The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 199

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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 199
While April was caught in the crossfire, a blaze erupted at Lunos Harbor, swallowing the grain warehouse.
Though the weather was dry, the proximity of the sea and abundant sand stores meant the flames were soon extinguished. But the warehouse was already charred black.
Shaper Meyer, who had entered the Hospital to treat injuries sustained while fighting the fire, mussed his hair in frustration.
“Damn it, April’s going to have my head. The warehouse is burned.”
His subordinate then offered consolation.
“But the grain itself wasn’t destroyed, sir. Surely the Head of House intentionally filled that warehouse with sandbags? To deceive them into attacking.”
“Well… that’s true. But that was my doing, wasn’t it? We still couldn’t protect the warehouse, so she’s bound to be upset. And with that temper of hers…”
April had ordered the grain from the warehouse—the one most likely to be targeted by Miller—to be moved elsewhere in advance.
Finding space for the relocation proved simple. It came from the many clan members who had returned to the Lunos family, including Eleonore Lunos, April’s aunt by marriage. They had visited bearing ships and wagons, even helping to secretly spirit away the grain.
After the flames were fully extinguished, the relieved harbor folk rushed to Shaper and shouted at him.
“What are you doing getting hurt when nobody else did!”
“You got injured working hard, that’s what happened!”
Despite thorough preparation, subduing such a large blaze in this windswept weather had been grueling work. Shaper had evacuated the elderly and infirm, and while leading the harbor folk in extinguishing the flames, he had suffered severe burns across his back.
When the physician examined his back after tearing away his shirt, the burns proved far worse than initially feared. Shaper lay sweating profusely as the village children standing before him held his hand tight. He spoke to them.
“What are you lot doing here?”
“Don’t be hurt, sir…”
“Who says I’m your sir!”
No one present looked frightened by his outburst. Rather, the villagers smiled and replied.
“Well, these children grow up seeing either fishermen or sailors. For the ones who dream of becoming sailors, you’re the real captain—might as well accept it.”
“That’s right, Captain.”
Everyone called him Captain. Shaper wanted to silence them all, but his injuries were too severe to muster the strength.
Anticipating that he would soon lose consciousness, Shaper spoke to his subordinate.
“Go report to April. Tell her the warehouse is completely destroyed and must be rebuilt. All perpetrators were taken alive, there are no deaths, and no injuries…”
“But you’re injured, sir!”
“I’m the captain—I don’t need to be reported!”
“That’s a lie!”
Shaper shouted back at the protesting child, but that shout was the last of his strength. He lost consciousness immediately after.
Shaper’s subordinates, who rode in the car to deliver the report in his stead, chattered noisily about today’s exploits.
They lamented the days when they were idle soldiers doing nothing but hunting, but there was no sincerity in it.
They understood, with quiet satisfaction, that the extended life of the Grand Duchy owed in part to their sacrifice of the hunt.
* * *
The Chapel fell silent after the Coronation Ceremony ended.
April nearly dozed off in that quietness, but kept jolting awake at the sporadic sounds of blows.
Nearly everyone, including the priests, had fled the Chapel. They wanted nothing to do with this situation.
April’s eyes met those of Miller, who lay unconscious on the ground. Then she recalled the conversation she’d had with Pejin earlier.
“You said not to touch him before the Coronation Ceremony, right? So after it ends? Then would it be all right?”
Pejin had asked for permission, and April had told him to do so.
She had not known her answer amounted to permission for such violent acts. April could only watch.
It did not sit right with her. Was it because she wasn’t doing it herself?
Then Heidi rushed to her and cried out.
“He’s going to kill his own brother at this rate!”
She thought this could not be allowed. April could not let Pejin kill his brother. Not out of pity for Miller, but because there had been a time when Miller Dieusz was Pejin’s only family.
Had she not been involved, Pejin might have hated Miller, but he would not be beating him with murderous intent. April walked over and called to Pejin.
“Pejin.”
At the sound of her voice, Pejin—who had not ceased his assault no matter who called—stopped. He turned slowly to look at April. Blood spattered across his face, he asked.
“Not kill him?”
“No.”
“You don’t want him dead?”
“Of course I want him dead. But in my heart…”
April walked over and picked up the crown that lay on the ground—the crown of the current Head of the Grand Duke’s House, and once of the Rhine Royal Family that had governed this island. She placed it on Pejin’s head and gazed down at Miller.
Originally this crown had been crafted in three tiers, but when the Rasa Empire invaded and the Royal Family was reduced to the status of Grand Duke, two tiers were sawed away. The reason was that none dared wear a crown higher than the Emperor.
Though not visibly dented, several of the worked Jewels had scattered across the floor. April set the crown upon Pejin’s head and spoke as she looked down at Miller.
“This is our parents’ unfulfilled wish. How could you not fulfill it?”
“You’re right. It’s the family legacy, in a way.”
Pejin assented and gestured to his men to take Miller away. The police finally placed the unconscious Miller on a stretcher and carried him out. When only the two of them remained in the Chapel, Pejin knelt and wrapped his arms around April’s waist. Looking up at her, he asked.
“Does your heart feel settled now?”
“Not yet.”
April said so and cupped Pejin’s face in both hands, tilting it up toward her. Then she wiped the blood from his cheeks with her sleeve. Fortunately, his face bore no wounds.
“Are you hurt anywhere?”
“Not at all.”
“But I saw Miller hitting you pretty good back there.”
“I’ll just have some bruises.”
April continuously stroked Pejin’s hair as he grumbled. At that touch—whether praise or comfort, it hardly mattered—Pejin let out a soft laugh.
He too was uneasy about having beaten the brother he had relied upon for so long as if to kill him. Realizing this and offering him comfort, April’s touch had become genuine solace—which struck him as absurd enough to laugh at. Pejin murmured.
“I must love you.”
He murmured so and buried his face in April’s embrace again.
* * *
Miller regained consciousness briefly, then his eyes opened again at the pain that suffused his entire body. He wished he could have slept through it all.
When he opened his eyes, he saw Heidi weeping beside him.
He could not articulate what he was feeling. The fact that Pejin had truly tried to kill him struck him with devastating force.
He would settle this pain with Pejin later. For now, he only wanted to escape the Grand Duchy as quickly as possible.
Heidi noticed Miller had awakened and rose to her feet.
“I’ll call for the physician.”
Oddly, in that moment, he had the distinct feeling that Heidi would not return.
Yet he could not so much as lift one arm to hold her back, and she left as he lay there. Soon someone entered the Hospital Room.
April entered Miller’s field of vision as he stared at the ceiling.
“Are you all right?”
At that clear-eyed question, Miller’s fists clenched.
The root of all this pain was April Lunos. The cause of everything he now endured was…
Watching his body tremble with rage, April spoke.
“I have something to tell you. Pejin wanted to tell you himself, but since you might be frightened being in the same space as the person who beat you so severely, I’m delivering the message instead.”
April’s voice was calm and measured.
“The Emperor has just issued a proclamation. From now on, all people of the Grand Duchy within the Rasa Empire will be demoted to Second-class Citizens.”
She spoke as she watched his brow furrow.
“Of course, it’s to be expected in wartime. You anticipated this much when you agreed to go to Rasa, didn’t you?”
Then she slowly sat in the chair where Heidi had been. Turning her head toward Miller, who struggled to face her, she continued.
“Since the Grand Duchy has no such system, let me explain. A Second-class Citizen cannot travel without the lord’s permission, and under no circumstances holds voting rights. They may own property, but if First-class Citizens—nobles included—steal from them, they face no punishment.”
……
“The Grand Duchy’s people are hurrying to flee Rasa now. Yet you alone are being forced to enter that island.”
……
“And all your plans have failed. I lived, and you didn’t burn the grain for the Grand Duchy’s people. So now you’ll need to think very carefully about how to prove your loyalty to 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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