The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 50

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

Chapter 50
April spoke.
“Go to your room quickly.”
Seeing that Pejin was struggling just to compose himself, April ushered him out. By the time she had finished combing her hair and cooled her flushed cheeks, she heard Bauman’s voice from beyond the door.
“Miss, you have a visitor. A young man from the Grand Family.”
She had announced at the gathering that she was seeking a suitor, so she should have anticipated someone would call.
Though she hadn’t expected them quite this early.
April threw on a robe and opened the door.
Bauman spoke with a troubled expression.
“It seems Lord Pejin is still in the residence, yet a suitor has arrived…….”
While April and Bauman were deliberating what to do, Eve suddenly entered the room, her eyes widening as she exclaimed.
“Still in a robe? With no adults in the house, you’ll have to refuse him yourself.”
“Ah, I see how that works.”
“Hurry and change your clothes. Bauman, go prepare tea in the drawing room.”
“Which drawing room, ma’am?”
“The Second Floor East Drawing Room. The wallpaper there is at least still presentable.”
Eve urged Bauman along, swatting his back to hurry him out.
Bauman scurried off to the Second Floor East Drawing Room, while Eve bustled about, dressing the bewildered April in a gleaming Apricot Silk Dress and matching gloves.
April looked down at the silk dress, light enough for summer.
“I’m cold.”
“If you mean to refuse him, it won’t take more than thirty minutes—just bear it. Miss Lunos always wears this dress at home; you’re not dressing up for anything. Understood?”
“These past seven years, I’ve been grateful not to have to do this sort of thing.”
“Such jokes can spoil the mood, so please refrain—especially if you have any interest in the young man from the Grand Family.”
With Eve’s deft touch, April was dressed in moments. She draped a shawl across her shoulders and made her way to the Second Floor East Drawing Room.
Vincentz Grand, who had arrived first and been waiting, rose from his seat with an unhurried air as April entered.
April was so cold that her entire complexion had turned pallid, pale as fresh snow.
Ordinarily, when a suitor called, the adults of the household would meet with him first and conduct the initial discussion—but April had no choice but to handle both acceptance or refusal herself.
Had she even witnessed her parents refusing a suitor, she might have known what to do, but April had been promised to someone from the start; she had never seen such a thing.
Uncertain what to say, April greeted Vincentz and took a seat across from him.
“Thank you for taking the trouble to come such a distance.”
“Yes, it was quite far indeed.”
His reply displeased her somewhat, but April smiled and lifted her teacup.
Vincentz continued.
“Let us speak frankly.”
‘You already are,’ April thought.
She watched him expectantly, inviting him to go on.
He carried himself as though he had steeled his resolve before coming here today.
Vincentz continued.
“Your chief aim is to produce an heir to continue the Lunos Family, yes?”
“Yes.”
“And I believe there is no man better suited than I.”
“For what reason?”
“It is because I…….”
“It’s Lunos.”
“Pardon?”
“We’re not close enough that you should use my given name.”
April said this and took another sip of tea before continuing.
“Since we agreed to speak frankly.”
Vincentz paused, then his lips curved upward in a smile.
“Right, we did agree to that. You’re correct……. In any case, I have two older brothers. I bear no responsibility for the Grand Family.”
……
April set down her cup, signaling for him to continue.
Vincentz went on.
“More than anything, it matters not to me what you are or what you do. At the gathering, I found myself—enchanted, as it were, by your beauty.”
……
“Miss Lunos, the nobility fear you. Few men possess the resolve I do.”
He emphasized, again and again, that her choices were limited.
April felt displeased, and the reason was abundantly clear to her.
What Vincentz said was a kind of coercion—and coercion, after all, was simply pressing down on the very part one truly feared.
April fell silent in thought, then spoke to Vincentz.
“You’re not very romantic.”
“Pragmatism is a virtue.”
“But it lacks charm.”
“What do you mean?”
“What charm is there in stating the obvious?”
At her reply, Vincentz’s brow narrowed for a moment, but he quickly smiled again.
“I see. I apologize for being too pragmatic. Since we’ve touched on romance—would you care to accompany me to the cinema? I’ll call for you on Wednesday.”
……
“Once you know me better, you’ll find I’m quite the romantic.”
April studied Vincentz intently.
Though much about him displeased her, she was drawn to the Grand Family itself—they possessed ships.
Before accepting the invitation, April asked something crucial.
“I intend to hold my parents’ funeral rites next spring.”
“……Pardon?”
“If you’re to court me, I thought you should know that.”
At her words, Vincentz’s expression turned troubled.
He replied.
“That……doesn’t seem like a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“The Grand Duke’s House would not approve.”
“It’s necessary for the Lunos Family’s sake.”
Vincentz took a sip of tea, as though his throat had gone dry.
April went on.
“Marrying me means becoming part of the Lunos Family. You will live knowing the restoration of the Lunos Family as your own fate.”
Vincentz understood that many suitors would come to this house, not just himself.
They did not yet dare approach Lunos while watching the Grand Duke’s displeasure, but what kind of family was Lunos?
The family that possessed vast territories by the river, in the closest part of the main island.
When the people of Right Island believed they could not survive without piracy, Lunos was the first family to have cultivated those lands through legitimate means.
Vincentz himself could not become Lunos, but his child could.
Vincentz gazed at April’s face.
In the bright light, she carried a different air than she had at the gathering.
Perhaps because she had not experienced the world for seven years—deep within those crimson eyes, sharp as thorns on a rose, lay an innocence.
Her refined brows played no small role in making her appear a beauty even to those who saw her youthful, unmarked skin.
The silk dress clinging to her frame, combined with her pallor from the cold, made her pale skin look as though snow had settled upon her.
In truth, it was not the Lunos Family name that had drawn Vincentz here, but April herself.
Rather, it was only a misfortune that she belonged to a family so prestigious she could build a golden tower on her honor alone.
She ought to have fallen.
Vincentz’s tongue clicked silently. Then it would have been far easier to possess her.
April was lost in thought.
She too understood that the Grand Family was influential enough that they would not refuse or dismiss even a single invitation to call.
This matter would resolve in her favor, Vincentz grew increasingly confident.
Then, just as April was about to speak, Bauman’s voice came from outside the drawing room door.
“Miss, I request your permission to……see someone out.”
He reluctantly added, “Lord Pejin……”
Vincentz’s brow narrowed.
That police officer had been in this house?

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