I’ll Be The Matriarch in This Life [Novel] Chapter 278

Her finger pointed precisely at the two wheat fields divided evenly down the middle.

"Originally, both of these fields were withered by the plague. Just a few months ago."

Perez's gaze shifted to the right.

Unlike the completely decimated left side, the wheat field on the right looked no different from the healthy one they had seen before climbing the hill.

The wheat, grown waist-high and ripening into a glorious gold, was merely waiting to be harvested.

And yet, this side had also been a victim of the plague?

"I was a bit worried that the Lombardi scholars were too late in finding a cure. But fortunately, it looks like they made it in time."

She said it as if it were no big deal, but Perez was utterly speechless.

Driven by a strange premonition, he asked hesitantly.

"Tia, are you… planning to share this cure with everyone?"

"Yes, of course I have to."

"Why?"

Ultimately, the question Perez had been holding back burst from his lips.

"Why aren't you going to use it?"

He couldn't understand.

If a cure like this had fallen into his hands, he would have weaponized it.

A vicious, unprecedented agricultural plague, and the fast-approaching cold season.

It was a perfectly crafted chessboard.

A board where Matriarch Florentia Lombardi, holding the sole cure, could force the entire Empire to its knees before her.

But at Perez's question, Florentia simply hummed, falling into thought.

It was almost comical how a person who could effortlessly dissect the geopolitical landscape of the entire Empire was carefully choosing her words for such a simple question.

Finally, her lips parted.

"Because I can?"

"Because… you can?"

"Yes, I told you. A lot of people are going to die. And I can stop that."

I do it because I can.

It was a very Tia response.

"Hmm, is that explanation a bit lacking?"

Tia tilted her head slightly before flashing a smile.

"Lombardi doesn't destroy the entire chessboard just to win a single game."

Looking down at the unified Empire of the Western Continent as if it were a mere chessboard.

It was a statement completely befitting the Matriarch of Lombardi.

"We have to keep winning game after game after this one, don't we? It's just not our style to play on a ruined board."

"Then what about the South?"

Perez asked hastily, unable to hold back.

"Are you planning to give the cure to the South, too?"

If this plague persisted, the South would take the most catastrophic hit.

The immense wheat production from their vast plains was House Sershou's sharpest weapon.

But Tia nodded and answered without a second of hesitation.

"Of course."

"…Why? Why would you give the cure to them?"

At Perez's question, she rolled her large eyes once before speaking.

"Naturally, Chanton Sershou made a mistake by crossing Lombardi. And trying to arbitrarily control Chesayu's Eastern Trade out of greed was a monumental blunder on his part."

But she added.

"The citizens of the Southern Empire have no reason to suffer just because of Chanton Sershou's sheer stupidity."

It was an absolute, resolute statement.

Perez stared at Tia intently, suddenly feeling like a scolded child.

Sensing his gaze, she let out a small snort of laughter.

"And I never said I was giving it away for free, did I? I'm going to extract exactly what I'm owed."

Especially from that Black Bear.

Tia clenched her fists tightly.

"Hah."

Perez finally pressed a hand to his forehead, letting out a breath of disbelief and a hollow laugh.

He took a few deep breaths before lifting his head again.

Tia was still standing there, looking back at him with a bright smile.

"Tia, you are…"

Even the golden waves of the wheat fields lost their luster in front of her.

She was someone who shined brighter than anything else in the world.

Utterly caught off guard, he had no choice but to smile helplessly.

"Come on, let's go, Perez."

Tia held out her hand.

"We really need to head into Luman now. I need to see baby Rick, and I am seriously exhausted."

It was hard to believe this was the same person who had just compared the fate of the Empire to a chessboard, as she was grumbling like a tired child.

Perez looked down at the hand offered to him for a moment before wrapping his own around it.

Her slender hand fit perfectly in his grasp, as if it had been custom-made just for him.

And just like on a certain day in their childhood, Perez quietly smiled as he watched Tia's back, marching bravely forward, leading the way.

A few days later.

The day of Larane Lombardi and Avinox Luman's wedding dawned.

The Luman estate, already chaotic with final preparations, became incredibly boisterous as the bride's guests, the Lombardi family, finally arrived.

"That damn Black Bear bastard."

Ever since my first day in Luman, I had been continuously briefed on my family's journey via the Pellet Corporation.

The culprit, of course, was Chanton Sershou.

As if he had deliberately set his mind to it, he nitpicked every single detail the moment the Lombardi entourage tried to enter Sershou territory.

From interrogating whether the escorting soldiers and knights were properly armed, to invoking obscure aristocratic travel laws, he was being obnoxiously difficult.

Consequently, the family missed their originally scheduled cruise and had to wait two agonizing days until the next ship was ready.

I was dangerously close to being the sole family member from the bride's side at Larane's wedding.

"I really need to snatch his honey pot away or something."

That Black Bear didn't have a single redeeming quality.

"Honey pot?"

Ah, right.

I wasn't alone right now.

I was standing by the mansion's front entrance with Perez, waiting to greet the carriage carrying my family.

"Ah, it's just a saying. It means I'm harboring malicious intentions to see that pathetic bear cry. Oh, it's my father!"

"Tiaaa!"

The door of the lead carriage burst open, and my teary-eyed father sprinted toward me.

Seeing his skin looking less radiant than usual, it was obvious he had suffered intense emotional distress over the fear of missing the wedding day.

"You're here, Dad."

"Are you safe? You didn't get hurt anywhere, did you? Those Sershou soldiers acted so barbaric…"

"I shall give you a fully detailed report regarding Sershou's tyranny, Matriarch."

"Ah, Clerivan."

Clerivan, who had been riding in the same carriage as my father, stepped up and spoke in an icy tone.

Seeing him push up his glasses with a hyper-sensitive, sharp expression, he was clearly furious.

Just as I was clicking my tongue in pity for the future Chanton Sershou, the second carriage came to a halt.

I saw my grandfather opening the door himself and stepping down.

Like my father, he looked a bit exhausted, but his overall condition seemed vastly superior.

He even had the leisure to stretch his back and look around the Luman estate.

However, the Luman servants were terrified, hesitating to even approach my grandfather.

I shook my head at the sight and walked over to him.

"Grandfather."

"Oh, Tia."

My grandfather's stoic face instantly bloomed into a deeply wrinkled smile the second he saw me.

"Welcome, Lord Lombardi."

"Ahem. There was no need for you to come out to greet me, Your Majesty."

Though, of course, the moment he saw Perez standing beside me, my grandfather made zero effort to hide his displeasure at the man who had "stolen" his granddaughter.

"How could I not, when it is the Grandfather who is arriving?"

"Ha, Grandfather… Hmph."

It was Perez's way of asserting that his relationship with me through our engagement practically made them family.

My grandfather pressed his lips together in visible annoyance before abruptly turning his head away from Perez.

He then asked me,

"So, did what you set out to do go well?"

"Of course, Grandfather."

I smiled triumphantly.

"I plan to wring him dry for every single ounce of trouble he put you through today."

"…Is that so?"

My grandfather looked at me with a peculiar glint in his eye for a moment before bursting into roaring laughter.

"Bwahaha! I can't wait to see the look on that giant blockhead's face! Hahaha!"

"Oh."

Blockhead.

What a perfectly fitting nickname.

I should seriously consider changing my nickname for Chanton Sershou from "Black Bear" to "Blockhead".

As I watched my grandfather head into the Luman mansion, still laughing boisterously, it happened.

"Tia!"

Two voices, alike yet distinctly different, called out to me simultaneously.

At the same time, large hands spun my body around.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Are you okay? Nothing happened on the way, did it?"

"You guys just arrived, aren't you exhausted? Your stamina is as monstrous as ever, Giliou, Mayron."

"We might not look it, but as the Vice Commanders of the Lombardi… No, that's not what's important!"

"Seriously, did anything happen? You should have sent us a letter on the way…"

The twins practically circled me, fretting endlessly as if preparing to inspect my condition from head to toe.

"I didn't have the peace of mind for that. You must have had a terribly difficult journey, Aunt Shananet."

I greeted Shananet, who was just stepping out of the carriage with Perez escorting her.

"A long journey is naturally exhausting. And…"

In a flash, the gaze of the pale-faced Shananet turned razor-sharp.

"When you have the time, let us have a long talk regarding that man, Chanton Sershou."

It made me think that once we returned to Lombardi, I wouldn't even need to lift a finger myself.

And so, the Lombardi family safely arrived in Luman.

And there was one person who had been wishing and waiting for this moment far more desperately than I had.

"Grandfather, Aunt, Uncle!"

It was Larane.

Taking quick, pattering steps, Larane practically ran down the stairs to stand before the Lombardi family.

For a moment, she couldn't speak.

Even from where I stood, I could see her hesitant lips trembling.

And just as Larane struggled to force the words out…

"It's been a while, Larane."

My grandfather spoke first, pulling Larane into a tight, crushing hug.

"Ah…"

Even for a flower that has bravely taken root in new soil, the familiar embrace of family is always deeply missed.

Eventually, Larane began shedding heavy tears, and my father and Shananet took turns holding her tightly.

A sunny Eastern morning, with a refreshing breeze blowing.

It was the day of Larane's wedding.