The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 203

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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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Episode 203
Miller, making no effort to hide his anger, asked a question.
“Why are you bringing that up now? You’ve committed violence, so is that supposed to make me feel sorry for you?”
At his words, Pejin let out an incredulous laugh before continuing smoothly.
“I have a planned conversation. For it to continue, you need to ask me, ‘Then why did you leave the Empire and come back to the Grand Duchy?’ So ask me quickly.”
“……Why did you come back?”
“Because I’m a member of the Dieusz Family.”
“It must be because of Lunos.”
At Miller’s caustic remark, Pejin laughed wearily and continued.
“No. April did open the possibility for me to return, that’s true, but my choice to stand with Right Island is my own. I have never been a person of the other island. So the reason I’m this angry isn’t just because of what you did to April.”
“Then what is it because of?”
“We were once a royal house, and now we’re part of the Empire, but……traditionally speaking, shouldn’t people like us be above running away?”
Pejin’s face seemed forlorn as he spoke.
“It’s shameful. I’d rather die than accept shame. Even if you’d used me for the Grand Duchy’s sake, or if you’d had to kill me for some reason, I wouldn’t be this angry.”
“…….”
“When I was young, you were so impressive. Now……you’re truly shameful.”
“…….”
“Brother, I never thought being a member of the Dieusz Family would become this shameful to me.”
Listening to his younger brother’s words, Miller fell silent.
He seemed to have much he wanted to say, but said nothing more.
The ship carrying their family soon departed for the Rasa Empire. After the ship left, Pejin exhaled deeply.
As he turned around, Paul, who had come to the harbor with him, asked a question.
“Would you like a drink if you’re feeling lonely, Grand Duke?”
“If I’m lonely, I should look at April’s face, not drink with you lot.”
“What? After all the drinking we did on Left Island, now you’re saying that? How cold.”
“I’m not cold about it.”
“Honestly, I’m not cold about it either.”
Paul shrugged his shoulders.
He had guessed at some of the melancholy Pejin was carrying, but he chose not to press further on the matter.
* * *
April stood before her parents’ names in the chapel within the Fiefdom.
From the basket hanging on her arm, she took out a bottle of spirits with a white label. She opened it, poured two glasses, and set them down at the places where their names were engraved.
April spoke.
“I haven’t killed Dieusz or Basanta yet. But that was a…twenty-year plan anyway. If I live, I can do it gradually.”
Muttering to herself, April finally poured a generous measure of amber-colored spirits into her own glass. After a toast, she took a sip and, looking at the basket, continued.
“In any case, neither of them will be able to return to Right Island now. Well……if we lose the war and they occupy the entire primordial forest, they might come back, but by then I’ll be dead, so I won’t see that outcome. Oh, but is there something you’d like to eat? I brought all sorts of things to commemorate the occasion.”
She spread a picnic mat on the ground as if on an outing, set the glasses down upon it, and rummaged through the basket.
“Mashed potato and potato pancakes and potato bread…….”
As April murmured absently, she paused once and spoke.
“It’s not only potato. There are other things too……. Oh, herring. Would you like some herring?”
April arranged the foods across the mat.
After filling the space, she began to eat alongside the spirits.
She spread sour cream thickly over the potato bread, still warm from the oven but already cooling, and placed the herring dish on top.
After swallowing, April continued.
“But there’s another serious problem with the Dieusz Family. An incredibly serious problem…….”
Whether it was because of longing…….
The cold wind blowing here, the shifting shadows, the rippling spirits in the two glasses—all seemed to April like the presence of someone.
It seemed as if her parents were answering her.
It wasn’t rational, but she wanted to believe it.
“You see, there’s Pejin. That perpetually irritating one with his sharp tongue, the sensitive younger brother. Even as he’s grown, he’s so sensitive that……he can’t sleep well unless I’m beside him. Isn’t that funny? Anyway, it seems that temperament doesn’t change as you grow.”
She noticed the glasses meant to stay full seemed to be emptying slightly, so she poured a bit more into her parents’ glasses and continued.
“That’s not the important part, but anyway……the problem is that he proposed to me. Isn’t that funny? After what his brother did. And even though he tried to deceive me, how does he propose?”
As she griped, she took out one final box from the basket, filled with letters.
“Look. When I returned completely to Rasa and gathered my belongings, he gave me this many letters. He said he wrote them whenever he missed me, but this isn’t even all of them. How many boxes like this did he bring? At this rate, shouldn’t letter-writing be his profession? I think he must have chosen the wrong profession. I suppose he was worried I’d get tired of them, so he didn’t send them all at once. He’s giving them to me now. It’s not wrong. The thing is, they’re actually quite entertaining. No matter how I think about it, shouldn’t writing really be his profession?”
After discussing various things, April looked toward the two glasses gleaming with the brief sunlight that passes once a day.
She smiled.
“You both think so too, don’t you? And……so.”
She let a long pause hang.
But soon she spoke with a determined expression.
“You might object, but I’m going to marry him by my own choice. If I want to, I will. Pejin says that love is also an experience. So that word……wanting to spend time like that together, if it’s going to make me love my life a little more……then I’ll do it. Well, even if you were alive, you wouldn’t have been able to object. You’ve always been on my side.”
Finishing her words, April tidied everything except for the two glasses, then rose to her feet. She spoke to her parents.
“I don’t think I’ll be able to come for a while. I’ve been busy until now, but from here on it will be even busier. I love you, and…….”
After thinking for a moment, April smiled broadly and spoke.
“In my own way, I’m growing well. You raised me well until I was fourteen. I’m living without shame to anyone. That……is my pride.”
With that smile, April waved goodbye and left the chapel.
April murmured, looking at the sky.
“The sun seems to linger longer today.”
With those words to herself, she turned her steps toward the carriage.
* * *
The decree concerning second-class citizens erupted suddenly, and the harbor of the Rasa Empire descended into chaos.
It was the harbor where most citizens of the Grand Duchy staying in Rasa were gathered. Grand Duchy citizens assembled in a warehouse to discuss countermeasures raised their voices.
“Let’s leave quickly! We have to go back right now!”
“But……if war truly begins now, wouldn’t it be better to stay here?”
In a situation where even one unified opinion was a problem, the opinion split into two.
While opinions were divided, Rasa bureaucrats arrived at the harbor with soldiers.
The Grand Duchy citizens gathered in the warehouse were led outside by the soldiers’ hands.
As they came out of the warehouse, the area around the harbor was surrounded by soldiers.
The people of Right Island first protected the children while watching the bureaucrats with vigilant eyes.
The bureaucrat cleared his throat before speaking.
“Citizens of the Grand Duchy, I trust you have already heard the news concerning the enactment of the decree. Of course, it is true that certain restrictions arise due to your Grand Duchy origin, but I hope you will also consider the benefits on the other side of that equation.”
“What benefits are there!”
One Grand Duchy citizen shouted, and the bureaucrat continued.
“The Grand Duchy is part of the Empire, yet your citizens have spent a long time without fully recognizing this fact. Therefore, this war will serve as the foundation for all citizens of both islands to live as members of the Rasa Empire…….”
“As second-class citizens, you mean?”
The Grand Duchy citizen now interrupted entirely and questioned back.
The bureaucrat deliberately drew up the corners of his mouth and spoke.
“Yes. But I assure you that second-class citizens of the Rasa Empire will enjoy a higher quality of life than first-class citizens of any other nation.”
While the bureaucrat was speaking, the attention of the citizens shifted toward a noise coming from the sea.
In the water, work was underway to chain down the ships bearing the Grand Duchy’s flag. It was an attempt to seize the citizens’ means of escape.

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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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