The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 145

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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 145
April learned aboard the ship bound for the Empire that Pejin intended to abandon the name “Dieusz” to deceive the Emperor.
On the surface, his loyalty to the Emperor appeared stronger than before.
Yet April no longer doubted him.
She recalled the day she had tried on the Wedding Dress, when Pejin had asked her to forget him.
And the dazzling smile that would become a single fragment of long memory.
He clearly believed she truly possessed the Technique of Forgetting.
Pejin, saying he would first check on Miller and his family staying at his house, took a different carriage and arrived home ahead of her.
Perhaps the conversation wasn’t going well—when April arrived a step behind, Pejin and Miller were still at an impasse.
April approached Pejin and asked.
“What are you two discussing?”
“I was telling him to return to the Grand Duchy now that I’m here. He’ll be leaving soon.”
“Ah. I see.”
April answered thus while observing Miller and Heidi’s expressions.
They looked skeptical of whether April truly intended to marry Pejin. Had they not been skeptical, they would have been angry first, but their faces held an odd mixture of doubt and something else.
April wrapped her hand around Pejin’s arm.
“There’s no reason for you to come back here anyway. Stay a bit longer.”
At her gesture, Pejin let out a soft laugh in response.
“But you can’t stand to look at me.”
“I’ll manage. Once we’re family, we’ll be seeing each other often.”
At April’s words, Miller’s expression slowly drained of color.
April smiled as she spoke to Miller.
“Strange, isn’t it? That we’ll become family after all.”
“……Are you in your right mind?”
“Yes, perfectly clear and sound.”
April gazed steadily at Miller’s eyes, which burned like blue flames.
When they were young, she had thought that once Pejin grew up, he would come to resemble Miller. But the brothers had never looked alike even then, and it remained so now that Pejin had grown so much.
And as their faces did not resemble each other, neither did their temperaments.
The conversation ended there.
Miller hurried his preparations to return to the empty Grand Ducal house, while April and Pejin had to prepare for an evening meal with the Emperor and Empress, so there was no time for a prolonged confrontation.
Pejin seemed quite pleased that April had taken his arm first, and he did not withdraw it even until just before they changed clothes.
Dressed in the formal attire of the Empire, the two headed toward the Imperial Palace.
The road to the Imperial Palace was the most central street in the Capital City of the Rasa Empire.
During their journey by carriage along that road, April asked Pejin.
“Can I open the window?”
“The air will be poor, but if you don’t mind.”
“Yes, I don’t mind.”
As April replied, Pejin reached out and opened the sliding window for her.
She had thought herself prepared. She had already seen, beneath the Fiefdom, the enormous pipes from a vast factory—pipes that Right Island would likely struggle to produce even in ten years—and believed she had sufficiently grasped the immense gulf between the Empire and her home.
But she was wrong.
The towering buildings, citizens walking the streets dressed daily in well-tailored clothes, exhaust, and countless vehicles racing through that very exhaust.
What frightened her most among all these was the sheer press of people.
Nearly every person from Right Island seemed to be living gathered in this single Capital City.
April turned to Pejin and asked.
“Can we get out for a moment?”
“Sure, we have time. Actually, this works out. There’s a café I used to visit nearby.”
Pejin spoke readily to the driver.
“Stop the car for a moment, please. We’ll be back soon.”
“Yes, young master.”
The car came to a halt, and the two stepped out.
April surveyed the overwhelming metropolis with a rigid expression.
She felt powerless. Utterly, hopelessly powerless.
April watched Pejin’s relaxed back as he led her through the familiar city where she had grown up—his hand holding hers—toward the café he frequented.
His claim of visiting often apparently meant nearly every day, for as soon as he appeared, the café owner rushed forward to greet him.
“Young master! Why have you stayed away so long?”
“I’ve been busy with romance. Surely you’ve heard the rumors?”
“Actually, I have heard them.”
“This is the person I’m going to marry.”
“Ah!”
The café owner beamed at the sight of April, then handed her a freshly baked pastry along with coffee.
“Please enjoy this. A gift for you both.”
“We’ll enjoy it gratefully.”
“Congratulations on your wedding!”
Receiving these well-wishes, the two left the café.
Pejin offered her the pastry, and April took a bite. It was filled generously with warm fruit jam.
“……They give this away for free.”
“Fruit is common here.”
“Still.”
“There’s no island as scarce in ingredients as Right Island.”
Pejin said this and took a bite himself.
As April was about to sip her coffee, she startled at the sound of thunder and looked up, then asked Pejin.
“What is that bridge?”
“Ah, the Elevated Railroad.”
“The Elevated Railroad?”
“There’s a lot of cargo that needs to be transported here, but the Capital City is too cramped to lay tracks at ground level, so they built it overhead. It only finished recently—maybe about a year ago?”
He meant a freight train passing overhead.
April quickened her pace, wanting to actually see the train pass by.
Moments later, the freight train passed just as Pejin said. After watching it for some time, April turned to Pejin and asked.
“How did you manage it?”
“What, the Elevated Railroad? They must have built it with effort.”
“No. You.”
Pejin, savoring the aroma of the coffee he had always loved, looked at April.
She asked again.
“You’ve seen things like that since childhood, so how could you take the Grand Duchy’s side?”
“Hmm.”
Pejin thought for a moment, then asked with an oddly earnest face.
“Can I be honest?”
“About what?”
“I’m more afraid of you.”
“……Don’t joke with me.”
At April’s response, Pejin showed no smile, simply shrugging to indicate he was serious.
“Truly, without a shred of jest—I mean it sincerely. I’m more afraid of you. I’m more afraid of you hating me, despising me.”
“…….”
“So perhaps that’s why. Now I’m hardly afraid of things like that.”
Pejin replied matter-of-factly and took another sip of his coffee.
April, who had been completely frozen, gradually thawed. And she looked up at Pejin.
He was slowly revealing his longing for the Grand Duchy. Pejin clearly harbored nostalgia for Right Island.
In that moment, April understood for the first time the Pejin who could not have even dared to dream of the Grand Duchy escaping the Empire’s influence.
The Grand Duchy had belonged to the Rasa Empire for over a hundred years. It simply hadn’t felt real because the Empire’s direct intervention hadn’t been long in coming.
After finishing his coffee, Pejin asked April.
“Should we stay a bit longer?”
“No, I’m ready. Let’s go.”
“Don’t push yourself. I know that feeling. When you first see something like the Elevated Railroad.”
“I’m really ready to go. If I prepare any more, I think I won’t be able to.”
As April said this with a pale face, Pejin took her cup and drank the remaining coffee in one go, returned the cup to the shop, and headed back to the car.
Shortly after, the car entered the Imperial Palace.
In the meantime, April had plenty of time to compose herself.
Because she was with Pejin, there were no special formalities even after entering the Imperial Palace. He was clearly a person favored by the Emperor. Of course, he faced some restraint as well.
Moments later, the two stood before the Reception Room where the Emperor and Empress were waiting.
Pejin said.
“They may not welcome you.”
“It would be strange if they did.”
“Look at Miller. Even if he’s unwelcome, he welcomes if necessary.”
“So if they welcome me, that means they need me?”
“Exactly.”
Pejin nodded, and shortly after, the door opened.
“Pejin! Come here at once!”
At Empress Emily Lilyhill’s words, Pejin hurried forward, and she pulled him into a tight embrace.
In the meantime, Emperor August Lilyhill approached April.
April sensed that he was trying to place who she was.
She bowed respectfully and waited for him to speak first.
“Miss Lunos.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“This is our first meeting, is it not?”
“I am honored to meet you in this manner.”
“Then that is fortunate.”
The Emperor extended his hand, and when April offered hers in return, he brought it to his lips. His manner was courteous.
April recognized that the Emperor needed the Lunos Family.
Fortunately, contrary to expectation, no fear rose within her. It was always the same.
Anger governed all things.
Thanks to that strength, before an adversary she wished to smash to pieces if she could, she was able to smile brightly.

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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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