The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 14

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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 14
April’s frown deepened.
“What are you doing here? Get out.”
“Don’t you need someone to run errands? I’ve always dreamed of working in a grand mansion like this.”
Working in such an establishment was recognized as respectable employment.
Hanna recalled the servants of prestigious families she’d seen putting on airs at the market.
Hanna spoke to April, who made no effort to hide her displeasure.
“I’m good at haggling too, and I can pick out quality fish!”
“Still, I don’t need a child.”
“But the law has changed!”
“It’ll change back soon enough. It’s a bad law.”
“I don’t want to go back home!”
Finally, Hanna’s voice rose in desperation.
April, who had been climbing the stairs, turned at the shrill cry.
“Odd child.”
“She’s spirited!”
Though they said she was a witch, that made no difference to Hanna.
This witch didn’t seem any worse than her father, who would get blind drunk and hurl wine bottles at her daughter’s head—or the factory foreman who would dock her wages by half, claiming she’d dozed off or spent too much time in the lavatory, leaving her unable to afford a full meal.
April’s expression remained reluctant, but she tilted her head in a silent gesture for Hanna to follow.
Hanna’s face brightened at once, and she bounded after April with eager steps.
* * *
Since house confinement had begun, everything except the first and second floors had been sealed off. The passage to the third floor was no exception.
Fortunately, when the officers conducted their search, they had unsealed the heavily barricaded door on the third floor to some degree. But the moment the officers began to collapse, they panicked and fled without anyone confirming what lay beyond.
April spoke.
“It’s a place I haven’t set foot in once in seven years. There will be rats everywhere. When I slept on the second floor, I heard them gnawing at the walls every night.”
“I’m good at catching rats. I’m really fast at it.”
“That so.”
The surname “Koski” itself carried the meaning of speed, so it was hardly surprising that she boasted of it.
After the two of them climbed to the third floor, April peered inside and her face went somewhat pale as she turned to Hanna.
“Speed doesn’t seem to be the problem.”
At that, Hanna looked inside the doorway herself and asked cheerfully.
“Can I catch all of them?”
“You want to catch those?”
“Yes!”
She went beyond spirited—the child had no fear whatsoever.
Hanna hurried back down the stairs and returned with a poker from the fireplace.
“Can I use this to catch them?”
“If you can manage it, go ahead.”
At April’s permission, Hanna’s eyes gleamed, and she set about catching rats with obvious delight.
April herself couldn’t even bring herself to glance toward the third floor, so Hanna called out.
“Miss, you should wait on the second floor!”
“Yes. I’m not much help anyway.”
April said this and descended to the second floor in some haste, though she didn’t run. It was a sight she never wished to see again.
Before long, Hanna had caught every rat on the third floor and disposed of them somewhere. Only after finishing the cleanup did she summon April back upstairs.
Hanna, who had run about gleefully catching rats, now clung to April’s back the moment the third floor fell silent.
“I’m scared…….”
“Of what?”
“Because there’s nothing here.”
“You’d prefer the rats?”
“Of course!”
Curious logic.
April couldn’t grasp it at once, but she ascribed it to the differences between people and moved forward.
The third floor, left to neglect, was covered in cobwebs from every direction, and most of all, every piece of furniture bore the marks of axes—the aftermath of theft. Moreover, there wasn’t a stick of furniture the rats hadn’t gnawed at.
Yet amid all this chaos, the portraits of the Lunos Family hanging on the walls seemed to have held no interest for any thief.
Hanna gripped April’s skirt hem tightly as she spoke.
“They seem to be watching us.”
At that, April too—without quite meaning to—squeezed Hanna’s left hand firmly. Now that she’d said it, they did seem to be watching.
As they walked down the corridor, Hanna stopped and said.
“Your portrait is here too, miss.”
“Mm.”
April looked at what Hanna was indicating. It was her own portrait, seated between her parents.
She had many portraits painted by her own hand, but this was the only one where she appeared with her parents.
‘I should have had more painted.’
Her parents would have treasured portraits of their daughter alone, but for April, who remained behind, what she needed was an image of them together.
With that thought, she turned toward the stairs leading up to the roof.
As she pulled open the velvet-adorned door with force, sunlight poured down a stairwell. April climbed toward the light.
Hanna, following her up, gasped.
“Oh…….”
A brilliant blue domain spread below them, surrounding the Lunos Grand Mansion.
Perched atop a hill, the mansion boasted extraordinary ceiling heights. From the roof, the view swept across the woodland border of the domain all the way to the distant sea.
Her chest opened wide.
April stood there, taking in the buildings she would need to maintain.
She could see the Main Gate encircling the domain with forest.
A Lunos ancestor had commissioned a renowned architect—one whose name was recorded in history—to construct it freely.
There were pillars on both sides, connected at the top, with a massive gate beneath.
Both pillars were furnished with quarters large enough to comfortably house three or four people each. The garrison stationed there protected the Lunos Family.
From above, the state of the domain looked even more severe. It seemed as though it had lain abandoned for a century.
Thinking of all there was to care for, she surveyed the transformed world, and the landscape in the direction of the capital had changed entirely from the last time she’d climbed here.
“Strange, though.”
Hanna asked at April’s remark.
“What is?”
“There are far more trees.”
When temperatures dropped sharply like this, the people of the Grand Duchy would fell every tree in sight for firewood and carry it home.
So laws had been passed forbidding the cutting of trees below a certain size and above a certain size, but the citizens of the Grand Duchy—judging that freezing to death was worse than breaking the law—could not be restrained.
Yet even at a glance, trees had multiplied across the entire capital. The landscape was more pleasant to look upon than before.
Hanna spoke.
“It’s because people use coal now. The Empire is exporting it incredibly cheaply.”
“I see.”
As the number of factories increased, so had the trees.
April tried to accept the changes that had accumulated in the empty time away.
As she looked about, her eye fell on something unfamiliar in the distance, and she asked Hanna.
“What is that place?”
“It’s an Amusement Park. I’ve never been inside myself, so I’m not sure what’s there, but…….”
“I see.”
There had been an Amusement Park seven years ago.
But it had been little more than a carousel with a large slide, whereas now, even from this distance, it had clearly expanded substantially.
April asked.
“Do you want to go see it?”
“Yes…….”
“You caught the rats for me, so I’ll repay you. Go and enjoy yourself.”
“Really?”
Hanna’s eyes went wide, then quickly narrowed again as she asked.
“What about you, miss?”
“I don’t have the time. I lack the peace of mind, and I don’t want to go to crowded places.”
April cut the matter short and turned away from the Amusement Park.
“First, I need to clean.”
“Yes!”
Hanna, fearing she might be sent away, thundered down the stairs and back up again with cleaning supplies in hand.
The two of them set about cleaning the roof.
It was a space where the Lunos household heads and their spouses would invite guests and linger over tea late into the night.
Tables and chairs remained in place, neglected, and though hardly presentable for receiving guests, they served well enough for April and Hanna to sit and rest.
“Lovely.”
Hanna sighed contentedly from her chair. April agreed with the child’s sentiment. It was a peace she hadn’t felt in some time.
As they rested thus, Hanna, who had been cheerfully chattering about her favorite things, suddenly leapt from her seat. Her face drained of color, and she pointed toward the distance.
“The fog is coming.”

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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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