Chapter 245

(The whole chapter is Florentia's POV)

The house was bigger than I thought.

The warm-colored living room and kitchen that I could see as soon as you open the door was particularly impressive.

The bedroom must be upstairs.

I looked around the house and thought.

"Did you keep this house?"

I asked my father.

"Well, I spent the happiest time of my life in this house."

My father, who answered like that, quickly waved his hand and said.

"That doesn't mean that I'm not happy with the time I spend with my daughter!"

"Yes, of course. I know what you mean."

When I replied, my father laughed, sighing a little.

Then he walked into the kitchen and beckoned at me.

"Look around comfortably, Tia. I'll be making tea."

And, as if he were very familiar, he took things out of the cupboard and began to rattle.

Maybe you've been visiting this house often by yourself.

It was a house where there were few signs of people living, but there seemed to be people taking care of it separately because it was clean and dustless.

I began to look carefully inside the house, feeling as if I had been visiting someone else's house.

"It's a cozy house."

Even in winter, the house felt warm.

It seems like the sunlight is coming in from the large windows and covering the whole house.

I slowly approached the window, like someone possessed by something.

I stood still and received the sunlight with my whole body, then carefully sat down on the rocking chair in front of the window.

Maybe it's been a while since someone sat here since there was a small noise as I sat, but soon the chair supported my body.

*Shake *Shake

As I leaned over my head, my body began to move slowly along the chair.

Just enough to calm my heart down.

And strangely enough, sitting there, I could see my father's back in the kitchen busily moving.

"Tia, the tea is ready."

My father, who was turning around with two big cups, smiled a little in surprised when he found me sitting in a rocking chair.

"Would you like to take that chair?"

"Yeah?"

When I opened my eyes wide at the sudden remark, my father laughed again.

"Haha! The rocking chair was Shan's favorite thing in this house. But now, no one sits down on that chair and only fill the empty house. Wouldn't it be better for the chair if Tia took it and sat down on it once or twice?"

"Well, yes, but..."

I like the rocking chair a lot.

It looks light, but it is also quite reliable and comfortable.

But it seems to me that I'm taking my father's precious things.

As if reading my heart like that, my father said, putting the cup down on the table.

"Your Mom would also want our Tia to have it."

"Then...I will use it carefully."

I nodded, sweeping the armrest of the chair once.

"Oh, it's warm."

The tea my father made for me was the first kind I tasted.

However, as soon as I drank it, I felt as if all the remaining tension in my body seemed to be relieved.

"We found out about Tia in this house and I lived here until your mother was in full term."

My father grabbed the cup with both hands and said, looking around the house.

Then, my father pointed at my finger.

"It just so happens that you were wearing that ring."

"Right, this was my mother's ring."

The purple sapphire ring my father gave me the day I was of adulthood.

My father handed it over to my mother when he asked her to marry him.

I wanted to keep this ring on, even without all the other accessories.

I touched the sapphire, caressing it a little and wondering if it's just a coincidence.

"Tia."

My father called me kindly.

"You look a lot like your mother. You know that, right?"

"Yes, you said that a little while ago. I really might look like my mother because I wear this."

"Yes, but appearance isn't the only thing that I was talking about. Tia's personality really resembles her mother."

My father smiled softly.

"Ah, I'm glad that your personality doesn't resemble me."

Then he started stroking my hair like when I was a kid.

"Shan never backed down if she wanted anything. She was so smart that she somehow got what she wanted in a way that would sometimes surprise me."

Ahh..

Now I know a little bit why my father tells me that I resemble my mother.

"Especially when she's angry, her green eyes twinkle, and Dad couldn't even refute. It was impossible to be angry with Shan in the first place."

My Father, who muttered like that, looked at me profoundly.

"So Dad doesn't want Tia to give up too much to be Lombardi's householder.

I guessed what my Father was saying.

"Are you talking about Perez?..."

Instead of answering, my Father smiled slightly.

But this time, I couldn't nod my head immediately to do so.

The reason I returned was to save my family that was destined to be ruined.

So Lombardi is more important to me than anything else.

Now I know how much I feel about Perez.

Somehow, I feel a little resentful, but I also thought that it might be very difficult to dream of a 'happy life' without him.

However..

What if the future with Perez gets in the way of leading Lombardi?

This concern was still holding me back.

"I'm thinking about it."

That was all I could say.

My Father smiled and nodded once again.

"Yes, slowly, but think deeply."

Perhaps he brought me all the way here to tell me that, but my Father didn't push me.

"Because love is more important than you think in life."

After saying that, I just leaned comfortable against a chair and drank tea, as if taking a step back.

Since we're being honest with each other, let me say something.

I tapped the handle of the cup with my fingertips and asked.

"Don't you, father, want to marry again?"

"Cough!...cough!"

My Father, who had been coughing for a long time, asked me back with a red face.

"Why are you curious about that all of a sudden?"

"I'm an adult now, and my father is still young. If you have a person in mind, I'm telling you to not worry about me."

"Tia...!"

My Father screamed and shook his head as if he was mad.

"The only person I love is your mother."

My Father, who said so, laughed as if he had returned to his real youth.

"So there's no love left for anyone else."

It was a bit lonely, but my Father's appearance was the opposite.

"When my Dad talks about my Mom, my Dad's face changes. You look very happy."

"Really? Haha. It has to be."

Dad said, scratching his cheeks awkwardly.

"Because Mom and Dad had a love that they wouldn't regret."

The next day.

I woke up in the morning and the butler informed me.

It was my grandfather's call.

As soon as I washed my face and changed my clothes, I set off for my grandfather's office.

"Something felt a little chaotic."

I felt it as I walked from the annex to the main building where my grandfather's office was located.

Originally, there were employees who started their work early in the morning, but they looked busy.

"What kind of event is there in the mansion today? Hmm... Nothing really, there's no schedule."

No matter how much I looked in my head, there was no reason for the employees to be so busy today.

Since the social season starts in spring, there is no banquet.

No one also has any birthdays within the family.

I'll ask my grandfather later.

Thinking so, I knocked on the door of the office.

"Grandpa, it's me. I'm coming in."

As usual, I opened the door and stepped inside.

"...Huh?"

I felt a strange sense of incompatibility.

The appearance of the office remained the same.

But something was different.

It was when I looked at the window that I was sure of.

My grandmother's bust, which I commissioned Alpheo to give as a gift when I was young, was not there.

"Oh, Tia is here? Come here."

My grandfather, who was sitting on the drawing room sofa, stood up at me and beckoned.

"Grandpa...something's a little weird?"

"Is that so?"

With an unknown smile, my grandfather slowly entered the master's office and gently pushed my back to lead me somewhere.

Looking around the office and walking as my grandfather led me, at one point, I paused and stood in place.

"Grandfather..."

My grandfather smiled at me and put his hands on the chair of the Patriarch in the office.

And he said.

"From today, it's Tia's seat."

"But there.."

A place in Lombardi where only the householder can sit.

Grandfather spoke in a low voice, confirming once again to me, who was too stiff to move.

"From today, Florentia Lombardi, you are the Head of Lombardi."

Not a sound was heard.

It seems like time has stopped, too.

And the next thing I realized was that I was sitting in my grandfather's chair.

No, now on my chair.

After seating me in a chair, my grandfather stood across the desk and looked at me.

"How do you feel?"

"....Good."

"Oh huh! You're really my granddaughter!"

Grandfather burst into laughter.

Should I have said something more modest?

What do I do, I love it.

Slowly, I swept the householder's desk with my palm.

At the same time, I got goosebumps on my arm.

I am...

Lombardi's...

I can't believe I'm the Matriarch now.

I covered my mouth with my hands.

If I didn't, I would have screamed.

The words my grandfather said a while ago in the midst of hesitation revived vividly in my ears.

"From today, Florentia Lombardi, you are the Head of Lombardi."

Florentia Lombardi, the new Matriarch of Lombardi.

I couldn't say anything.

I looked at my grandfather quietly.

"Sometimes it's scary. Sometimes you'll be full of passion. Sometimes it seems like you are overwhelmed by the name Lombardi. In that case, you only need to remember one thing."

My grandfather said to me,

"You are Lombardi, and Lombardi is you. Don't forget that."

Lombardi is me, and I am Lombardi.

I nodded slowly.

My hands clasped the armrests of the chair unconsciously.

Then, Butler John came in with the sound of a knock.

"I'll say hello again. John, the butler of the Lord."

"Ah..."

John was now talking to me, not my grandfather anymore.

I forgot.

John wasn't my grandfather's butler, but a butler serving the house.

"The banquet is almost ready, my Lord."

"Banquet...?"

Puzzled, I looked at my grandfather.

"It's a banquet to celebrate the inauguration of the new householder. Your Father and Shannanet worked hard to prepare it."

"Oh, that's why!"

This is why the employees were busy.

"We will open the door of the mansion for the next three days and have a banquet. It's a Lombardi tradition."

My grandfather proudly said and led me out.

The banquet hall was already set up and the tables were located in the spacious garden.

Grandfather said quietly to me looking out the window in a daze.

"At the end of this banquet, nothing should happen in this mansion without your knowledge. Everything shall pass through you first."

The two fists neatly placed on the window sill are clenched, and my grandfather looks even better.

I looked him in the eye and said.

"I will make this family even greater, Grandpa."

Then my grandfather patted my shoulder and answered.

"Yes, Florentia, you can do it."

It was the words of my grandfather, who has led the family more successfully than anyone else in Lombardi.

And it's the future I'll realize.

From today on, I am the Matriarch of Lombardi.

****

As my grandfather said, the banquet lasted three days and nights.

The nobles of the Empire and the citizens of Lombardi all gathered together to enjoy eating and drinking.

And the afternoon of the last three days came.

"My Lord."

"What is it, John?"

"A guest came from a distance."

A completely unexpected guest came to me.

"Lady Shan's mother. The person who identified herself as the Lord's grandmother is asking to meet you in the garden."

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A/N: Ohh~ Grandma~

So these are my update for today! I'm super busy since the class started so pardon me if I didn't update for 2-3 days. I will update again on Saturday evening or on Sunday! Thank you for your deep understanding and for those who are voting and leaving a comment! Your comments are one of my stress reliever! <3