In This Life, I Will Be The Lord

"You're late, Chanton."

Perez said while looking out the window as the rain was pouring down.

It's already been a long time since darkness fell.

With only a few lights on, a dark shadow fell on his face.

"There was an accident on the way here."

"An accident?"

"Yes."

A short answer was all, but Perez looked at Chanton Sushou with cold eyes.

A few years ago, he, who resigned himself as the commander of the Imperial Knights, never spoke useless words.

"Is it something I should know?"

"I hit a drunken passerby with a carriage, and when I checked the woman's identity, it turns out that she is Lombardi's illegitimate child."

At the words of Chanton Sushou, Perez twisted the corners of his mouth.

It was today that he finally succeeded in closing Lombardi's door.

So he thought Lombardi's name would never be heard again.

It was like Lombardi, who was persistent until the end.

"Did Viege Lombardi have an extramarital affair?"

"It is said that she is the illegitimate child of his younger brother, Gallahan Lombardi, not Viege."

"I haven't heard of Viege having a younger brother other than Laurels."

Perez said, remembering Lombardi's ruthless second son.

"The third son of Lulac Lombardi, he seems to have died a long time ago. The illegitimate child's name is Florentia Lombardi..."

"Stop."

Perez stopped Chanton Sushou's report with a single gesture.

"I don't have to know that. Please compensate the bereaved family well."

"It seems that she was living alone in downtown Lombardi without any ties, so I don't think we need to worry about the compensation."

"Then that's even better. Even with the fall of Lombardi, an illegitimate child, was in a carriage accident that escaped great anger. It seems like the subject is the same as the life and death of the family."

With those words, Perez finally expressed his feelings about Lombardi's illegitimate child.

Instead, he got up from the chair he was sitting on and asked Chanton Sushou.

"Is there any change in your decision to go?"

"I'm just grateful that you gave me a chance to see the end of Angenas with my own eyes."

Perez took the lead, nodding silently.

His footsteps quickly passed through the dimly lit corridors of the Imperial Palace and entered the illuminated road of the Imperial Palace.

However, only a sound of desolate rain flowed between the two men.

Upon arriving at the destination, Perez paused for a moment and admired the view of the Empress Palace.

He was very satisfied with the appearance of the Empress Palace, with all the lights turned off and no one coming and going, just like its owner.

Thud, thud.

The sound of two wet footsteps echoed through the corridors of the Empress Palace, but no one blocked them or welcomed them.

The palace should be left empty except for the two knights guarding outside the bedroom where the Empress is imprisoned.

It was the command of the dignified Crown Prince, Perez, who held the power of the Lambrew Empire in one hand.

As the two men stood in front of the bedroom door, a scream was heard with a sharp bursting sound from inside.

Clink!

"Open it! Open this door right now!"

However, the knights who stood in front of the door did not respond to the Empress' crying roar.

They only looked at the Crown Prince with a tense face.

"Open it."

Just one word.

At Perez's brief command, the door to the Empress's bedroom, which had not been opened for the past week, was opened.

Swish-!

Perez took a step inside and caught what was flying towards him.

Grab!

It was a half-broken desk clock that came into the grasp.

The person who threw it was Empress Lavini Angenas, who was breathing heavily with her messy hair.

She lost everything in her past to the point where she was once praised as the most beautiful woman in the empire, and now it overshadowed and she was just a wretched sinner.

"Damn you! Where are you?"

Lavini Angenas shouted as if in a frenzy.

However, her voice, which had lost all its strength and remained evil, had already rested for a long time, and the luxurious bedroom was in a mess in the hands of the owner who could not overcome it.

Perez, who looked around the room with an expressionless face, approached Lavini Angenas, who was barely standing on a round table.

Crack, crack.

With every step, sharp shards of glass was crushed more finely under the heavy boots.

"Have you made a decision?"

At the first words Perez said, the Empress's skinny body was startled.

A few days ago, Perez, who visited the Empress Palace, gave her one option.

"Poison and rope, how to die, Lavini Angenas."

It was around that time that the Empress's madness, which had maintained dignity until then, began.

"I think this gave you enough time to think."

"Oh, that...!"

Lavini Angenas, whose face turned pale, soon put a vein on her neck.

"I am the Empress of the Lambrew Empire! His Majesty is still alive and fine, how dare you!"

"Fine?"

Perez laughed with a sneer.

"It's already been a few days since he couldn't even open his eyes, so the word of 'fine' is too much, Lavini Angenas."

"His- His Majesty..."

Lavini Angenas, who didn't know the outside situation because she was confined in the bedroom, stumbled in a big shock.

"You devil! H-how, to your parents...!"

"Parents?"

Perez asked back.

"Did I have parents? My mother has been dead by the Emperor's hand for a long time, and I have never had a father."

The red-eyed pupil, who had been slowly closed once, stared at Lavini Angenas.

"Don't you dare to say that you are like my mother, Lavini Angenas."

The empress was not able to even breathe at will, let alone an answer, because the life was being shot at her.

There was only the sound of her ragged breath flowed into her messed up bedroom.

"Come in."

It was Perez who broke the silence that had flowed for a moment.

At the low command, the two knights who had been guarding the door entered the bedroom and closed the door firmly.

"Wh- what are you trying to do...!"

Lavini Angenas, feeling the unusual atmosphere, stepped back.

Even so, the only thing that touched her back was the wretched bedroom wall.

It was only after seeing the rope in the knight's hand that the Empress, who had been contemplating, began to beg with her hands together.

"Please save me! You can't do this! You can't do this to me, the Empress!"

Eventually, Lavini Angenas knelt halfway in front of Perez.

"Just save me. I'll be locked in a separate palace somewhere and live like I'm dead. So, please..."

"That's what my mother used to beg for."

Perez, who cut off Lavini Angenas' plea like that, casually asked Chanton Sushou.

"Do you intend to remain?"

"Yes, I'll do that."

Upon hearing Chanton Sushou's answer, Perez turned around.

There was no time to watch the end of Lavini Angenas.

Click.

An evil scream could be heard from behind the closed door, but Perez did not look back.

Walking leisurely through the deadly deserted Empress Palace, he moved toward the Crown Prince's palace.

Then he stopped.

Standing still, in the pouring rain, he soon turned around.

The well-maintained road disappeared, the trees increased, and a thick forest appeared.

He walked in like that for a while.

The step of leaving a mark on the barren soil stopped only when it reached the half-collapsed detached palace.

A bitter wind swept his back.

Climbing up the creaking stairs, he slammed the hinged door roughly.

In this vast imperial palace, it was the only place he occasionally visited.

A chair was placed on a seat overlooking the window and a bottle of wine was placed next to it.

It was his seat.

A cloud of dust rose as he sat down, but Perez silently poured his drink into the glass.

When the insomnia caused by the poison that he had been ingesting since childhood due to Lavini Angenas' scheme worsened, he spent a long night swallowing this strong drink.

A brown liquid, which was too strong that it had no place to produce it, ran down the esophagus.

Despite the intense pain, his expressionless face did not change.

As if wet with rain, his dark red eyes captured the Emperor's palace in the distance.

"It's cumbersome to do funerals twice, so maybe two days later."

Thus, the date of the death of Emperor Yovanes was set.

In the end, Perez, who had emptied all of his alcohol after two sips, suddenly opened his mouth.

"Are you satisfied now, mother?"

But no answer came back.

Perez looked down at the empty glass without any contents, and closed his eyes for a long time.

The revenge is over.

Soon he will ascend to the throne of emperor.

He felt empty.

He felt like he was missing something big on the back of his head.

It was familiar and unpleasant.

What the hell is it.

What did I miss?

He asked himself.

Of course, as always, he couldn't find an answer.

"The illegitimate child of Lombardi."

A woman whose face he had never seen before, who had passed away with Lombardi today, crossed his mind for a moment.

But it was just that.

Perez opened his eyes again and looked out the dusty window.

It was still raining in the dark.