In This Life, I Will Be The Lord

Chapter 7

Why is that person here!

It looked a lot younger than I know, but that was definitely the Clerivan Pellet.

His tall stature, an upright attitude as if he had a cast on his waist, and his eyes with a raised edges.

In this Lombardy, few people can maintain such an uproar.

"What brought you here, Clerivan?"

My father was scratching his head as if he was a lot confused.

I would be like that, too. Clerivan Pellet was a very capable, but very busy person, overseeing the top of Lombardy.

At least in the future I know he was.

To the point, I can count on my two hands when I see Clerivan's face properly while working with my grandfather.

Replace my grandfather to write most of the important reports.

"Can I go in?"

"Of course. Come in.”

My father is still waiting for Clerivan in the middle of the parlor, and I quickly pretended to pick up the book and read it.

I don't know why.

I just thought I had to do that.

He fixed his gaze somewhere on the letters that filled the side of the book, and instead raised his ears.

As if conscious of me, Clerivan looked at my side and sat across from my father.

"What's going on? If my father said something in a hurry..."

“Not so.”

"Then."

Even though he was an employee of the same family, my father's attitude was very different from his dealings with Dr. O'Malley.

That alone gave me a rough idea of the location of the Clerivan in the current family.

At least, it was clear that the son of Lulak was not a person who could do it at will.

Why did such a person visit my father?

"The reason I came to today is not with you Gallahan-nim, but with Florentia-nim."

Huh?

I?

I endured all of my patience to not look there.

"You mean you came to see Florentia...?"

"Yes, that's right."

It seemed that I could feel the gaze of my father and Clerivan.

Somehow, my forehead was aching, but I flipped the bookshelf as if I was still reading.

“Then it must be about class.”

Class?

What class?

Unlike me, who is still confused, my father halted his head.

"It hasn't been confirmed yet. Today I'm here to talk to Florentia-nin for a while."

“Yes, that’s right.”

Apart from understanding why Clerivan came today, my father seemed quite embarrassed, coughing a couple of times, and then call me.

"Tia, come here."

"Yes."

Like a kid who has been reading all the time, I screamed with a face that didn't know anything.

Then I thought about where to sit for a moment and sat down on my father's lap.

Because I am seven years old now.

If you're a real seven-year-old, you'll want to stick with your father as much as possible in a space with strangers.

As expected, my father lifted me and sat me on his knees.

Then there was a moment of silence.

To be precise, I and Clerivan faced each other and said nothing.

I just stared at Clerivan, who said he came to talk with me and didn't say anything.

It was because I couldn't say hello first. After all, I didn't know if I had met him before or not.

“…Indeed."

After a while, he looked at me with his eyes and muttered an unknown word, bowing his head a little while he was sitting, and greeted me first.

“Good to see you, Florentia. I'm Clerivan Pellet."

Thank God.

I haven't met you before.

I bent my back with a sigh of relief inside.

"Hello, my name is Florentia Lombardy."

My body stumbled as if I had bowed my head too politely to say hello to the real world of the future family as well as possible.

After all, the body of a child with a large head is very uncomfortable.

“Gallahan-nim. Can I talk to Florentia-nim for a moment, just two of us?"

The format was a question, but it wasn't really asking my father's consent.

In a word, He was told to go out.

"Tia. Clerivan-nim says you have a few things to ask. Dad will be in my room for a while.

My father gently stroked my hair and explained to me.

"Yeah."

I expected to some extent, but I'm a little nervous about having to talk to Clerivan alone.

The sharp gaze that makes me open up with my head, chest, and stomach is also very burdensome.

I felt as if I was on the experiment table.

When the door of my father's room closed, Clerivan stood up and brought something from there.

It was a book called <People of the South> that I was reading a while ago.

“Do you know what I am doing in Lombardy?”

Knowing that I'm not so nervous.

'That', what kind of job did Clerivan Pellet be in charge of when he was young?

I shook my head out loud.

“I'm teaching the younger heirs of the family who will lead this Lombardy in the future.”

Ah!

Class!

Now I understood the conversation between my father and Clerivan.

Since I was nine years old, I had been taking lessons from an education officer for a while.

But the teacher at that time wasn't Clerivan.

Before that, did he move to another position?

Anyway, the 'class' that Clerivan refers to is a kind of successor class and was the first official evaluation platform for Lombardy's children to climb.

According to the plan of the education officer, the children of the family are gathered and taught together.

At first glance, it may sound like just light home training, but it wasn't at all.

Rather, it had a lot of cruelty.

First, there was no set age at which to attend classes.

Only children who were judged ready to follow the class, no matter how old, were eligible to attend.

Naturally, the level of children is revealed according to the age at which they begin to take classes.

Secondly, the age was not decided even for quitting class.

Just one day, I was told, 'You don't have to go to class anymore.'

That was my case in the past.

Of course, it wasn't graduation, but I was no longer disqualified from attending classes.

And finally, the assessments made during each class are reported to my grandfather.

In a word, it meant that the current Clerivan Pellet was like a direct line that could connect me and my grandfather.

And that I came here separately.

"My grandfather sent it?"

I barely suppressed the laughter that seemed to pop out of my grandfather's face, which was shining in his eyes when he saw me.

As I stared at myself without any special reaction, Clerivan, slightly frowned on something I didn't like, asked me, laying down the book in front of me.

"I heard that you are reading this book."

"Yes, I've been reading it since yesterday."

"Is that so. If so, what is it?"

Seems like I'm testing if I can really read this book now.

It was good to read it in advance last night.

Well, pretending to think for a while, I replied.

"I just read a bit yet, but there are strange people living in the Southern forest of my country. This is a book that tells stories about them."

Clerivan heard my story and seemed a little embarrassed.

You probably thought I was carrying books like a toy.

I understand.

Of course, It was suspicious to reading a fairy tale book or a book that would make even an adult bored by a seven-year-old girl.

I looked at Clerivan with a smile in the attitude of 'Ask Anything'.

"What is the name of the author who wrote this book?"

"It says 'Lopili' on the cover there?"

"What was the content of Chapter 1?"

Someone named Lopili was telling how he got to hear rumors about the people of the south."

"Hemm...."

It was Clerivan who lost words to my unobstructed answer.

I asked with an innocent expression that I didn't know anything.

"Did you come here because you want to read this book? Would you like to borrow it?"

I handed the thick green book to Clerivan and said.

"I'm curious about what's behind it, but I can read it later."

"Hmm. It's not like that. I've already read it, so you can keep reading it."

"Ah, that's good!"

I laughed, holding the book in my arms as if I was really happy.

It was so fun teasing him like that, it was great to see those cold human eyes fluttering wildly.

He was embarrassed for a while.

Clerivan, who came back with a blunt face, asked me another question.

"There are three rumors that Lopili heard. What is it...?"

"Wait a minute, Uncle Clerivan."

"......Why?."

"You were wrong."

I laughed as I rolled up the tail of my mouth.

"Lopili is not 'he'. It's 'she'."

"Yes?"

"If you look at the page in front of the cover, it's listed. The full name is Abane Lopili. She a female scholar."

"Well, what is that now..."

Confused Clerivan opens the book and urgently reads the preface down.

Oh, it's fun.

I put one more word toward Clerivan, who couldn't hide his embarrassment.

"You already read it. You read it roughly."

His shoulders flinch, then his ears turn red.2

I had to bite the flesh on the inside of my cheek in order not to laugh.

Cleverly, who covered the book with a sound, said with fear, looking at me sitting with a relaxed expression.

"At first, it will be difficult to keep up with the class."

"You will learn a lot of new things!"

I nodded and said brightly as if welcoming.

"We do not treat you special because you are young. You will be taking classes with your cousins who are older than Florentia."

"I think it will be fun!"

How to make the moon look brighter when the night sky is dark.1

I would look smarter next to them!

Excitedly, seeing me running around with my short legs, Clerivan sighed a little and said, as if giving up.

"...... And not uncle. Call me a teacher."

Finally, permission has run out!

Before Clerivan changed his mind, I quickly replied out loud.

"Yes, teacher!"

You're taking classes at the age of seven!

Perhaps the fastest in Lombardy history?

How is Clerivan going to report what happened today to my grandfather?

The imagination made me feel better, and I laughed at Clerivan.