The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 65

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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 65
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Pejin learned through a servant sent by the Merrow Residence that April was staying at Eleanor Merrow’s estate.
Since it was only a carriage ride of twenty minutes or so, tomorrow’s schedule had become considerably more relaxed.
He’d planned to discuss the funeral flowers and perhaps share a meal, but if April wanted to do anything else, it seemed he could accommodate that as well.
After all, she hadn’t been able to do much of anything for seven years—she must have things she wanted to enjoy.
As he finished his preparations and was moving toward the Merrow Residence, Logan came rushing urgently into his Dressing Room.
“Police Commander!”
Pejin turned to see Logan, who had run all the way without catching his breath even once, begin to cough as his parched throat burned.
Pejin reached for the water glass on the table and filled it with wine, then handed it over.
“What’s the rush?”
While Pejin spoke with a touch of reproach, Logan drained the entire cup of wine and finally caught his breath to look at him.
Fear filled the eyes of Logan, who was ordinarily so glib that no one in headquarters could match his composure.
“A soldier from the Imperial Guard came looking for Police Commander Devin Mayer.”
“…What?”
“They came in Imperial Guard uniform. That means…”
It meant the Emperor had sent word.
Pejin didn’t understand, and even knowing Logan knew nothing, he pressed him as if demanding answers.
“What business would His Majesty have commanding a Grand Duke-ranked Police Commander when I, the Imperial Police, am right here?”
“Exactly!”
“Logan, have I done something recently to fall out of the Emperor’s favor?”
“No, sir. You’ve always been the same. Even when you were with His Majesty the Emperor and Her Majesty the Empress, you complained about everything—the fact that they indulged you so much can only be called love. But wait, that’s not the point here!”
“You’re the one who got sidetracked, so why are you snapping at me?”
“I—I apologize. I’ve just suddenly become so uneasy… What could it be? What order could His Majesty have given?”
No matter how hard he thought, Pejin couldn’t imagine what order the Emperor would possibly give to Devin.
Pejin sighed quietly and spoke to Logan.
“For now, have an informant keep watch on my uncle. Document everything that’s visible, and report to me if you notice anything unusual at all, even the slightest thing.”
“Yes, Police Commander.”
Only after reporting to his superior did Logan’s mind ease somewhat, and he rubbed his chest. A moment later, looking at Pejin, he furrowed his brow.
“By the way… are you in a relationship?”
“What nonsense is that. I’m just meeting April for a bit.”
“Ah… and?”
“And what?”
At Pejin’s counter-question, Logan’s already large eyes grew wider, and his voice rose to match.
“That’s not a proper answer to whether you’re in a relationship. Just saying you’re meeting April for a bit doesn’t clarify that.”
“Because I can’t be in a relationship with April, so obviously the answer is no.”
“But you’re going to go dressed like that?”
Logan had known Pejin for a long time. Since his admission to the Academy, he’d known him throughout, so it would be fair to say he’d spent much of his not-very-long life under Pejin’s command.
Yet he’d never seen Pejin dressed quite like this.
Though Pejin was overflowing with confidence in his own appearance and loved bathing to excess, he took little interest in grooming his outward looks otherwise.
Thanks to Eve’s constant care, he could maintain an elegant appearance, but that was all. As a result, Pejin’s preparations for outings were always quick.
But today Pejin had clearly taken care with his hair.
Logan gasped and pointed at Pejin’s hand.
“A—a—a ring! You’re wearing a ring!”
“It’s my father’s keepsake.”
“That keepsake! I’ve never seen it before, sir! This is the first time you’ve worn it…”
Pejin covered Logan’s mouth with the hand wearing the ring.
“Why are you shouting like that? It’s too loud.”
“Mmph! Mmph!”
“Yes, like the landscape of this Grand Duke’s seat, which is beautiful no matter how many times I see it, so too must my face be.”
Logan, who had stopped struggling at those words, thrust his arm forward. It was a gesture to look at how his skin was crawling. And indeed, gooseflesh had risen all over it.
Regardless, while still holding Logan’s mouth firmly shut, Pejin dragged him out of the Town House and shoved him into the street.
“Now go and make your report.”
“Police Commander.”
“Don’t mention the ring.”
“What about the coat? It’s excessively fine.”
“I look good, so the clothes sell themselves. It’s not a remarkable garment.”
“You’re deliberately dampening my will to converse, aren’t you?”
Logan looked reluctant to leave, but at Pejin’s dismissive gesture, he finally turned his steps toward the Headquarters.
After he had gone, Pejin murmured to himself.
“Noisy bastard.”
Though he cursed thus, his gaze inevitably fell to his own ring.
This ring, his father’s keepsake, had always held a place in Pejin’s heart.
He had been thinking he should try wearing it once, and today he’d finally made up his mind to take it out and put it on.
That it happened to be today was simply because there was an unusual amount of preparation time today—the schedule that should have taken him to the Lunos Grand Residence had moved closer, to the Merrow Residence just twenty minutes away.
Pejin gazed at the ring on his hand, making excuses to himself. It bore the crest of his house.
He had never taken great pride in the house of Dieusz, nor had he ever felt any sense of obligation toward it. For him, Dieusz meant only his brother.
It was true that April had made him reconsider his house. That’s why, on the way to meet her, the thought had occurred to him to wear this ring.
That was all. That was the full extent of April Lunos’s influence on his decision to wear the ring.
Pejin put on Gloves over the hand wearing the ring, then boarded the carriage toward the Merrow Residence.
Upon arriving at the Merrow Residence, Kayani had already gone to school, and Eleanor was so occupied attending to Jeff that she had no mind to greet the visitor.
“Even so, the mistress of the house comes out to greet guests, doesn’t she?”
When Pejin made a wry expression, the old steward of the Merrow Residence chuckled gently.
“Hardly a mere guest, sir. Miss April is the niece of our master, after all.”
“She’s winning favor quite quickly. Even lending her a bed to sleep in.”
They ignore her when it suits them.
The old steward let Pejin’s muttered comment pass with a soft laugh.
Shortly after, April came down the stairs, having finished dressing.
The old steward bowed and withdrew, and April spoke.
“Your aunt says I shouldn’t leave—that I should eat here.”
“Why?”
“She says your uncle seems to have something he wants to tell me.”
“He’s hardly in a state of mind to converse with anyone, is he?”
At Pejin’s blunt reply, April gave him a sharp look.
Pejin continued his reproach.
“What, why are you looking at me like that. You know I’m right.”
“You were supposedly popular in the Empire? That can’t be true.”
“I was. Go to the Empire and ask.”
“Yeah, I should visit the Empire sometime. Actually ask about that.”
“You seem very interested in me. Most women are, though.”
At Pejin’s words, April made a face of disgust and pressed her foot firmly down on his shoe.
The toe of her white shoes came down squarely on top of his black ones.
Pejin looked down at it and spoke.
“Whose shoes are those? You don’t have new shoes.”

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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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