The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 144

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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 144
* * *
By the time April changed into her third dress, she was so exhausted she could barely move without leaning on the attendants’ hands.
The actual changing wasn’t so bad, but the repeated labor of styling her hair up, then down again, placing the veil, and trying different flowers and tiaras while wearing the dress wore her down.
Pejin, who had been the ringleader in pushing for all this work, caught sight of April with her mouth firmly shut in exhaustion and let out a soft laugh. At that laugh, April pressed her lips together and drummed her fists against his chest in mock fury.
Knowing there were eyes watching and that she couldn’t simply collapse, Pejin noticed her gritting her teeth and told the attendants:
“I’ll help her change from here. You should go rest. We have plenty of refreshments and bedding prepared.”
At that, the two attendants exchanged a knowing look, let out a conspiratorial laugh, explained the order in which to dress her, and left.
Once Pejin and April were alone, she finally let out a long, unguarded sigh.
Pejin led her to the sofa and sat her down.
She sat first on instinct, then belatedly spoke.
“Oh, this will wrinkle if we’re not careful.”
“I’ll buy another.”
“That’s wasteful.”
“I have enough to waste.”
As he spoke, Pejin knelt on the floor and began removing the high heels she’d worn for the wedding dress, heels tall enough that she’d never thought she’d wear anything like them in her lifetime just to match his height.
The moment the shoes came off, April released a deep breath that seemed to come from her very core.
“I’ll live after all.”
“Yeah, you looked like you were dying in those.”
Pejin said, beginning to undo the dress just as the attendants had instructed.
He spoke to April, who was almost nodding off.
“Let’s go with the first one. The traditional dress suited you best.”
At that, April turned sharply to look at him.
“You’re disappointed?”
“I’m lying. I wanted to see the next ones. It’s been a very satisfying time.”
“I could kill you.”
“Even my life wouldn’t feel wasted.”
At Pejin’s shameless words, April sighed again and leaned against the armrest of the sofa.
* * *
April had so little strength left that Pejin was able to help her even into her nightclothes.
Because it had grown so late at Merrow House, April spent the night at Pejin’s Town House.
She collapsed into the bedroom he’d prepared for her and fell asleep immediately.
But perhaps because it was someone else’s house, she found herself in a light, restless sleep, and soon she woke again.
Thinking she might warm herself with a cup of tea, she rose from bed.
Reluctant to summon a servant in someone else’s house, April went looking for where the tea was kept, but noticed light coming from Pejin’s bedroom and went toward his room instead.
Given how exhausted he should have been—having listened to criticisms of his faults for nearly a full day—it was strange that he was still awake.
The door was slightly ajar, and she looked inside to see Pejin taking a sip of something and staring at the Wedding Dress April had worn.
“Come in.”
Pejin said this without turning his head, as if he’d already sensed her presence.
Such perceptiveness must be an advantage of his work as a detective, April thought as she pushed the door fully open.
“I couldn’t sleep deeply, so I came to have some tea.”
“There’s tea in your room. I’ll show you where. Let’s go.”
“Just tell me where it is and I’ll get it myself.”
“In the wooden cabinet across from the bed. It’s inside when you open it.”
“All right.”
April answered, but before she could turn to leave, she turned back to him with a question.
“Why aren’t you sleeping?”
“I’m thinking about what to add to the dress. It’s so much fun.”
Pejin, as he spoke, truly looked joyful.
Ever since she’d found out that he came to this island to turn her into a witch, he had remained in that state.
Since he’d promised marriage, he’d seemed even more joyful, and today, as he’d changed her through dress after dress, he’d looked like a happy man—genuinely happy.
He laughed, made silly jokes, and even seemed lightheaded, like a man stepping into a rosy married life ahead of him.
Because Pejin was so sincerely joyful, April became uneasy.
Would it really be all right to go to the Empire with him?
She trusted him for now because he knew the Empire well, but doubt crept in—what if they went like this and never returned?
He had lied to her until now.
Might he do so again?
“Why are you so happy?”
Then Pejin, too, stopped and turned to look at her.
The light of the Gas Lamp illuminated them both. Outside the window, a white moon shone in the sky.
April continued.
“This is all a lie anyway, so there’s no reason to be happy. Why do you look so happy?”
At her question, Pejin laughed again.
He wasn’t a man who laughed much by nature, but lately he had laughed so often.
“Why not? Is being happy forbidden?”
“That’s not it.”
“I’m genuinely happy. Truly.”
……
“If I love you and you suffer because of it, then that’s a real success.”
……
“I… you…”
Pejin gave a rueful laugh and continued.
“I’ll never forget you, probably.”
……
“But I hope you’ll forget me quickly. I’ve only given you bad memories, after all. So I hope you’ll forget everything about me.”
His voice suited the Gas Lamp light and the moonlight both. That loneliness suited them.
“I’ll smile a lot, so please just remember my smiling face, and forget everything else about me.”
About memory, April thought it was a curious thing indeed.
Memory could be preserved through effort, but forgetting—forgetting was never quite within one’s control.
The memories of a warm, abundant time, of being loved to overflowing, seemed forgotten, but in truth they lingered somewhere in her mind.
Like a grave of someone lost to time, they were buried, but not erased.
Forgetting was harder than remembering.
Truly, it was difficult to forget the things one wished to forget.
“It will be.”
Even knowing this, April spoke with certainty.
“The moment you leave, I will forget everything about you. I’ll forget the memories of liking you, and in exchange, I’ll grant you the mercy of forgetting the ones where I hated you.”
In response to her kindness, Pejin smiled brilliantly, as if asking her to remember this moment, and replied.
“Yes, thank you.”
* * *
Miller heard the news that Pejin was to marry April Lunos when he visited the Rasa Imperial Palace.
He had come to the Empire with his wife and Joshua, his eldest son who would carry on House Dieusz.
Miller couldn’t understand what Pejin was scheming.
He was actually proposing to bring April, who was meant to remain in the Grand Duchy and play the role of witch, to the Empire.
Of course, it wasn’t entirely bad. The departure of both of them from Right Island brought Miller some relief.
But once in the Empire, his feelings changed. Joshua already preferred the warm weather of the Empire to the cold that was beginning in the Grand Duchy.
The Emperor received those from the Grand Duchy with evident satisfaction.
He extended greetings about looking forward to continued relations with the Grand Duchy.
Miller watched Heidi enjoy each day in the warm Social Season of the Empire, and he imagined a life lived here.
“Father, when will Uncle arrive?”
Joshua ran about this warm land with vigor, his cheeks flushed with color, as he asked.
Miller smiled and answered.
“Someone must look after House Dieusz, so we must return to Right Island first before Pejin can come here.”
“I want to see Uncle’s room too.”
Pejin had unexpectedly allowed it, so Miller’s family was staying in the house Pejin had arranged in the Empire.
They could enter anywhere except where Pejin stayed, though Joshua seemed curious even about that forbidden room.
The boy whispered to Miller.
“Should we sneak in and have a look?”
Going into his younger brother’s bedroom would have been unremarkable once, but that was no longer the case.
Miller had grown increasingly wary of Pejin, and sometimes he’d had the terrible thought that it would be better if he didn’t exist at all.
Of course, he’d quickly dispelled that thought, but the fact that he’d had it remained unchanged.
When he’d calmed Joshua’s desire to visit the bedroom and handed him to his nurse, Miller noticed the iron gate of Pejin’s house opening without his permission.
There could be only one reason. The master of this Mansion was returning.
As Pejin stepped out of the carriage, just as expected, Miller frowned and spoke.
“Why do your men always follow you whenever you meet the Emperor?”
“To prevent me from saying things I shouldn’t. Isn’t that obvious?”
“Things about April?”
“Yeah, so that I don’t end up killing your little boy.”
……
His words reached Heidi, who stood behind Miller, and her face went pale.
Miller clenched his teeth, then held his forehead and spoke.
“And if you stay here too, what then? House Dieusz would be empty.”
“There are plenty of Dieusz people.”
“Pejin!”
“Ah, speaking of House Dieusz reminded me.”
Miller realized that regardless of whatever actions Pejin might take under April’s influence, the place he was familiar with—the place he called home—was here.
In Rasa, Pejin was relaxed and possessive of his domain.
“I’ll take a new Family Name here.”
“…What?”
“I’m going to become a complete person of Rasa for the Emperor. From now on.”
Pejin spoke to Miller with an unreadable expression.
“I will disappear completely from Right Island.”

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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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