The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 168

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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 168
* * *
The Emperor was the first to hear that Pejin had awakened, and he went directly to the Hospital.
Upon learning the Emperor was coming, Pol informed Pejin of all that had transpired in the meantime.
Among this news was a matter concerning the Emperor’s orders.
“His Majesty has commanded you to kill the Security Chief.”
Though Pejin could not yet raise himself from bed, he had recovered enough to write. With an expression betraying no surprise, he wrote on a small Slate Tablet prepared to maintain secrecy during their conversation.
[An order given to Lian, then.]
“……How did you know so quickly?”
[It makes sense. But why didn’t he kill him?]
“I did ask him not to, though I doubt that had much influence. It was his own choice.”
[I would have killed him.]
Pejin immediately erased what he had written, prompting Pol to chide him.
“You wouldn’t have had the strength to do it, I’m sure.”
At Pol’s words, Pejin adopted an aggrieved expression and made to write something further, but Pol cut him off.
“His Majesty arrives.”
The lingering effects of the strong medicine had dulled Pejin’s senses, and he had felt nothing approaching. He clicked his tongue in frustration.
[My ears must be dead too. Can’t hear a thing.]
Pejin wrote this and then tapped the tablet to show Pol, as if to prove his point.
In that moment, the door opened and the Emperor entered.
Pejin made a motion to rise out of courtesy, and the Emperor patted his shoulder gently while looking at the Slate Tablet.
“Your hearing is impaired?”
Pejin answered in a strained voice laced with a metallic rasp.
“Only slightly. It will return soon enough.”
“Use the tablet when you speak with me as well. Don’t strain your voice.”
“But I was saving my voice to use when you arrived, Your Majesty.”
Pejin offered this retort and set the tablet aside.
He had just learned that the Emperor had issued a command for his death, which made his throat feel oddly vulnerable. Yet in truth, having faced such extreme tension from his earliest years under this man’s gaze, the present circumstances felt neither strange nor particularly novel.
Augustus spoke.
“What an ordeal you’ve endured. I’m truly glad you’re safe.”
“Indeed. I thought I was dying.”
“April was worried sick about you, I hear? It’s unfortunate you missed each other.”
“Well, so long as I can board a ship, I’ll see her eventually. A little delay won’t cause any real harm.”
“Hearing you say that makes what I have to tell you all the harder…….”
Pejin wondered what order was coming next as Augustus paused, but the Emperor continued.
“I need you to buy me a little more time.”
“……Pardon?”
“Right now, the people of Left Island are uniting around stories of your heroism. They’re rallying. So I was thinking—wouldn’t it be more dramatic to announce your awakening in a more theatrical manner?”
The citizens’ interest in Pejin Dieusz—who had rushed into the burning Factory thinking the Fog might reach all the way to the Rasa Empire—had now surpassed the popularity of every notable in the nation.
The discontent directed at the Emperor had begun to thaw somewhat, mollified by the fact that he had accepted someone from the Dieusz Grand Duchy with open heart and nurtured her into a national hero.
While Pejin lay in hospital, people prayed for his recovery in front of the Hospital, in the Church, and even in small gatherings. They prayed everywhere.
Time softens anger.
The Emperor needed a little more of it, and he also wanted to make Pejin’s awakening more dramatically compelling.
Pejin knew better than anyone that the Emperor had always been fond of spectacle. So the Emperor’s next words came as no surprise.
“I’ll find the right moment to announce your return to consciousness. Until then—I’m sorry, but could you keep this secret even from April?”
Pejin made a pained expression and asked in return.
“And exactly where would April spread such a secret to?”
“April is a charming young woman, but do I truly know whether she keeps secrets or tells them?”
“I suppose that’s fair…….”
Pejin sighed and cradled his face in both hands.
“There’s a very real chance April will beat me to death later.”
“You have plenty of people in the Police. Ask them for protection.”
“It seems you care for me less than I thought. Putting me in harm’s way like this.”
“What are you saying? I care for you far more than you believe.”
The Emperor gave him a pointed look and patted Pejin’s shoulder.
“I’m your parent.”
“Of course. So when I die, come visit me often.”
“You stubborn boy. You’ve been lying about for nearly two months worrying me sick—don’t you dare joke about that.”
The Emperor had issued an order to his closest friend to kill Pejin, merely to redirect the Imperial Family’s resentment into mourning. Yet he now spoke such words, and Pejin felt something ignite inside him.
More than any pain that painkillers could not fully suppress, that roiling heat tormented him.
Pejin barely contained the fire until the Emperor left the Hospital room, then collapsed against the bed, unable to endure his own fury any longer.
Pol, stationed by the door, asked quietly.
“Will you truly keep this secret from the Lunos Residence?”
“Why should I honor such a bargain?”
Pejin grumbled, sprawled on the bed.
“I’ll tell her the moment I can.”
* * *
On the day the snow began to melt, somewhere on Right Island came the intermittent sound of ice cracking and splitting. Soon after came the rushing sound of flowing water.
The people of Right Island heard spring in those flowing waters.
April rose from the warm bedding Bauman had arranged for her.
The Polar Night had passed, but the world didn’t begin to brighten until after eleven o’clock, so the view outside her window remained impenetrably dark.
When April came downstairs, she found newspapers neatly arranged on the table.
She hesitated to touch the carefully folded newspaper.
She hadn’t been able to read the papers for some time.
She knew that if there were an obituary, she would hear of it before reading any newspaper. So the fact that no contact had come until now meant Pejin had safely passed the critical point after his surgery.
Her mind understood this, yet her hand would not reach for the paper.
As April sat in a chair, one of the servants of the Lunos Residence, hearing the sound of the chair being drawn out, appeared.
“Miss, shall I prepare breakfast?”
“What do you have?”
“Well, there are pancakes?”
The servant asked almost uncertainly, finding April’s question surprising.
Pejin used to complain that “if I’m not around, the Lunos Residence has nothing but pancakes,” and April wanted to deny it, but unfortunately it was proved true every morning.
Upon hearing that there were only pancakes, she recalled Pejin’s dissatisfied expression and found herself smiling despite everything.
The servant frowned, thinking hard, then asked.
“Is there something else you’d like? Shall I prepare something special?”
“No, pancakes are fine.”
At April’s words, the servant’s expression finally cleared and she departed to fetch the pancakes.
After that, April unfolded the newspaper.
“It’s all right.”
She murmured to herself.
“I’m always all right.”
But her heart would not empty so easily.
A storm sweeps away everything, and she had even swept up the rubble with her own hands, yet new sorrow kept appearing. Like dust settling even after sweeping, the heart was never truly empty.
The heart never became vacant.
As if she could divine the contents by running her fingertips across the surface, she traced the newspaper with her fingers before finally unfolding the creased paper completely.
The front page carried news of an actress she had read about recently announcing her marriage and information about her spouse.
“……She’s getting married?”
The actress was someone she had liked as a child, so she found herself drawn to the story.
She read through the article carefully, embarrassed by her own reluctance to open it, and flipped through the pages, but there was no mention of Pejin.
Her heart seemed at peace, yet by the time she reached the final pages, her hands had turned cold. Fortunately, it was then that the servant brought her a warm cup of coffee.
April cupped the cup in both hands and warmed her fingers. Then she took the pancakes the servant had brought and ate them piece by piece.
The filling in pancakes was largely the same, but today, perhaps because April had asked what options were available, the chef had exercised some skill. A mysterious fruit jam had been added that gave an intriguing flavor. Yet there was a freshness to it that pleased her.
As she ate the pancakes, her body grew warm.
Whether from the hope that the melting snow would dilute the groundwater, or as if the freshly baked pancakes were exactly what she had wished for, her body felt restored.
After finishing her meal, April rose from her seat. But somehow her gaze was drawn back to the newspaper.
On the first page of the black-and-white newspaper, certain letters in the actress’s wedding announcement were oddly emphasized.
Those emphasized letters formed a combination that signified Sky Blue, and in her agreement with Pejin, Sky Blue meant safety.
After staring at the letters for a long while, April began to smile without meaning to.
April sought out Bauman and asked.
“Is it possible to see older newspapers?”
“Oh, yes!”
Bauman said happily.
He had been collecting newspapers that April hadn’t opened, hoping to find something useful for her.
April unfolded newspapers from the same press as the one she had just read. In the same actress’s wedding article, the same letters were emphasized.
Sky Blue, Sky Blue, and more Sky Blue.
Pejin had long known about the actress April liked, but even so, the message might not have been from him. Yet at those letters, at the Sky Blue scattered like magic across the black-and-white newsprint, she found herself laughing.
“Just show yourself.”
When she saw him again, she would be furious enough to beat him senseless.

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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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