In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Side Story, Chapter 43

“Oh, Mother…”
Shan awkwardly smiled, still holding the doorknob of her room.
“You’re back?”
She tried to act cute, but it had no effect whatsoever.
“Shan.”
“…Yes, Mother.”
“How many times have I told you? Stop interacting with outsiders.”
“You… did say that.”
Soura hadn’t forbidden Shan and Abane from meeting from the beginning.
On the contrary, she was secretly proud of Shan, who showed interest in outsiders unlike other villagers.
In fact, it was Soura who even encouraged her to go and talk to them.
Her attitude changed about three months ago.
Suddenly, one day, Soura completely reversed her stance on Abane Rophili.

“I just don’t understand, Mother. Why do you keep saying no?”
Finally, Shan honestly spoke her mind.
“At first, I thought you saw something about Abane Rophili. Perhaps that she might be different on the inside than on the outside.”
So Shan also kept her guard up for a while.
“But Abane Rophili is a good person. She’s so passionate about her research that there’s no room for any other thoughts. So… if there’s a problem, it must be with me, not her.”
Shan stared intently at Soura’s face and said,
“What exactly did you see, Mother?”
And Shan saw it.
Just before Soura turned her head away as if avoiding her gaze, her expressionless eyes wavered for a moment.
“Don’t talk nonsense, Shan.”
Soura clicked her tongue in annoyance.
“You are my daughter, but before that, you are a member of the Chara tribe. You just need to follow my words.”
“You’re telling me to just obey your command without question?”
Anger began to seep into Shan’s voice.
“To tell me to just obey unconditionally. That’s not like Soura, who is said to be the wisest leader to have ever led the Chara tribe.”
Thump!
Finally, Soura slammed her staff hard on the ground.
Then she turned to Shan and shouted loudly,
“You want to know why? I’ll tell you! You are the child who will succeed me and inherit this tribe. Do you know what the Elder Council is saying about you deeply associating with outsiders?”
Soura’s cloudy eyes widened with rage.
“If this continues, your future could be in jeopardy!”
Silence fell.
Shan slowly bowed her head.
She looked as if she was reflecting.
But a moment later, when her daughter raised her head again, Soura realized her guess was wrong from her furrowed brow.
“That’s not it.”
Shan said quietly.
“Now you’re lying.”
Lying.
At that word, Soura’s hand, gripping the staff, twitched.
“The position of leader is inherited by the strongest and most capable person of the generation. And no one can surpass my ability to see the future. The Elder Council knows that very well, which is why they can’t openly defy you, Mother. Because the next leader of the tribe will be me, your daughter.”
Shan looked directly at Soura.
“Before I am a member of this tribe, I am your daughter. I know you better than anyone.”
“…Shan.”
“Tell me the real reason.”
Soura was a woman who, once she made up her mind, never backed down.
However, Shan was also her daughter, inheriting Soura’s stubborn personality.
“If you don’t tell me, I won’t listen to you, Mother.”
Shan said stubbornly.
But there was no answer.
“…”
Soura hesitated for a moment, then simply shook her head.
And Shan, watching her with disappointed eyes, quietly turned and went back into her room.
***
Everywhere was bustling with the voices of people in strange clothes.
It was the first time in her life she had seen so many people at once.
Shan looked down at where she stood.
It wasn’t the compacted fine earth of the village.
On the rough, hard stone pavement, where not a single blade of grass seemed able to grow.
This time, she raised her head and looked around.
Instead of trees, which were visible everywhere in the village, tall buildings soared high.
She began to walk along a long, straight path.
It was a strange world full of things she had never seen before.
The stone path, not soft earth, hurt her feet.
But Shan kept walking forward, only forward.
Like someone with a destination.
And at the end of that path, a wide-open plaza appeared.
In its center, she saw a huge something spouting water upwards.
Could this be the fountain Abane spoke of?
She paused for a moment.
Was she trying to admire the plaza scenery from afar?
But her gaze wasn’t directed at the fountain.
She was looking at a man sitting beneath it.
Whenever the wind blew, his long robes and brown hair swayed gently.
He was engrossed in drawing something, then looked up at the sound of children’s laughter.
Warmth filled his eyes as he smiled gently at the little ones running past him.
Then, suddenly, the man’s eyes turned towards her.
At first, he seemed to be just looking at the street, but soon he was looking at Shan.
He seemed to freeze, not even blinking.
Though there was quite a distance, the two were briefly connected by their gaze.
Shan began to walk again.
Towards the man.
And when she finally stood before him, the man was staring up at Shan blankly.
“Hello.”
Shan greeted him with a voice mixed with laughter.
“What’s your name?”
His gentle eyes, with slightly downturned corners, blinked widely.
“…Gallahan.”
He answered with a slightly trembling voice.
“My name is Gallahan.”
Shan’s eyes sparkled.
“Gallahan…”
Her heart, which had just awakened from sleep, was pounding loudly.
Slowly, she sat up and remained blankly seated for a moment.
Today, there was no need to hastily open her notebook to record the dream’s contents.
Because she would never forget this dream.
“So his name was Gallahan.”
The man whose face she had only recently been able to see, despite dreaming of him many times.
Finally, she knew his name.
Moreover.
“I spoke to that man.”
In the future she saw in her dream, she was outside the village.
She didn’t know exactly where she met the man, but considering the terrain and climate, it must have been very far from the jungle.
The dream’s message was clear.
“I… leave this forest?”
Shan couldn’t think for a moment.
It was something she had never imagined.
Leaving the tribe.
Shan swallowed hard.
And she gauged the time.
It was still early, but it was quiet outside her room.
Today was the day of the Elder Council meeting, which began at sunrise.
Shan sprang out of bed, quickly changed her clothes, and half-ran out of the house.
Her quick footsteps echoed along the quiet village path.
“Oh, Shan! Shan unnie!”
Onta, a four-year-old boy playing in the dirt in front of his house from early morning, waved happily at Shan.
“Hello, Onta. Good morning.”
“Hehe, gooood mornin’!”
Onta was especially cheerful and affectionate.
His appearance was so cute that even though he was a small child who hadn’t yet manifested his abilities, there were already many families who had marked him as a future son-in-law.
“Don’t run! You’ll fall and get ouchie!”
Shan waved back vigorously at Onta, who was worried he might fall.
“Unnie is strong, so it’s okay! Have fun, Onta!”
“Woong!”
Onta smiled broadly, his small face full of joy, and waved back.
In the end, Shan arrived at Abane’s house in less than half her usual time.
“Haa, hooh, Teacher Abane! Are you awake?”
“Hmm? What’s wrong, Shan, so early in the morning? Come on in.”
Fortunately, Abane, who had just finished breakfast, welcomed Shan warmly.
“You haven’t had breakfast yet, have you? I was lonely eating alone, sit here.”
Eventually, a bowl of creamy, sweet grain porridge was placed in front of Shan.
But even after politely picking up her spoon, Shan barely touched her food. Abane, who had been watching her silently, finally burst into laughter.
“It seems like something good happened. What is it?”
“Well… I had a dream. About a… man.”
“Oh my, a man?”
Abane even put down the spoon in her hand, her eyes sparkling.
“Then did you dream about your future husband? You said your dreams are never wrong!”
“Ah, no! Husband…!”
Shan’s face turned bright red.
“It was just a dream about meeting a man.”
Abane Rophili deliberately smiled more and asked,
“How was he? Did you see his face?”
“Yes.”
“Was he handsome?”
“…Yes.”
I can’t lie, can I?
Shan comforted herself.
“He was kind, and… cute…”
“Kyaaah, I don’t know!”
Finally, even Abane was stomping her feet.
“Then, now that you know his face, you’ll be able to meet him soon, right? Right?”
“Ah…”
Shan’s expression instantly darkened.
“Probably, that won’t happen.”
“Why?”
“Because…”
A sigh mixed with Shan’s words.
“He’s not from our tribe. He seemed like someone from outside.”
“Someone… from outside?”
Abane Rophili asked back in surprise.
“It was a big city. There was a fountain. I met the man under it.”
Even now, a good while after waking from the dream, the memory was so vivid that she could describe every detail of it.
“But I won’t leave this forest. So I guess I won’t meet him.”
“Ah, I see…”
Abane, who had been watching Shan for a moment, cautiously began to speak.
“I don’t know much, but it’s not easy for someone from the tribe to leave the forest, is it?”
“No, not really.”
“But if he truly is Shan’s fated partner…”
The conversation between the two paused for a moment.
At the end of the heavy silence, Shan asked Abane,
“Is ‘Gallahan’ a common name outside?”
“Gallahan? Hmm.”
Abane tilted her head.
“On the contrary, it’s a very rare name, Shan. I don’t know anyone named ‘Gallahan’.”
All she knew was the appearance of the plaza where she would meet him and the name ‘Gallahan’.
Could she really find him with just this?
Of course, that was only if she could leave this forest.
“Whew.”
It probably wouldn’t work.
Just as Shan sighed, thinking that.
Abane suddenly clapped her hands and said, “Ah!”
“Come to think of it, the third son of the Lombardi family is named ‘Gallahan’!”