The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 155

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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 155
An explosion erupted in the lake, and every pane of glass in the greenhouse that had served as the ceremony hall came crashing down.
The Empire’s people who had fled belatedly were lifted by the fierce air current from the blast and sent flying through the air.
Those who did fly were actually fortunate; those who didn’t found their bodies pelted with shards of glass and metal fragments that had come shooting from the lake.
It was pandemonium. Screams and groans that weren’t even screams anymore blanketed the Lunos Fiefdom.
Kayani Marrow had his parents loaded into a carriage first, then rushed to April, who stood gazing at the collapsed glass building and the lake whose water level had suddenly dropped.
“This place is dangerous…….”
Speaking thus, Kayani turned April’s body around, but his words trailed off.
Her expression was far too composed. As though she had known this situation beforehand.
The moment Kayani saw that expression, he turned his head to look at his own clothes.
Kayani and his parents were wearing the clothes April had sent them. They were garments she had procured and dyed with pigment extracted at Eleonore’s factory.
At first, Kayani had thought she’d sent these clothes only because the dye was symbolic of the Lunos Family.
But seeing April’s expression now, he understood there was something he needed to do—and the same went for his parents in the carriage. Both of them stepped out.
“April!”
Eleonore removed the coat she had been wearing and draped it over her, while Jeff unwound his muffler and wrapped it around her.
If that explosion was related to the fog, then clothing made in the Empire would offer her no protection.
Eleonore fastened her brooch to April’s shawl, securing it firmly.
“Be careful.”
April nodded, then spoke.
“Take the people of the Grand Duchy far from here. As far as you possibly can.”
“Yes, I shall.”
Eleonore loaded as many people as she could into the carriage—those who had collapsed, their minds overcome by the gas that had exploded in the factory.
Before helping his parents, Kayani slipped off his coat and pressed it into April’s arms.
“Give this to the Inspector.”
“Yes, thank you.”
Coat in hand, April searched for Pejin.
The scene was ghastly. As the lake’s water poured out and the greenhouse garden collapsed, the candles—untouched by the gas—flared up brilliantly.
They were like bodiless phantom flames. The Empire’s people watched that accursed sight with immobilized bodies, powerless to move.
As April dragged out the people of the Empire one by one, she found Pejin, gasping for breath in the gas, sinking to his knees.
“Pejin!”
April wrapped Kayani’s coat—which she had brought with her—around Pejin.
Only then did Pejin, his breathing steadied, look at her with a frown.
“Why are you here? You promised you’d leave the fiefdom immediately.”
“Come with me.”
“How can a police officer run away?”
Pejin gently grasped the hand of April, who was trying to pull his body forward by force.
At her refusal to let go, he smiled in a way that suggested no displeasure, then finally spoke with honesty.
“I have to seal the gas.”
At his words, April stopped and asked in disbelief.
“What are you saying? You told me it seals itself automatically if an accident occurs.”
In planning this accident, April had received sufficient explanation about the methods for removing the gas buried alongside the materials in the basement.
The most crucial explanation had been about the toxic gas tank.
Since research into liquefying the gas was still ongoing, the factory had begun storing the gas in this tank rather than releasing it immediately outside.
And by periodically releasing the gas through the lake, when the tank emptied, the air pressure would drop, and that pressure would automatically draw the gas up—such was the structure.
After the explosion occurred as an accident, April had worried about continuous gas leakage, but Pejin had shut the matter down as though it were unnecessary.
“If there’s an accident, there’s a cutoff mechanism. We have that much technology in the Empire, at least.”
That’s what he had said, clearly.
But now, Pejin gave a shrug.
“It didn’t seal. I was lying. Right now, I have to block off the entire drill hole.”
April went still.
Pejin slowly withdrew the hand April held from his and continued speaking.
“If I don’t stop that gas right now, it will create a fog on a scale beyond anything we’ve seen so far. Or worse—before it even becomes fog, the entire fiefdom could become contaminated.”
“So?”
April seized his arm again.
Pejin turned back to her, then, as though there were no other choice, pulled her into a tight embrace.
“What ‘so’? It can’t be allowed to happen.”
He spoke softly as he soothed her trembling body.
“I knew before I even came here that the fog was caused by that factory. But I pretended not to know. There seemed to be no way to stop it.”
“…….”
“How many nightmares I’ve had…….”
Pejin smiled at April’s grip on his collar, preventing him from leaving. His heart had softened. He continued speaking.
“Every time I presented condolences to the families of those who died because I turned a blind eye…….”
“…….”
“You were the first person I thought of.”
The strength drained from April’s hand, which had been gripping his collar.
Pejin’s voice was warm. She couldn’t understand why it felt that way.
“And that day—when you cried out for me to come back alive, even empty-handed. From that day on, I had fewer nightmares. My purpose became clear.
“…….”
“I wanted to try what those sailors do. To stake my life and venture out to the sea. Now both the Right Island and the Left Island will learn of the factory here. Your allies will grow. And after that happens……I will come back alive, even empty-handed. So at that moment, smile for me.”
“…….”
“When that time comes, smile for me—I’m asking you.”
April’s hand trembled as she tried to release his clothes—the same gesture as when sending off a sailor, asking to let him go.
She had to let go, but she couldn’t. Her trembling hand would not obey her.
“I can’t let go.”
“April.”
“I won’t. I can’t.”
April shook her head.
“Why? Why do I have to lose again?”
Then Pejin cradled her cheeks in both hands and laughed.
“Good—I’d have been disappointed if you’d let go so easily.”
“Don’t go.”
He gently pried her clinging hands away one by one and rose to his feet.
“I’m sorry. And I’ll miss you.”
Then he ran toward the car.
He drove straight toward the Lunos Family Estate.
When he rushed into the estate’s basement, factory workers who had escaped through the Lunos Family grounds shortly after the explosion were ascending, wearing masks.
Among them were Leon and Jonah Tabishi.
Leon had spotted Pejin in the chaos but the two avoided each other’s gaze, pretending not to know one another. As he looked away, his fists clenched tight.
When Pejin tried to enter the factory, the workers blocked his path.
“Where do you think you’re going!”
“The gas needs to be sealed. It’s still leaking as we speak.”
“That’s nonsense! Going into the factory now is far too dangerous!”
“If the gas keeps escaping, it will be even more dangerous. There are many people from the Empire in this fiefdom. The fog has even been sighted in the middle of the Strait. We cannot afford a larger incident.”
“But still…….”
As the worker tried to stop him, Lian, who had appeared behind Pejin, shouted at them from back.
“What occurs here remains under the jurisdiction of Pejin Dieusz, Inspector of the Empire Police Headquarters! You will follow Inspector Dieusz’s orders, citizens of the Empire! The Empire Police will protect you!”
Lian was following Pejin’s earlier request to make him into a hero.
Pejin put on a protective suit and entered the factory.
Lian Ragnar ushered all the workers outside and spoke.
“Please do not stray far from the estate. All factory workers will be subject to investigation regarding the cause of this accident.”
As he spoke, he assessed the workers.
Among them, his gaze caught on one figure that stood out from the rest.
Jonah Tabishi, president of the Tabishi Company.
* * *
Pejin moved through the factory, unable to breathe properly in the gas.
Water from the lake had poured into the factory, and now it reached up to his waist.
When he reached near the lake, the ground had partially collapsed from the blast, and the floor was a complete mess.
As the tank that held the gas emptied completely and the air pressure dropped dramatically, the gas from below began to be extracted through the pipes, just as expected.
The thick toxic gas could not be stopped by the dyed coat, the protective suit, or the mask.
Pejin felt blood rising in his throat and turned the emergency handle to completely seal the drill hole.
By the time his entire body had gone limp and his mind begun to fade, the gas extraction finally stopped.
Pejin, having turned the handle with his last ounce of strength, collapsed right there.
Looking at the gauge panel, the gas concentration was still dangerously high—a threat to life. He couldn’t move a finger. Blood finally gushed from within the mask.
He had said he would come back alive.
Pejin let out a quiet sigh.
“……Looks like I’m about to lie again.”
His consciousness faded distantly. Even as it did, only one face came to mind.
He wished she would fare well.
If only one person in this world could be happy, he wished it would be April.
Even though she would surely hate him forever for such selfishness…….

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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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