In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Side Story, Chapter 23

A very small baby, carried in Avinox’s arms, instinctively found its way into Lorraine’s embrace.
“Wow, he’s really a spitting image of his dad.”
I muttered to myself as I looked at Rick.
“It’s like holding a tiny Avinox.”
At my words, Lorraine smiled, her eyes crinkling beautifully.
“Right? At first, I thought he resembled me because of his eye color, but as the days go by, he’s starting to look more and more like Sir Avinox.”
As Lorraine said, Rick had blue eyes.
It was a strange thing.
Lorraine and Avinox met and had a child who resembled both of them.
The two people I had seen since they were teenagers suddenly looked incredibly grown-up.
But that was the extent of my first impression of Rick.
“Cute!”
“So small!”
It was different from the twins who were making a fuss beside me.
My reaction was rather indifferent, just ‘He resembles his mom and dad.’
I usually don’t have much enthusiasm for young children, so I just let it be.
I definitely thought that.
But Rick, who had only been interested in Lorraine’s hair a moment ago, discovered me.
His curious, bright eyes blinked a few times towards me, then.
“Kyaa!”
He flapped his short arms.
He hadn’t grown teeth yet, and he smiled broadly with his small, red, bird-like mouth.
“Cute…!”
“Oh my!”
Lorraine said, surprised, to me who was dazed by Rick’s beaming attack.
“He’s been so shy around strangers lately, it’s amazing that he likes Tia so much when he’s never seen her before!”
“R-really?”
Do even children recognize blood relatives?
My heart pounded at Rick’s clear, lake-like eyes staring intently at me.
“Want to hold him?”
“Ah, no! I don’t think so.”
He’s too small!
What if I accidentally drop him!
As I waved my hands, Lorraine smiled knowingly.
Just then.
“Cough!”
With a small cough, Rick spit up clear milk, which streamed down Lorraine’s dress.
“Ah!”
He threw up!
“I-is he sick?”
“Is it because there are too many people? Should we take him out for some fresh air?”
The twins, as surprised as I was, fidgeted anxiously.
“It’s okay. Babies sometimes do this. But he’ll need a change of clothes.”
“I’ll help you, Lady Lorraine.”
“Would you, Sir Avinox?”
The bride and groom, who had just gotten married today, looked at each other and smiled tenderly.
“Hmm, then Rick…”
Lorraine, who seemed to be pondering for a moment, suddenly held out Rick.
Into the arms of Perez, who had been staring blankly at Rick with curiosity.
“We’ll be right back, Your Majesty. Please take care of Rick for a moment.”
With that, Lorraine and Avinox hurried away.
“Uh… Perez?”
“…”
Perez didn’t answer.
He remained motionless, still holding Rick as Lorraine had handed him.
“Are you okay?”
“…Yes.”
He didn’t seem to be.
Rick seemed quite comfortable even in Perez’s stiff, statue-like embrace.
No, more than comfortable, he seemed to really like Perez.
“Abubu!”
Rick’s small hand, making incomprehensible babbling sounds, tightly gripped Perez’s clothes.
And then.
“Aww.”
He buried his plump, white, steamed bun-like face deeply into the sturdy embrace.
He even closed his eyes tightly and snuggled, as if falling asleep.
“Ha, cute.”
He’s my nephew, but can he really be this adorable?
Let’s see, what would Rick need?
As I thought that, making a mental list of gifts for Rick, it happened.
Pat, pat.
Perez was seen gently patting Rick’s back.
The hand covering the small back, so tiny that even breathing seemed commendable, looked exceptionally large.
After hesitating for the first couple of times, Perez then skillfully and gently soothed Rick.
“Ooh.”
Rick’s eyelids were visibly getting heavier.
His deep blue eyes, like Luman’s sea, blinked a few times, then the shadow of his long eyelashes fell.
I watched the two of them without making a sound.
It was a peaceful sight, so much so that even my breathing was cautious.
“It looks much better than you thought, doesn’t it?”
Lorraine, who had returned in a new dress, said in a low voice.
“Hmm, yes, it does. More than I thought…”
What should I call this feeling?
A strange mix of emotions made it difficult to put into words.
“It’s really good.”
In the end, that was all I could utter.
“Your Majesty will be a good father.”
“Do you think so?”
“You can see it just by looking now.”
At Lorraine’s words, I couldn’t help but nod.
His posture holding Rick had become stable, and though he was still stiff, his eyes, looking down at the child, were filled with warmth.
“He definitely will be.”
Lorraine’s tone now held firm conviction.
“How’s the East?”
When I asked, Lorraine smiled brightly and replied.
“It’s good. I’ve become very strong since coming here.”
Lorraine’s blue eyes sparkled with vitality.
“You found your home, Lorraine.”
“Home?”
She thought for a moment, then nodded.
“Yes. That’s what it feels like. Home. And now…”
Lorraine looked at Rick.
“I want to make this land, where Rick will live, a better place.”
“So that’s the feeling that made you achieve it, the wheat farming.”
Honestly, I was a little surprised.
I already knew about the cure for the wheat blight spreading in the South from what I had seen and heard in my previous life.
So I didn’t doubt its effectiveness.
But wheat farming in the East was an entirely different matter.
Although I had sent a few Lombardi scholars at Lorraine’s request, I honestly didn’t expect such quick success.
Lorraine, smiling proudly as she looked at Rick, seemed a little different from the person I knew.
“Lorraine has become strong.”
At my words, Lorraine’s cheeks flushed shyly, just like when she was young.
But even so, she nodded firmly.
“Because I have something to protect.”
Something to protect.
Just as Lorraine looked at Rick, my gaze unconsciously turned towards Perez.
Perez was quietly gazing at Rick, who was now completely sound asleep.
Then, suddenly, a faint smile spread across his expressionless face.
It was a small change, his rigid mouth relaxing, but it was a smile as peaceful as the sleeping Rick.
How many things had happened for that dark man from the previous life, and that boy who had protected the crumbling detached palace all by himself, to be able to smile like that?
Just then, as if sensing my gaze, Perez raised his head.
Immediately, our eyes met.
He didn’t avert his gaze.
As if only we existed among the countless people coming and going in the banquet hall.
How much time passed like that?
Perez smiled.
His eyes curved beautifully, and his lips formed a pleasing arc.
It was a blooming smile, solely for me.
“I want to protect you too.”
Just as Lorraine succeeded in wheat farming in Luman for Rick.
I also wanted to protect Perez.
“So I need to become even stronger in the future.”
It was a promise to myself.
It was also a promise to protect this person by my side, no matter what came our way in the future.
So that Perez could always smile like that.
And then, a smile similar to his own bloomed on my face.
Suddenly, I had a premonition.
You, and I.
We will probably remember this moment for a long time.
Even in the distant future, holding hands, talking about today, we will still be smiling together.
We will go through all sorts of difficult things until that day, but it will be okay.
Because those who have something to protect become strong.
“He looks like an angel sleeping…”
“Shh. Speak quietly, you fool!”
The twins could no longer hold back and gathered around Perez to get a closer look at the sleeping Rick.
The sight of three large men surrounding a tiny baby somehow made me happy.
A long time ago, I had said to Lorraine, who was distressed by her forced engagement:
“Lorraine, you just need to find what makes you happy.”
So I asked Lorraine.
“Lorraine, are you happy now?”
And she immediately replied.
“Yes, I’m happy.”
Yes, then that’s all that matters.
What does it matter where you started?
The place where my heart is filled with joy, that is my home.
“Waaah!”
Rick’s cry as he woke up was heard.
“He cries like that when he’s looking for his mom.”
Lorraine shook her head helplessly, yet smiled.
Joy emanated from Lorraine’s back as she walked towards Rick.
It’s a relief.
Lorraine, who had returned to Lombardi cold and withered, came back one life and has now rooted herself here in Luman.
And now she will live happily in this warm land, filled with brilliant sunshine and comforting songs.
“Then, shall I try holding Rick too?”
Avinox was back now, and most importantly, his mother Lorraine was by his side, so I could just ask her to teach me.
I walked towards Perez and my family, who were standing a little distance away.
Because they are my home.
***
And now, back to the present.
Chirp-chirp!
The season of noisy cicadas.
I entered the Lombardi Patriarch’s office and smiled brightly.
“It’s been a month since I saw you, Lord Sheshou?”