The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 59

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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 59
“You’re following along all right?”
“Yeah.”
With Joshua reassured by Pejin’s reply, they entered the Lighthouse to find relatives of the Dieusz Family gathered inside.
Pejin returned Joshua to a delighted Heidi, then dragged Miller away from his wine.
Pejin spoke.
“I need to ask you something.”
“What is it?”
“What did you do with the Lunos Family head and his wife’s remains?”
“Why are you asking?”
“I have a feeling April will be looking for them soon.”
Miller hesitated at Pejin’s words.
Pejin gripped Miller’s arm tighter as he pressed the question.
“You handled it properly, didn’t you?”
Miller’s face showed he couldn’t quite remember.
Fortunately, however, it didn’t take long for the memory to surface.
“We buried them in the Public Cemetery.”
“…You buried a Lunos Family corpse in the Public Cemetery?”
“I thought no one would come looking for them.”
“You should have still prepared for the time when we’d return the body to the Lunos Family!”
“How was I supposed to know April Lunos would still be alive after seven years?”
If they were buried in the Public Cemetery, it was a serious problem.
The criminals had most likely buried them alongside the unclaimed dead. Since they’d deliberately placed them in a remote and harsh location, it would be difficult for the victim’s family to find them.
There was no guarantee a headstone had even been erected, and even if one existed, since no one traveled there, beasts likely tore open the grave, or the corpses lay buried beneath soil washed down by rain.
Pejin gritted his teeth as he spoke.
“If we can’t find the remains, it will be a major problem for my brother.”
“Damn….”
“At the very least, find whoever buried them so we know where they’re interred. I’ll help you look.”
After saying this, Pejin gulped down the liquor on the table to settle his throbbing headache.
Then, about to leave again, he pressed his temples with his fingers and approached Joshua.
Now that he thought about it, the boy seemed to know where Shaper Mayer was.
He didn’t know what he was doing, but the phrase “he told me to keep it secret” had struck a chord with Pejin’s professional, police-trained nature.
Pejin spoke to Joshua.
“What did Shaper tell you to keep secret?”
“Um…. It’s a secret.”
“Joshua.”
Pejin knelt before the child and met his eyes.
His face was hard, without the slightest intention of coaxing him.
“If Shaper Mayer causes trouble, you’ll go to prison too.”
Joshua flinched at the word prison.
Pejin continued.
“I’m a police officer. I can send anyone to prison.”
“B-but he said it wasn’t a bad thing….”
“Then what is this thing?”
“Shaper Uncle is… going to find the jewels at Lunos Residence.”
At those words, Pejin’s movements froze.
Joshua, seeing Pejin’s face grow increasingly twisted, burst into tears.
“H-he said he had to recover items from a bad person….”
Pejin suddenly rose to his feet.
He’d left the moment April fell asleep, yet only arrived after sunrise. With snow piling up and freezing on top of that, it would clearly take even longer to reach the Lunos Residence from here.
The Police force was concentrated in the east, so fewer than five officers were stationed at Lunos Residence right now.
Pejin turned. He needed to send word to the Lunos Family.
* * *
With daylight bright, it would be difficult to send signals from the Lighthouse.
As Pejin tried to leave immediately, Heidi blocked his way.
“You just arrived—where are you going? There are so many people I wanted to introduce you to.”
“Shaper says he’s going to find the jewels at Lunos Residence.”
“Is he trying to cause trouble again?”
Heidi didn’t take that news very seriously. Rather, her expression suggested she found it amusing mischief.
She grasped Pejin’s arm as he tried to leave.
“There are police officers there, aren’t there? What could possibly go wrong?”
“If any problem arises at Lunos Residence, it’s my responsibility.”
“Pejin.”
Heidi’s voice grew somewhat firmer.
“Don’t you think you’re worrying too much about this?”
Her words allowed Pejin to settle his anxiety for a few moments. He paused to consider whether his worry was excessive.
If it had been anyone but Heidi speaking, he would have dismissed it as ridiculous. Only toward Heidi Dieusz did his affection remain strong enough to make him reconsider himself.
Even after reconsidering, the answer was the same.
“With Shaper, there’s no such thing as too cautious.”
“That’s….”
“In the first place, he wouldn’t be looking for jewels at a house where the family head is very much alive. What could that possibly mean?”
“….”
“It means he’s judging them.”
Miller, who’d been speaking with others but stopped to approach Pejin upon sensing something was amiss, now came to a halt.
Pejin felt his brother’s presence and turned, continuing his words.
“What Shaper is doing is identical to what the Church is doing, so it’s no wonder that fool confuses that injustice with justice.”
With that, he left the Lighthouse without another word.
Miller stood in place, watching the direction Pejin had gone, then recovered his smile and opened his arms toward Joshua.
“My son.”
Joshua came running with a bright smile and embraced him tightly.
Nestled in Miller’s arms, Joshua spoke.
“Uncle said if Shaper Uncle does something wrong, I could go to prison too….”
“Pejin said that?”
Joshua nodded.
Miller patted Joshua’s back reassuringly while watching the direction Pejin had left.
* * *
April woke early that morning and was startled to remember she’d fallen asleep beside Pejin the night before, sitting up in alarm.
Snow still fell outside, and Pejin was gone. She recalled how she’d clung to him to keep him from leaving.
She’d thought that with enough reason, one could suppress any emotion, but when tired or emotional, it didn’t work well. Last night had been the same. She hadn’t wanted Pejin to leave her room.
She told herself it was just the cold—she didn’t want to be alone. Pejin must have held her with the same reasoning.
April found a note stuck to the window.
[On duty]
He’d left just one word, carelessly.
“What?”
April rose from the bed and walked to the mirror after spotting another note there.
[Off on Sunday]
She pulled off the note, only to find one more stuck to her forehead.
“This bastard….”
Frowning, she pulled it off and read what was written.
[Dinner in the Capital City, friend.]
“What kind of joke is this? He’s not even a child.”
April muttered to herself, then found herself laughing without meaning to. She shouldn’t have laughed, but the laughter came anyway.
April pulled the curtains wide open.
January 1st.
The Academic Institute’s forecast of heavy snow had proven accurate.
She sighed at the snowfall pouring down as if someone had shaken out entire sacks of flour from the sky.
Her view was nearly blocked by the blizzard, though occasionally the snow thinned just enough to see far, and everything she could glimpse was covered in pristine white.
On Right Island, snow was truly a tiresome presence.
It had fallen for months without stop. No one living on this island could deny that it possessed harsh, unforgiving weather. And yet, the Lunos Residence had been built at one of the few places on Right Island where the weather was supposedly more tolerable.
“I hope the snow stops before Sunday.”
If the snow didn’t cease, there’d be no way for Pejin to reach this isolated hill.
April realized she’d been indifferent to the weather for all seven years prior.
When it was hot, she lived with the heat; when it was cold, she lived with the cold. She’d never wished for anything.
That she’d now come to hope for good weather—it was genuinely the first time in seven years.
Gazing out the window and thinking of what she had to do this year, April soon found herself sighing without awareness, recalling yesterday’s conversation with Pejin.
“If the Lunos Family were to launch a trading vessel again, how much could we escape from the Empire’s influence?”
It was a question she’d never expected to receive from Pejin. Yet it had been exactly what April needed to hear.
Ultimately, April hoped for the Lunos Family to restore its former glory.
If Right Island were to fall, there was no sense in restoring the Lunos Family alone.
“A trading vessel will have to sail again.”
In the end, this was what she, as a member of the Lunos Family, had to do.
To reconnect Right Island with the world once more.

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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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