The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 34

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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 34
* * *
There had never been a single time when sailing a winter sea felt like a pleasure. Five hours would see the crossing normally, but on winter days with rough waves, it could take twice as long.
Fortunately, today they arrived in five hours. Pejin departed from the port on the right island and boarded the train heading to the capital the moment he reached the left island.
The Grand Duchy imitated the Lasa Empire in every conceivable way.
Pejin knew better than anyone that this “imitation” was the direction his brother had pursued from the moment he ascended to Grand Duke and became the leader of the Grand Duchy. Which was precisely why it pained him.
In the end, the Grand Duchy fell short of the Empire in every regard.
Yet in political matters, Pejin had no choice but to support Miller.
To him, his brother was irreplaceable.
Having no heir of his own, Miller existed in Pejin’s life as the sole, absolute person who could fill that role.
It was Pejin who felt the most revulsion toward his first love. So he left the Grand Duchy of his own accord.
Then when he encountered Heidi Deus again this time…….
Pejin rested his chin on his hand and gazed out the window.
The landscape rushing past gradually erased the beautiful face that had begun to surface in his mind.
Once this business was finished, he had no intention of returning to the Grand Duchy.
There was nothing left for him there anyway.
He would remain a man of the Lasa Empire forever. And he would possess police power that even the Emperor himself could not wield carelessly.
As Pejin thought thus, he suddenly recalled the woman he knew who clung most stubbornly to her roots—April Lunos. And at the same moment, he remembered that he needed to buy her a dress.
If he didn’t purchase the right one, he had no idea what criticism he’d hear.
Of course, she would never actually curse him aloud, but that particular look of disdain in her eyes struck harder than any verbal abuse ever could.
Because of his worries over the dress, Pejin found himself thinking of April Lunos throughout the entire train journey.
* * *
Logan, who traveled alongside Pejin, was one of those who felt most keenly the difference between the Grand Duchy and the Lasa Empire’s capital.
The moment Pejin Deus descended into the Imperial Capital, where the Grand Duchy’s terrifying cold had loosened its grip, an enormous contingent of police officers, lined up with mechanical precision, came to receive him.
Pejin waved them away in greeting and passed between the ranks of officers.
The Grand Duchy and the Empire differed vastly in population. The Empire had more than double the population, and the disparity in the scale of police and military forces was even greater. The difference in the quality of weaponry was so vast that any multiplier became meaningless.
Logan had always been curious about what had gone through Pejin’s mind the first time he arrived in the Empire.
How had that boy regarded this overwhelming difference in power?
“It’s warm, being back in the Empire. I could take off my coat.”
Logan spoke with false bravado, and Pejin replied.
“Then take it off.”
“Well, there’s such a thing as propriety.”
“Since when do you care about propriety? Take it off.”
“Actually, I’m a bit cold. Could you take that as a joke?”
“For some reason, I don’t feel like indulging your jokes.”
At Pejin’s words, Logan made a dejected gesture.
While Logan continued his pranks beside him, they arrived at the Imperial Palace.
Waiting at the entrance was Lian Ragnar, Pejin’s rival and at the same time his close friend.
“Pejin.”
“We see each other often.”
“I know. Let’s stop meeting like this.”
“We think alike.”
Pejin spoke and grasped Lian’s hand firmly in a handshake.
Lian patted Pejin’s back in greeting, showing his warmth.
Only the two of them proceeded into the Emperor’s reception room.
As they entered, the middle-aged Emperor rose with delight.
“My favorite police officers have arrived at the same time.”
Both men bowed simultaneously, but Lian, the Emperor’s nephew and of imperial blood, merely placed his hand over his chest without bowing his head, while Pejin of the Grand Duchy and the Grand Ducal House bowed his head in respect.
The Emperor first embraced Lian with one arm, then greeted Pejin with the same gesture.
However, since only Pejin had reason to make a report, Lian drank a cup of tea and exchanged pleasant private conversation before departing first.
With only the Emperor and Pejin remaining in the reception room, the Emperor soon spoke first.
“How is the situation with the Fog?”
“It was dire. We had twenty deaths.”
“I see. So it was like that.”
The Emperor nodded and spoke with a heavy voice.
“I am thinking about how to resolve the Fog. I will find a way as quickly as possible.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re worried, aren’t you? Before you leave, visit the Academy of Sciences. The most capable scholars are working to find a solution.”
At the Emperor’s words, Pejin sighed.
“Will I even understand what the Academy of Sciences scholars are saying?”
“That’s exactly why the military academy should teach more science, as I’ve always said.”
“I’m grateful I graduated before that happened.”
“That’s unfortunate, but such a thing as post-graduation education does exist in this world.”
“Please don’t do that. I really will quit the police force. You’ll lose one capable officer—all for the sake of science studies.”
The Emperor, who enjoyed Pejin’s grumbling, burst into cheerful laughter.
“Just wait and see if you can quit on your own terms. You’ll still be serving as the Empire’s Police Chief even when you’re seeing your great-grandchildren.”
“Please don’t say such terrible things. I’m genuinely frightened it might actually happen.”
After exchanging such banter, the Emperor followed Pejin to the door to see him off and spoke.
“So, what about marriage?”
“I hate it. Who are you trying to pair me with again?”
“You should just marry quickly—otherwise, I’m about to end up cleaning up the corpses of lovesick ladies, you rascal.”
Though the Emperor wanted to speak to Pejin, he instead observed the unmarried noble ladies who could only cover their faces with fans and bow as they retreated in the presence of the accompanying Emperor, and he wore a genuinely concerned expression.
At the door, having seen Pejin off, the Emperor spoke.
“When will you come next?”
“Not during winter, at least. Winter seas are dreadful.”
“But isn’t winter half the year there?”
“I’ll see you in summer.”
“The seasons are unfeeling, aren’t they.”
The Emperor, genuinely disappointed, pulled Pejin into a tight embrace once more.
Holding Pejin, the Emperor spoke.
“Come back soon. I miss you.”
The Emperor, dissatisfied with both his sons, had come to genuinely cherish Pejin of the Grand Ducal House, whose blood had endlessly mingled with the imperial line.
But that affection was something Pejin had earned.
From first to last, every bit of it—every grain, every drop—was the result of Pejin’s efforts.
The moment Pejin disappointed the Emperor, he would remember that fact.
How desperately this young man had fought to win his heart.
* * *
The Academy of Sciences was a beautiful place.
Dried ivy in reddish-brown tones adorned the white stone walls, and the fragrance of flowers seeped out from delicate openwork ceramics with fitted lids.
Because he had visited the Lunos Family residence so often, he even recalled the empty shelves where vases should have been placed.
That manor now smelled of nothing but dust. If the Lunos Family matriarch, who had always infused it with the scent of every variety of rose, ever found out, she would surely be furious.
With such thoughts, Pejin followed the researcher and soon received a Gas Mask from him.
“Do I absolutely have to wear it?”
“Of course, Police Chief. This Fog is extremely toxic, and even someone of your robust build could be endangered by prolonged exposure.”
“But why exactly is Lunos unaffected?”
“I received the report from Section 3 that you sent, but I still don’t understand the reason. I swear to you, I will uncover it by the time you visit next.”
Following the researcher as he made his vow, Pejin entered an enormous glass laboratory.
There, the exact same conditions as the Fog in the Grand Duchy had been recreated.

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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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