The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 151

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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 151
* * *
April couldn’t stop noticing Pejin’s eyes.
Those lonesome, melancholy eyes.
His blue, clear, pitiful gaze kept turning over in her mind, and it disturbed her.
“Miss! Tomorrow’s your wedding day—why do you keep climbing that ladder!”
April snapped to attention at Pani’s cry. Pani was one of the servants they’d recently hired formally.
The Grand Banquet Hall, which would host the wedding reception after the ceremony, was gleaming despite having no practical use yet.
As April descended the ladder she’d climbed to help decorate the hall, Pani heaved a long sigh and spoke.
“People think a quiet girl is well-behaved. They don’t realize it’s girls like you who cause the worst trouble.”
“I haven’t caused any trouble.”
Whether April protested or not, Pani swept the ladder far away, out of reach.
Only then, satisfied, did Pani continue.
“Your groom is such a generous man.”
“Not at all. He’s the opposite of generous.”
“His bank account is. That’s what’s generous.”
April laughed softly at Pani’s remark.
She was right—Pejin had invested an astronomical sum in the wedding reception. No, “astronomical” didn’t begin to cover it.
And everything in this hall would become her own assets going forward. Through this marriage, Pejin could naturally funnel his wealth into the Lunos Residence without raising anyone’s suspicion.
After the servants nagged her not to do anything that might injure the new bride, April had retreated to her room. Only after everyone had gone to bed could she return to the hall.
The reception space was dazzling beyond measure. Everything gleamed like jewels, yet it was all merely stage dressing for a perfect lie. It seemed a waste.
Leaving the Grand Banquet Hall, she made straight for the Dressing Room.
There she saw the Wedding Dress hanging center stage like a leading actress, but her eyes found instead a single Green Dress.
Pejin had given her many gifts, and this dress was one of them.
When April had mentioned wanting a Green Dress, he hadn’t let it pass—he’d spent considerable time having it made as a gift.
Green signified starboard on a ship, Irsa had once told her, believing firmly that she was now sailing across that vast sea.
So April began to change into the Green Dress.
Once dressed, April made her way to Pejin’s room. Pejin, who as always hadn’t slept and was reading at this late hour, narrowed his eyes at her appearance.
“Why are you dressed up like that in the middle of the night? Running away?”
“If I were running away, why would I dress up?”
“So the Police won’t recognize you as a fugitive.”
“That’s actually a fair point.”
April nodded in agreement, then beckoned him with a gesture.
“Let’s go dance.”
“Now?”
Pejin narrowed his eyes in question, and April continued.
“When I saw the reception hall earlier, it felt like such a waste. We spent all that effort decorating it, only to never use it.”
“That’s why I won’t even look at it. It’s too much to bear.”
“Exactly. So let’s go dance now instead.”
“What inspired this bright idea?”
As though bewitched by her gesture, Pejin had already closed his book and was walking toward her.
Minutes later, the two entered the Grand Banquet Hall.
Dressed in attire befitting the reception much like April, Pejin looked around in wonder.
“This is remarkable.”
“Yes.”
April gazed at the silk wallpaper decorated with Jewels as she spoke.
“I’ll use it well—your fortune.”
“Then I wish you success. And good luck with the Grand Duchy.”
Pejin laughed as he offered this blessing.
Still admiring the hall, Pejin then said,
“It really would be a shame to waste it.”
“Wouldn’t it?”
“So we should make good use of it. Come on, what shall we dance?”
Speaking, Pejin moved toward the Phonograph he’d brought from the Empire.
Musicians would play regardless, and though the Record’s sound quality was poor and thus impractical, its mere presence commanded the space with an elegant authority.
Pejin selected a Record and set it on the machine, then wound the crank with practiced ease. When the music started, it was a melody utterly foreign to the Social Season of the Grand Duchy.
Following behind him, April asked,
“Isn’t the music a bit too fast…… wait!”
Pejin suddenly turned and swept April into his arms, immediately leading her into the dance.
“The basics are the same. It’s just faster. You can handle it.”
He said this with ease, guiding April smoothly, and she—who hadn’t even properly walked before attending society—adapted to the tempo quickly.
Whether from the music’s speed or something else, laughter bubbled up unbidden.
Her partner’s fingers barely grazed hers for a moment, then drew her fully into his embrace.
When one song ended, she only wanted more, so he wound the crank again. This time a different melody played, and then another after that.
The two danced as though they’d entered a world where sorrow had vanished, laughing. They’d never seen each other wear such carefree expressions, never seen such light in each other’s eyes.
Well, perhaps when they were very young. And that was why joy and excitement, tinged with a little longing, hung between them.
After dancing their hearts out, the two collapsed onto the floor of the Grand Banquet Hall, exhausted.
As if the dance hadn’t ended, Pejin held April’s hand tight, and she said nothing against it.
April faced Pejin’s gaze, which was fixed on her. Laughter still lingered in his eyes, whether from the pleasure of the dance or something deeper.
He spoke as though it were obvious—what could he possibly have to fear?
Tomorrow the explosion would occur, and Pejin would return to the Empire to complete his duties as an officer of the Police.
If any investigation touched April, he would bury it. If there was information the Grand Duchy needed to know, he would tell them.
During all that, she hoped—needed—for him to come to no harm.
And so they would live on until someday… when their feelings for each other had grown numb.
When they met again then…
April squeezed Pejin’s hand and spoke.
“You remember.”
“Yes.”
“We agreed to forget both the good memories and the bad ones about each other.”
“We did agree to that.”
“So when we meet again later… will we smile at each other?”
……
“What do you think?”
Asking this, April smiled as if to show him how.
“Let’s smile. Warmly.”
“……Maybe we will.”
Pejin’s expression lightened.
He shifted his body closer to where April had pulled him, then asked her,
“What if I forget you so completely that you feel like a stranger?”
“You’re not the kind of person who forgets so cleanly.”
“That’s true enough.”
Pejin preened immediately, and though April gave him a look of mild exasperation, she smiled a little.
After lying there a while longer, the two rose and left the Grand Banquet Hall.
* * *
The next afternoon, guests began arriving one by one.
Because dignitaries from unexpectedly prominent noble families had come, Pejin had gone to the Harbor early to receive them.
While he did, April finished her complete preparation as the Bride.
When word came that she was ready, Hannah and Fred burst into the Dressing Room and, without hesitation, both covered their mouths with both hands.
“Wow……”
“Stunning, isn’t it?”
April asked, but neither could hear her—they only stared at the bride with wide eyes, gasping in wonder.
Finally, Fred managed to speak.
“You’re so beautiful. Really, really beautiful. And the white dress…… I didn’t know something could be this lovely.”
“Neither did I, until now.”
April answered thus, then grew a little self-conscious under their gaze.
“I should go now.”
“Yes!”
Hannah, who had been transfixed, answered and quickly fetched the Small Religious Model.
“Please pray before you go.”
“Of course. Thank you.”
As April accepted the model in both hands, both children placed a hand upon it.
Since the ship under Captain Irsa set sail, April had prayed without fail for their safety every single day.
Her habit of praying for the sailors had become so familiar to Bauman and the two children that they now prayed for them every day as well.
April closed her eyes, and Hannah and Fred began to pray.
Today, though she always prayed for the sailors, she prayed for all the people of Right Island.
That amid the coming explosion, the people of Right Island would suffer not even the slightest harm.
“Shall we go now?”
When April asked, the two children opened their eyes.
The three of them made their way toward the Church, where the groom and guests were waiting.
April knew that it was selfish to pray that only those she cared for would be spared when others would suffer in the explosion. Yet she felt no guilt over that prayer.

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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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