The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 217

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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 217
April’s hands descended slowly, and yet she didn’t chatter away as she usually would. Pejin, his lips stiffened where hers had just met his, simply traced them with his fingertips before asking.
“You love me?”
“Yes.”
Only then did her words fully reach him, and the corners of his mouth curved upward of their own accord.
He pulled her close by the waist and kissed her again. April pushed against his lips, uneasy.
“At least give me an answer.”
“You’re the one who never answered when I said it a hundred times. What more could I possibly say?”
“Well, you must have some opinion about what I just told you.”
“I don’t. Actually, I do. I feel like I’m dying. My head, my heart—they’re about to burst. I’m terrified right now.”
“That sounds rather negative.”
“You’re the one being negative if you heard it that way.”
“Let’s not fight. Not now, at least.”
“All right.”
Pejin nodded, then found himself smiling despite himself and asked again.
“You really do? You love me?”
April nodded in response.
“Yes. I love you.”
“In case you’ve forgotten, I proposed to you.”
“Doesn’t ‘I love you’ already include that answer?”
“Not at all. I could love someone and still think them garbage as a husband.”
“Fair point. I’m not sure you have any merits as a husband at all.”
“Don’t agree with me—that was a hypothetical.”
Pejin’s rebuke made April laugh outright. Then she nodded.
“All right.”
“Marriage?”
“Yes. Marriage. I accept your proposal.”
At her answer, Pejin suddenly wrapped her in his arms. His whole body shook with laughter.
He looked so happy that April couldn’t help but laugh along, unburdened and free for that moment alone.
After they’d laughed, a brief silence fell between them. Especially Pejin, who had just heard her acceptance, stood motionless for a time as if turned to stone. Then he exhaled deeply and pressed both hands to his chest.
“I’m weak—you can’t make my heart race like this. If my breath runs short, it’s dangerous.”
Just moments ago he’d spoken as though his life held no importance, but the moment he’d secured her affection, he’d turned coy. April’s eyes narrowed.
“Such dramatics.”
“I’ll grant you the dramatics, but when someone you love says they can’t catch their breath, you have to worry first.”
Pejin’s expression was so radiant that April doubted whether this was the same person from before.
Watching Pejin overflow with joy, April murmured.
“You’re loving me too much, so maybe…….”
“Too much, what? It annoys you? You can’t stand the sight of me?”
“Why are you being so negative?”
She was embarrassed.
But since she was too embarrassed to admit the embarrassment, April spoke with affected coolness.
“In any case, don’t love me so much. I don’t like it.”
Pejin seemed to understand that her answer came from embarrassment. The contented smile on his face made that plain. In truth, nothing she could say now seemed capable of dampening his mood.
April glanced back at the bed, then looked at Pejin again. She turned his body and spoke.
“This won’t do. We’re sleeping separately tonight. Go.”
“What are you talking about? You accept my proposal and then throw me out?”
“I can’t sleep with you. Not tonight.”
“No, I hate that. Let me stay.”
Pejin whined, then rolled back toward April. Before she could gather her thoughts, he bent down and kissed her.
While April’s mind went blank at the kiss, Pejin found the position uncomfortable and hooked one arm under her to lift her. With his other hand, he brought a cushion and set it on the windowsill, then sat her upon it. April unconsciously wrapped her arms around his neck before she hesitated and turned to look behind her. Outside the window, snow was falling; no one was visible.
Still, since she worried about being seen from outside, Pejin drew the curtains closed behind her. Then he kissed her lips, her neck, paused and looked into her eyes.
“Do you really love me?”
The crinkle of joy at the corners of his eyes was so genuine that April couldn’t help but smile along.
“Yes.”
“Don’t just say ‘yes’—”
“I love you.”
“Can’t you keep saying it? That you love me?”
“All right.”
April nodded, then pulled his collar close and drew him nearer. She kissed his nose.
“I love you.”
She kissed his cheek, his lips, and continued.
“I love you a little, and I love you too.”
“…….”
“I love you very much.”
“…….”
“And I want to marry you.”
“I should stop listening. I’m not just happy anymore—I’m scared. Right now.”
Pejin murmured this, then whispered into her ear.
“I love you greatly, and I love you a little.”
“That’s backwards from me.”
“If I work hard enough to make you love me even more, we’ll be equal.”
“We’re actually similar.”
At April’s words, Pejin made a questioning sound. April continued.
“You said you sleep well when you’re beside me, remember?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t realize it, but I’m the same way.”
April looked toward the window swaying in the wind as she spoke.
“That night when you were fighting at Lunos Harbor. The blizzard was howling and the windows were shaking, and…… when I thought back on it, I realized the same was true for me. When I’m with you, I can’t even hear that sound.”
“…….”
“When I’m with you, I’m thinking of you, so the noise of the world doesn’t reach me. So if my heart is like yours, then maybe what you said is love, not just convenience.”
April’s beautiful eyes, which had been fixed on the window as she spoke, turned back to Pejin.
“Isn’t it strange? Even now. Just being with you makes the world feel quiet to me.”
At her words and the steady, if not tender, love in her gaze, Pejin seemed to want to say something more, but he couldn’t. Instead, he only nodded and pulled her close. In the tremor of his breath, April felt his overwhelming heart.
April whispered into Pejin’s ear, which he seemed unwilling to leave.
“Shall we go to bed?”
At her words, Pejin finally released her and took her hand to escort her.
After that, all happened as April had said.
The wind battered the windows so fiercely, yet neither of them heard a sound.
* * *
They had gone to bed, but they rose again within a few hours. They needed to check the public’s reaction to the article.
Pejin, who had woken first, spoke soothingly to April, whom he’d inadvertently awakened.
“Sleep more. You don’t have to get up.”
“I need to though…….”
April murmured and forced herself up. Then she hit his arm, unable to stop him from smiling at the sight of her.
“Why do you keep smiling?”
“What, I can’t smile? Why are you hitting me for it?”
“You should smile in moderation.”
“You’re the one who made me smile, then complain about it.”
“When did I?”
“Well, for one, you’re so beautiful right now.”
Even as April furrowed her brow at him, Pejin found her unbearably lovely. Her tousled blonde hair, her fresh face, and her lips, which looked slightly pouty from sleep, all delighted him.
“And you say you love me. There’s nothing that makes me happier than that.”
“I’ll take it back.”
“You can say it, but you can’t take back my heart. I know—I love you too.”
Pejin teased her with a mischievous grin, and infuriatingly, she didn’t hate it. April found it absurd, but she smiled despite herself.
“Fine, all right. So you don’t have to confirm my feelings every morning like this.”
“So from now on, tell me you love me before I even ask.”
“You’re exhausting from the moment you wake up.”
“I love you.”
At Pejin’s words, April sighed and kissed his forehead, then answered.
“Much as I hate to admit it, I do too.”
“It’s strange—because you say you hate it, the words sound sincere.”
Pejin rose with a satisfied expression. But reluctant to leave April, he drooped and returned to her. He murmured.
“Tell me to get lost, won’t you?”
“No. Don’t go.”
“Please?”
Pejin whimpered and pulled April back down to the bed with him.
Fortunately, as if to drag him out before his resolve weakened further, Bauman’s voice sounded from outside.
“Head of House, Professor Lam has arrived.”
“……Professor Lam?”
April asked, puzzled. Bauman replied.
“Yes. He says he’s discovered something important and must meet with both of you at once to deliver the news.”
At his words, both of them hurriedly rose from the bed.

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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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