In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Side Story, Chapter 5

“…Me?”
“Yes.”
Perez nodded without a second of hesitation.
He truly believed it.
In his eyes, still filled with amusement, as he stared at me, I saw the reflection of the young boy who used to pick herbs, his mouth stained with grass.
While I struggled to find words, Perez, as if reading my thoughts, let out a small laugh and said, “I know, Tia. What you’re thinking right now.”
Then, as if speaking of someone else, he continued in a remarkably calm voice, “Even if you hadn’t found me that day, I would have been in this position. I would have survived and completed my revenge.”
Perez asserted.
He would have been the victor in the end.
“But I wouldn’t be the same as I am now. I would probably be in pieces. Nothing left, just empty, merely living without dying. Or perhaps…”
Perez paused for a moment, then smiled again.
It was that comfortable smile of his.
“So, Tia, you made me.”
I couldn’t say no.
Because I had seen the Perez who survived alone.
The one who, after a bloody revenge, had burned everything down, leaving only black soot.
At that moment, the smiling face of the person before me felt incredibly precious.
“Perez.”
“Yes?”
“Aren’t you kneading your benefactor’s hand too much? It’s going to turn red.”
I gestured with my eyes to my hand, which was being kneaded back and forth in Perez’s large hand.
“My hand isn’t some dough.”
“Hmm. There are several similarities, though.”
Saying that, he brought the back of my hand to his mouth.
And then.
“Ugh, Perez!”
Beneath his red lips, white, even teeth gently bit the back of my hand, not painfully.
His appearance was like a serious chef tasting his own creation, or a large wolf courting its mate.
At my unspoken gaze, demanding an explanation for his strange behavior, Perez smiled broadly and said, “Because it looks delicious.”
“De-de…”
I finally lost my words and stammered a little.
“You, you have no filter!”
Ah, I knew what color my face was without even looking in a mirror.
Otherwise, Perez wouldn’t be laughing so loudly.
After enjoying himself for a long time, eyes crinkling, Perez slowly approached and hugged me tightly.
At the end of that embrace, which felt a little suffocating, he said, “Tia, if you ever need my help, just say the word.”
He’s talking about the Sheshou matter.
Throughout the conference, I recalled Perez’s cold gaze, intermittently cast towards Chanton Sheshou.
“You just have to say one word.”
Just one word.
His voice sounded somehow desperate as he said that.
“You know, Tia. I can do anything you want.”
“I know.”
I hugged Perez back.
“I know very well.”
That’s why I’m not saying anything.
“Because you’re truly someone who would do anything for me.”
Instead of more words, I patted his broad back.
As if my meaning was conveyed, Perez kissed my head and muttered softly, “I hope there’s something I can do for you. Anything.”
***
That evening, the dining hall of the Lombardi Mansion’s main building was filled with the chatter of people.
Several people, including Lombardi and members of vassal families, sat around a long table, dining together.
“So, Lord Gallahan, there’s a new trend in the East recently…”
“Ah! Lauriel, hand me that napkin. Merilyn spilled juice!”
But it wasn’t a formal banquet like the regularly held ones.
Rather, it was a free and somewhat boisterous evening, like a gathering of relatives.
I looked at the people gathered around the long dining table with proud eyes.
It was a new culture of Lombardi that began after I became the Head of the Family.
In the main dining hall of Lombardi, only direct descendants could dine unless invited by the Head.
However, now members of vassal families also freely shared meals.
There was no compulsion, and no limit on the number of people.
It was something I started because it seemed absurd that only a few direct descendants of Lombardi, including myself, used this large dining hall.
Of course, there was one important rule.
No official meetings or decisions were to be made at this table.
This was to ensure that no one felt pressured to attend the meal.
I surveyed the people and then silently averted my gaze.
To my immediate right, where Grandfather sat, holding a book in one hand while eating, and Shananet watched him intently.
“Hoo. Oh, such a development…”
I heard Grandfather’s muttering and bit my lower lip tightly to keep from laughing.
I still remembered it vividly.
Grandfather, who had just passed on the position of Head of the Family to me, had exclaimed with relief, ‘Now I can read as much as I want!’
And to this day, Grandfather was enjoying his retirement as he had said.
Recently, he had been so engrossed in detective novels that he would even casually eat his meals in the study, but unable to resist the insistence that he should at least have dinner properly in the dining hall, he had finally brought his book to the table.
“Father.”
Finally, Shananet, unable to bear it any longer, quietly called Grandfather.
“Perhaps you could read after dinner?”
“Hmm?”
Only then did Grandfather, noticing the strangely quiet surroundings, lift his head from his book.
Then, aware of the many gazes directed at him, he gave an awkward cough.
“Please don’t mind us. It’s just a little surprising.”
Flint Devon, Lauriel’s husband, said with a hearty laugh.
“To think the former Head of the Family would enjoy his hobbies so much. It’s truly moving!”
At his good-natured words, Grandfather, feeling embarrassed, finally closed his book and pushed it aside.
But even after that, his gaze kept subtly drifting back to the book.
“Grandfather, if you’re bored during dinner, shall I tell you what happened at the great conference today?”
“No.”
At my words, Grandfather waved a hand dismissively, looking disgusted.
“I handed the position of Head of the Family to you precisely so I wouldn’t have to deal with such troublesome matters.”
Perhaps intending to finish his meal quickly and return to his study, Grandfather’s eating speed noticeably increased.
“I heard the outcome of the great conference went as you wished.”
Shananet said to me, elegantly wiping her mouth with a napkin.
“How long will Lord Sheshou continue like this?”
Shananet’s usually composed brow was rarely furrowed.
Since she cherished Lombardi and its people as much as I did.
She was very displeased with Chanton Sheshou.
“Indeed. He keeps bringing up Chesayu. It’s annoying.”
“Still, he readily paid the compensation.”
Clerivan, who disliked Chanton Sheshou as much as, or perhaps even more than, I and Shananet, uttered this, though the exact reason was unknown.
He said they had received the compensation, but his expression showed no joy at all.
As we had briefly discussed after the conference, there was something unsettling about it.
“When we first opened the port, Lord Sheshou visited the office of the clothing store.”
Father recalled, resting his chin on his hand.
“Even then, he was openly talking about Sheshou’s grain being sold at a low price.”
Then Clerivan, as if he had lost his appetite completely, picked up a napkin and said in a chilling voice, “He came to Lord Gallahan without an appointment, tried to intimidate him into getting a free port slot, and in the end, failed to sell his grain directly in the East.”
“Merchant work isn’t something just anyone can do because they want to. Just because I do it easily, doesn’t mean it’s easy.”
As I grumbled, Father shook his head.
“Why does he keep targeting Chesayu? It’s not like he’s protesting to get back land that was originally Sheshou’s.”
“He’s targeting Lombardi.”
Into the ongoing conversation, Grandfather, who had subtly resumed reading his book, dropped a calm remark.
“Targeting Lombardi?”
Father asked back, eyes wide with surprise.
But Grandfather’s reply, still without looking up from his book, remained unperturbed.
“Politics is like that. Sometimes, a single word that means nothing can change everything, and merely destroying a symbol can start a current that breaks the opponent’s momentum and turns the tables.”
“A current that turns the tables…”
As I muttered softly, Grandfather finally looked at me instead of his book.
His calm brown eyes were the color of an old, large tree.
“Eastern trade is Tia’s achievement, created by Lombardi, Chesayu, and the Pellet Merchant Guild intertwined. In other words, it’s a symbol of the new Head of Lombardi. And merely obstructing it…”
The heavy thud of Grandfather’s book on the table resonated through it.
“The unity of the pro-Sheshou faction will increase. Lord Sheshou is aiming for that. He needs to seize the vacant position opposite Lombardi, now that Angenas is gone.”
I slowly nodded.
Grandfather was right.
Chanton Sheshou was gaining various benefits by merely opposing me, that is, Lombardi, and becoming the center of the pro-Sheshou faction.
“Tia.”
Father gently patted the back of my hand.
I shrugged towards him and said, “Don’t worry. That bear-like, no, Lord Sheshou is no match for me.”
“Worry about what?”
Grandfather opened his book again and smiled at me.
“Lombardi has always had hostile forces. It’s something the Head of Lombardi must overcome.”
“Of course, Grandfather.”
I nodded back at him.
It was true that Chanton Sheshou was a difficult person to deal with, but that didn’t mean there was no solution.
‘In a way, it’s all thanks to Grandfather.’
I slowly sipped my wine and thought.
‘Because this is the period I know best.’
Coincidentally, this was the period in my previous life when I had witnessed the most events firsthand while assisting Grandfather with his duties as Head of the Family.
Of course, that included the Sheshou matter.
“Madam.”
Just then, Butler Johan quietly, yet urgently, approached me and announced, “Bate from Caramel Avenue is urgently requesting to see you, Madam.”