The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 185

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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 185
Having received such excellent liquor, Pejin found himself obligated to reciprocate.
He set down his glass and ventured a casual question.
“Would you like to see them?”
“See what?”
“The person who sent this liquor.”
……
When Pejin hesitated, unable to answer at once, Rian continued in his stead.
“Right now, there’s no way for you to visit the Dieusz Grand Duchy without the Emperor noticing, and no way for April to come to the Empire without the Rasa nobility seeing. So I can arrange a brief opportunity for you.”
“……How?”
Pejin asked urgently, and Rian went on.
“There are several islands near the Strait. One of them belongs to our family as a retreat. I’ll be taking charge of coastal patrols this winter, so if April boards one of the patrol boats, I can bring her to the island. It should only be about three or four days at most.”
At his words, Pejin found himself muttering without thinking.
“I don’t think April would go all the way out there just to see me.”
“Then let’s just fish together.”
“Even the backup plan is terrible.”
At Pejin’s jest, Rian made a show of glaring at him before breaking into laughter.
Soon after, police officers began arriving one by one, and the drinking continued.
Though they had to voluntarily give up their cigarettes for Pejin’s sake, the liquor was excellent enough to make it bearable.
Each time they caught sight of the raw wound on Pejin’s face, their eyes widened and they asked.
“Surely you weren’t hit, sir?”
“No, you fool.”
“No, sir, this is clearly a wound from being struck…….”
Pejin waved his hand dismissively, as though shooing away a fly, his expression irritated. The officers, warmed by liquor, were too busy speculating wildly about the wound to be deterred.
Pol slipped over to his side and whispered in his ear.
“Wouldn’t it be better to tell us where you were injured? Everyone here is quite convinced you were hit by a woman…….”
“Close enough.”
At his dismissive reply, Pol’s expression hardened.
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Did you just ask me if I’d lost my mind?”
“Yes, I did! What are you doing, a married man gallivanting around like this!”
Pol’s raised voice was loud, so Pejin made a show of covering his ears.
Before the misunderstanding could worsen, Pejin finally came clean.
“His Majesty. He took out his anger on me because April was buying up grain.”
“……His Majesty?”
Silence fell among the police officers.
The men who had refused to quiet down over the notion of a married man being struck by an outsider now stopped talking and turned their eyes on Pejin.
Pejin found his brow furrowing despite himself at such unexpected loyalty.
“You can be hit over things like that.”
Then Logan, who usually smiled readily enough, spoke with a hardened expression.
“No, Captain. No matter how much he is the Emperor, he shouldn’t treat the Police with contempt. This is something the Police Commissioner should know about.”
Rian, who had already broached this topic before the drinking began, shrugged as if to say “I told you so.”
Pejin clicked his tongue and spoke.
“Don’t make a big affair out of this.”
Even as he said it, it seemed unlikely the matter would stay small.
The Emperor tested him endlessly and demanded proof of obedience.
Given Pejin’s position, the Emperor’s hand strike was not particularly surprising, so he had not anticipated such fierce reactions from Rian and his subordinates.
Pejin was weary—weary of being struck, weary of situations he had to manage himself.
And at that same moment, he found himself wondering for the first time whether being hit was truly “something that could happen.”
Growing drunk in the noisy atmosphere, he found his thoughts turning to April, whom he had been suppressing all this while.
The possibility that he might see her felt unbearably sweet.
When they met, he wanted to ask.
Whether she truly wished to see him, whether the contents of her letter were sincere…….
Once he had conjured her in his mind, he was reminded of the fact that April would soon learn about the wellhead on Right Island.
However difficult, he would have to use every method available to prevent her. He did not wish to admit it, but the only avenue with any real possibility was for the master of the Dieusz Grand Duchy—Miller Dieusz—to intervene.
The thought that April might seek to meet Miller before him drew a heavy sigh.
* * *
[I am always offering Prayer for your safety.]
That was what Pejin had written in his reply.
And true to the letter’s meaning, police-trained guards began arriving at the Lunos Family Estate one by one.
He was sending subordinates who had left the Empire Police, saying they no longer wished to serve, directly into the employ of the Lunos Family.
“Why are you sending so many?”
If he had sent this many guards, there had to be a reason.
April gazed at what was nearly a book’s worth of letter in her hands and sighed.
“He sends a letter this thick, but doesn’t write why he’s sending the guards—how does that make sense?”
At her sigh, Eve, who had brought her tea because she had lost sleep reading the lengthy letter, offered a reproach.
“Our Captain certainly seems to have plenty of time on his hands.”
“Exactly. He’s practically written an entire book.”
“I never knew he was so fond of writing.”
After Eve left the bedroom with a look of exasperation, April began reading the letter from the beginning again.
[I’m sorry, April. I’m looking my absolute best these days, and it’s a shame you can’t see it.
You know my eyesight has always been good, right? It seems to be even better lately. My vision must be clearing naturally from looking at my own face in the mirror so often.
But it occurs to me—your eyesight isn’t quite as keen as mine, is it? I wonder why? You look at your own face in the mirror every day too.
Could it be that there’s simply less sunlight on Right Island, so you’ve never grown accustomed to anything so glittery? Does looking at such brightness actually weaken your eyes?]
Though it was surely meant to make her laugh, the first time she read that passage she found herself grimacing, but by the second reading it had grown familiar enough to draw genuine laughter.
In any case, the entire book’s worth was filled with such nonsense.
It must have been rather torturous for whoever was censoring it. Somehow, that thought was rather pleasant.
The letter was genuinely entertaining. Pejin mixed his nonsense with occasional sincere remarks, and sometimes the affection he conveyed was truly warm.
The only drawback was that the second half of the letter felt somewhat short. It could have been longer without complaint.
After the letter ended, she found herself missing him. It was strange. Despite receiving such tiresome accounts of his daily life, she missed him nonetheless.
After carefully filing the letter away in a drawer, she quietly left the bedroom.
September slipped away in quiet, and the days grew cold again. The once-bustling sailors’ quarters fell silent once more after departure.
The Factory had stopped, and the Gas Lamps no longer burned. April accepted this as evidence of safety and welcomed it.
Because the natural gas supplier had been arrested, there were temporary disruptions to the gas supply in parts of Right Island.
But only temporarily—money spoke, and another supplier soon appeared to fill the void.
Now even the Grand Residence’s Gas Lamps had regained their former brightness.
April opened the Basement door and stepped slowly into the Factory.
In the Factory where the sun never shone, only the clock marked the passage of time.
April remembered times when locating the Factory beneath the ground had been a tremendous loss from her personal perspective.
But now it could not be more advantageous. What was this underground Factory, which even the Lord—herself—had not known existed?
It was a space concealed with remarkable ingenuity.
Now that space had vanished from the Emperor’s sight as well.
When April entered the chamber where the Well was located, Professor Ram, Kritz’s former instructor, noticed her and smiled.
“Ah, Head of House.”
“It’s grown quite late. You should return home.”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
“If you ruin your health, that will be an even greater loss.”
“But I still haven’t found a safe way to handle this natural gas, so I cannot face you with a clear conscience…….”
Professor Ram trailed off dejectedly.
April spoke matter-of-factly.
“Research is important in itself. If it cannot be done, then reaching the conclusion that it cannot be done—that is itself an achievement.”
At April’s encouragement, gained from her long study of science under Kritz, Professor Ram managed a faint smile.
He gathered his papers and spoke.
“Very well then. I’ll rest for today.”
“Yes, please do.”
Having replied thus, April accepted the research reports Professor Ram handed to her.
With current Right Island technology, all they could manage was to turn this Fiefdom—particularly this Grand Residence—into one massive Explosive Device.
April narrowed her eyes and gazed up at the Grand Residence.
The Lunos Family Estate was the greatest reason she had for continuing to live. She had no wish to attempt methods that carried explosion risk.
“But……it could serve as a threat.”
April murmured to herself.
Should war break out here on Right Island, a Bluff that they possessed such a massive Explosive Device seemed something they could attempt against the Empire.

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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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