Chapter 282
The conference hall of the imperial palace.
A place where all the central n.o.bles gather to discuss state affairs with the Emperor.
It was natural for a solemn atmosphere to flow in such a solemn place, but today"s conference hall was like a piece of thin ice.
The nervous n.o.bles could not even make a sound of coughing in the atmosphere as if they were drowning in ice water at any moment.
The reason was the tense confrontation between the Emperor and the Matriarch of Lombardi.
"This is clearly an act of disregard for the rights of the n.o.bility."
The Matriarch Florentia Lombardi spoke in a cold voice.
"Let"s send all the n.o.ble children to the academy."
It was an agenda that Emperor Perez personally brought up a while ago.
If it"s the Emperor"s order, it"s natural to just follow.
However, the starting point of this conference was that the Matriarch of Lombardi protested that it had a profound impact on the lives of the n.o.bles.
"Let"s just use the academy to socialize the n.o.ble."
Emperor Perez said firmly.
As the Emperor, who came from the academy, used to mention it for a long time, the n.o.bles had a feeling that "it finally come".
However, when the Matriarch of Lombardi personally opposed it, the n.o.bles who came under her united.
However, when the conference actually started, all the n.o.bles had no choice but to shut up at the sight of the Matriarch of Lombardi, who came out tougher than expected.
"His Majesty and the Matriarch of Lombardi"s wedding is just a week away, is it okay?"
A n.o.bleman whispered in a very low voice to the person sitting next to him.
"That"s right."
"But this time, His Majesty was too harsh, so it can"t help it."
Another n.o.bleman joined the conversation between the two.
"But still..."
However, their conversation did not continue.
It was because a fierce battle of words continued like a ball going back and forth between the two camps.
"Listen, Matriarch Lombardi, it"s only been a year. Besides, didn"t I say that there are exceptions when they are sick or in special circ.u.mstances?"
"The duration is not important, Your Majesty. I"m talking about the fact that the education of the children of the n.o.bles is dictated by the Imperial."
"Do you mean that n.o.ble families don"t feel any problems with the current situation?"
"What kind of problems are you talking about, Your Majesty? Teach me how stupid I am."
The Matriarch of Lombardi said sharply.
"Aren"t social activities and opportunities for higher education limited to the high-ranking n.o.bles? As the Matriarch Lombardi said, the n.o.bles are the foundation of this empire, and those who are not the central n.o.bles should also benefit."
It made sense.
To be honest, even the high-ranking n.o.bles gathered here had no choice but to nod their heads to some extent.
But the Matriarch of Lombardi did not lose.
Rather, she stepped up more strongly and asked.
"Then what are you going to do about the high tuition of the Imperial Academy? Not all n.o.bles can afford that much of money."
After that, there was a long battle of words without a single concession.
"Your Majesty, how about discussing this matter more calmly at the next meeting?"
In the end, the deputy patriarch Ramona Brown stepped forward to mediate.
"Let"s do that."
The conference was barely over with Emperor Perez nodding his head.
With the led by the Matriarch of Lombardi, a group of n.o.bles left the conference hall, and the emperor"s closest aides, the so-called "Academy Triad", climbed onto the podium.
They were Lignite Luman from the East, Steely Sector from the Southern Sector family, and Tedro Kali from the northern Kali family.
But Perez was deep in thought, not caring about them approaching.
The three of them quietly exchanged glances.
No matter how much the Matriarch of Lombardi is, who is your fiancée and will be the Empress in a week, you must be angry because she protested against something as important as the academy agenda. (TN: No, you"re wrong. For Perez, no matter how important the agenda is, he will never angry to Tia.)
In the end, Lignite Luman spoke carefully.
"Your Majesty."
"......"
"Didn"t you think that it was a little too much from the beginning? It"s not unusual for n.o.bles to oppose it."
Tedro Kali added to it.
"I think it is better to coordinate separately with the Matriarch of Lombardi, or to try again later..."
Perez was still silent.
The trio exchanged glances with each other again.
"It seems that he is really angry."
"What do we do?"
"He"s angry because of the Matriarch Lombardi, but he can"t call the Matriarch Lombardi."
It was when a stream of sweat ran down the back of the three in the ever-long silence.
"I..."
Perez blinked his eyes slowly and opened his mouth.
"Did I do something wrong?"
"......?"
The academy trio"s heads tilted at the same time.
What the h.e.l.l is he talking about?
"Tia"s eyes were sharp when she saw me a while ago."
Aah.
The trio then nodded their heads.
Of course, it is.
Emperor Perez, who reigned above all n.o.bles, was a staunch weakness in front of the Matriarch of Lombardi.
"I"m glad you"re not angry."
Steely Sector said with relief.
Perez asked Steely, tilting his face at an angle.
"What the Matriarch Lombardi said is not wrong. Why should I say that?"
"Haha..."
The trio wiped off their sweat inside.
They wondered if there might be a resentment between the two of them with the two weeks before their wedding due to this agenda.
At least they didn"t have to worry about that.
They were like a couple who thoroughly shared public and private affairs to the point that they sometimes wondered how they did that.
While the three thought so in unison, Perez continued to mutter in a low voice.
"Your complexion looked bad. Are you tired?"
They have been supporting Perez since they were young, but they couldn"t quite get used to this kind of appearance of his.
It was an unimaginable scene when they thought of the Emperor at the academy, no, when the Matriarch Lombardi was not around.
The trio smiled bitterly as if they had made a promise and turned their gazes away from the window.
***
"I"m tired."
After the conference, I returned to Lombardi and ate, and I muttered involuntarily.
I definitely took a nap in the carriage returning from the imperial palace. (TN: Hmm, the sign of new baby here.)
In the meantime, I rubbed my heavy eyelids.
"Is it because it"s spring?"
I have no appet.i.te.
Clattering. Clattering.
The sound of moving dishes, not mine, was heard quietly.
It was Craney, who was eating together in the front seat.
The appearance of chewing a meal with a haggard face was very similar to me.
If I keep doing this, the chef will cry.
I thought I couldn"t do it, so I tapped the table on Craney"s side and said.
"Craney, I know you"re tired, but don"t you have to eat properly to gain strength?"
"Ah! I"m sorry, sister."
Craney answered while yawning.
"You don"t have to be sorry to me."
Maybe we should both apologize to the chef.
"How have you done all these things by yourself?"
It was Craney, who has been learning to help with household work for a while.
"As you do it, you get used to it. It"s a learning period right now, so you"ll put more strength into it."
"I"m waiting for that to happen..."
Craney was a bit gloomy.
"Is there any problem?"
"That"s..."
After hesitating for a moment, Craney opened his mouth.
"I can"t even sleep at the thought that the decisions I make will have a tremendous impact on the people of Lombardi. I don"t even know if it"s right for me to do something so important."
It was the same feeling I felt when I first became the matriarch.
A feeling of pressure as if a lot of responsibility is weighing down on your shoulders.
As a kind of senior, I thought about what to say and said.
"If you"re dealing with the people of Lombardi, wouldn"t it be right for someone who knows Lombardi well?"
I continued talking while looking at Craney"s big eyes.
"And it"s something that someone has to do, right?"
"Someone has to do..."
Craney nodded.
"Besides, you are not alone. I"m there, and there are va.s.sals of Lombardi."
After that, Craney"s complexion improved slightly.
"Yes, sister."
But apart from that, our eating conditions did not improve much.
Craney asked at me, who was only poking food with a fork in an unfavorable manner.
"Doesn"t my sister also have no appet.i.te?"
"Yeah, you"re right. I"m especially tired today."
Then Craney looked at me with a blank look.
"Why do you look at me like that?"
"No. I thought you must be tired at times too."
"I"m a human being, of course."
"But somehow... you always look perfect."
"Even if you say that, you can"t take a vacation."
"Oops."
Craney burst into a small laugh.
"I am like that these days. They say it is going to be spring."
"As expected, it must be like that. But let"s eat a little more."
I said, pointing to our plate with more than half of the food still left.
"If the plate goes back to the kitchen like this, the chef will be sad. Then... You know what happens, right?"
"Yeah, that"s right."
Craney trembled.
"There will be a dinner party in the evening."
It was like the pride of a chef.
He said that if the reaction of the Lombardi family to the dishes he made seemed to be poor, it was a flow that gave a lot of strength to the next meal.
A dinner party that fills a large table is scary in a different sense.
"Let"s cheer up."
"Okay, sister."
We made up our minds again and raised our forks.
***
Today"s last agenda was to wrap up the preparations for the wedding with Caitlin.
Because of the wedding that is getting closer in a blink of an eye, Caitlin and I had been moving through time.
Only the last Gabon dress remained, and today was the day to finalize the seating arrangement for the guests.
It was much more difficult than I thought to properly mix the n.o.bles with intertwined interests in one place.
"Is this the layout that Perez made first?"
"Yes, Matriarch."
A paper with hundreds of names written on it was spread out widely on the desk in the office.
As expected, it was like Perez.
As if he cared about what I was worried about, the seating arrangement was almost perfect.
"What do you think of it, Caitlin?"
"In my opinion..."
During the brief time Caitlin explained, my eyelids got heavier and heavier.
She was saying something hard, but none of the contents caught my ears.
"Matriarch?"
"Ah. I"m sorry, Caitlin. I"m a little tired."
"Then shall I finish discussing this with His Majesty?"
"No. I"ll be awake if I get some cold wind. Shall we take a little rest?"
I said so and got up to go out to the balcony.
At that time, my eyes flashed with a feeling of spinning.
I instinctively grabbed something, but I couldn"t stop my whole body from losing strength.
"Matriarch!"
The sound of Caitlin calling me seemed to be heard very far away.
And with that thought, I finally lost consciousness. (TN: I got a feeling that Grandpa and Daddy will angry like h.e.l.l at next chapter. XD)