The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 48

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 48
Pejin started slightly and spoke.
“Why is it so dark?”
“The Pantry has no windows. It’s just a storage room……. Anyway, the candle’s burning down fast.”
“Yeah.”
Both of them knew the candle wasn’t burning down quickly—they’d simply been here far too long. Yet both of them agreed to blame the candle.
Pejin rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly and murmured.
“It’s dark, so it’s scary.”
“Sure, ghosts will come out.”
“……Why would you say that?”
“To scare you?”
At April’s casual taunt, Pejin clicked his tongue.
He pushed himself upright and extended his hand, saying,
“Take my hand. I’ll lead the way out.”
“I can’t see your hand.”
April waved her hand as she spoke, and Pejin remained still until she found his.
April’s hand brushed his elbow first, then traced along his arm until she found and grasped his hand.
The moment her fingers touched his elbow, she felt his arm stiffen, and she could sense the tension cord up his muscles.
April thought to herself that such a physical response was natural.
Just as Pejin’s body changed at her touch, anticipation bloomed naturally in her own mind.
April suppressed it slowly. She soothed her own emotions, afraid that if she rushed too hard, something might burst out uncontrollably.
Once they’d found each other’s hands, Pejin clasped hers firmly.
“Step only where I say it’s safe. If I had a sword on me, it could be dangerous.”
“All right.”
Pejin moved forward slowly.
Not a single ray of light reached the basement, but after returning from the Empire, Pejin had learned the structure of Lunos Manor so thoroughly that understanding the Pantry’s layout posed no difficulty.
He moved forward slowly.
The sensation of holding April’s bare hand felt oddly unfamiliar. Throughout the party they’d held hands while dancing or when he’d offered his arm, but both had almost always worn gloves.
Her hand, touching him like this, was soft.
She’d had to do rougher work than most ladies, yet despite that, it remained supple—as if she’d never known hardship.
Shortly after, his hand met a door. But he turned at once, pressing his back against it.
April asked, puzzled.
“What are you doing?”
Pejin was remembering the boy he’d been at thirteen.
On the ship that had departed from the Grand Duchy, Pejin possessed a concentration that could only be described as “childlike.”
Throughout the brief voyage, he wandered the ship’s corridors, watched seagulls, went to his cabin and slept, and toured the captain’s quarters.
And that boyhood ended the moment the ship reached the Imperial Harbor.
“Young Master, we’ve arrived at the left island.”
The temperature had grown noticeably warmer, and drowsy from food coma, Pejin had woken at an odd silence and climbed from his bunk.
The moment he stepped out of the cabin behind the attending servants was a memory that would never, ever fade from his mind.
Pejin stood before the cabin and froze as if turned to ice.
At that time, when Miller had no children yet, the harbor waited in perfect formation with naval vessels, an astonishing number of Imperial Police, and horses—all assembled to welcome Pejin, the sole heir of the Grand Duchy. Even if one combined every horse the Grand Duchy possessed, they seemed fewer than what the Imperial Police held.
More terrifying than weapons of different caliber was the sheer number of people gathered here for him alone.
Still, humanity remained war’s most vital resource. Pejin grasped this truth in that moment, and soon fear consumed the boy like a flood.
The relief he felt when such a boy first saw the Emperor smile and spread his arms toward him was immeasurable.
Passing through the lines of navy and police, the Emperor embraced the scrawny boy before him and said,
“The moment I see you, I know. You carry my blood.”
Pejin crushed his entire boyhood to become an Imperial subject. He achieved grades superior to everyone else, devoted himself to social pursuits. He ate well, trained relentlessly to build his physique.
Desperate to ensure his whole life didn’t crumble beneath that overwhelming spectacle, he threw himself into it all.
In the Empire, night after night, Pejin dreamed of the Emperor trampling the Grand Duchy.
And at last, he’d found an opportunity to earn distinction as an Imperial Police officer.
The method was simple.
Frame this woman before him for the Empire’s crimes, make her exist as a witch. Spread the rumor, solidify it, and it would be done.
So easily, so simply. He could build his record and aim for the position of commander of that terrifying police force.
He would even rise high enough to check the Emperor himself.
And after that…….
After that?
Pejin tried to imagine what came next, but nothing came readily to mind.
All those thoughts crumbled like small flames before the greed that now seized him. His hand climbed against hers—the opposite of what April had just done.
Just as her hand had descended from his elbow, his hand now moved up her wrist toward her arm. Then it encircled her elbow.
It felt as though something inside them both—like a magnet pulling each toward the other—existed between them. Strangely, the more they touched, the more they were drawn in, and once close, they couldn’t pull away. It was a very strange force.
In truth, there was nothing strange about it. Pejin had surely learned this countless times in practice, and April had understood this force through study.
This was greed. A fierce greed for each other’s youth and beauty.
As Pejin caressed her, April’s wandering hands found his waist.
Thin nightclothes alone separated them; the line of his body felt nakedly vivid against her palms.
There was nothing about it she disliked.
Because she could feel beauty through touch, love could be made even with the light extinguished—so April thought.
If she opened her mouth, if she said stop, this moment would end.
April considered this.
Nothing would change just from crossing the line a little. Greed whispered in her ear.
She gripped him tighter with her fingers and spoke.
“Your brother would hate this.”
“Probably.”
“Good. I like that it’s something he’d hate.”
After all, hadn’t this house once been a place where gaslight burned so brightly?
The fire kindled in her heart could never be easily extinguished.
She felt for him in the dark, rose onto her toes, and pulled him down to wrap her arms around his neck.
April continued,
“You don’t do things your brother would hate, do you?”
“Why would you think that?”
Pejin asked in return.
Then April laughed softly.
“I’ve known you since childhood. So I know. How much you love Miller.”
“……”
“You’d always take his side. That’s why I know you could never take mine. I know you.”
Pejin said nothing in response to her words.
His silence was proof that nothing in what she’d said was false.
“I don’t trust you anyway.”
“Didn’t know you didn’t.”
“Right, you’re an idiot.”
“Fair.”
Pejin gripped her body and laughed softly.
“An idiot is one who does idiotic things. What else would you call it?”
“I dislike you. Your body suits me, though.”
“Remarkably, we’re thinking the exact same thing.”
“Your face is unremarkable too.”
“Ah, so that’s why you covet me when it gets dark?”
At Pejin’s sarcastic remark, April laughed softly.
Pejin laughed along with her, then, without thinking, sighed.
“Don’t come closer.”
“Why?”
“You’re too soft, it’s strange. Is something wrong with you? Can a human body really be this soft……? Have you lost your mind? Where are you touching——”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————