The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 163

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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 163
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The Strait was short, but January’s Sea had a peculiar gift for making even nearby passages seem distant.
April had once heard from Pejin that if you spread out those relentless waves that never ceased their assault, this crossing would surely prove longer than any strait in other seasons.
Arriving at the Harbor of Left Island, April looked down at the police standing in neat formation before the port.
Pol hurried over and escorted her, speaking as he did. “Did you suffer from seasickness on the journey? The winter Sea was rather rough, wasn’t it?”
“I’m fine. People of Lunos don’t tend to get seasick.”
“That’s a relief, then.”
As Pol spoke, he stepped ahead and opened the car door for her. “I’ll take you to the Hospital.”
April climbed into the car and asked, “Why are there so many people just for me?”
“Isn’t that only natural? The wife of the Police Commissioner is arriving…….”
As Pol spoke, he dismissed the driver and took the steering wheel himself. It seemed he had things to say without outsiders present.
“Ah, though he’s not the Commissioner anymore, either. There’s to be a promotion in rank, I hear.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. You’ll likely be asked to attend that ceremony while you’re here. The Emperor, you see, has always been rather fond of spectacle.”
“They’d hold a ceremony while a man lies dying?”
“There’s likely to be two, in fact.”
“The second one being after Pejin is gone, I take it.”
“……Yes. If he should fall in the line of duty, there will likely be another promotion.”
April nodded without comment.
Pol tried to read her emotions. The consent document was certainly somewhere in that envelope of papers she held in her lap.
Whether she had agreed to it or refused remained unclear to him.
One thing was certain: April did not appear to be feeling only sorrow. Rather, anger seemed to radiate from her.
Pejin had undergone surgery at a Hospital near the Harbor, then been transferred by the Emperor’s order to the best-equipped Hospital in the city.
Upon arriving at the Hospital, Pol noticed the Imperial Family crest hanging above the entrance and asked with a worried expression, “The Emperor seems to have arrived first. Would you like to tour the area while waiting for him to depart?”
“No. I should pay my respects.”
“Pardon?”
“I have things to say, after all.”
Puzzled by April’s cryptic words, Pol nevertheless drove into the Hospital grounds.
Upon reaching their destination, April stepped out of the car and surveyed the sprawling Hospital.
January was the season when the most people froze to death on Right Island.
Though snow fell on Left Island as well, it never accumulated to the height of a man’s frame as it did there.
April walked through snow piled up to her ankles, waiting for the Emperor to emerge from the Hospital Room.
After a short while, the Emperor emerged from the Hospital and spotted April. He hurried toward her, and taking her frozen hands in his, he said, “Your hands are cold. You should have warmed them before coming…….”
“I’ll be more careful next time. Have you seen Pejin? Is he all right?”
“He’ll be fine. He’s a strong boy, isn’t he? Don’t worry.”
The Emperor spoke thus while studying her face carefully.
A factory had been discovered built beneath her Fiefdom without permission. Now that the owner of the land had learned of it, it was natural for him to wonder how April Lunos would react to the Imperial Family.
So April had come to face the Emperor directly and give him her answer.
April recalled the things Pejin had told her about August Lilyhil over time. The Emperor was the kind of man who, if he needed her silence, would drag her away that very moment and have her starved to death.
Now that the Factory’s existence had been revealed, and the Emperor was troubled by the disgrace, she intended to become the person necessary to resolve that problem.
April spoke softly. “Pejin always told me that as a police officer, if dangerous work came his way, he might die in the line of duty. He was always preparing me for that possibility.”
“I’m sorry. To burden you with such a thing…….”
“And every time, Pejin would add that if he could not protect you, Your Majesty, then I would have to bear that burden instead. I didn’t understand what he meant then, but now I do.”
Wondering what she was driving at, the Emperor narrowed his eyes, and April continued.
“Let’s say you had my permission.”
“……Hmm? What are you saying?”
“I am still a Witch to the people of Right Island, and in the end, am I not someone who came to live here in Rasa? What the people I’ll eventually leave behind think of me no longer matters.”
“…….”
“Even if the common folk remain indifferent, many of Rasa’s nobles were injured at that Factory. If they grow angry, we won’t be able to operate it for some time. So…….”
“……In other words, since the Factory can’t be used anyway, you’re asking for it to be yours.”
“Yes. Let’s say it was always mine—built with my permission from the start.”
At April’s composed words, the Emperor felt inward amusement rising.
Everyone on both islands believed that the Witch April Lunos had conjured the Fog. If it became known that the Factory was actually her property, that suspicion would harden into certainty.
It was regrettable to abandon such a massive Factory, but turning the anger of Rasa’s nobility—anger meant for the Imperial Palace—toward April Lunos was honestly a sweetness too difficult to relinquish.
The Emperor spoke with deep concern. “But the anger of every noble and citizen of the Dieusz Grand Duchy will fall upon you.”
“I know. I’ll be frightened, but…… I’ll endure it. However, after three or five years, when I return and settle my Fiefdom…….”
“Of course I’ll take you back. And I can simply buy that Fiefdom from you, can’t I?”
“Yes. Everything I have, including the Factory.”
The Emperor found it admirable beyond measure that Pejin had taught April such eloquence beforehand.
How had he not realized the depth of Pejin’s loyalty until now?
Was it because he had been preoccupied with the thought that Pejin was from the Dieusz Grand Duchy?
The Emperor stroked the back of April’s hand as he spoke. “Yes, it was never your land to begin with. That it should be yours is hardly a marvel.”
“Yes. Please make that announcement. I…….”
April drew a low breath, as if swallowing her fear.
The Emperor spoke with gravity. “Don’t worry. I won’t let anyone harm you.”
“I trust you. Then I’ll go see my husband now.”
“Yes, child. Don’t lose heart, and don’t abandon hope.”
The Emperor took his leave in those words and departed the Hospital.
April, who had remained in place to see him off, spun on her heel.
Pol, who had stood beside the two as a police officer, listening to their conversation, followed her.
And so April had obtained the Factory without the lengthy legal battle that Pejin had feared.
To meet the Emperor on her own terms was bold enough, but Pol felt nothing short of awe for April’s ability to conceal her anger and speak with such composure.
Yet there was one problem with this seemingly easy resolution.
“Miss April.”
“Yes?”
“That promise you just made…… it seemed to be premised on shutting down the Factory.”
“That’s right.”
“……Pardon?”
“I’m going to shut down the Factory. Once I do, the Fog won’t arise.”
“But then what reason do you have to own it……?”
“Many. I’ll save countless lives every year going forward, and I’ll spare the people of Right Island the cost of protection efforts.”
“But the House of Lunos……!”
Pol raised his voice unintentionally, then quickly lowered it. “……That means there’s no profit. Moreover, both islands’ resentment will fall on you.”
Then April stopped walking. She turned to face Pol and said, “There is a profit.”
“What profit would that be?”
“Kritz, who was an investigator for the Imperial Police Headquarters, discovered that when the Fiefdom’s lake became contaminated, the ale from a certain Village that drew from the same groundwater was also tainted.”
“…….”
“I’ve bought that Village and all their ale-brewing techniques. Once the Factory shuts down, I’ll have fine ale that the people of the Empire love.”
Pol had heard rumors that she’d purchased that Village.
Only now did he realize it hadn’t been solely to help the starving villagers.
“……Did you plan from the beginning to shut down the Factory?”
Then April turned back, her expression almost bemused. “Of course. Unless I completely eliminate the factors causing the Fog—which I haven’t—why would I deliberately create such a dangerous phenomenon on my own land?”
April continued walking and spoke again. “It’s not just the ale-brewing technique. I’ve made many investments so that the Factory’s closure will bring me secondary profits.”
“…….”
“I’ll become wealthy without that Factory. Very wealthy indeed.”
As she spoke, April reached the door of the Hospital Room where Pejin lay. She looked down at the Consent Document she had brought, then tore it cleanly in half. Then she opened the door and stepped inside.
Pol, left standing outside, let out a hollow laugh.

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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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