The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 189

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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 189
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The promise to meet Pejin was set for November twenty-first.
April headed to Lunos Harbor to journey to Ragnar Island.
She hadn’t yet considered what she would say to him once they met. Now that she recalled anew that he had proposed, her confidence in seeing him had evaporated.
And yet, she missed him.
The distance had bred longing, and she decided it would be better to meet and speak with him face to face.
When she arrived at Lunos Harbor, the people there welcomed her. After exchanging greetings, April entered the Villa.
There, she regarded the dress Eve had brought and laid out with an uncertain expression.
“Must I wear something quite so elaborate…… really?”
“Of course you must. You haven’t seen him in half a year—you can’t possibly wear just anything.”
Eve chided her, then sighed as she examined the dress.
“The trouble is, there’s nothing but neutral tones in your wardrobe.”
“They were purchased for business purposes……. But I’ve heard that in the Empire, neutral shades signify elegance?”
“I pay no mind to other people’s customs.”
“That’s fair, I suppose.”
April nodded in agreement.
By the time they had selected the dress and completed her preparations, it was late evening.
She was to depart on a ship bound for the night sea. As she stood at the Dock waiting for the vessel, April noticed the lighthouse beam moving.
Logan, who stood beside her at the Dock, asked in startled tones.
“What……what’s happening with it?”
“A foreign ship is approaching.”
The lighthouse projected a strong beam through its mirror, illuminating distant waters.
Though those standing at ground level couldn’t yet see it, the presence of the ship was unmistakable where the light reached.
Logan asked again.
“Is it a patrol vessel?”
“No. I’ve already arranged matters with the Empire Police patrols. If one were coming, there would be no signal.”
“Then……?”
“Either a foreign merchant vessel or——”
“Pirates.”
Logan murmured as much, following April’s gaze toward the horizon.
Armed fishermen swiftly converged on the harbor.
Logan observed their movements with marked admiration—the systematic way Lunos Harbor’s fishermen deployed themselves.
They were swift and precise, each knowing exactly where and when to position himself.
Then, from somewhere, vessels appeared—whether fishing boats or naval craft was unclear—and they began moving toward the foreign ship the lighthouse had spotted.
After having sent merchant vessels, it wouldn’t be surprising if pirates, catching the scent of profit, made an appearance.
Moreover, word of Rasa’s threats had spread far across the sea. Right Island was now an easy mark.
As the fishermen gripped their weapons and waited, the ship drew steadily nearer. Then the lighthouse signaled again through its mirror—a signal of reassurance.
Only then did the fishermen relax, lowering their weapons.
“Good heavens, what a fright.”
“What’s all this commotion in the dead of night……. My lady, can you make out what ship it is?”
When a fisherman called toward the Dock to ask, April shook her head.
“I can’t see clearly. But it doesn’t seem to be a fishing vessel, judging by the lighthouse signal.”
“Indeed, it’s neither a fishing boat nor a pirate ship, so……it must be a merchant vessel?”
At the fisherman’s murmur, April faltered and turned to Logan.
He too had just grasped something, his eyes widening with realization.
Not long after, naval forces in a fishing vessel towed two foreign ships into harbor.
As they drew closer, the fishermen’s faces grew troubled at the sight of such massive vessels.
Fortunately, Lunos Harbor was vast enough. The flags flying from the ships bore the colors of Riureu, the nation adjoining Polana.
A merchant who disembarked caught sight of April and approached her warmly.
The merchant and his interpreter greeted her in cheerful tones.
“We thought we’d have to journey all the way to Lunos Residence, but how delightful to meet you here at the harbor. We’ve come on the introduction of Captain Irsa.”
“Ah, I see.”
April smiled with relief.
Logan verified the time against his watch, noting that the hour of Pejin’s appointment had passed, yet he saw no way to urge her to hurry in this situation.
From Right Island’s perspective, Riureu was a nation with high probability of providing military assistance. Most of the foreign currency April had purchased was in Riureu tender.
April guided them to the Villa. Fortunately, there was sufficient provisions to receive them.
While preparing their accommodations, April served tea to the Riureu merchant.
As they sipped their warm tea, the interpreter spoke.
“Truly, it is dreadfully cold.”
“Indeed it is. Still, I’ll see to it that you rest comfortably and warmly through the night.”
“Thank you. And as for our arrival here——”
The interpreter listened to the merchant’s explanation, nodded, and relayed it to April.
“We have come to settle a debt.”
“……A debt? To the Lunos Family?”
“Yes. The previous Head of the Lunos Family made an investment with us.”
April now recalled those bills of exchange that Mille had once shown her—ones scattered across distant lands that had gone uncollected. Among them was certainly one from Riureu.
April replied.
“Now I remember. It was written as……a ship, I believe.”
“Precisely. A ship.”
The interpreter nodded and pointed to the vessel.
April paused, then turned to look back at the ship.
“……A ship?”
“Yes, we have brought it to repay you. For seven years we could not make contact to return it. The ship you lent us, and the interest——we return it all to you now. Finally, we wish to request the distribution rights to Knoc.”
As the interpreter finished, the merchant opened a bag stuffed with banknotes and spoke again.
The interpreter translated.
“We have brought Riureu currency. It seemed you prefer money to gold. Our representative also believes gold is not truly money——only currency itself is money.”
April found herself laughing and nodded in agreement.
The ship, its interest, and the banknotes for negotiating distribution rights in Knoc were laid upon the table.
In the end, that swift vessel had returned with warships in tow.
She gazed upon the lighthouses scattered throughout the world, each one blazing to life for the Lunos Family.
She had believed her name alone remained in the Family. But it was not so.
The Lunos Family was everywhere.
It was not a point, nor an area, but a line. Endless voyages unfolded across that line.
Moreover, the haste with which the Riureu merchant had returned the ship was itself proof of the value of the distribution rights to Knoc.
Only valuable things sustained that line. Therefore, she believed she must secure treatment proportional to that value.
* * *
Ragnar Villa was a pleasant place.
Not as cold as Right Island, yet not as warm as Left Island. The first snow was falling.
April never came that day, and it was only the next morning that Pejin learned she had been conversing with merchants disembarked from foreign vessels.
He had no choice but to settle for the alternative of sitting with Rian at the Villa, fishing.
Rian, watching Pejin anxiously, finally could bear it no longer and spoke.
“Pejin, I’ve been trying to leave you alone, but I can’t anymore. Do you know how many times the float has moved by now?”
“I’ve seen.”
“I mention it just in case—fishing, you understand, involves the step of raising the rod when the float moves.”
As Rian offered both comfort and gentle mockery from beside him, Pejin laughed. Then he leaned back against the Fishing Chair and turned to face him.
“Don’t worry about me. It’s understandable. She could be delayed. In fact, having a clear reason makes it less bitter.”
As Pejin spoke those words, Rian found his pupils truly beautiful.
Even after watching them so long, there were moments when Rian was struck with wonder at how such a creature had come to exist in this world at all. Pejin, visible beneath the cold moonlight tonight, was such a moment.
That he should wait for his wife—a woman bound to him through strategic marriage—with such longing, nursing an unrequited love, was almost impossible to fathom.
Pejin, tired of fishing, closed his eyes for a moment.
Love’s failure.
Even if April came today, Pejin thought, it would not be because she desired him.
His love had always been a failure.
As he sat with eyes closed, Rian shook him.
“Pejin, go inside and sleep.”
“I can’t. I don’t sleep well in unfamiliar places.”
“Even the direct line of the Imperial Family isn’t as bad as you.”
“I know. It’s my curse.”
He murmured as much, but sensing it was time to make an end of it, he tidied up and rose to his feet.
Pejin did his best to exhaust himself. Afterward, he swallowed several Sleeping Medicine tablets and lay in bed, but the weight of his own heart was unbearable.
He wished to tear it out and cast it into the sea. He longed to feel nothing at all. Why must humans suffer such sorrow for the sake of love?
Thinking such thoughts, he had just managed to drift into sleep when the medicine took hold.
A voice called to him, shaking him awake.
“Pejin.”
……
“I know I’m late, but please, wake up.”
Only then did Pejin realize that voice was real, spoken in the waking world.
He rose hastily and turned, and his eyes met April’s.
He froze, at a loss for words, while April, flushed from hurrying, smiled slightly and spoke as if they had parted only yesterday.
“It’s been half a year…….”
Before she could finish, Pejin pulled April close into his arms.

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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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