foolish one.
Rulac Lombardi was a terrifying man.
The overwhelming pressure that was now suffocating her told her so.
What on earth have I done?
And against Lombardi, of all people.
She regretted it, but it was already too late.
Maria Patron closed her eyes tightly and trembled.
“If it’s too difficult to say everything here and now, just answer one thing. Did Vestian Schulz give you that necklace?”
At Rulac’s question, Maria Patron slowly nodded.
“Gallahan.”
Rulac Lombardi called out to his son, whose face was hardened with anger.
“Take care of Tia. Let’s go back to the mansion. You, too, of course.”
Maria Patron’s body visibly flinched at the last words.
“I-I’m sorry! Please forgive me…”
Rulac looked coldly down at her, who was bowing her head in fear, and said, “If you hadn’t been caught, you wouldn’t have been sorry. Come along quietly.”
Maria Patron looked back at the ladies she had come with, as a last resort.
However, they, having roughly grasped the context of the conversation, were looking at Maria Patron with disdain.
“Let’s go.”
Rulac said that and left Gallahan Haberdashery.
In the end, Maria Patron had no choice but to follow him and get into the carriage heading to the Lombardi mansion.
***

It was dusk.
Shananet stood in front of a house in the imperial capital.
It was a house suitable for wealthy commoners rather than nobles.
Only a few hours ago, the woman her father and younger brother had brought had knelt abruptly before her.
It was that woman from the Schulz territory.
And that woman was wearing her mother’s keepsake, which Shananet had been searching for.
“Vestian Schulz gave it to me. He said it was an item passed down through the Schulz family,” the woman said, her voice choked with tears.
“I continued to meet him even though I knew he was married with a family. I am truly sorry.”
Shananet had to forcibly suppress the scream that threatened to escape.
“How long. How long has it been?”
“For the past seven years…”
Seven years.
Shananet closed her eyes tightly at that terrifying number.
And with a hardened face, she knocked on the door of the house Vestian had prepared for the woman.
A moment later, with a small noise, the door opened.
“Maria, where have you been…?” Vestian, who had already changed into comfortable indoor clothes, opened the door casually then stopped speaking.
Upon seeing Shananet standing at the entrance, his face gradually turned pale.
“Y-you, how did you get here…?”
Shananet quietly stared at him.
“Th-that is… This is a friend’s house… What happened, Shananet?”
Vestian was trying to spin another lie.
And finally, he managed a clumsy smile and said, “I know this situation is easily misunderstood. Shananet, you trust me, don’t you?”
With the face she had once fallen in love with.
But instead, Shananet knew with certainty at that moment.
This man was no longer the person she had promised to spend her life with.
Shananet slapped Vestian across the cheek with all her might.
Slap!
A loud crack echoed in the quiet residential street.
“Vestian Schulz.”
Shananet said in a chilling voice Vestian had never heard before.
“You no longer have a home to return to.”
Turning away, she walked without hesitation to the carriage parked nearby.
Without a single glance back.
Vestian, holding his slapped cheek, finally came to his senses and hastily tried to follow her.
“Damn it! Of all times!”
The 8,000 gold borrowed from Lombardi Bank had made Vestian’s mind go blank.
As he walked out of the alley, frowning deeply, trying to follow Shananet.
Thud! Two people blocked Vestian’s path.
“Giliou? Mayron? How, how did you two get here…?”
It was the twins, who had grown up to be almost eye-level with their father.
“Move aside for a moment. Your mother and I have something to discuss…”
“Don’t come near her.”
Giliou said, blocking Vestian’s chest with his hand.
“If you bother Mother anymore, we won’t stand by,” Mayron said, gritting his teeth.
The twins, who had given Vestian a cold warning gaze, turned away as they heard the carriage starting.
Like Shananet, they didn’t look back once, quickly mounted their horses.
And slowly rode away.
Clop-clop, clop-clop.
The twins escorted the carriage, emblazoned with the golden Lombardi crest, as it moved further and further away.

Vestian and Shananet divorced.
However, unlike the previous life, the bad people were punished.
Vestian and Maria Patron were imprisoned after it was revealed they had embezzled Lombardi’s money.
Even after serving their sentences, the debt of 8,000 gold plus interest, borrowed from Lombardi Bank, awaited Vestian.
The Schulz family, of course, was ruined.
Grandfather stepped in and made it happen.
After he recovered all the support and investment funds that had been given, nothing was left of the Schulz family.
And Grandfather pressured the noble council to remove the name Schulz from the noble registry.
I heard they had given up their territory and gone to live somewhere with relatives, but that was none of my concern.
What worried me was Shananet.
It had been a month since that day, and she had been secluded indoors, not coming out.
I had been visiting every day, using the twins as an excuse, but I hadn’t seen Shananet.
“Sigh…”
I was cursing Vestian, that worm-like man, and was just about to open the twins’ house door when.
“Oh, Tia.”
Shananet, who happened to open the door from inside, saw me and smiled brightly.
“Uh, uh…”
I was so surprised for a moment that I stammered, then asked, “Where are you going?”
“I’m on my way to work.”
“To work?”
“Starting today, I’ve decided to operate Lombardi Mining. I’ll take on the family’s business again, which I had neglected.”
Shananet’s face seemed to glow as she said that.
It wasn’t an awkwardly feigned smile.
Shananet looked somewhat relieved.
“The twins are inside, so go and play.”
“Yes…”
Shananet, who smiled gently and stroked my head one last time, walked down the corridor.
She was walking alone, but her back seemed larger than ever.
She held her back straight and didn’t care about anyone’s gaze.
It was Shananet at her most authentic.