The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 125

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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 125
The sound of waves could have been mistaken for something else, but his voice was far too clear. Still, April questioned what she’d heard, so strange did it seem.
“Use my fortune, you said?”
Pejin wore an expression not merely composed but audaciously calm for someone broaching such a topic.
“Yeah, quite a bit. Soon I’ll have the Tabishi Company’s profits seized too, with fines attached. Then you’ll have more wealth still.”
“That would be nice if it works out. But…”
“Whatever you recover, use it yourself. Though that’s merely a bonus—use all the money I have. I can sleep in the street if needed, down to the last coin.”
……
“That’s how I’ll repay the price of my life, measured against my defection.”
Even after such an explanation, Pejin continued, laying out the mechanics for April, who watched him with wary eyes reddened by exhaustion.
“Renald, who manages my assets, has been a long-time friend of your uncle. You can access everything through the two of them.”
“I haven’t said I’ll accept.”
“This isn’t something to deliberate over. Taking a defector’s wealth is a tradition of the Grand Duchy.”
“Miller didn’t observe that tradition.”
“My brother’s a bad man.”
Pejin continued, almost to himself.
“Though I’m no better, I suppose.”
On the warm July breeze, birds lifted into the sky.
April offered no ready answer and lowered none of her guard. Now that she’d learned he’d played a part in her being branded a witch, Pejin accepted her caution as natural.
He spoke again, trying to persuade her.
“Use that money to gather people. Teach them, earn their hearts.”
At his words, April murmured with a note of wonder.
“I just said something similar to Irsa.”
“What did you say?”
“That gathering people was what mattered most.”
Pejin laughed at her words, a genuine sound.
“I have to say, I’ve been startled before at how alike we think sometimes. Whether I’ve been shaped by you, or you by me.”
With that, conversation lapsed between them. Before April could speak of leaving, Pejin tapped the hull of the ship and asked.
“This is a small vessel, then?”
“Bigger than you expected?”
“Much bigger than I expected.”
When silence resumed despite his efforts, Pejin understood that April wished no further talk.
In truth, he’d known from the start that she didn’t want him here. Knowing that, he still couldn’t bring himself to leave.
His usually sharp nerves softened for a moment. The sound of waves, the sudden scuffles from a harbor tavern—none of it lingered in his ears, letting them slip away.
Unable to abandon this fleeting, unstable happiness, Pejin spoke on.
“You’ll know this, but the fog grows worse by the day. There will be more deaths. And when the Special Investigation Bureau sends new people, you’ll let the whole thing drop, won’t you?”
“……Yes, I suppose.”
“If you use the dye, a school would be ideal, wouldn’t it? You’ve always cared about education.”
As he spoke, Pejin’s gaze turned toward Hannah, who darted curiously about in every direction.
“She’s thirteen this year?”
“Yes.”
“In three years, she’ll be a police officer.”
April nodded. Then she closed her eyes and fell into thought.
Pejin Dieusz was no man slavishly devoted to the laws of the Grand Duchy. Yet when he swore an oath like this, his answer was already fixed.
April asked him:
“Why are you giving up your fortune?”
……
“You think of yourself as an Empire man, so you have no obligation to the Grand Duchy. So why?”
Pejin said nothing, and April asked in a quiet voice.
“Because you love me?”
Her question was not easily dodged; Pejin frowned and countered.
“Does that matter?”
“No, not at all. Just curious.”
At her answer, Pejin gave a bitter laugh.
“I suppose I do.”
He watched April nod, then murmured.
“I’m sorry for deceiving you. But that doesn’t mean my feelings were false.”
……
“In any case, there will be much to handle—tedious as it is. Don’t wear yourself out hating me or staying wary. It’ll be over anyway.”
“I won’t waste energy on that.”
“You look exhausted, though.”
“I’m tired from looking at your face.”
Even as she spoke these sharp words, April held her hair firmly in place with a jeweled pin, and on the strong sea breeze, petals from somewhere drifted down, tangling in her hair.
Pejin reached out to touch her hair but stopped himself. April then spoke.
“It’s all right.”
“……All right?”
“Yes.”
Pejin stepped closer and brought his hand to her hair.
As he removed the petal, April, eyes closed, murmured.
“I wish you loved me more, actually.”
“Why?”
“So you’d use me more.”
……
“So you’d hurt more.”
The petal he’d drawn from her hair stayed in his palm for a moment before the wind caught it and carried it out to sea.
Pejin watched the petal drift away as he spoke.
“If you’ll use me, I’d welcome it.”
He thought the petal, floating away, looked like April.
He turned to go, then remembered something.
“Ah, one more thing.”
“You still have more to say?”
“That gas they use in the lamps—the kind that causes the fog.”
“Yes.”
“It could light a fire.”
“……That’s true.”
“In the Empire, they’re researching techniques to liquefy it so they can transport it. Takes about five years, they say.”
Pejin shrugged at his own words.
“That’s it. Now I’m really leaving.”
April could sense how heavily secret his words had been.
She remained, lost in thought for some time.
Pejin departed at once, and April returned to the residence.
Late that night, she walked through her fiefdom toward the house where the sailors stayed. There was something she needed to verify.
Now she knew exactly where the gas that lit the lamps in the Lunos Grand Residence came from. She meant to check Pejin’s words.
She shook awake Kritz, the investigator from Division 3 of the Special Investigation Bureau who’d walked out on her own feet.
“Kritz.”
Half-drunk, Kritz roused herself, blinking.
“April?”
“I need to verify something. Will you come with me?”
At April’s words, Kritz fought off sleep and got to her feet.
* * *
April led them to the Lunos Grand Residence, and once there, dressed Kritz in one of her own gowns.
Kritz, still bewildered, followed April’s lead.
As they descended the stairs, Kritz—dressed in dyed cloth and layered masks—gripped April’s arm tightly.
“The basement at night is frightening…… Have you been coming down here alone all this time?”
“I couldn’t bring anyone else. But now I know how to manage without collapsing, so at least I don’t have to come alone anymore.”
April spoke as she finished descending.
At Basement Level 3, the candles were indeed burning brightly. Standing in that space, April looked to Kritz.
Kritz, still fearful, asked.
“So why have you brought me here?”
“Well, you see—the gas that arises when you extract fuel from that place, it exists here, doesn’t it? And that gas becomes another kind of fuel.”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“So this place is actually……”
April closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them.
“To put it nicely, a space with tremendous potential.”
“……And to put it badly?”
“Perfect for an explosion.”
At April’s words, Kritz flinched.
“Don’t—don’t say such frightening things!”
“I’m just speaking of possibilities.”
“That’s exactly why shouldn’t you be thinking of such possibilities……”
To Kritz’s lament, April replied.
“I believe these gaseous fuels have been consistently discovered throughout the Grand Duchy. Since long ago, when pirates held sway.”
“Why do you think that?”
“This dye we’re wearing, this coloring—it wasn’t something my parents newly discovered. It’s a tradition passed down through the Grand Duchy. This dye likely protected our people from the gas that causes the fog. Even in ancient times.”
Mm……
“So I’m curious whether we could use it as fuel.”
After hearing her words, Kritz circled Basement Level 3 once, then spoke.
“So you’re asking whether this gas could be used as fuel……”
“Yes.”
Kritz’s fear faded, replaced by curiosity. She spoke.
“In truth, energy ultimately derives from combustion.”
“So you’re saying it’s possible?”
“Yes, probably.”
“It has to be. This is my fiefdom, my possession, after all. I’d like to be able to use this as fuel.”
At April’s words, Kritz nodded. Then, looking at April, she spoke.
“Let’s try.”
Kritz’s eyes were gleaming.
April found that gleam of determination pleasing.

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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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