The eyes with a strange light were looking at me and Perez.

  Ugh, have I been caught?

  It was frustrating.

  No one should ever know that I and Perez know each other.

  I quickly avoided the Emperor’s eyes.

  But I could feel it.

  That tenacious gaze stays on me for a while longer.

  But when I looked back later, the Emperor was talking with my father and grandfather with the same face as before.

  Did I see wrong?

  There was a possibility that I was terrified by Jovanes’s gaze that he gave without thinking.

  Either way, I tried not to give my eyes to Perez again.

  "Then, let’s start with awarding and enjoy the banquet."

  Jovanes said, taking care of the gathered nobles.

  My father, who was still holding my hand, said tenderly when he was standing near my grandfather.

  "Dad, I’ll go back for a while."

  Even though I was nervous enough to get my hands cold, I take care of myself first.

  The children over there were completely different from the Emperor who did not care about making them his maids.

  I kissed my father on the cheek to cheer on him.

  With that alone, my father smiled broadly as he was empowered.

  Emperor Jovanes stood on the podium in front of the crowd, and the Emperor’s aides brought the medal.

  When I saw the back of my father walking to the center, everyone’s eyes were on the podium.

  There was Perez, standing proudly as a member of the Imperial Family.

  Astana, who was now completely in puberty, was also next to the Empress who was staring at Perez with a really stiff face.

  Even when she gets older, she still can’t manage her facial expressions.

  Then suddenly, I looked at Perez. He was still looking at me. Whether it feels good or bad.1

  The expressionless face, whose inner heart is not well understood, suits the Royal Family 100 times better than Astana.1

  I smiled at him and turned my face back to the podium.

  The appearance of the medal varies depending on the recipient, but my father’s medal appeared as a large necklace made of gold.

  And another aide was standing behind it.

  Like a trophy, it was held in both hands.

  "Gallahan Lombardy, come here."

  At the Emperor’s words, my father knelt in front of him.

  "I, Jovanes Canabon Lambrew Durelli, will present this Founding Medal to you."

  Unlike when he laughed a while ago, a low, loud voice spoke as if solemnly proclaimed.

  “I deserve this medal because I have contributed to my willingness to care for the people of the Lambrew Empire in an ingenious attempt no one has ever thought of.”


  A necklace with an imperial seal was hung around my father’s neck.

  “And your achievements are very good, so I give a special gift to Gallahan Lombardy along with the medal.”


  The official who was waiting for the second time came forward.

  And it was a scroll made of old leather that was handed down to the Emperor’s hands.

  Jovanes unfolded it, making it visible to all, and gave it to his father.

  "From today, I declare that Gallahan Lombardy is the owner of the Cheshire territory."

  Heo-eok.

  I wasn’t the only one taking a quick breath.

  Everyone in the banquet hall was astonished. As you may have known in advance, except for my calm grandfather and the Emperor who smiles.

  Although the Founding Medal had a special meaning, the biggest gift awarded with the medal was a territory.

  It was a kind of territory that would be returned to the imperial family when the person who received the medal died.1

  What do you mean by territory?

  And that scroll made of leather is a territory document no matter how much you look at it.

  Moreover, the Cheshire territory is not land directly ruled by the Imperial Family.

  Since the Nokta River, the second largest river in the Lambrew Empire, has been developed nearby, it has a high grain production and a high population density……

  "Mrs. Sussew!"

  Someone shouted in a small voice.

  Behind the Emperor’s left side, the gray-haired elderly woman remained indifferent to the concentration of people.

  Beatrice Sussew.

  My grandmother, Natalia Sussew, is an elderly woman who serves as the head of the House of Sussew, the wealthy man from South Olkezia.

  Originally, the Cheshire territory, the land of the Sussew family, was handed down to his father.

  That meant the will of Beatrice Sussew.

  Father looked at the territory document in his hands with a blank face and said,

  "Your Majesty, I will take good care of it."

  The medal ceremony was short, but the afterglow was big and long.

  "Come on, sit down and rest for a while……”


  My father mumbled, grasping the territory document with both hands.

  "Haha! You are too soft, will you be able to play the role of a Lord properly?"

  Emperor Jovanes came back to chattering again and made fun of my father.

  Yes, it good.

  He’s just showing off the territory to other people.

  Now Jovanes, who said he would enjoy the banquet, disappeared among the nobles, and I shook my father’s side.

  "Dad!"

  "Tia……"

  My father looked at me and smiled weakly.

  "What should I do with such a good thing……”


  It was a face that had a feeling of burden and debt ahead rather than the joy of having territory.

  "How can you do that? It’s Thank You. You just have to say thank you and live well."

  "Aunt!"

  It was Mrs. Beatrice Sussew who approached.

  She is a person who becomes an aunt to my father.

  She was smiling kindly at my father to the point where I wondered if the rumor is true.

  Mrs. Sussew was famous because of her unfortunate personal history.

  He had two children, but both died in an accident, and her husband also going first.

  The family members have been demanding that the family hand over their rights for years because they have no succession, but she ignores all of them and holds power firmly.

  But there’s also something that’s so famous, so it’s her aesthetic and fashion sense.

  The influence of Beatrice Sussew is so strong that the fashion trend of the Empire begins in the south.

  Will all kinds of textile merchants be located in the Sussew estate?

  Until the opening of the Gallahan Clothing Store, what people think of when they think of ’clothes’ was Sussew, not Lombardy.

  I pretended to be as fine as possible, but I couldn’t help being a little nervous.

  Sure enough.

  Mrs. Sussew’s gaze reached me.

  "Ah! This is my daughter, Florentia. She’s a grandmother to you, Tia."

  "Hello, Mrs. Sussew. I’m Florentia Lombardy."

  Mrs. Sussew is proud of what she has achieved.

  So I thought it would be better to call an official title rather than a title between relatives.

  Fortunately, Mrs. Sussew nodded with a slight smile, as if she liked it.

  And she went through the clothes I wore.

  Plain but sharp brown eyes glistened with red beauty.

  "Oh, you look great in your clothes."

  “Thank you for the compliment, Mrs. Sussew. This is the clothes from the Gallahan clothing store."

  "You say this is a ready-to-wear that I only hear in words?"

  The old lady’s eyes were round.

  "It, it’s a little too much to call ready-to-wear. She wants to wear the clothes I made to the banquet today, and my daughter dressed up with various decorations, so it’s very different."

  My father quickly explained, shaking his hands.

  "This dress, this kid?"

  Mrs. Sussew stared at me.

  "Do you like it, ma’am?"

  I asked with impatience.

  “.……Hmm. Okay. It’s a very pretty dress.”


  I was a little nervous, but it worked, too.

  In fact, the style of neatly inserting silk with colorful embroidery on the corner of the closet was popular in her previous life.

  But I wasn’t sure if it would work now because it was three or four years from now.

  But now that she can’t take her eyes off my dress, she seems to like it.

  "Yes, if you use ready-to-wear in this way, you can get quite a variety of outfits."

  Mrs. Sussew muttered, touching the fabric of the dress I was wearing without her knowing.

  Before I knew it, my existence was something like a mannequin dressed in clothes, but it didn’t matter.

  That’s why I’m wearing this, so thank you.

  "The silk produced in Sussew can be in good harmony with ready-to-wear. What do you think, Gallahan?"

  Mrs. Sussew asked my father.

  "Oh, that’s……"

  My father was in the middle of choosing a word for a while.

  But another voice suddenly interrupted the conversation.

  "The jewels on those clothes belong to our estate, Mrs. Sussew."

  It was Jerome Ivan, a Lord of Ivan whose long white beard was impressive.

  “What happened to Lord Ivan to interrupt our conversation?”


  "Mrs. Sussew from the south moved first, and it’s no big deal that I came."

  "It’s different from running over the flat land and the labor crossing the mountain and the lake."

  A tense fight broke out between Mrs. Sussew and Lord Ivan.

  “Everyone was here.”


  This time is just the eastern side.

  Except for Angenas in the west, all the rich people from other regions gathered in one place.

  My father was suffocated by the energy of the three people, and it seemed that he would be choked at any moment, and the nobles around him were walking around to hear the conversation coming and going.

  Luman’s family, who came last, straightforwardly asked my father.

  "Yes, this time, the Gallahan clothing store is planning to create a branch that will extend from the center."

  In the meantime, clothing stores have spread around the Empire and Lombardy estates, the center of the Empire, and the middle and great estates around them.

  And this time, he was searching for other provinces other than the center, and the rumors seemed to flow.

  “For that matter, I’m not the person who’s working on that……”


  My father said, sweating.

  "Ah! There you are. Clerivan!"

  Just in time, Clerivan approached this side and greeted politely.

  His appearance of wearing an indigo silk tunic suited the gorgeous banquet.

  "It’s a Clerivan Pellet."

  My father introduced Clerivan to the two Lord.

  “I am still inexperienced and only take care of external work, and this Clerivan-nim is in charge of the actual work of the clothing store, so the question is here……”


  In fact, to be exact, the people who are working on that were me and Clerivan.

  Since people don’t know my existence, Clerivan’s stock price is rising.

  "Hoh, I see. Hey, go over there and have a glass of wine with me……"

  "I have a very good rose wine that I brought directly from Luman."

  Lord Ivan and Lord Luman rushed to Clerivan.

  The business meeting starts on the spot.

  More details about what’s going on, Clerivan will tell me later.

  As the Lord of each region came forward, the middle-high-ranking owners who attended the banquet aimed at their father couldn’t even give out their business cards.

  From a distance, they were only drinking alcohol with a dissatisfied face.

  However, Mrs. Sussew was not attached to Clerivan.

  Rather, she came close to my father and me and said.

  “Shall we have a conversation about the land of Cheshire, Gallahan?”


  It was the smile of the winner who had already scored a good number.