The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 195

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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 195
* * *
Pejin stepped outside and climbed into the carriage.
Pol, who had been waiting in front of the carriage, boarded alongside him and spoke.
“The fact that the escort has come out in such numbers… His Majesty has removed the Security Chief from his post, hasn’t he?”
“Yes. My faith in him is shattered.”
“To exile a man who was trying to sneak away to Right Island—by sending him to Right Island. What on earth is this situation?”
At Pol’s words, Pejin, who had been struggling to maintain a stern expression, finally let out a quiet laugh.
Leaving the island in secret would have required enormous risk. That he could now depart legally was, whatever his hatred of Miller Dieusz, the best possible outcome imaginable.
Yet they soon wiped the smiles from their faces.
Pejin murmured, gazing out the carriage window.
“He promised to let me return to the Grand Duchy someday…… and he’s keeping his word, at least.”
Then he fell silent for a long while. Pol, understanding that his companion was wrestling with complicated feelings about his brother, kept silent at his side.
After the long silence, Pejin spoke again.
“The Emperor would never settle Miller in Rasa without some price in return.”
Pol nodded in agreement at his words.
“You’re right. He’s certainly not the sort to offer favors without compensation.”
“Is there any way to find out what transaction passed between them?”
“A matter of such importance would have been discussed between them in private conversation.”
It was as he said. If only the two of them knew the contents of the conversation, there was no way for outsiders to learn of it.
As Pejin clicked his tongue in frustration, Pol asked him.
“Do you have a direction in mind?”
“Most likely an attack on the Lunos Family.”
“……I suppose so.”
The Emperor’s greatest thorn in his side at this moment was, without need for difficult deliberation, April Lunos. Pejin spoke.
“We’ll return to Right Island as quickly as possible. Once I’m back, Miller Dieusz will leave the Grand Duchy.”
“Yes, Security Chief…….”
Even as Pol answered, his voice trailed off, and he sighed.
“I’ve only just gotten used to calling you Security Chief, and now you’ll be a Prince again.”
“Is that all you have to complain about?”
Pejin rebuked him lightly and turned to look at Pol, then broke into a grin. At the prospect of returning to Right Island, his eyes shone with a brilliance all their own.
Pejin thought that Pol, too, must have been desperately homesick.
* * *
News of Pejin’s return reached April soon enough.
Bauman entered April’s study with urgency just as she and Mille, who had come to the residence to discuss ship usage, were drinking coffee.
“Forgive the interruption, Head of House, and you as well, Mille.”
Mille shrugged to indicate she didn’t mind and shifted her gaze to her coffee, silently inviting him to speak freely.
April asked.
“What is it?”
“The Security Chief, Dieusz, is to take the seat of Grand Duke.”
It was a straightforward statement, yet April struggled to comprehend its meaning. After a long moment, she asked again.
“……You mean Pejin?”
“Yes. His belongings are being loaded onto ships as we speak and brought to this island.”
Unable to grasp the situation, April pressed further.
“So right now, Miller Dieusz is…… fleeing the Grand Duchy on the eve of war?”
Bauman nodded heavily at her question.
Mille, who had been pretending not to hear, let out a quiet click of her tongue and set down her cup despite herself. Thinking naturally that no further business discussion would follow, she rose and spoke to April.
“I apologize for saying this so bluntly…… but you’re fortunate not to have married such a man.”
“It’s fine. That was quite apt, actually.”
With that response, April too rose to her feet. She extended her hand to shake, offering an apology.
“I’m sorry, but we’ll have to leave it at that for today.”
“I understand. I should return to the Central Bank and assess the situation myself.”
“Then we’re both fortunate.”
After the handshake, servants soon brought the visitor’s luggage and coat.
Once Mille had returned to the Central Bank, April began preparing for her own departure.
* * *
April arrived at the Harbor at two in the morning.
At this harbor, the closest to the Grand Duke’s Residence, every torch had been lit, and Pejin Dieusz’s luggage already unloaded was piled high on cargo carts.
When April arrived, the Grand Duke and his wife were also there, warming themselves before a fire of logs.
With unloading complete, the Grand Duke’s House’s belongings were being loaded onto a ship heading back to the Empire.
Miller spotted April standing at the harbor first and opened his mouth.
“What are you doing here?”
“Just curious. All the commotion drew me out.”
There were a few others who had come to watch at the harbor besides April. The spectacle of transferring all the traces of Pejin’s life in the Empire since childhood was worth seeing. The cultures of two nations so close to each other were, remarkably, so different.
The Grand Duke’s guards were monitoring the harbor’s citizens to keep them from approaching Miller, so most of the onlookers were nobility.
Since only those staying behind remained and those departing were leaving, their numbers were not large.
Judging by the sheer volume of luggage being transferred, Pejin was undoubtedly a man who had put down deep roots in the Rasa Empire.
In fact, his entire life had been there.
April watched as the Grand Duke’s House’s belongings were loaded immediately after unloading and let out a derisive snort.
At her contempt, Miller turned to look at her.
April in turn turned her head to face him and spoke.
“You’re despicable. Truly.”
“…….”
“Cowering in fear, you run, and dump your own seat on your brother’s shoulders? I knew you weren’t much of a man. But not to this extent.”
Miller said nothing. He too knew well how contemptible it was to abandon the Grand Duke’s House and flee.
Since Miller offered no response, Heidi spoke instead.
“Pejin had put down such deep roots in the Empire. It was you, Miss April, who shook him loose.”
At her words, April turned to look at Heidi and spoke.
“Where did you say you were going on Left Island?”
When April spoke down to her, Heidi, without thinking, narrowed her brows and answered.
“The Ream Archipelago, southwest of the Empire.”
“What connection do you have to such a distant place?”
“We made acquaintances during the Social Season. We even bought an island in the archipelago and prepared a residence.”
At Heidi’s words, April sneered and then asked Miller.
“Aren’t you worried?”
“About what?”
“You met her as an affair too. What guarantee is there it won’t happen again?”
Then Heidi, thinking April had overstepped, raised her voice slightly.
“Don’t speak carelessly about things without basis.”
At her words, April unexpectedly conceded.
“That’s fair.”
“Then you should apologize too.”
But at Heidi’s continued words, April sneered.
“Me?”
“Yes. You.”
Now Heidi too made no effort to hide her hatred as she answered.
April stepped closer to her and spoke.
“Heidi Basanta.”
“Dieusz, and you should call me Your Highness.”
“Your husband has relinquished the seat of Grand Duke, so there’s no reason to call you Your Highness. And since you stole my betrothed…… I’m not even sure the name Dieusz suits you. Separate from how I regard that House.”
“Until the new Grand Duke holds his coronation, I remain the Grand Duchess. Show respect.”
At her words, April could not help but laugh.
“It’s remarkable. You and Miller both.”
“……Remarkable?”
“You’ve become Grand Duchess, so you might think you’d gain some composure, perhaps even feel some shame toward me once. Yet you remain unchanged. Inferiority, it seems, doesn’t fade so easily.”
Heidi’s expression crumpled at words she had no wish to hear.
April, meeting that expression, continued.
“You still feel inferior to that fourteen-year-old girl, don’t you?”
“Why would I envy you when I have nothing to lack?”
“That’s exactly what I find remarkable. The past is strange that way. It seems like it’s already gone, yet it touches every moment after. That’s why people don’t change easily, I think. The past holds them fast.”
In April’s voice and expression, in everything about her, was the very image of the fourteen-year-old daughter of House Lunos that Heidi had despised.
Unable to bear the sight of the one thing she most abhorred, Heidi raised her hand. And as she moved to strike April’s face, someone from behind caught her arm.
Heidi turned and found Pejin standing there, and froze where she stood.
April, who had not expected his arrival, stared at him with wide eyes as well.

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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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