A month ago, the Lombardi mansion.
"Iâm pissed off..."
A bunch of papers in my hand lay on the table with a throbbing, heavy noise.
The report I received a while ago was heating up my head.
"Itâs been a long time, I feel like this."
Still, tapping on the table with my fingertips and waiting for my mood to calm down.
"The more I think about it, the more upset I get."
I expected some damage, but I didnât expect it to be this bad.
I narrow my eyes and glared at the papers.
"Isnât that such a person from the beginning? There is no trust at all."
Clarivan spoke low, frowning over his glasses.
"I didnât like him from the beginning. For me."
"The householder of Pellet. No, Clarivan."
When I called him "The householder of Pellet" like the habit I used to call in public, Clarivan, who looked at me as if he was disappointed, nodded immediately at my corrective title.
"Yes, the Matriarch."
"Are you free today?"
It just so happens that today is the day of the conference where I personally put forward the agenda.
I said, pointing my finger at the stack of papers Clarivan brought.
"Iâm going to take this and check it properly. Would you like to go together?"
"On my way out, I told you Iâd be leaving work right after work today."
As expected, Clarivan.
That was when we were nodding meaningfully while making eye contact.
"Tia, why donât you finish your meal."
My father, who was listening to our conversation next to me, said quietly, tearing the fresh bread with his hands.
Only then did I realize that we were sitting at a lunch table with a bunch of people, and I reflected on myself.
"The same goes for Sir Clarivan. Doesnât the food cool down?"2
"Oh, yeah. Iâm sorry."
Clarivan answered quickly, picking up the bread, as if he had ever glisten his eyes in sorrow.
Itâs the Clarivan that everyone but me is scared of and hard to treat.
Rather, heâs especially weak for my father who everyone is comfortable with.7
It seemed that there were similarities between people, such as scissors, rocks, and paper.
As I looked at my father and Clarivan for a moment, I shook my head and picked up a piece of bread.1
The soft and fluffy bread looked appetizing at a glance.
Yeah, Iâll have to eat a lot to fight well in a little while.
Thinking so, I was looking for butter for bread when I suddenly remembered something.
"Wait. Come to think of it, this bread is made of flour, right?"
Clarivan, who was about to put bread in his mouth at my word, also paused.
I glared at the bread for a moment with a vigilant gaze, then asked at the butler who was waiting near the table where we were eating.
"Butler John, Is this bread using flour from that region?"
"Because the wheat is of good quality anyway... Yes, it is."
"......Then I donât want to eat bread today."
My body wonât receive it.
I might have an upset stomach.
"Me too..."
Clarivan, who had been agonizing for a while, followed me and laid the bread down.3
"Phew."
My father shook his head and laughed as if he couldnât stop us.
"Does my grandfather eating in his study room today?"1
"Yes, the Matriarch. These days, he does it every day."
It was when I talked to John and pushed the basket full of bread far away with my fingertips and just turned to the steak on the plate.
"My Lady the Matriarch."
An employee of the mansion entered the dining room with a letter in his hand.
"Oh, itâs Larane."
The letters were filled with letters that were as soft and pretty as the person who wrote them.
"Larane?"
"What did she say?"
The twins, who were eating fruit, leaned towards me and asked if I had already finished eating.
Before the two reached out to the letter paper, I quickly talked about the content.
"Just, I guess sheâs busy preparing for the wedding. And..."
As planned, Larane and Avinox, who followed Eastern customs and ended their one-year engagement period, should have already had their wedding last year.
But they couldnât, and the reason is.
"Lix is also growing well."
Full-name Velix Luman.7n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
It is the name of the son of Larane and Avinox.10
The unexpected early gift led to a very slight change of order, with Larane giving birth to Lix and then holding a wedding ceremony.
"Oh, I canât wait to see Lix."
"Me too, heâs cute just by looking at the portrait."
"Heâs more resemble to Avinox than I thought, so Iâm laughing a little."
Oh, I admit that too.
Lixâs portrait, which Larane sent last month, had a mini Avinox.1
Everyone who saw the painting was amazed and laughed.
"It said children faces change every day, but are they much different from portraits now, Mother?"
Gillieu asked Shannanet, who was tapping the corner of her mouth with a napkin.
"At that time, the kids are definitely sleeping and getting bigger when they wake up, but well. But it still remains the same as Confucius Luman."
"Ah, Lix should have looked like Larane!"1
Mairon was sad, shouting, "Itâs cute now, but it would have been cuter then!"
They donât grow up even when they get older.
I spoke to the twins.
"Weâll see him in a few weeks anyway, but hold on until then."
Although Larane was rushed to the East, the situation was unfavorable, so we couldnât attend her engagement ceremony.
As for the wedding, we are going to the East a week later for her family to attend together.
"By the way, does His Majesty really accompany you, Tia?"1
"Oh, thatâs..."
At my fatherâs question, I smiled awkwardly and nodded.
"It must be! He want to go, can I stop it?"2
If the Emperor wants to do it, whoâs stopping him?
No, I can stop him, but how shiny his eyes were when I told the story.
I couldnât bring myself to say no.
"Wouldnât it be dangerous though?"
"......to Perez?"
When I asked, my father blinked his eyes and thought for a moment, and he immediately laughed, "Thatâs right."
"Although it is unusual for the Emperor to come in person, it is also a good way to control the public sentiment of the East."
The eastern region was only a few decades after being incorporated into the Empire, so it was still a region requiring careful management in many ways.
"By the way, Tia."
Shannanet called me.
"Howâs the preparation going for your wedding?"
"Oh...... thereâs still a lot left, well."
Me and Perezâs scheduled engagement period is two years until Creney graduates from the Academy.
There was still less than half of the time left.
"Perez and I are also busy."
I am Lombardi, and Perez is busy caring for the empire.
"Thatâs right. If you could just do it right now......"
Shannanetâs eyes glanced at the bundle of papers still lying on the table, saying so.
Even though she doesnât show off the surface, it was Shannanet that she responded as sensitively as me to touching Lombardi.
"Itâs time to get going."
Said Gillieu, who checked my plate that was almost empty.
"If we leave now, weâll be able to arrive right before the conference."
"It may not be possible to hold a meeting without Tia just because it is a little late."
Everyone in the seat, including me, nodded.
"Letâs go then."
I stood up and said.
I took the materials I had thrown on the table myself.
This is my weapon today.
After a while.
The carriage carrying me and Clarivan arrived at the Imperial Palace.
The twins who were escorting the carriage outside along with other knights, was flapping their knightâs uniform, saying it was hot.
"Why donât we go into the conference room together? It should be cool inside."
"Well, no. Weâll be outside."
"Yes, weâre comfortable out there. Thereâs a lot of people in there.
Gillieu and Mairon answered, strangely avoiding my gaze.
Like thereâs something very hidden at a glance.
Come to think of it, even today, the two said letâs start first, right?
"Whatâs wrong with you two?"
I was saying I had a hunch, but now the time was approaching for the conference to begin.
Do it one at a time, one at a time.
"See you later. Letâs go, Clarivan."
After seeing the awkward smiling faces of the twins waving at me, I stepped into the conference room with Clarivan.
"Have you come, the Matriarch of Lombardi, Oh, today you are also with the lord of Pellet Top."
"Youâre here early, Berne."
"As you get old, the only thing that disappears is morning sleep."
The Patriarch of Berne greeted me first and laughed happily.
If a hunting competition is still held, the one who wins first place easily over all young people will pretend to be weak.
But that was Berneâs way of life.
Laughing, pretending to be weak, and pretending not to know.
It was the Patriarch of Berneâs way to snatch the opponentâs weaknesses through such a vigilant gap.
I took a look inside the conference room filled with nobles.
None of the central nobles here had their own weapons like Berne.
Because this was a battleground where the fight of politics took place.
"Now the meeting is about to begin."
"I see. Then shall we go to our seats?"
"I will pave the way. Letâs go this way, the Matriarch of Lombardi."
Before I knew it, the so-called "pro-Lombardi" nobles who came to me at the entrance of the conference room welcomed me in a boisterous manner.
As I began to take a step, the empireâs most prominent noblemen stepped back like water splits.
In that scene, which was now accustomed, I slowly sat down in the seat of the householder of Lombardi, to the left of the seat of the emperor.
Then I slowly raised my head and looked straight ahead.
The seat facing me head-on.
I looked at the man sitting in the place where the Patriarch of Angenas once sat.
A man with unwavering short hair and blunt face, but a sword-like eyes.
It was the center of the"Pro-Sushou" against the "Pro-Lombardi" and the greatlandlord of the South, Chanton Sushou.