The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 194

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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 194
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With April’s permission granted, there was no reason left to remain on Left Island.
The moment Pejin returned to the Empire, he began planning his departure for Right Island.
It had been easy to leave, but returning proved maddeningly difficult. He had spent far too much time in Rasa. Everything since his youth existed here.
He stood in the garden as the first snow of the year fell, and clicked his tongue.
“I don’t know what to take and what to leave behind.”
Paul answered him then.
“If you pack only what’s necessary, wouldn’t it suffice to entrust the rest to the Ragnar Estate for now?”
“Maybe so. If I die in the war, the estate’s assets multiply anyway—not a bad investment, really.”
“If only Logan were here, he’d tell you to transfer everything into his name.”
Pejin laughed in agreement at Paul’s words, then his expression twisted.
“That presumptuous wretch actually dares aspire to become our senior.”
“Come to think of it, he was always cheeky.”
“Why did we indulge him so much?”
“He was cute back then, when he was small.”
“That was the problem.”
Both men recalled Logan running toward them with all his might, insisting he too was from the Grand Duchy, bowing so deeply his forehead touched the ground.
To regret it now would change nothing—they knew with perfect certainty that if they could return to those days, they would do the same thing, unable to refuse that small boy hovering at the edges of their circle while always getting pushed aside by the other cadets from the capital.
Paul, his expression displeased, turned back to Pejin and asked.
“So, how do you intend to return to the Grand Duchy?”
“I’ll figure out the way from here.”
“You look delighted. Abandoning this pleasant island to return to that frozen wasteland.”
“Even if it’s a wasteland, it’s the wasteland where I was born. Though admittedly, once I’m back, it’ll be dreadful.”
Yet even as Pejin spoke those words, his expression remained bright, just as Paul had observed.
While they were discussing how to return to the Grand Duchy, the butler Pascal approached Pejin with a letter in hand.
“The Grand Duke has sent you a letter.”
The way he presented it felt deeply suspicious. Pascal, more than anyone, knew that after the brothers had turned their backs on each other in something near to severing relations, they had exchanged almost no correspondence.
Pejin’s face, too, showed he could not fathom the letter’s contents. He narrowed his eyes and used the knife the servant handed him to slit open the envelope.
Upon reading the letter, Pejin’s expression became something beyond description.
Paul, who normally would not have asked about his letters, could not gauge that expression and finally spoke to Pejin.
“What does it say?”
“Miller says he’s stepping down from the Grand Duke’s seat.”
“What?”
As Pejin turned to head immediately for the Imperial Capital, Paul hurried after him and asked again.
“Then who takes his place?”
“Would he really seat his son in a position he doesn’t want?”
“Then……?”
“Me. Obviously.”
Pejin swore and climbed into the carriage.
December had begun impossibly twisted.
* * *
The letter announcing the Grand Duke’s intention to step down arrived at the Imperial Capital first.
Recently the Emperor had been avoiding meetings with Pejin, so the only officials he had been able to see were those from the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
The affairs of the Grand Duchy had mostly been managed jointly with the Interior Ministry, but in this particular situation—with Miller withdrawing from the Grand Duke’s position—the matter had been handed entirely to the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Ru Chamberlain, the Foreign Affairs Minister, had his throbbing forehead wrapped in a cold cloth. And when this young Police Commissioner entered his office without so much as a greeting and settled directly onto the sofa, his headache only worsened.
In any case, that was why he despised anyone affiliated with the Imperial Household, whether soldier or officer.
The boy was arrogant beyond measure. Could he possibly manage to appease him and send him on his way?
Pejin Dieusz, his long legs crossed, tilted his head at an angle and asked Chamberlain.
“How is the situation unfolding?”
“Your brother created this situation, and you’re asking me?”
“But you’d know better than anyone that I’ve severed relations with him.”
That much was true.
Ru Chamberlain unwrapped the cloth from his forehead with a pained expression and spoke.
“In any case, given the circumstances, we cannot leave the Grand Duke’s seat vacant. Right now the Grand Duchy’s citizens are arming themselves in light of war news. Every fishing vessel is laden with weapons…….”
“Do you really believe they look like the type to surrender their land meekly and live as slaves? The people of that island? Surely the Foreign Affairs Ministry has grasped that much.”
“Well…….”
Ru Chamberlain could not fathom the Emperor’s willingness to wage war, nor could he find words to counter Pejin’s point. Yet he dared not speak against the Emperor’s will.
The Emperor had harbored, since childhood, an ambition to seize the entirety of Right Island without fail.
He would conquer the vast primordial forests of Right Island and excavate resources hidden within that jungle to rival gold and silver treasures. Of course, the mobilization of the Grand Duchy’s citizens for this exploration was inevitable.
Until he could possess every tree of that forest without interference from anyone.
He regarded war as an easy and swift answer.
Yet this was not the Emperor’s delusion alone.
The Emperor knew that when he moved his armies for military conquest, Grand Duke Miller Dieusz would open the gates willingly.
How difficult could conquering that land be? Many ministers, including Ru Chamberlain, agreed on this point.
Was this not an implicit promise made from the moment when the Grand Duke sought the Empire’s aid to topple the great Lunos Family in order to marry the woman he truly loved?
Therefore, when they learned that April, the daughter of the Lunos Family and victim of that implicit promise, had brought in provisions through merchant vessels, it felt like a threat to that very promise.
The Emperor believed he had trained both Dieusz brothers into obedient weapons for the Empire.
Yet from the moment when the second son of House Dieusz had fallen in love with the only daughter of House Lunos, seeds of distrust had taken root in the Emperor’s heart.
Before conveying the Emperor’s orders, Ru Chamberlain carefully observed Pejin’s reaction.
He was simply furious. He did not appear to know more about this unbelievable situation than others should. Indeed, the Police had been watching him closely internally, and not once had any precursor to such a circumstance been detected.
Having finished his observation, Ru Chamberlain finally resolved to convey the Emperor’s will.
“Police Commissioner Dieusz, though it may seem obvious, we are on the same side.”
“……And?”
“We cannot leave the Grand Duke’s seat empty, and even less can we seat just anyone there. Surely the most favorable legitimate successor should occupy that position?”
“…….”
Pejin’s expression was one of complete speechlessness.
He rubbed the bridge of his nose with his finger and turned the question back on Ru Chamberlain.
“Are you saying the Emperor wishes me to remain in the very land he is marching upon with his army to conquer?”
“That is His Imperial Majesty’s intention.”
“Even knowing that if I’m caught in the Fog, it would be fatal?”
“We shall make every possible preparation for the Commissioner’s safety.”
“That the Emperor does not convey this in person, and that we are having this conversation with the minister, means he is abandoning me.”
“Why would you think that…….”
Pejin stood and hurled the ceramic vase that sat on the table against the wall.
Ru Chamberlain, seized with alarm, cried out frantically.
“Guards! Guards!”
At his shout, the ministerial guards rushed in.
Pejin clicked his tongue once and remained standing, glaring at the minister.
The guard captain spoke with deference.
“We apologize for the disturbance, Police Commissioner.”
“Enough.”
Ru Chamberlain stood frozen as the guard captain apologized to Pejin.
Only then did he recall that the ministerial guards were half composed of officers from the Police. And to that man, Pejin spoke.
“As you’ve heard, when the Emperor laid hands on me, the Police demanded—and received—an apology. What happened in this room today, where I was abandoned, will likewise not be overlooked by the Police.”
With that, he turned and left.
As if to prove Pejin’s words, the guard unit vacated the office to escort the Police Commissioner, following him entirely.
Ru Chamberlain understood, for the first time, why Pejin Dieusz had held his ground here and why he had sought such a high position.

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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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