In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Side Story, Chapter 1

A month ago, Lombardi Mansion.
“This is infuriating…?”
The stack of documents in my hand dropped onto the table with a dull thud.
The contents of the report I had just received were heating up my head.
“It’s been a while since I felt this way.”
I quietly tapped the table with my fingertips, waiting for my emotions to subside, but…
“The more I think about it, the angrier I get.”
I had expected some damage, but not this much.
I narrowed my eyes and glared at the documents.
“Wasn’t he always that kind of person? Utterly untrustworthy.”
Clerivan also said in a low voice, his cool eyes narrowing behind his glasses.
“I never liked him from the start.”
“Head of Pellett. No, Clerivan.”
When I called him ‘Head of Pellett’ out of habit from public settings, Clerivan looked disappointed, but as soon as I corrected myself, he nodded.
“Yes, Lady Lombardi.”
“Are you free today?”
Today happened to be the day of the Grand Council, where I would personally put forth an agenda.
I pointed to the stack of documents Clerivan had brought and said,
“I’m thinking of taking this and properly confronting him. Would you like to come with me?”
“I already told them on my way out that I’d be leaving directly after today’s outdoor work.”
As expected, Clerivan.
Just as we were exchanging meaningful nods, our eyes meeting.
“Tia, why don’t you finish your meal?”
My father, who had been listening to our conversation from beside us, quietly said, tearing a freshly baked bread with his hands.
Only then did I realize we were sitting at a lunch table with several others, and I felt a little remorseful.
“The same goes for you, Lord Clerivan. Your food will get cold.”
“Ah, yes. I apologize.”
Clerivan, as if he hadn’t just had his eyes blazing fiercely, quickly picked up a piece of bread and replied.
Even though everyone else was afraid of Clerivan and found him difficult to deal with, except for me.
He was particularly weak towards my father, whom everyone else treated comfortably.
It seemed there was a rock-paper-scissors dynamic even among people.
After watching my father and Clerivan for a moment, I shook my head and picked up a piece of bread myself.
It looked soft and fluffy, appetizing at first glance.
Yes, I should eat well to fight well later.
As I thought that and looked for butter to spread on the bread, something suddenly came to mind.
“Wait. Come to think of it, this bread is also made from flour, isn’t it?”
At my words, Clerivan, who was about to put bread in his mouth, also paused.
I eyed the bread suspiciously for a moment, then asked the butler who was waiting near our dining table.
“Butler Johan, is this bread made from flour bought from ‘that’ region?”
“Since the wheat from that region is of good quality… Yes, it is.”
“…Then I won’t eat bread today.”
My body wouldn’t take it.
I might get indigestion.
“Me too…”
Clerivan hesitated for a moment, then followed my lead and put down his bread.
“Oh dear.”
My father shook his head and chuckled at us, as if we were incorrigible.
“Is Grandfather eating in the study again today?”
“Yes, Lady Lombardi. He has been doing so every day recently.”
I was talking to Johan, pushing the basket full of bread far away with my fingertips, and had just turned my gaze to the steak on my plate when…
“Lady Lombardi.”
A mansion employee entered the dining room with a letter in hand.
“Ah, it’s Lorraine.”
The letter was filled with a soft and beautiful handwriting, just like the person who wrote it.
“Lorraine?”
“What does it say?”
The twins, who had apparently finished their meal and were eating fruit, leaned towards me and asked.
Before they could reach for the letter, I quickly summarized the contents.
“Just that wedding preparations are busy. And…”
According to plan, Lorraine and Avinox, who had finished their one-year engagement period according to Eastern customs, should have already been married last year.
But they couldn’t, and the reason was…
“And Rick is growing well.”
Full name, Bellick Luman.
The name of the son born to Lorraine and Avinox.
With an unexpectedly early gift, Lorraine found herself in a situation where she gave birth to Rick and then had the wedding, a slightly reversed order.
“Ah, I want to see Rick soon.”
“Me too. He’s cute even in his portrait.”
“He’s even more of a spitting image of Avinox than I expected, it’s almost laughable.”
Oh, I admit that too.
The portrait of Rick that Lorraine sent last month depicted a mini Avinox.
Everyone who saw the painting chuckled in amazement.
“Children’s faces change every day, so do you think he’ll be very different from the portrait now, Mother?”
Giliou asked Shananet, who was dabbing the corner of her mouth with a napkin.
“Children that age certainly grow when they wake up, but I wonder. Still, he’ll probably remain a spitting image of Lord Luman.”
“Ah, he should have resembled Lorraine!”
Mayron exclaimed, “He’s cute now, but he would have been even cuter then!”
These kids never grow up, no matter how old they get.
I said to the twins,
“You’ll see him in a few weeks anyway, so just bear with it until then.”
Although I couldn’t attend the engagement ceremony because Lorraine was hastily evacuated to the East due to the difficult situation.
We plan to head to the East in a week to attend the wedding as a family.
“But is His Majesty really accompanying us, Tia?”
“Ah, well…”
At my father’s question, I smiled awkwardly and nodded.
“He insisted on going! What can I do to stop him?”
Who could stop the Emperor if he wanted to do something?
No. I could stop him, but when he talked about it, his eyes sparkled so much.
I couldn’t bring myself to say no.
“Still, won’t it be dangerous?”
“…Perez?”
When I asked back, my father blinked and thought for a moment, then chuckled, “That’s true.”
“It’s unusual for the Emperor to make a personal visit, but it’s also a good way to manage public sentiment in the East.”
The East had only been incorporated into the Empire for a few decades, so it still required careful management in many respects.
“By the way, Tia.”
Shananet called me.
“How are your wedding preparations coming along?”
“Ah… There’s still a lot of time left, you know.”
My and Perez’s planned engagement period was two years, until Craney graduated from the academy.
Less than half of that period remained.
“Perez and I are both busy, you know.”
I was busy with Lombardi, and Perez was busy with the Empire.
“That’s true. Right now, just…”
As Shananet spoke, her gaze briefly fell on the stack of documents still on the table.
Even if she didn’t show it outwardly, Shananet was as sensitive as I was to anything that affected Lombardi.
“It’s almost time to leave, isn’t it?”
Giliou said, checking my almost empty plate.
“If we leave now, we should arrive just before the Grand Council.”
“Even if we’re a little late, the meeting won’t start without Tia.”
Everyone present, including me, nodded.
“Shall we go then?”
I said, standing up.
I personally picked up the documents I had left on the table.
This was my weapon for today.
A little later.
The carriage carrying me and Clerivan arrived at the Imperial Palace.
The twins, who had been escorting the carriage outside with other knights, kept fanning their knight uniforms, complaining about the heat.
“Why don’t you come into the meeting room with us? It’ll be cool inside.”
“Hmm. No. We’ll stay outside.”
“Yeah. We’re more comfortable outside. There are too many people inside anyway…”
Giliou and Mayron replied, subtly avoiding my gaze.
It was obvious they were hiding something.
Come to think of it, they were the ones who suggested leaving early today, weren’t they?
“Something’s off with you two.”
My gut feeling told me something was up, but the Grand Council was about to begin.
One thing at a time, one thing at a time.
“See you in a bit. Let’s go, Clerivan.”
After confirming the twins’ awkward smiles as they waved at me, I entered the meeting room with Clerivan.
“Welcome, Lady Lombardi. Oh, and the Head of Pellett is with you today.”
“You’re early, Lord Berne.”
“When you get old, the only thing you lose is your morning sleep, isn’t it?”
Lord Berne was the first to greet me warmly, chuckling.
He’s still the one who often takes first place in hunting competitions, leaving all the young ones behind, yet he pretends to be weak.
But that was Lord Berne’s way of dealing with things.
Chuckling idly, pretending to be weak, and pretending not to know even when he did.
That was Lord Berne’s method: to seize the opponent’s weakness when they let their guard down.
I looked around the Grand Council Chamber, which was bustling with nobles.
There was no central noble here who didn’t have their own weapon, like Lord Berne.
This was a battlefield where the fight for politics took place.
“It seems the meeting is about to begin.”
“Indeed. Shall we go to our seats then?”
“I will clear the way. Please come this way, Lady Lombardi.”
The so-called ‘pro-Lombardi’ nobles, who had gathered near me at the entrance to the meeting room, boisterously welcomed me.
As I began to walk, the Empire’s most prominent nobles parted like water, moving aside.
In that now familiar scene, I slowly took my seat on the left side of the Emperor’s throne, the seat of the Lombardi family head.
And slowly, I raised my head and looked straight ahead.
The seat directly opposite me.
I looked at the person sitting in that seat, once occupied by the head of the Angenas family.
A man with unchangingly short hair, a blunt face as if roughly carved, but with sharp, sword-like eyes, and a large build.
He was Chanton Sheshou, the head of the Sheshou family, the center of the ‘pro-Sheshou’ faction, which opposed the ‘pro-Lombardi’ faction, and a great landowner in the South.