The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 16

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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 16
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Fejin and April sat alone in an empty room on the third floor, two chairs between them.
Fejin crossed his legs and stared at her, so April spoke.
“Are you going to keep looking at me like that for four days straight?”
“I have to look. If there are bodies.”
“You really think that fog is because of me?”
“I don’t know, so I’m not making a judgment. The Constabulary already went to where the fog was first sighted.”
April hesitated at his words.
Then Fejin pulled out a cigarette and offered a mild rebuke.
“Don’t be surprised.”
“I thought you were certain I was a witch.”
“I’d like that—the investigation would end faster. Can’t a man dream?”
And he lit the cigarette.
The smell of burning wood drifted from the fireplace the Constabulary had lit earlier, and the cigarette smoke carried a similar scent.
Soon the mansion was engulfed in the Black Fog.
Within hours, coughing echoed from every corner of the house.
It was a different kind of terror—not like war or plague.
The darkness surrounding Lunos Mansion made it impossible to mark the passage of time. The sun did not rise even at the hour when it should.
There was nothing human hands could do. Nothing but pray to God.
When everyone in the mansion, seized by fear, had fallen silent, Logan rose to his feet.
“Then I shall show you some magic.”
“Sit down.”
“Yes, sir.”
At Paul’s word, Logan sat immediately.
Then April, her tired face cradled in her hands, spoke.
“Go ahead, then. Let’s see it.”
“At last I have an audience!”
“Do I really have to watch this?”
Paul protested, but April’s eyes held such a look of stubborn insistence that he had no choice but to yield like a gentleman.
April asked to have Hannah brought down—the girl who had been playing with the chicks—and soon she came running.
With two interested spectators now in attendance, Logan grew nervous when the stage was set. He wrung his damp hands together and drew playing cards from his pocket to perform Card Magic.
Then Fejin, who had been suppressing his boredom out of respect for his rank, frowned and asked.
“You’ve had cards this whole time and haven’t used them?”
Logan straightened at once and clutched the cards to his chest.
“These are for magic. Not for gambling.”
“There’s no money involved—where’s the gambling in that?”
“There’s still something at stake, isn’t there?”
“Want me to hit you once, hard?”
Before Fejin could finish, Paul’s hand shot up.
“I’ll do it, sir!”
“Me too.”
April added her voice from beside him.
Fejin clicked his tongue, but considering his usual manner of speaking, it was hardly surprising that they’d swarm toward a chance to hit him like moths to a flame.
Which meant Fejin was aware that his speech habits were no more refined than his face was handsome. Though he saw no reason to change that.
They put the betting game aside, and because Hannah was anxious the magic might be cancelled, Logan began the Card Magic again.
It wasn’t elaborate magic, but Hannah’s eyes grew wide with wonder, and April—who had spent seven tedious years with little to entertain her—watched with genuine interest.
Encouraged by his audience’s response, Logan began to perform another trick, but Paul stopped him.
“Quit while they’re applauding, Logan.”
“But you’re enjoying it!”
“Exactly—stop while you still have them interested.”
Stopped mid-performance and robbed of his cards for the game, Logan nonetheless didn’t mind.
Lucky for him, he liked card games well enough to join the table.
Hannah returned to the chicks, while April, Fejin, Paul, and Logan settled at the Bridge table to play.
Because three of the four were smokers, April set a condition from the start.
“The three of you can smoke no more than five cigarettes combined.”
“No, Miss. If you say it that way, the one with the highest rank will smoke all five. Divide them among us, please.”
Paul spoke with the gravity of a man staking his life on the words.
As Fejin drew a fresh cigarette, Logan grew anxious.
“Please conserve them, sir. I’m saying this out of consideration for the Chief Inspector…….”
……
Fejin clicked his tongue but, swayed by Logan’s words, simply set the cigarette down on the table.
In the gaming houses of the Grand Duchy, a lady’s word was absolute decree, and no one could voice objection to April’s terms.
More important than obeying that order was keeping the noblewoman entertained.
All three Constabulary officers present were reasonably familiar with the social circles of the Empire.
Police and soldiers were considered the most desirable suitors in Imperial society—honorable professions.
They knew roughly what subjects would amuse a woman in Imperial high society.
But this was different. After thinking for a while about what might suit April, Logan spoke.
“Haven’t many things changed since the Grand Duchy began importing coal? Factories have multiplied, work has increased. The Empire’s efforts have ensured the Grand Duchy’s continued prosperity. Do you have questions about that?”
“Many.”
April answered at once.
She had been curious about these things for some time, and she was grateful to quick-thinking Logan for broaching a subject she’d been wanting to discuss.
Logan, with his brown hair and small head, had features crowded densely across his face.
When he looked at her with those guileless eyes, somehow her mood improved.
The other officers often dismissed whatever he said or teased him, but beneath their mockery lay a constant gratitude for someone who eased the tension in the room.
April asked this and that; Logan answered eagerly; Paul constantly interjected.
“Fried foods have become much more common lately. I saw them being sold in the market recently. They used to be a luxury, remember?”
“What past do you have? You’re barely out of your shell.”
“Short though it is, I do have one.”
Paul was twenty-two and Logan twenty, so both were green, but the two-year gap from the academy was enough that a junior wouldn’t dare meet a senior’s eyes.
Logan had overcome that distance and deftly worked his way among his seniors.
Between Fejin Dieus and Lian Ragnar, there had been quite a few who’d taken Fejin’s path, risking accelerated promotion and running at full speed to catch up with him.
If you chose one of the two and failed, early retirement awaited. But if you chose neither, you’d advance at normal pace and spend your career as an ordinary Constabulary officer.
In that sense, Lian had chosen the former path.
As they talked, the first hand ended. April Lunos’s victory.
And the second hand, too, was hers. And the third.
Paul, baffled, asked April.
“How did you manage to win them all?”
At that question, April rose and said.
“I concentrated on winning.”
“Did I mean to lose, then?”
“You didn’t struggle to win quite so hard.”
April said this, then turned to Fejin and spoke.
“Get up. You made a bet.”
“It’ll be tough to hit three people. Get someone else to do it.”
“No. You alone will do.”
Fejin clicked his tongue, but since he’d made the wager himself, he rose without complaint.
April spoke.
“Follow me.”
She led him into the maid’s room next door and, the moment she closed the door, struck his cheek hard.
At last she’d done what she couldn’t do before.
As her full strength landed on him, a flush of red bloomed across Fejin’s pallid cheek.
Fejin could have blocked it, but he didn’t. It had been a bet, after all.
After that, April’s shoulders began to tremble.
She recalled a moment in the church when she had poured wine over the Duchess.
That April had felt no remorse for her action.
She had been certain it was right, without shame, apology, or fear of the consequences that would follow.
Even now, with her life torn up by the roots, April Lunos still acted as she believed she must.
But now fear followed in its wake. It was not as it had been before.

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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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