The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 77

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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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Episode 77
She was different. Unmistakably so.
April felt it more acutely than anyone watching her could have seen it.
As her mind hazed in the Fog, April found herself thinking about what had changed between yesterday and today.
[They said it was necessary for the experiment.]
She lifted her arm, studying the pristine white sleeve of the Dress that Pejin had given her.
Unlike the Dress she’d worn arriving from Right Island, today she wore this white one brought from the Empire.
Pejin hadn’t explained it outright, but as the carriage approached, she’d gazed out to see many wealthy people dressed in white, or beige, or yellow tones. In the Empire, such colors seemed to symbolize wealth.
Having grown up on Right Island, where vivid, saturated primary colors were preferred, April felt the difference all the more keenly. On Left Island, she imagined, they must use completely different Dyes for coloring than Right Island did.
Since she’d thought about Dyes the entire carriage ride, those thoughts continued even during the experiment.
April soon remembered that every Dress she’d worn over the past seven years had been dyed with the same Dye.
The problem was that she couldn’t properly recall what her parents had said about that Dye. She’d tried so hard to forget over the years that conversations with them had vanished entirely from memory.
But the memory of hearing it was there. Her parents had explained the Dye to her in detail.
“I can’t remember…….”
A maddening sense of injustice welled up inside her.
What was that Dye? What had her parents said about it? What expression had they worn when looking at her?
April was struggling to recover memories from before her Confinement Period.
Fortunately, she knew one method that could help her retrieve those memories. Conversation with Pejin.
Someone who shared her childhood. Someone who carried memories of her parents and could speak of them with her.
“Pejin…….”
Having someone to talk to about it was a good thing.
Which is why she wished he wouldn’t call the Empire “we”.
Of course, she understood it even if Pejin defined himself as a citizen of the Empire. Especially after seeing his house.
In the Dieusz Grand Duchy, Pejin lived in a townhouse used by members of the Dieusz Family. Or rather, “stayed” was the more fitting word.
But in Rasa, he had a house.
Just as April Lunos’s house sat atop a hill in Lunos lands, Pejin Dieusz’s house occupied the very heart of the Empire’s capital.
A beautiful home that anyone could see was built for a lifetime of living. From that house, she understood that Pejin meant to spend his remaining years in the Empire.
Yet even after seeing his house, April hoped he would call himself and her “we”. After all, he was a good friend to her now. The thought that they would soon live on different islands made her a little sad.
* * *
“I truly thought Miss April was using Sorcery. She stayed so stiff even after the Dress changed.”
The Scholar spoke from outside April’s room at Pejin’s Residence, where she lay recovering from treatment.
Pejin turned to look at him.
“And?”
“Well, it turned out I was wrong. When I saw how quickly she lost consciousness.”
“So you’re disappointed that even for a moment, she entertained unrealistic notions like Sorcery?”
“……Yes, that’s embarrassing, but anyway. I’m not sure why she thought she shouldn’t collapse, but Miss April endured quite some time in that Corrupted Mist. Though of course, it’s possible the method the Lunos couple has been using all this time affected her body…….”
“So. Was your hypothesis correct?”
The Scholar grinned and nodded at Pejin’s question.
“Yes, my guess was right. The reason Miss April Lunos was able to remain relatively unaffected in the Corrupted Mist was because of the Dye used in her Dress.”
“If we knew what the Dye was, we could obtain it, couldn’t we?”
When Pejin asked with an impatient expression, the Scholar hesitated.
Those beautiful eyes posed the question, and it felt sinful to answer that he didn’t know.
In any case, the color of his irises wasn’t particularly unusual even in the Rasa Empire, but with Pejin’s radiant face supporting it, they gave off something almost holy.
The Scholar spoke with an expression as if he’d committed some grave sin.
“Well, yesterday I took a small piece of fabric cut from Miss April’s Dress and asked a Dye merchant about it…… and they didn’t know.”
Today, Pejin’s gaze had turned cold, and the Scholar felt unnecessarily incompetent, shrinking as he continued.
“Even though the merchant dealt in most kinds of imported Dyes. So it’s definitely not easily obtainable. That’s why I asked Miss April Lunos about the Dye while she was in a daze, and even she said she didn’t know. It seemed sincere, that part.”
“Hmm.”
Unable to say “Could you consult with Miss April about how to find that Dye?”, the Scholar looked up at Pejin with a desperate expression.
Pejin spoke with an air of annoyance.
“Are you asking me to find it?”
“I, I didn’t say that!”
Even if he ignored this here, the Scholar would write it up in a report and submit it, and the Emperor who received it would order someone to investigate the Dye’s whereabouts.
Pejin thought it was better to just do it himself, troublesome as it was.
After finishing the conversation, he sent everyone out and entered the patient’s room.
April had fortunately regained consciousness during treatment, and when Pejin arrived, she seemed relatively fine.
When their eyes met, Pejin spoke irritably.
“You look fine.”
“Fine, sure. I’m rather surprised myself—it’s different from usual.”
April said this teasingly and closed the book she’d been reading.
Pejin sat on the edge of the bed and picked up her book.
“You don’t usually like books much.”
“I had nothing to do, so I took it out. At Lunos Residence, I’m busy all day, but here they won’t let me move a finger.”
“That’s because you’ve forgotten—most nobles live that way.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
April laughed as if she’d caught the joke, but soon realized that her mood didn’t match Pejin’s at all, and her smile faded.
April met the gaze of Pejin, who stared at her intently and clicked his tongue.
“I’m fine, aren’t I?”
“I was being sarcastic. Didn’t you catch that?”
“No, it didn’t sound sarcastic. You messed up.”
“I’m always the one at fault, and you’re not?”
Pejin’s irises cooled with an unsettling chill.
April found something curious about him in that moment.
From the moment he first appeared, he had not been on her side. He’d arrested her, watched her. And yet he had always been on her side. About that fact, April had never once doubted.
Why did she feel that way?
Because they were friends? Because they shared a few precious memories?
Very occasionally, April felt as if he were deceiving her. It felt like he was lying when he acted as if he were on her side.
It wasn’t that love had clouded her judgment, nor did they share a friendship of such depth.
After studying him as he gazed at her for some time, April braced her hand against the mattress and leaned her body toward him.
He frowned and retreated backward.
“I’m not angry. You don’t need to make it up to me.”
“Why would I make it up to you if you’re angry?”
“You’re coming closer like you’re about to.”
“Ah, so this is how you’re cheering up.”
At her murmuring, Pejin’s expression grew exasperated.
April continued.
“That wasn’t the intention.”
“Then why are you coming closer?”
“I’m curious. I wanted to look closer and see if you’re really on my side.”
“This is driving me insane.”
When April pressed her body forward, bracing her thigh with her hand as if to get a better look, Pejin cursed. He seized her other hand, which had moved to touch his face.
“What are you touching?”
“Your face.”
“Don’t touch. It’s expensive.”
April tried to pull her hand away at Pejin’s words.
“What does that mean?”
But Pejin didn’t let go. Instead, he opened her grasped hand and interlaced their fingers, keeping her from pulling away.
April protested.
“You said not to touch.”
“I’m doing this to prevent you from touching…….”
Pejin, who usually said nothing to anyone, faltered mid-sentence.
April had leaned her cheek against his chest.
Pejin couldn’t prevent the fever-flushed warmth from April’s cheek from seeping into his own chest.

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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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