The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 112

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 112
April turned her gaze from him and spoke.
“When the world is this quiet, doesn’t it feel like your thoughts might be read?”
Only after hearing her words did Pejin snap out of his reverie.
He gazed out at the vast expanse of nature before them. And, belatedly, he marveled.
“Ah, this place is beautiful.”
“Your reactions are quick.”
April laughed teasingly.
As Pejin laughed along with her, he became aware, at some point, that something was going wrong.
That he was deceiving her was a problem, as was the fact that his brother was hiding much about the Lunos Family’s collapse—but that was a situational problem.
What he had just realized was a personal one.
Lately, he had been experiencing his emotions through April’s voice. He only felt hunger when she allowed it, only looked upon nature’s grandeur when she permitted it.
Was it guilt, or was it love?
Or was it, instead, the lingering fear from childhood—when April would scold him for not eating properly at formal occasions?
While Pejin was lost in such thoughts, April continued.
“If Miller won’t buy the dye, I’ll have to find a way to make him.”
“Sell it at a higher price?”
“Yes. Very high indeed.”
After answering, April gave Pejin a sidelong glance.
“So don’t even think about interfering.”
“Why would I interfere? I’m a police officer dispatched here because of the Fog Problem. If that’s resolved, I can do anything. Though…”
Pejin murmured, looking at the reddish mineral that had begun to rust in the dampness.
“Many Empire citizens come to work on Right Island, so they’ll certainly need this dye. And the Empire is full of people drowning in money—there will be plenty who want to seize this dye business for themselves.”
“So?”
“If we sell to one of them, we could earn money beyond anything the Dieusz Grand Duchy could imagine.”
The quantity of ore was too small to be used in both the Duchy and the Empire. In that case, selling to the Empire was clearly the better choice.
At Pejin’s proposal, April nodded.
“Yes, I think so too.”
Pejin imagined departing for the Empire with April.
Living with her in his grand house there.
Then April spoke again.
“But you know, the easy path usually means compromising on your goals.”
At her words, Pejin hesitated.
A massive bird’s shadow passed overhead, briefly blocking out the sun. Even in that shade, April’s eyes gleamed with light.
“I want the Dieusz Grand Duchy to survive independently, regardless of the Empire. So no.”
“Your goal is to restore the Lunos Family’s honor, isn’t it? What does the Empire have to do with it? Why make this harder than it needs to be?”
“What do you mean, nothing to do with it? What meaning does a noble house have in a place that can’t even hold the Founding Festival!”
As April’s voice rose, Pejin fell silent.
He remembered that she had shown interest in the Founding Festival on Left Island.
Displeased at having let her true feelings show, she continued with a frown.
“And life is always difficult and complicated anyway. Everyone goes through it—there’s no era or person where it isn’t. You just create reasons, one by one, and endure, don’t you?”
……
“My goal is that reason for me. It’s been the same since my parents passed.”
Pejin let out a hollow laugh at her words.
The absurdity of his daydream—settling April Lunos in his grand house in the Empire and living there.
A woman for whom the Lunos Family’s restoration was her only purpose in life, who remained in this world not a moment for joy.
Once Pejin’s laughter started, it didn’t stop easily.
Strangely, he felt as if he were falling endlessly.
When had it begun? From the ship departing for the Empire? Or even before that?
Misfortune kept making him laugh.
Pejin opened his mouth again.
“It’s strange to think of a goal as your reason to live. I can’t live like that.”
“What’s strange about it? I like winning.”
April avoided his gaze, brushing snow from her boots—made stiff with kid leather—and muttering softly.
“That was the only reason I could endure.”
“Your goal?”
“That I will never lose to death.”
……
“From this moment on, I will win again and again.”
Noticing the snow clinging to April’s boots, Pejin dropped to one knee.
He used his hand to brush away the damp earth and snow stuck to her boots.
April asked.
“Why does someone from a Grand Ducal house kneel so easily?”
“I kneel easily to anyone. It makes everything simpler that way.”
Having brushed off her boots, Pejin rose to his feet. Then he spoke to April.
“But fine. I’ll try it.”
“Try what?”
“Living by making difficult choices.”
At Pejin’s words, April looked up at him.
Pejin glanced back at her, then gently touched his forehead to hers.
April frowned and stepped back.
“What are you doing?”
“I’ve touched toxic substances, so I can’t touch your hands.”
“Then don’t touch anything.”
“I like being praised, but you never praise me. I took it upon myself.”
“What do I have to praise you for?”
“For living difficult from now on?”
“Why would I praise how you live your life?”
“I was raised well—I need to be praised for every little thing.”
After teasing her, Pejin began packing the minerals into his bag.
After setting aside the amount needed for the Lunos Family to extract the dye from their research, the two returned to the Lunos Grand Residence with Shaper.
* * *
After Pejin’s departure, Miller had grown noticeably quieter.
He was suffering from a fear and melancholy that had not troubled him since the Lunos Family’s collapse.
Lately, he had been meeting frequently with his uncle, Devin, the Grand Duchy Police Commissioner. Devin’s expression grew concerned at the sight of Miller’s gaunt face over these past few days.
“You are taking care of your health, I trust?”
“Yes, of course. I am.”
Miller answered, but his usually bright eyes were now full of gloom.
Devin sat down across from him heavily and spoke.
“There is no need for such worry. Pejin has gone to investigate the dye with April Lunos, so as an Empire police officer, he is simply doing his job.”
“But he is investigating me.”
At Miller’s words, Devin stiffened.
Devin too could not help but be concerned about Pejin’s movements.
Pejin was gradually expanding his influence even among the Grand Duchy’s police force. And those Grand Duchy police officers were doing work that the Special Investigation Bureau could not.
The prime example was the investigation into Miller.
Though what he was investigating remained unclear, one thing was certain: Pejin had become deeply curious about Miller.
Devin spoke.
“From the Grand Duchy Police’s perspective, he’s become quite troublesome. With all his free time, Pejin pokes around everywhere in the police force……”
Though fearful of Pejin, Miller still disliked criticizing his dear brother. He lifted his eyes and cut off Devin’s words.
“From the moment Pejin decided to become a police officer, he wanted reform. He is pursuing what he still wants.”
“What is there to reform? Whether it’s the Empire Police or us, we both take orders from the Empire anyway.”
Devin’s expression grew bitter. As the one leading the police, being told they needed reform twisted his pride.
Miller replied.
“I am not a police officer, so I would not know. But he must have his own thoughts.”
Devin clicked his tongue in displeasure, yet he refilled Miller’s glass and spoke.
“In any case, there is nothing to worry about. Pejin is, in the end, an Empire person. His Majesty took him and raised him as an Imperial citizen. You know him, don’t you?”
……
“Pejin will quietly cover up anything that hinders the Empire. That’s the kind of person he is, isn’t it?”
Miller did not disagree with Devin. Yet his anxiety came from a different source—his fear that the moment Pejin no longer loved him would arrive.
After Devin left, Miller sat alone and poured himself a stronger drink.
He set the glass down on the table and picked up a pen in one hand. He could not write down important matters, only tap his gilt notebook with the pen.
In his mind, only one path forward through this situation seemed visible. All problems originated from the existence that was slowly corrupting Pejin.
From April Lunos.
Miller imagined the moment April Lunos would learn that the Fog’s origin lay with the Empire.
Pejin would follow his duty, so April’s mouth would have to be silenced.
She would not quiet easily, so Pejin would eventually have to stop her breath.
That would cause Pejin temporary pain, but he would eventually forget—as he had forgotten his first love as a boy.
And then he would marry into the Empire’s royal family, becoming a bridge between these two islands.
There would be no life more perfectly brilliant than what awaited his brother.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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