The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 211

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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 211
To call the battle at Lunos Port a victory in a single word was to diminish how brutal it truly was.
The enemy vessels had come laden with countless artillery shells, intending to bombard this harbor where fishermen made their homes.
The people of the Empire were not unaware that bombing a civilian settlement was contemptible and censurable.
Yet they sought to reduce the harbor to rubble precisely because they recognized how crucial Lunos Port had become to Right Island’s fortunes.
The Lighthouse at Lunos Port burned with the brightest flame, and April Lunos, its master, was the sole kindling capable of igniting it. That this became Rasa’s first bombing target was proof enough of its importance.
Both peoples of the two islands understood this fact, and neither could afford to retreat.
From the dark waters of night until sunrise, the land battle and naval battle unfolded simultaneously.
Given the limitations of Right Island’s warships—forced to approach dangerously close to the enemy vessels—both Pejin and Shaper Meyer judged that they must end this battle before the sun climbed high enough to improve the accuracy of artillery fire.
The warships could not withstand the firepower wielded by the enemy cruisers; if visibility improved with daylight, there would be no chance of victory.
What Shaper Meyer counted as a mercy was that the forces under Pejin’s command proved surprisingly effective.
By some stratagem, not a single one of the four landing craft had interfered with the naval engagement.
Owing entirely to Pejin’s complete containment of the enemy troops, Shaper Meyer faced only the one Rasa cruiser.
Even with night and blizzard to aid them, most of the warships that closed on the cruiser took heavy damage, and the soldiers suffered casualties.
Yet as Right Island’s late-rising sun crested the horizon, the fierce battle gave way to a moment that seemed impossible—the Rasa vessel that had hung suspended above the waves began, at last, to list to one side.
“The ship—the ship is listing! Commander! The ship is heeling over!”
The sailor who spotted the cruiser’s flooding cried out with such force he might have burst the enemy’s ears. The moment the Rasa vessel began its final descent, a cheer rose from the fleet.
Soon after, the Rasa troops who had landed at the harbor noticed their ship sinking in the sea.
The land battle had already ended in overwhelming victory for Right Island long before the cruiser went down, and some of the enemy soldiers barely managed to scramble back to a ship and attempt to set sail.
But ahead of them stood Pejin and his forces, now commanding the captured landing craft. Behind them stood the navy.
The Rasa soldiers attempting to flee on the landing craft surrendered immediately after their cruiser sank.
Even after the battle ended, Lunos Port reeked of gunpowder for a long while.
Pejin, having breathed in the smoke, could not stop coughing.
He had intended to wait for Shaper Meyer’s return to display his prowess as Grand Duke, but the coughing mixed with the sound of metal, and his subordinates kept turning to look at him with concern. Growing impatient with the attention, he finally borrowed April’s Villa and retreated inside.
“Damn it.”
Away from the blizzard, Pejin looked down at his clothes and gloves and gave a rueful laugh before cursing. They were soaked in blood.
Only after he entered did Pol, noticing drops of blood in the snow where Pejin had stood, hurry in after him.
“Your Highness, are you hurt?”
“No idea.”
Pejin mumbled, then suddenly felt his vision darken.
“Y—Your Highness!”
Pol’s voice sounded distant.
Pejin’s breathing had become shallow, and he collapsed where he stood.
While Pol rushed to fetch a physician, he lay there, struggling to steady his breath.
The air flowing in was minimal, and each breath brought only pain.
He fought to push away the anxiety that irregular breathing bred in him.
He gently clenched one hand. When he imagined April’s hand within his grasp, even in extremity he could move his fingers with careful deliberation. What would she have said had she been there beside him?
‘What are you doing? I told you to come home already,’ wouldn’t she have snapped in irritation?
At the thought of her voice, his labored breathing became bearable.
This was perhaps the first time since his birth that love had been returned.
That his past failures in love no longer pained him at all was because she, one door at a time, had opened his heart.
Pejin thought back on today’s battle.
One cruiser.
It would deal a significant blow to Rasa, but it was also Right Island’s last attack it could survive. There was no strength left to endure more.
Sinking a single cruiser was an opportunity Right Island would never have again.
Therefore, Pejin had no choice but to commit all of Right Island’s firepower to this battle. Fortunately, they had won—but now they faced a dire shortage of artillery shells to withstand the next assault.
Even now, the citizens of Right Island were slowly evacuating toward the far side of the Gorge to prepare for war.
When all had fled, there remained one method by which to strike the enemy the hardest blow.
Right Island’s strongest firepower.
The Factory beneath the Lunos Grand Residence.
It was this island’s mightiest weapon and, in truth, the only weapon capable of truly destroying Rasa.
But if he did so, it would generate a fog of a magnitude he had never before experienced. A fog potent enough to cripple Left Island entirely.
The citizens who fled over the mountain range had a high chance of survival. But he—he whose very breath failed him in the smoke of gunpowder—would not survive it.
Before, he had thought that should April ever declare she would ignite an explosion that would damage the Grand Residence she so loved, he would not have the strength to stop her. She should be allowed to do as she wished.
But now that thought had changed.
Instead, he felt he must persuade her otherwise.
Her success mattered more to him than his own life.
He wanted all the seas to know the name April Lunos.
It was absurd—that someone else’s dream should feel more precious than his own breath.
So this is what love is, he thought.
For that, they had to win this war. April hated to lose, and he wanted to grant her victory.
Once he resolved to persuade her of this, oddly, he felt at peace.
At least until then, he could not die.
* * *
Shaper Meyer returned from the sea and let out a hollow, breathless laugh at the sight of the harbor.
Knowing the enemy’s strength was an enormous advantage. Conversely, the Rasa soldiers who had landed expecting only fishermen in the harbor were woefully unprepared; in the blizzard, they could barely move their hands and fell utterly helpless.
Over fifty prisoners were taken, and many lay dead.
Learning that Pejin had gone to the villa, Shaper Meyer’s feet turned in that direction.
Upon entering, Pol greeted him with proper formality.
“Thank you. Thank you for the victory.”
“Where’s Pejin? Is he dead?”
“No, sir.”
“What a shame.”
Shaper Meyer grumbled as he walked toward the bedroom where Pejin lay. On the bed was Pejin, his coat’s collar darkened with blood.
Shaper Meyer turned to the Military Physician again.
“He didn’t die?”
“He has not passed, and he will not pass.”
“Why is this bastard so tough? When will he finally die?”
“So long as he avoids smoke inhalation, he’ll live longer than I will. But had I arrived any later today, he would have been gone.”
“You should have been later.”
As he spoke, Pejin, breathing through a respiratory apparatus, traced something with his finger onto the bed.
[I’m conscious, you bastard.]
[Eat shit.]
“The man’s fine, this asshole.”
Shaper Meyer grumbled, then asked Pejin, “What should I tell April?”
[Why the hell would you report to April? I’m the Grand Duke—report to me.]
“She owns the harbor; naturally she needs to know. Don’t be jealous.”
[Me? Jealous of you? Are you insane?]
“Listen, I don’t even like April. She’s not my type.”
[You? April? Are you out of your mind?]
Shaper Meyer bristled and turned to the Military Physician.
“Just kill this bastard. I’m done.”
The Military Physician, caught in the middle, merely gave an awkward laugh and let the remark pass.
As Shaper Meyer fumed, he caught sight of Pejin’s finger pausing mid-motion.
[Tell April]
Inferring the rest, Shaper Meyer asked, “You’re saying don’t tell her you collapsed, yeah?”
Pejin nodded instead of speaking.
Shaper Meyer understood and replied, “I’ll tell her the good news only. Say you’re delayed because you’re dealing with the prisoners.”
[Thank you.]
[Thanks for the victory too.]
[And I suppose I’ll have to award you a medal for your trouble.]
Both Shaper Meyer and the Military Physician laughed at those words.
Listening to their laughter, Pejin, still lying there, wrote again.
[Now that I think about it]
[I’ll just go to the Lunos estate myself and tell her.]
[April would never believe a liar like you anyway.]
[A soldier can’t fool a merchant.]
Upon reading this, Shaper Meyer’s expression turned grave as he spoke to the Military Physician.
“Make absolutely sure this madman doesn’t leave here. We’ll guard the outside as well.”
“Yes, understood.”
The Military Physician answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

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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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