In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Side Story, Chapter 14

Did my ears just deceive me?
The word “honey” came out of Perez’s mouth?
When we were playfully deciding on pet names in the carriage leaving Lombardi, Perez was so embarrassed he didn’t know what to do, even when I called him that.
But why suddenly now?
“H-honey?”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Perez answered, drawing out the end of his word, as I asked back in surprise.
No, I wasn’t calling you!
Even though he clearly saw my flustered expression, he even smiled slightly and hugged me tightly.
“I was looking for you because you weren’t there earlier. I was worried.”
“Oh? S-sorry. I was just a bit bored staying put.”
“Were you? Good for you.”
His hand stroking my hair and forehead was so unhesitating.
Suspicious, very suspicious.
I narrowed my eyes at Perez.
Unheshesitating skinship like this in a place where others were present, not just when we were alone.
This wasn’t like him.
It was as if he was acting for others to see…
At that moment, I saw Perez’s gaze, which had been gently looking down at me, slide away.
And at the end of my gaze, which I unconsciously followed, I found the answer to this situation.
It was Mortega Lupe, standing blankly with a shocked expression.
“By the way, who is that?”
Perez, with a somewhat cold look in his eyes, asked Mortega Lupe.
Perhaps his personality was as soft as his gentle appearance.
Mortega just mouthed words, unable to answer.
He merely looked back and forth between me and Perez with trembling eyes.
He seemed very surprised by the sudden display of affection between a couple.
Well, that could happen.
I was about to introduce him, hiding my slightly embarrassed feelings.
“This is Mortega…”
“S-sorry! I apologize for the intrusion!”
Mortega Lupe shouted that, quickly gathered his belongings, and scurried away.
“Ah…”
Oh dear.
I was just about to bring up the Lombardi Scholarship Foundation.
What a shame, what a shame.
I was hoping to persuade him well.
But then I shrugged.
I could just send him a formal letter later and make the offer.
No artist ever refused an offer from the Lombardi Foundation, so Mortega Lupe would surely accept.
Thinking that, I watched Mortega Lupe’s retreating figure as he blended into the crowd.
“Why?”
Until I felt a soft hand stroking my cheek.
Following the touch, I turned my head and met Perez’s gaze.
It was a somewhat persistent look.
“What do you mean?”
“Why… are you still looking at him?”
“Hmm, because it’s a shame.”
Perhaps I was truly my grandfather’s granddaughter.
Whenever I encountered talented individuals, I found myself eager to put Lombardi’s name tag on them.
“…A shame?”
“Yes. I suppose so.”
Although he was just a singer performing on a ship for now, the song “Pledge of Love” that Mortega Lupe had just sung would soon make him a famous singer.
It was also destined to become the favorite song of men proposing in the Empire.
Of course, that was a few years away.
But I couldn’t tell Perez that.
“His song was really good. And his voice too.”
“…Voice.”
He muttered in a somewhat sulky tone.
“Oh? Of course, yours is good too.”
My personal preference was indeed for a low voice like Perez’s, rather than a beautiful voice like Mortega Lupe’s.
“But Mortega Lupe is a singer. With the support of the Lombardi Foundation, he could become even greater…”
Wait a minute.
I stopped speaking and looked up at Perez.
He was still looking in the direction where Mortega Lupe had disappeared, with a sulky expression.
No, he was glaring.
Could it be, this…
“Perez.”
I tugged at his clothes.
Only then did his red eyes look at me.
“What did you call me earlier?”
“…Huh?”
Look at this.
He’s trying to pretend he doesn’t know, but your eyes are shaking.
I watched Perez’s ear tips slowly turn red and leaned slightly towards him.
And I whispered.
“Honey.”
He flinched.
Perez’s chest, where I was leaning, subtly heaved.
“Right? You called me honey earlier.”
Perez hesitated for a moment, then finally nodded.
The blush had already spread down to his neck.
Ah, I shouldn’t laugh.
I tried hard to pull down the corners of my lips that were trying to turn up and asked.
“Weren’t you not going to use that pet name?”
“…Thinking about it, I thought I’d need a more convincing act to maintain our disguised identities.”
“Ah, so it was because of our disguised identities?”
“…”
“Did you, by any chance, get jealous?”
His body flinched once more.
Ah, I can’t hold it in.
“Pfft.”
Finally, a laugh escaped my lips.
Then Perez’s ears turned even redder.
Ah, he’s going to get sulky.
“No, ahem. Why? Why would you be jealous?”
I patted Perez’s chest, continuing in a soothing tone.
“We just talked for a moment.”
I had known him for a very long time, but this was the first time he had been so overtly jealous.
“That’s why.”
Perez, who had kept his mouth shut for a while, answered slowly.
“Because he was looking at you with those eyes.”
“What kind of eyes?”
“Eyes that couldn’t take their gaze off you because you shone so brightly.”
Unlike his sweet words, his voice, when he blurted them out, was heavy.
I felt the arm around my waist tighten slightly.
As if he was afraid of losing me.
“Oh, come on.”
Now it was my turn to be flustered by his unexpected words.
“It’s not like that.”
I deliberately let out a laugh and said lightly.
“And how do you know that from just a brief look from afar?”
“I know.”
But Perez’s answer was firm.
“Because I was like that.”
His firm fingers gently stroked my chin.
“The day I first saw you in the forest, I was like that.”
As if recalling that day, a warmth spread through Perez’s hardened eyes.
Along with a faint smile.
In an instant, he looked as if he had traveled back in time, and I could almost hear the sound of the green forest rustling in the wind.
This was a problem.
My heart started beating even faster than when Perez had held my hat earlier.
“So you were jealous?”
To ease the tension, I casually threw out the question to tease Perez.
But.
“Yes.”
This time, it was me who was flustered.
His ear tips were still red, but Perez looked down at me with unwavering eyes and said,
“Yes, I was jealous. It’s enough for only me to look at you like that.”
And there were already too many.
Perez added a short, cryptic remark, muttering.
“And, Tia.”
The fingers that had been stroking my chin had moved up to my lips.
His slightly rough fingertips pressed and rubbed against the sensitive skin.
Perez’s red eyes, which seemed to be looking at nothing in particular, deepened.
“I’m more jealous than you think.”
“Huh…?”
“And I’m a more petty man than you think.”
“Is that so?”
“Even so.”
Perez took my hand, brought it to his lips, and kissed it, saying,
“Even so, please don’t abandon me.”
“Ugh!”
His lips landed on the delicate skin of my hand.
Startled by the sensation, I tried to pull my hand away, but Perez’s large fingers took the opportunity to wrap around my hand even tighter.
“This for a moment…”
I was about to ask him to let go.
But Perez’s next action left me speechless.
“Promise me.”
He was rubbing his cheek against the back of my hand.
“That you won’t abandon me.”
Like a large beast begging for its owner’s affection.
“You, you really…!”
Where did he learn such dangerous aegyo?!
I wanted to yell, “Is it those academy classmates again?!”, but I couldn’t.
No one with a functioning heart could be angry at those red eyes, which met my gaze with a pitiful downward curve at the corners.
“I won’t let go even if you ask me to.”
I pulled Perez’s hand sharply and said,
“Understood? Let’s go have dinner. All that nonsense you’re saying is just because you’re hungry.”
As I walked ahead with quick strides, his large body obediently followed.
Perez was always like that.
Even with the power to make anyone unable to move, he had never once failed to follow my lead.
And yet, abandon him? What nonsense.
“Perez.”
“Yes, Tia.”
“Don’t say such strange things again. You don’t intend to be abandoned, do you?”
“…”
Perez said nothing.
He wasn’t crying, was he?
A fleeting worry made me turn around, and to my surprise, he was smiling.
His eyes were gently crinkled, and his red lips were spread like a flower.
With an expression of immense joy.
Perez intertwined his fingers firmly with mine and nodded.
“That’s right. I won’t be abandoned even if you try.”
No, perhaps he looked relieved, as if he had found an answer.
I watched him for a moment, then urged him again.
“Then that’s settled. Let’s hurry and eat. We need to secure a good spot to watch the fireworks after dinner.”
Haha.
Perez’s cheerful laughter, as if heard from afar, followed our steps.