﹡ ⊹ ⊰ Chapter 7 ⊱ ⊹ ﹡
"Tia, what would you like to have as a birthday present?"
My father asked me when I was watching the servants take out the plates on the breakfast table.
As a result of a very careful investigation last night, I was able to find out that I was still seven years old and had about a month left on my eighth birthday.
“A teddy bear! A very big teddy bear, I want to have it!"
I shouted out loud, picking a gift that a seven-year-old child would want.
“But don’t you hate dolls?”
"Ah …."
Now, I've ruined it.
Since I was a child, I wasn't happy with dolls whether they resemble humans or animals.
I feel like they were alive and moving at night.
Yet I said that I wanted to have a huge teddy bear just now.
My father looked at me strangely, and sweat was flowing behind my back.
“Now, when I think about it. I think dolls are not good.”
“Then what would you like to buy?”
“Hmm… .”
As far as I can remember, I had nothing that I want.
Should I ask for a gift, a villa in a quiet place or a manor where I can live with endless money for the rest of my life?
But I can't ask for something like that.
I shall ask for him to buy me a suitable book or the like.
At that time, my father suddenly clapped his hands, looking like he had a good idea.
"Okay! How about a horse, Tia?"
"What do you mean?"
"If you take a one-year-old foal and raise it from now on, it will grow into a great horse by the time you are an adult."
"Uhh…"
I couldn't answer for a moment and blinked my eyes.
Horses are expensive.
Depending on how many horses they own, it was an important asset that could measure the size of the owner's or its family's property.
The price of a horse was the same, but more important was the cost of maintenance.
If you weren't going to feed them and get rid of the excrement yourself, you'd have to hire someone to do the job for you, and you also needed a stable.
Not to mention the needed vast land where horses could run freely.
Even for the average noble family who buys horses for their children, it was the perfect gift for the coming of age birthday.
"When I was only your age, I received my first horse as a birthday present."
But this is Lombardy.
Such common economic sense was not practiced here.
My father is usually a very modest and gentle person, so I sometimes forgot that he was also a member of the Lombardy family.
With that thought, I stared at my father.
"Hmm? Why are you looking at me like that, Tia?"
"It's nothing. But Dad, when my birthday comes, I don't want a foal as my gift.”
I didn't really want to learn horse riding, so I came up with an excuse to refuse him.
"Why?"
"It's only one year old, so it probably doesn't want to be separated from its mother. It will become very sad if it is then."
"Tia..."
Oh my.
The moment I spoke, I realized I had made a mistake.
It was because my father's eyes, looking at me, became moist in an instant.
"Doesn't want to be separated from the mother...."
I forgot for a moment.
The fact that my mother died as soon as she gave birth to me.
It was obvious that my father misunderstood what I said, thinking that I was the same as the foal.
"Oh, Dad. That's...!"
I tried to fix it somehow, but it was too late.
My father, who looked sadly at me with tearful eyes, hugged me and said.
“This dad is short-sighted. Let's bring the mother along together with her foal.”
“I’m okay… W-what?"
What did I hear just now?
“As you said, it seems too cruel to separate a foal that is only one year old from its mother. So, if you buy the mother horse together, they would be able to live happily without being separated.”
That's right.
Foals are definitely expensive, but mares that can give birth are more expensive.
But my father, the son of Rulhac Lombardy, couldn't have that in mind.
I nodded blankly.
“How can our Tia be so good at heart?”
My father stroked my hair as if I was the most lovely thing in the world and then hugged me tightly again.
Okay.
"You'll be able to learn horseback riding well."
My father said to me as he was snarling like a cat rubbing its body on one's leg.
“Shall I not go to the library today, but read a book in the parlor?”
Unlike other cousins, who leave with their nannies and spend most of the day with them, I didn't have one.
Small things such as washing or changing clothes were solved by borrowing the hands of other maids, and most of the time, my father took over the management of my well-being.
In other words, I was sticking to my father like a scab only when I'm not sleeping.
The reason that my father and I were close was not only because we were the only ones in our small family and such a simple routine was practically possible because my father was unemployed.
"I have to write a book today."
Father was an eager and well-educated person in many ways, from arts to economics, but he did not use them in practice.
Is being knowledgeable just the type to end up like this?
Then, sometimes, when there is a field that he was really interested in, he would organize what he knew and made it into a book.
Of course, there is no revenue generated from it.
The finished book was only placed on the bookshelf in my father's study.
Nevertheless, my father has the money to buy a mare and a foal at the same time on the birthday of his seven-year-old daughter.
After all, Lombardy is the best.
After confirming that my father was focused on his work, I opened my book and sat down a little far away.
Of course, I was only pretending to be reading the book in my hands, but the purpose was something else.
"Let's organize our thoughts."
I have to point out what to do in the future.
It would be best to organize it by writing it down on a piece of paper, but there was a risk that someone would read it.
Being stuck with my father all day is annoying at times like this.
Pretending to be reading, I turned over a page and chose the first thing I should do.
"I have to capture Grandfather's heart."
If my grandfather had known my abilities a few years earlier before he died...
He would regret it, but I'm sure that will not change the future of the family.
Even if he knew it a few years earlier, it was still too late.
What would have changed when the eldest son, Vieze, had already been selected as the successor. And then the illegitimate granddaughter, not even recognized as the third son's successor, only shown her potential in the same situation in which his son, Bellesac, becomes an adult.
There are mountains I had to cross if I were to compete with them.
It's hard to be a seven-year-old daughter of a powerless third son.
So, from now on, I should create opportunities to show my talents to my grandfather.
I had to solidify my position and win my grandfather's absolute support.
"But I don't have to rely solely on the power of Lombardy's wealth just because it's a family affair."
There will be no other choice but to use other means and methods.
So I came up with the idea of the Second Prince.
A powerful outsider can help strengthen my position within the family.
Even after becoming the Head, it is the Second Prince who can empower my position.
Of course, I will also help him a lot until he becomes a Crown Prince.
This future Emperor will not be able to reject a Lombardy, with who he has built trust since childhood and helped him become a Crown Prince.
We can be good friends.
"Oh, it turns out that it was around this time."
I looked out the window as it started to rain.
The Second Prince Perez's mother dies around this time during the rainy season.
I was told that despite the birth of the Emperor's son, she died without receiving proper treatment under the pressure of the Empress.
When Perez, who was poisoned by the Empress, became the Crown Prince, he exacted his revenge by doing the same to her, poisoning her as she lay on her bed.
It was ordered not to allow priests to enter the palace.
Instead of a Prince with an unstable position, he became a Prince who had taken power, and Astana, the First Prince who was supposed to be his mother's shield, was pushed to the fringes, so there was nothing to stop him.
How long will he struggle from being a Prince in the shadows where no one's hoping for him to become the Crown Prince?
These things will not happen if he wasn't poisoned in the first place.
Perhaps by now, Perez, without the care of his mother, had become skinny and is spending day by day alone.
I feel like I want to go and comfort him, but I can't.
There's a rule made by my grandfather.
In order to prevent crimes against the young Lombardy children, they cannot leave the mansion at will before their 11th birthday.
However, limited access was possible with the Head's permission.
"I just couldn't wait here."
I don't want to let go of my chances to acquire people before reaching 11 years old.
Therefore I first need to focus on the work inside the family.
Then the next thing is to create an opportunity to go to the Imperial Palace.
After organizing my thoughts, I turned over the book again and tried to recall my memories.
"What happened to Lombardy around this time?"
If I take on the work of the family for many years, I had to relearn the past even though I hate it.
In my case, I wanted to study harder.
The year I turned eight, there has been quite a big deal happening in Lombardy.
It was then.
I heard a strangely familiar voice accompanied by a low knocking sound.
“Gallahan, are you there?”
When did I hear this voice?
"Who are you?"
Tilting his head, my father opened the door to the parlor.
And I was amazed at the face that looked through the open door.
After becoming the right hand of Lombardy, and after my grandfather died, he went out of the house like me and formed Pellet Company, and in just two years, he developed it into the top 5 in the Lambrew Empire.
Clerivan Pellet entered our parlor.
Reviewed by Lnovels
on
January 03, 2021
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