In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Side Story, Chapter 11

“…Who?”
Perez frowned slightly.
He seemed displeased that someone he didn’t remember knew him.
“It’s Lydia!”
The woman repeated her name.
However, Perez still looked completely clueless.
“Your hair color is different, but it’s definitely Herox-nim…”
At Perez’s cold reaction, the woman muttered in confusion.
“That’s strange… There’s no way you wouldn’t remember me.”
No way he wouldn’t remember you?
What kind of relationship did they have?
I felt one of my eyebrows twitch.
“My parents run the <Grey Respite> over there. Until three years ago, you used to stay there with your friends whenever you visited the South…”
Three years ago?
Three years ago in the South would have been around the time after the accident in Ivan, just before we secretly moved Lorraine to the East.
At that time, Perez had been secretly moving in the South to meet Chanton Sheshou to cut off Angenas’s funding.
“Ah.”
Perez also seemed to recall, blinking once.
It was just that, but the woman named Lydia’s face lit up as if a light had been turned on.
“Yes! You remember now, don’t you? It’s me, Lydia!”
“Come to think of it.”
Perez tilted his head as if searching through old memories.
“To call you that Lydia…”
“Oh, come on, that was three years ago! I’m an adult now!”
“That’s true too.”
“I almost didn’t recognize you because your hair color is different!”
Their conversation continued, just between the two of them.
It wasn’t a coincidence.
It was quite intentional.
From the beginning, Lydia had been glancing at me, standing next to Perez.
I was the same.
Her presence bothered me just as much.
I didn’t avoid Lydia’s gaze when our eyes met for a moment, but stared straight back.
And I carefully scrutinized her.
Brown hair and green eyes.
Unlike me, her hair was calm without curls, and she had gentle features.
But there was an undeniable resemblance that grated on my nerves.
“Um, Herox-nim…”
Lydia frowned slightly at my stare, then opened her mouth.
“Who is this person…”
Only then did Perez say “Ah” and, uncharacteristically surprised, turned to look at me.
And for a moment, I saw him flinch.
Yes, he’s finally realizing the atmosphere, isn’t he?
Perez, who swallowed once after seeing my cold expression, quickly said.
“Ah, this is…”
“Nice to meet you, Ms. Lydia.”
I cut Perez off and took a step closer to Lydia.
Then I extended my right hand and smiled.
“I am… Larita Gloe.”
For a moment, I felt the urge to reveal my real name, but I barely held back.
Instead, I introduced myself with the alias I had created for this trip.
“I am Lydia Mita.”
“I see. And what is your relationship with Herox…?”
“Pardon?”
Lydia stared at me with a surprised expression, then her lips parted slightly.
She was probably shocked that I asked so directly, and that I was close enough to call ‘Herox’ by name.
“I am an old acquaintance of Herox-nim.”
“Ah, an old acquaintance.”
It ultimately meant they were nothing more than acquaintances, but the word ‘old’ bothered me.
No matter how old, could it be older than my acquaintance with him?
A sense of satisfaction subtly rose.
Just then, Lydia asked in a rather sharp voice.
“And what about you, Ms. Larita?”
Look at her.
However, I didn’t need to answer.
Perez, who had been watching the conversation from behind, approached, gently wrapped his arm around my shoulder, and said.
“This is my wife.”
“Ah, wife…”
Lydia’s green eyes wavered greatly.
“It was good to see you again after a long time.”
Perez, who had given a short greeting that sounded almost cold, immediately looked at me and said.
“Shall we go up to the room, Larita?”
His large hand moved to my waist, escorting me.
Lydia was no longer in Perez’s sight.
When I looked back one last time, she was still standing rooted to the spot.
With a face that looked like she was about to burst into tears, a big sigh escaped me too.
“Haa.”
What on earth are you doing?
As I shook my head, the inn staff approached and spoke.
“You must be the Gloe couple. I will show you to your room. This way…”
“Excuse me.”
I slowly pulled down Perez’s hand that was wrapped around my waist and said.
“I’m going to walk outside for a bit and then come in. You go rest first.”
“Ti… Larita.”
I heard his voice calling me from behind, but I walked out of the inn building.

“Haha, looks like you two had a lovers’ quarrel.”
The inn staff said warmly, with eyes that seemed to say, ‘Ah, young love.’
Perez watched Tia’s retreating back as she pushed open the inn door, then said weakly.
“I should apologize for my wrongdoing.”
Accustomed to Tia’s relaxed, smiling face, her cold, hardened expression was a little unfamiliar to him.
And he felt an unbearable guilt that he was the one who had made her look that way.
“That’s right. When your wife returns, apologize unconditionally. That’s the best course of action.”
The staff, who had taught him life wisdom with a hearty laugh, then opened the door to a room on the second floor and said.
“This is your room. It has a large window and gets good sunlight, so you’ll be satisfied.”
Perez walked in with large strides and stood in the middle of the room.
He slowly looked around the room, then shook his head and said.
“Please give me another good room.”
“Pardon? If you don’t like this room, then the next room…”
Going to the next room would likely be a similar standard.
Last time, they had stayed in a shabby room due to the circumstances, but he couldn’t let Tia sleep in such a place again.
Perez skillfully smiled at the inn staff.
“It’s because this is our honeymoon.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Please.”
Saying that, Perez took out a Lombardi bank check from his pocket and handed it over.
“Oh my.”
The inn staff’s eyes widened in surprise upon checking the amount written on the check, then he nodded.
“Understood. Please wait here for a moment. I will prepare our inn’s proud suite for you.”
The staff hurried out, and Perez, left alone, sat heavily on the bed with a thud.
He hunched his large body, resting his elbows on his knees, and buried his face in his hands.
His self-talk, mixed with a sigh, blended into the sweet silence.
“She… was jealous.”
Perez couldn’t get up from his spot for a long time, only his ear tips turning red.

“Are you crazy, are you crazy?”
I plopped down on a small bench and muttered.
After leaving the inn and walking aimlessly, I found myself back at the outskirts of Akedia.
No, that’s not important right now.
“What do you expect to gain by being jealous of a child! Ugh.”
Recalling what had just happened, self-reproach washed over me again.
I wanted to stamp my feet and mess up my hair, but the deep hood I was wearing only allowed me to let out a deep sigh.
“Let’s get a grip…”
Lydia’s sad face, which I had seen last, kept coming to mind.
“Should I apologize if I run into her again?”
It was strange.
Normally, I wouldn’t be someone who loses composure over such a trivial matter.
Even when I was having a power struggle with Empress Lavini, or dealing with Chanton Sheshou, who would annoy people with his sullen face.
I was always a person who maintained cold rationality.
But.
“To want to reveal the Lombardi name.”
I must truly be out of my mind.
“Ugh.”
I covered my face with both hands, embarrassed, my face turning red again.
But it wasn’t just the fact that I had genuinely felt jealous of a child that made my face flush.
“This is my wife.”
Perez’s voice saying that still seemed to linger in my ears.
I rubbed my left ear, which felt strangely ticklish, and raised my head again.
“Get a grip, get a grip.”
We’re on a trip, but we’re not really here just for fun, are we?
But the thought of him introducing me as his ‘wife’ kept coming back.
It was like it was on repeat.
I tried hard to distract myself by looking around.
“Looks like a good place to live.”
Perez gradually faded from my mind, and the scenery of Akedia began to come into view.
“If the city outskirts are like this, it’s excellent.”
Generally, the living standards in the outskirts of a city, even with high population density, tend to be lower.
However, at a glance, the lives of Akedia’s residents seemed prosperous.
Although the inns and other businesses that relied on trade with the Lombardi Merchant Guild and Pellet Merchant Guild seemed a bit quiet now that trade had stopped.
The atmosphere was different from other territories where most commoners struggled to make ends meet day by day.
“That’s why I can’t just hate Chanton Sheshou.”
Sheshou drastically reduced taxes on commoners and merchants and raised the price of their produce, grain.
Moreover, he was incredibly strict with the proxy lords who governed each region.
Even though he was truly annoying, Chanton Sheshou, the head of Sheshou, was a good lord.
“And the soldiers’ equipment looks good… Huh?”
Why were the soldiers so disciplined when it wasn’t even wartime?
As I thought that and watched the situation at the outer checkpoint more carefully.
“Hurry, hurry!”
The door of a large building, which seemed to be a gathering place near the checkpoint, opened, and soldiers poured out.
Paired up, they quickly spread out across Akedia.
A few pairs rode horses into Akedia, and some went outside the checkpoint.
Especially the soldiers who went outside the city walls approached the people lined up to enter Akedia.
And in their hands, they each held a piece of paper with a drawing on it.
“What is it?”
Just as I started to think something was wrong, seeing the soldiers comparing the drawings in their hands with the faces of the people in line.
Two Sheshou soldiers strode towards me and asked.
“Hey there. Would you mind taking off your hood for a moment?”