The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 205

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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 205
April paced the Lunos Harbor, waiting for the ship carrying the citizens of the Dieusz Grand Duchy from Rasa to return safely.
A short while later, Pejin arrived at the harbor as well.
He had been so consumed with war preparations that he’d forgone sleep, but he wanted to welcome back the citizens of the Dieusz Grand Duchy who had been held captive.
Not only April but the citizens of Right Island too had been coming to terms each day with the fact that their Grand Duke had changed.
In his haste to dress in his Grand Duke’s uniform in the carriage, Pejin’s appearance had some disorder that caught April’s eye.
She reached up to straighten his wrinkled collar as she spoke.
“Did you get any sleep?”
“Couldn’t sleep. How could I, without you?”
His tone was ambiguous—whether jest or sincerity, she couldn’t tell—but April chose to take it as a joke, rolling her eyes and answering him with mock reproach.
“How do you expect to get by in such a state?”
“What’s the problem? I like it this way.”
Pejin bent forward, allowing her to adjust his appearance as he asked.
“What do you think? Do I look handsome?”
“Passable.”
“Would it kill you to give an honest compliment?”
“‘Passable’ might be my honest assessment.”
“I can’t accept ‘passable.'”
As they continued their usual banter, a ship horn sounded and one of Riuru’s vessels came into view.
Pejin shifted his gaze slightly, observing April as she watched the ship intently.
Seven years after stepping back into the world, her first trade had been in foreign currency, and she had invested the fruits of that commerce without hesitation in bringing back the imprisoned citizens of the Dieusz Grand Duchy.
Since her release from house arrest, April had been standing with her eyes closed at the edge of a cliff. She lived a life balanced on a knife’s edge, where a single gust of wind from behind would send her falling.
She could have fled from that place.
Ships from several nations were already beginning to dock at this harbor, and she might have boarded one of them and traveled to somewhere that the Lunos Family had established trust, starting a new life there.
But she had chosen to stay here.
At first, Pejin had hoped she too would cross over to the Empire and struggle alongside him to be recognized as an Imperial citizen.
But April had done no such thing; instead, she had seized hold of him and dragged him to this island.
Pejin leaned toward her and spoke.
“Thank you.”
April turned back as if asking what he meant, and Pejin continued.
“For bringing me here.”
……
“Because of you, I can live without shame these days.”
Having said this, Pejin straightened up.
April looked up at his face, then turned back to the ship and answered.
“The choice was yours in the end.”
“That’s true enough.”
Pejin smiled in agreement.
Then the passengers from the first ship began to disembark.
The people who collapsed and wept the moment they arrived on Right Island spoke volumes of the hardships they had endured.
“Head of House!”
“Thank you, Head of House! I don’t know how we could ever repay such a debt of gratitude…”
Every person who came off the ship offered their thanks to April.
Shortly after, the bow of the second ship came into view.
As the vessel drew closer, April noticed an atmosphere different from the first ship—something heavier, something sunk deep—and without thinking, she found herself walking toward the sea.
The faces of those disembarking were grim. Some were hurriedly unloading wounded patients, even those bearing gunshot wounds.
“What’s happened?”
April asked, but they could not answer her, averting their eyes.
At last, one of the sailors steeled himself and spoke to her.
“Daisy… she’s dead.”
“… Daisy, you mean… Daisy Hast?”
“The harbor where we were was already occupied by Rasa’s soldiers… They wouldn’t let Riuru’s ship take us. Daisy seized a gun, took a bureaucrat hostage, and sent us on ahead, Head of House…”
……
“Daisy… she cared for you so much. That’s why she always kept saying that as long as we returned alive, that would be enough. At the end too, she told us to be sure to return and live…”
As April listened to the sailor’s account, she could not speak and only gazed out to the distant sea.
The face of Daisy Hast came to mind—bashfully laughing as she asked whether food really was free if you lived here at the harbor, and her voice saying she’d do anything if it meant boarding a ship.
April nodded slowly.
“I understand. Thank you.”
“Thank you, Head of House. For enduring so much and showing us such kindness…”
After the sailor had bowed several times and departed, April looked toward the house where Daisy had lived.
The two young boys she had raised alone had come out of the house and were looking around at the people disembarking. Then, seeing the adults who embraced them and began to weep, they froze in place.
April could not bring herself to approach the children who had lost their mother.
Ordinarily her mind was always occupied with the next task, but now her thoughts had gone blank.
Yet soon enough, as people who knew the price she had paid for this rescue began to speak to her one after another, she had no choice but to pull herself together.
* * *
It was midnight by the time the wounded had all been transported and the harbor had settled somewhat.
Pejin was planning to return to the Dieusz Grand Duchy for an early appointment the next day, and the exhausted April had no reason not to spend the night at the villa by the harbor.
April, her face outwardly composed, bade farewell to Pejin, who had brought her to the villa.
“Sleep well.”
“You too.”
After exchanging these parting words, Pejin walked toward the carriage and glanced back at her once, then continued toward it. But then he stopped, conveyed something to the Grand Duke’s secretary who was waiting in the carriage, and turned back.
“I’m going to watch until you fall asleep.”
Since April was always the one who tucked Pejin in, his words about watching her sleep felt strange.
“You’re going to watch me until I fall asleep?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t think you’ll sleep well on your own.”
……
“Let me put you to bed. Let me in.”
April still couldn’t understand why he felt the need to put her to bed, but she didn’t stop him as he took her hand and led her into the villa. Strangely, she lacked the will to resist.
It wasn’t until she entered the warmth of the villa that she realized, ever so slightly, that she was melancholy.
Throughout the entire process of preparing her for sleep and guiding her to bed, April remained silent. Meanwhile, Pejin chattered away to himself without once asking for a response.
April thought it was impressive how he managed to end every sentence in a way that didn’t require an answer.
He had a gift for talking at length even in the presence of someone exhausted. It was an unusual gift.
April sat down on the bed, and Pejin began to brew tea by the hearth.
It was then that April opened her mouth for the first time.
“I don’t want any tea.”
“Understood.”
Pejin replied as such, but then poured milk into the brewed tea he had made. After straining the leaves from the Milk Tea he had prepared, he stirred in a generous amount of honey.
As the sweet aroma began to rise, her earlier reluctance to drink wavered somewhat.
Fortunately, Pejin didn’t ask her preference; he simply placed a cup filled about halfway with Milk Tea into her hands.
“Just have a sip.”
Pejin made a gesture for her to drink, then sat down beside her with a cup of his own.
April stared at the Milk Tea for a long moment before bringing the cup to her lips. It was exquisite.
“… It’s sweet.”
In a world so bitter, it felt strange to taste sweetness on her tongue.
Those who departed were like waves—they left their mark on the hearts of those who remained and then vanished.
April murmured to herself.
“I wish good people would live longer. Is that so difficult? People who are always trying to save others—can’t they just… live…”
The Pejin who had been chattering away without giving her a chance to respond was now silent, simply listening to her muttering.
April took another sip of Milk Tea. Then, taking a deep breath, she looked at Pejin and spoke.
“Thank you. I feel a little stronger.”
“No. I didn’t make the Milk Tea to give you strength.”
“No?”
“It’s the opposite. You’ve been trying not to grieve, always pushing yourself to be strong. I made it to give you time to be sad.”
……
“You don’t need to be strong right now. Just drink that and collapse if you need to. We have a long winter night ahead. There’s plenty of time for such things.”
……
April nodded silently at Pejin’s words and took another sip of Milk Tea.
Fortunately it suited her taste, and she soon drained the cup. As Pejin took it away and returned, he let her lean against him as he spoke.
“And another thing. Use me in times like this.”
“… Use you? How?”
“Any way you need. If you lack strength, lean on me. If you can’t even walk far, ask me to carry you. I won’t think you’re playing with me—if you need a lover, I’ll be your lover for a day. If you need a friend, I’ll be your friend. Family too, all the same.”
……
“April, I’m yours anyway, so use me however you need.”

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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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