In This Life I Will Be The Lord Novel - Side Story, Chapter 55

Gallahan had been quiet and reserved since childhood.

But that didn’t mean he had a gloomy personality.

He was full of emotions, easily crying and laughing at small things.

When did he start making such a face in front of him?

Rulac thought as he looked at his youngest son’s expressionless face.

However, he couldn’t find an answer to his own question.

So much time had passed that he couldn’t even count how many years it had been.

He realized his mistake.

As a father, he had missed too much.

He almost heard his deceased wife’s angry voice from somewhere.

“You’re trying to do the impossible, Gallahan.”

Rulac’s anger at Gallahan’s words lasted only a moment before he quickly calmed himself.

“How can you live without shame if you bring a nomad into the family and stain the Lombardi name?”

“Are you saying Shan, her very existence, would be a blemish?”

“Then isn’t it?”

Gallahan felt as if he was facing a wall.

There was no contempt or ridicule on his father’s face, unlike Viese.

But his father’s face, as he called Shan a blemish, was like that of a person who would look at a clear sky and say it was blue.

“You’ve learned enough as a member of Lombardi. The object of your affection and the object of your pity are different.”

“Hah.”

Gallahan let out a deflated sigh.

He must have had some expectations of his father without realizing it.

A vain hope that perhaps, just once, he might understand him.

The travel bag felt even heavier.

The grandeur of this mansion, where he had lived his whole life, felt unbearably uncomfortable, like wearing ill-fitting clothes.

It felt as if the things he had enjoyed as a Lombardi were pushing him away.

Gallahan tightened his grip on the sweat-soaked handle and bowed.

“…Be well.”

That was all he had to say as a son.

“You’ll regret it.”

Rulac said.

“No. I might miss it, but I won’t regret it.”

Gallahan’s back, as he turned and walked away, truly looked relieved.

Flinch.

Rulac’s hand moved as if to grab Gallahan immediately.

But that was all.

Rulac ultimately did not stop Gallahan.

At Gallahan’s request to be dropped off just outside the mansion, the coachman nodded with a puzzled expression.

“Shall I pick you up at that place again today, Lord Gallahan?”

The coachman asked Gallahan, who was getting out with his simple travel bag.

“No. You don’t have to anymore.”

He replied and closed the carriage door without regret.

The passersby, who had looked at the man coming out of the Lombardi mansion with some interest one or two times, quickly lost interest as Gallahan blended in with them and began to walk.

“It’s better this way, actually.”

Gallahan muttered with a refreshed feeling.

Thanks to his father showing such a side, his heart wasn’t heavy as he left.

Instead, his conviction that his choice to leave the family was the right one only strengthened.

Shan and the name Lombardi.

He had no regrets about his decision.

“…Shan.”

Calling her name to himself, a warmth inevitably spread across Gallahan’s face, which had been cold and stiff.

I should go meet her soon.

It was as he quickened his steps with that thought.

“…Shan?”

This time, it wasn’t a monologue.

He saw Shan standing alone ahead, looking down at her tapping toes.

Gallahan instinctively ran towards her.

“Shan, what are you doing here?”

“…Gallahan.”

Shan, who had been bowing her head, looked up at him.

Meeting her green eyes, Gallahan couldn’t hide his fluttering heart and let out a silly laugh.

“This is far from ‘Blue Wave,’ what are you doing here? Were you waiting for someone?”

“You, Gallahan.”

“Me?”

“I was waiting for you, Gallahan.”

Waiting for me?

Gallahan tilted his head.

“Did you know I’d pass by this way?”

She nodded at his question.

Then, after a moment’s hesitation, she replied.

“In my dream.”

“Yes, in Shan’s dream.”

“I saw Gallahan. Walking alone on this road with a bag. And he looked so lonely.”

A moment of silence passed.

It was rare for the two of them, who always chatted endlessly when they met.

And the more Gallahan blinked silently, the more Shan’s face stiffened with tension.

“So.”

After an eternity of silence for her, he opened his mouth.

“You… dreamt of me?”

Gallahan laughed like a child.

Then he tried to compose his expression with a belated ‘ahem,’ but he couldn’t hide his constantly widening smile.

“My desire to see you, Shan, must have been so strong that I even visited you in your dream.”

Shan didn’t laugh along with his playful words that followed.

She looked at the travel bag dangling in his hand and asked carefully.

“Are you okay, Gallahan?”

“Something a little heartbreaking happened, but I’m okay now. Since you came, everything’s okay.”

“If that’s the case, then it’s a relief…”

Shan’s large eyes, still full of worry for him, gently touched a corner of his heart.

And perhaps intoxicated by that ticklish feeling, an unprecedented courage welled up within him.

Gallahan carefully took Shan’s hand, as if to cup it.

“If you’re not busy right now, could you spare some time for me, Shan?”

“…Yes.”

“Then shall we go this way?”

The two began to walk in step in the direction Gallahan pointed.

Fortunately, Shan did not pull her hand away.

Gallahan secretly sighed in relief, yet his heart swelled with joy.

It was truly strange.

He had just lost everything, but he felt as if he had gained the whole world.

“Actually, my name is Gallahan Lombardi.”

The story, which began with a calm self-introduction, was quite long.

Just walking hand in hand wherever their feet took them, Gallahan carefully revealed feelings he had never spoken to anyone.

“…”

Shan listened attentively to Gallahan’s story.

She never rushed him, nor did she overtly agree with him.

She only nodded occasionally, but that small action felt like she was comforting him, saying ‘it’s okay.’

“…So today, I packed my bags and left home.”

Upon saying it, it sounded like a childish runaway.

Gallahan laughed awkwardly, then suddenly realized.

“Come to think of it, Shan… you’ve never asked me anything about myself.”

It was always Gallahan’s role to ask Shan various questions.

“Because I knew you’d tell me someday.”

Shan replied with a shrug.

Perhaps she wasn’t interested in me at all.

Gallahan, who had suddenly become scared, burst into laughter and said.

“Sometimes, Shan, you’re like someone who knows the future. That makes me even more nervous…”

Gallahan stopped walking first.

It was in front of a small, two-story house with a red roof.

Click.

With a small sound, he took something out of his pocket and handed it over.

“A key…?”

It was a key, tied with a small red ribbon.

Shan quietly looked down at the object suddenly presented to her and asked.

“What is this, Gallahan?”

“It’s the key to this house.”

Shan, who had been looking only at the key in confusion, followed Gallahan’s fingertips and turned her head towards the red-roofed house.

“Ah…!”

It was that house.

The house where she and Gallahan had lived happily.

Shan swallowed dryly, realizing the meaning of this moment as he offered her the key.

“Shan.”

Gallahan was just as nervous.

“Although I’m no longer a Lombardi, and I’m not particularly remarkable, I deeply love you, Shan. And I want to live with you in this house.”

The ribbon fluttered with his trembling fingertips as he clutched the key like a lifeline.

“I hurriedly found this house here because you said you liked Lombardi, but if you want, we can go to another territory. I have a few small buildings in the Shesherwood Territory, which is close to your hometown. I don’t care where we go. As long as you… are by my side, Shan.”

He would be happy even if they built a cabin in the mountains and lived there, as long as she was with him.

“So, what I mean is.”

Gallahan closed his eyes tightly and said.

“Will you marry me, Shan?”

Yes, or no.

Gallahan held his breath, waiting for her answer.

But no answer came.

Finally, Gallahan slowly began to open his eyes just a crack.

“…Shan?”

“Hmph…”

Shan was crying.

She had never lost her smile even when talking about her hometown and mother she had left behind, or when she suddenly found herself without a place to go.

But now, tears were falling in drops, and she was sobbing bitterly without even trying to wipe them away.

“…you were.”

“What did you say, Shan?”

Gallahan leaned closer and asked again.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

The fear that the future might change.

The fear that he might make a different choice.

The fear she had held alone flowed out as tears.

“Shan.”

Gallahan embraced her.

It was a bond he had finally reached only after abandoning what he was born with.

Thump, thump.

Listening to Gallahan’s rapidly beating heart, Shan answered him.

“Yes. I’ll marry you, Gallahan.”