<h4>Chapter 262</h4>


    "......me?"


    "Yes."


    Perez, who nodded, did not hesitate for a second.


    He sincerely thinks he is.


    From his face staring at me with his smiley eyes, the image of the child who was eating medicinal herbs and ate with grass was reflected.


    While I couldn’t say anything, Perez said with a smallughter what he had read from me.


    "I know, Tia. What are you thinking now."


    Then he continued in a neutral or nonchnt voice, as if he was talking about someone else.


    "That day, I would have been here even if you hadn’te to me. I would have survived and ended my revenge."


    Perez dered.


    In the end, he would have been the winner.


    "But I don’t think I’m the way as I am now. It was probably in pieces. There was nothing left, so I would have lived empty without dying. No, maybe."


    Perez bite his mouth for a moment, then smiled again.


    It was that rxed smile of courtesy.


    "So Tia, you made me."


    I couldn’t say no.


    Because I’ve seen Perez survive alone.


    At the end of his bloody revenge, he burned everything and left nothing but ck soot.


    Then the smiling face of the guy in front of me now felt very precious.


    "Perez."


    "Huh?"


    "Aren’t you rubbing the hand of such a benefactor too much? It will turn red like this."


    I pointed with my eyes at Perez’srge hand, rubbing it here and there.


    "My hands aren’t any dough."


    "Well. There are many things inmon."


    The guy who answered so took the back of my hand to his mouth.


    And then.


    "Ugh, Perez!"


    A white, neat tooth revealed under his red lips bite the back of my hand so that it wouldn’t hurt.


    It looked like a serious chef tasting the food he made, or like a big wolf courting its mate.


    Perez said with a painted smile as my silent nce demanded an exnation for his strange behavior.


    "Because it looks delicious."


    "De, delicious..."


    I ended up stuttering a little at a loss for words.


    "You, there’s nothing you can’t say!"


    Oh, I know what color my face is right now even if I don’t have to look in the mirror.


    Otherwise, Perez wouldugh so loudly.


    Perez, who had been enjoying himself for a long time, approached slowly and hugged me tightly.


    After that hug that felt a little stuffy, the guy said.


    "Tia, if you need my help, tell me anytime."


    He’s talking about Sushou’s work.


    Throughout the conference, I remembered Perez’ cold eyes, who were thrown towards Chanton Sushou for a moment.


    "You just have to say a word."


    Just a word.


    The voice of saying so sounded desperate for some reason.


    "You know, Tia, I can do anything you want."


    "I know."


    I hugged Perez face to face.


    "I know well."


    That’s why I don’t say it.


    "Because you’re the one who would do anything for me."


    Instead of further words, I patted him on the back.


    Perhaps the meaning was conveyed, Perez mumbled low, kissing my head.


    "I wish there was something I could do for you. Anything’s fine."


    ***


    That evening, the dining room at the main building of Lombardi mansion was filled with people talking.


    At a long table, several members of the vassal families, including Lombardi, sat around and ate together.


    "So, Lord Gahan. There’s a new trend in the East recently..."


    "Oh, Laurel, give me the napkin over there. Marilyn spilled the juice!"


    However, it was not a formal atmosphere like a regr banquet.


    Rather, it was a free and a little noisy evening, as if rtives were gathered together.


    I looked at the people sitting around the long table with proud eyes.


    It was a new culture of Lombardi that began after I became the Matriarch.


    At the dining room in Lombardi’s main building, only direct lineages could eat without an invitation from the householder.


    But now, the people of the vassal familes are free to eat together.


    There was no coercion and no limit on the number of people.


    It started out because it felt absurd to use thisrge dining room and only a few direct lineages from Lombardi, including myself.


    Of course, there was one important rule.


    Not having a public meeting or making a decision here.


    The move was aimed at avoiding pressure to attend meals.


    Looking around the people, I turned my gaze silently.


    To my right, my grandfather, who was eating with a book in one hand, and Shan, who was staring at such a grandfather.


    "Hoh. No, this kind of development..."


    I heard my grandfather’s murmur and bite my lower lip tightly so as not tough.


    I still remember vividly.


    The scene where my grandfather, who had just handed over the position of householder to me, shouted, "Now I’m going to read as much as I want!"


    And to this day, my grandfather was enjoying his retirement life just as he said.


    Recently, he has been so obsessed with mystery novels that he almost ate in his study that he couldn’t afford to eat properly at the dining room for dinner, so he ended up bringing books to the table.


    "Father."


    In the end, Shan, who couldn’t see, quietly called my grandfather.


    "Why don’t you read after the meal."


    "Hmm?"


    Only then, my grandfather noticed the strangely quiet surroundings and lifted his head from the book.


    Then, conscious of the different eyes he had on him, he coughed in a splendid vain.


    "Don’t mind me. It’s just because it’s a little curious."


    Flint Devon, Laurel’s husband, said with a smile.


    "To think there will be a day when the former Patriarch will enjoy his hobby happily. I’m so touched!"


    His good words embarrassed my grandfather, who eventually covered the book and pushed it aside.


    But even after that, his gaze turned to the book again and again.


    "Grandpa, if you’re bored during dinner time, can I tell you what happened at today’s conference?"


    "Done."


    My grandfather shook his hand and hated it.


    "I’ve given you my seat to avoid that troublesome job."


    Whether my grandfather intends to return to the library after finishing his meal quickly, his meal speed has elerated.


    "I heard that the results of the conference went as you wish."


    Shan said to me, gracefully wiping her mouth with a napkin.


    "How long will itst in Sushou?"


    Shan’s ever-straight eyebrows were rarely frowned.


    Shan, who cares about Lombardi and the people of Lombardi as much as I do.


    She is very displeased with Chanton Sushou.


    "I know, right. I keep betting on the back of my body. Annoyingly."


    "Even so, thepensation was paid off."


    I don’t know the exact reason for that, but rivan, who hates Chanton Sushou as much as I and Shan, or maybe even more, spit it out.


    I mean I got the reward, but I didn’t look happy at all.


    As we talked briefly after the conference was over, there is something ufortable.


    "When I first opened the port, there was a time when the Patriarch of Sushou came to the clothing store’s office."


    My father leaned his chin and traced his memory.


    "Since then, it have already spoken outright. I heard that the grain of Sushou’s farming is being sold at a bargain price."


    Then rivan said in a cool voice, picking up the napkin, as if he had lost his appetite at all.


    "He went to Lord Gahan without an appointment, threatened him to get a free port spot, and eventually failed to get and sell grain to the East."


    "Just because the top job wants to, it doesn’t mean that anyone can do it. He think it’s really easy to do it easily."


    My father shook his head as I grumbled.


    "Why does he keep aiming for Chesail? It’s the originalnd of Sushou, so I’m not protesting to ask for it back."


    "It’s aiming for Lombardi."


    In the conversation that was going back and forth, my grandfather, who was reading the book again, suddenly struck the conversation.


    "What do you mean he’s after Lombardi?"


    My father opened his eyes wide in surprise and asked again.


    However, my grandfather’s answer, which kept his eyes on the book, was still soft.


    "That’s what politics is. Sometimes, a word that doesn’t matter changes everything, and by just destroying the symbolism, the flow of the opponent’s momentum and overturning begins."


    "The flow that will turn the te in reverse..."


    When I muttered quietly, my grandfather looked at me instead of the book.


    Those calm brown eyes had the color of arge old tree.


    "Eastern trade is the achievement of Tia, created by Lombardi, Chesail, and Pellet. In other words, it is a symbol of the new Lombardi state. And just to get in the way of it."


    The heavyness of the book that grandfather put down was delivered through the table.


    "The strength of the pro-Sushou will increase. That’s what Sushou is after. They will have to secure the opposite seat of Lombardi, where Angenas disappeared and became vacant."


    I nodded slowly.


    Grandpa is right.


    Chanton Sushou became the center of the pro-Sushou faction just by opposing me, that is, Lombardi, and was taking advantage of many benefits.


    "Tia."


    My father patted me on the back of my hand.


    I shrugged and said to such a father.


    "Do not worry. Sushou is no match for me."


    "What are you worried about."


    Grandpa opened the book again andughed at me.


    "There has always been a hostile force against Lombardi. If you are a Lombardi’s householder, you have to ovee it."


    "Yes, Grandpa."


    I also nodded facing such a grandfather.


    It’s true that Chanton Sushou is a tricky person to deal with, but that doesn’t mean there’s no way.


    ’In a way, it’s all thanks to my grandfather.’


    I drink wine slowly and think.


    ’Because I know it best.’


    Coincidentally, this is the time in my previous life when I witnessed the most things in person while helping my grandfather with his family affairs.


    Of course, one of them is Sushou’s work.


    "My Lady the Matriarch."


    Then John the Butler approached me quietly, but in a hurry, and informed me.


    "Bate of Caramel Avenue is urgently asking to see the Matriarch."