I Shall Master This Family's
26

Chapter 26

I have met Empress Rabini several times.

Of course, not now, but in my previous life.

At that moment, she was a woman with outstanding beauty who was thoroughly managed.

But at the same time, there was a side as cold as it seemed.

"The Lombardy Valley, right?"

Rabini slowly extended one hand to my father.

If the female Imperial greeting is the one I trained with Shananet last time, the male greeting is two different ways.

One, prostrate with hands near the heart in the same way, and bow down the hands of the royal family and place them on the forehead.

Of course, the second method was a little more polite.

The greeting method that is rarely used again in greeting

The empress did not immediately pull that hand, and my father looked at her for a moment and placed it on her forehead.

I also followed my father to say hello, but the Empress did not look at me.

He seemed to sense a strange victory as he looked at my father with his eyes slightly closed.

"I saw the guest train I invited to dinner, so I saw it, what happened?"

The empress asked, looking back at the two knights.

"Well, that's ......"

Of course, that word is confusing.

The Empress ordered to forcibly inspect our carriage, and the scene of apologizing for it was done by the Empress again.

Rabini's eyes that saw them were extremely cold.

"Don't do this here, let's go in. It's rude to let guests on the street."

The empress, who said so, turned around and started walking.

Five or six servants followed him.

My father looked at her with a hard face for a while, then he felt my gaze and looked back.

"How about we go too, Tia?"

He laughed as he reached out to me.

* * *

The place where the Empress guided us was the dining room built specifically for dinner at the Empress's palace.

Rabini called around ten guests each month to manage his network, but often the Emperor was also with him, so the Empress's dinner among the nobles was an important event they wanted to attend.

But when my father and I stepped in, we realized that dinner today was different from what we heard.

There were only cutlery for five people on the long table.

"Today I just invited Lombardy. We have something to celebrate, right?"

The empress laughed with her big eyes folded gently.

It was very beautiful, but I did not feel any sincerity in it.

Instead, I felt uneasy from constantly thinking about the Second Prince's shabby appearance.

"It's an honor."

Father still greeted politely and sat down on the chair appointed by the Empress.

And as soon as we sat down, the dining room door reopened, as if waiting, and the First Prince walked in.

"Mother."

"Welcome to Astana. Astana's friend is here today?"

Astana glanced at me and replied with a gentle appearance.

Me and the guy are friends.

I wanted to laugh, but I held him back and sat quietly in my chair.

"Hello, young lady Lombardy."

"How are you, Your Highness the First Prince."

The First Prince, who received my father's greetings, sat down by the Empress' side.

By the way, it was the seat in front of me.

ah, I feel uncomfortable.

"I'll tell you something I couldn't say a while ago, but Empress."

My father, who was quiet, suddenly spoke up.

The queen stopped drinking water with a smile.

"....Please talk."

"Today, on my way to the Imperial Palace, my carriage was inspected by the Imperial Knights."

"Oh."

Although the Empress looked surprised, her face immediately returned a smile.

Usually, people will behave as if it never happened.

However, father did not give up and continued the conversation with a stern face.

"In the Imperial Palace, Lombardy descendants were not subjected to inspection or search. Isn't that the law?"

Father's protest reasoned.

"Indeed. Weird."

However, the Empress laughed at my father's words.

"Why are there so many exceptions just for Lombardy? All other families entering the Imperial Palace must be thoroughly inspected."

The Empress's speech was very crooked.

But somehow, it seems like it was very deliberate.

On the contrary, negative feelings towards Lombardy were so strong that it almost became a stream of cynical talk without realizing it.

The empress immediately laughed and added to see if she was aware of such a mistake.

"Of course it's because Lombardy is a special family in many ways."

Dad didn't answer anything.

I only faced the Empress for a while without looking away.

The moment the dining room door opened once again, the atmosphere that seemed to shatter at any moment became calm.

"Haha! It's easy!"

The incoming Emperor Jovanes, called out my father's name in a loud voice from the beginning.

As the Second Prince's father, he was a man with black hair and an open-minded atmosphere.

I followed father and got up from the chair then greeted according to the courtesy of the Empire.

"It's been a long time since! How are you?"

"I'm glad Your Majesty is in good health."

"It's always me!"

My father and the Emperor were actually the same age and seemed to have quite a close relationship when they were young.

The Emperor's gaze, which patted my father's shoulder with his thick hands, reached me.

"Hohs. You're Florentia."

"Florentia Lombardy greets His Majesty the Emperor."

I was the type to learn quickly, and fortunately, I didn't make any mistakes this time.

The Emperor's laughter and dry eyes glanced at me.

"Yes, yeah. You are a very beautiful child."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

"I thought you had a very clever daughter who looked like you, Gallahan!"

The emperor seemed good at praising someone.

"Come, sit!"

When the Emperor took over, the dinner began as the servants brought food and drinks.

While everyone was busy preparing food, I felt something strange.

Still, he was his son, but the Emperor came to the dining table and never glanced at the First Prince.

Astana seemed to have gotten so bored with father like that and didn't care.

"So, what were you talking about before I came?"

"I just say hello without saying anything."

The queen looked around with a smile. I looked at the Empress.

"I don't think that's all, Gallahan?"

The Emperor took turns to look at my father and the Empress and said.

"If there's something in your heart, it's okay to say it without surprise."

However, the Emperor's words were insincere, but the words were empty.

He did not care at all what my father wanted to say, and the Empress did not think my father would say anything special in front of the Emperor.

I'm upset.

In front of my grandfather, these two were very careful in speaking, but now they were seen making fun of my father.

But at the same time, the Empress made sense.

So I thought dad wouldn't say anything.

But.

"I was telling the Empress about what happened on the dinner trip today."

Thats stunning.

The Emperor and Empress also paused for a moment and they smiled as if they had not expected my father to speak like this.

"What's going on?"

The Emperor asked, scratching his beard.

"Our chalices are inspected by Imperial Knights."

"Hmm?"

The emperor was also quite surprised.

Then, I glanced over and looked at the Empress.

"Huh yeah, something like that happened."

I noticed about what had happened.

We may be the only ones who need it that way.

I have a strong feeling that kamj may not experience the same thing as Viese.

The Empress did not show her expression with her eyes lowered.

"It seems like there's a misunderstanding about something."

The emperor, who had been silent for a while, said.

"They stopped the car with the Lombardy emblem. It doesn't seem like a misunderstanding, Your Majesty."

".....Gallahan, you look really angry."

Obviously, he's not like my father.

Due to his shy personality, he was very different from usual, who could not speak badly to the Emperor's servants.

"My daughter was very surprised."

My father replied in a low voice.

Only then can I understand my father's actions.

Dad is now angry at me for thinking I'm afraid of my time, not because he's insulted.

It seemed like a cold wind was blowing on the table for a moment.

"Haha! I'm sorry for this!"

He laughed out loud, but the Emperor finally had to apologize for being sorry.

However, there was no mention of the Empress in her next words.

"The knights are very excited. Some could not understand the special relationship between the Imperial Family and the Lombardy in their loyalty."

In the end, the knight took the blame.

The empress, who instructed everything, was abandoned and considered an individual mistake.

My father knew it too, and he nodded with a small sigh.

"I just wish this would never happen again."

"All right, then. That's not gonna happen again! Now, drink!"

The emperor shook his chest as if he had promised, and poured alcohol on my father.

I stared at the Empress's face, pretending to drink the juice in front of me.

And it's creepy.

It was a pretty face that was still smiling, but her sharp eyes were staring at my father without buzzing.

I know he had tried to kill the 2nd Prince, but after seeing him in person he was a very scary person.

So dinner began, and ready meals began to be served one after another.

Of course, it was an amazing dish as it was served by the Empress.

That's when I made such a wise evaluation.

The Emperor, who was having a casual chat with my father, suddenly asked a question about his business.

"Yes, you're saying the business you're leading is a huge success?"

The Empress, who said nothing after my father protested against the Emperor, also showed interest this time.

"It's great to see Angelas and Lombardy, the two main pillars of the empire, working together!"

"It's overkill."

Since when did Angelas become the main pillar of this kingdom?

He was an Emperor who slowly raised his wife, Angelas, to the same level as Lombardy.

Now, Emperor Jovanes tried to stop Lombardy with Angelanas.

That was also the reason why the Emperor vaguely knew what he was doing to the Second Prince, but pretended not to know.

However, about three years later, the partnership between the Empress and the Emperor ended when Angenas provoked the Emperor's anger through absurd tax evasion.

"Please help many Durak over in the future, Gallahan Lombardy. They're just starting out, so they're not very good."

The empress said to my father with a friendly smile.

But the answer that came back was not very friendly.

"I have spoken with the supreme ruler of Durak, but I will soon leave the textile business, Empress."

"...Yea?"

Perhaps this was the first time she heard of it, the empress's poker face ended up being broken.

He seemed to think that if the father who was the center of the business was eliminated, there would be a setback in the business.

This was a money line that would make the 1st Prince a Crown Prince, but it would be a big deal if it dried up.

"I'm thinking of doing another personal business."

"That's very fast. Isn't this too rushed? I hope you can help Top Durak a little."

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can."

The confused empress tried to persuade father, but my father did not budge.

"It's not always possible for Top Lombardy to help Top Durak."

In short, dad says that we have to do it ourselves.

The Empress's mouth, which understood its meaning correctly, shook.

And the Empress's eyes changed.

Until quite some time ago, he had been thinking about how to force this seemingly relaxed father to do what he wanted, but now that thought seemed to be completely closed off.

".... Gallahan, you're so different from what I thought."

"I don't know what kind of expectation the Empress has had of me, but I'm sorry for not being able to fulfill it."

At first, I wasn't the one who spoke so forcefully.

It seems that the Empress was not so happy with it.

I also feel that way to the Empress.

So what about the Second Prince and the treatment of Lombardy's descendants?

In many ways, he was a terrible person.

After dinner, don't know if food is getting into your mouth or nose.

On the way home by train, my father didn't say much.

As usual, the time to fall asleep had passed, so I lay at my father's feet and he caressed my forehead, and fell asleep.

'Because I have no power ..........'

My father muttered while looking out the window.

* * *

In a dark room with a candle lit.

It was a small, separate palace, but too big and empty for an 11-year-old boy left alone.

Perez, sitting as if hiding in a corner of the bed, took out a pocket in his hand.

And he took the golden medicine in it with one gulp, following exactly what Florentia said.

It was a bitter medicine, but Perez was undaunted.

That was because no one cared even if he felt bitter.

Perez, who closed the bottle cap, took out a round candy from his pocket and ate it.

The white balls become convex following the shape of the candy.

"Generic"

Perez muttered like a snort.

The bitter taste is now familiar enough to get used to, but not with this sweet taste.

It looked strange and awkward.

But Perez kept rolling the candy in his mouth.

It was because he felt better little by little.

Does the sweetness that spreads make the heartbeat run faster?

If no...

Perez touched his soft handbag.

He remembered the Florentia face he had met during the day.

For a while, she had a cute face that looked like a fairy in the forest.

In particular, her large round green eyes, which looked like the color of a blade of grass, were stuck in her head.

And the boy said.

"i wish you could live. No, I think you should live."

Perez held the bottle in one hand as if he would never let it be taken.

The candy rolled in his mouth once more.

"...Sweet."

Peres muttered as he looked at the shadow of the candle.