The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 85

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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 85
The monks of Noster Monastery recognized from the clothing alone that the remains belonged to the previous heads of the Lunos Family, and they quietly retrieved the bodies to avoid the Grand Duke’s notice.
It appeared they had cremated them and preserved the ashes all this time.
Since Pejin could not investigate his own brother’s sins, Rian, who had done the dirty work for him, offered what consolation he could.
“I understand. The fact that he tried to kill me—I’ll let that slide. But he tried to kill the woman I love.”
“Yeah. I get it.”
Pejin turned to face Rian with a sardonic expression and spoke.
“But you’d understand the rage at someone who threw away his own parents’ remains, wouldn’t you?”
“Look, honestly…”
Rian muttered reluctantly.
“I’d want to tear him apart.”
“That’s our brother you’re talking about.”
“What tune are you dancing to, you bastard!”
“You can’t comfort anyone. You were raised too softly.”
“Don’t talk about me.”
While Rian was needling him, a servant of the residence entered with coffee for the guest.
Rian, who had been bickering freely with his friend moments before, immediately adopted a respectful tone.
“Thank you. I’ll enjoy it.”
“Yes, sir.”
The servant smiled as he set down the coffee and left the bedroom. Only then did Pejin stir himself and speak.
“Drink it before you go.”
“What kind of guest leaves without finishing?”
“You’re hardly a guest. You practically live here when I’m around.”
“And I did you the favor of finding that, at great effort.”
“Don’t fish for praise. I do everything you ask of me anyway.”
“That’s a Blood Oath.”
“Yeah, well. That’s what it is.”
Indifferent to competition, the two men took for granted the things they did for each other. They offered no thanks, and they did not refuse, no matter how difficult the request.
They believed that this intense bond would make the entire Police Force stronger.
* * *
The moment Heidi woke, she sat up in bed and reviewed the party invitations that had already begun arriving before the Harsh Winter Period had even ended.
When Miller, now awake, lifted his face to rest on Heidi’s lap, she laughed and brushed back his hair.
Miller chuckled softly and murmured.
“When spring comes, I’ll be a widower again.”
“Don’t whine. You can just follow me around.”
“To places I’d actually enjoy?”
“The Green Ball arena, hunting grounds, that sort of place?”
“Exactly. Not the outdoor cafés.”
“That’s out of the question.”
“Then I’ll just have to put up with the parts I actually follow you to.”
Heidi burst out laughing at Miller’s coquettish tone. Then, as she returned to reviewing the invitations and dividing them into acceptances and refusals, her hand stopped.
[April Lunos]
“I’ve received another letter from April.”
At that, Miller clicked his tongue and raised himself up on his elbows.
The arrest had been brief. The bail had been paid, so even from Miller’s perspective, he had no grounds to complain about why April had been released so quickly.
Had it been her parents, they would never have spent such an unreasonable sum. But the daughter appeared to be different.
As he withdrew April’s letter to examine it, a sarcasm crossed his face that Heidi had rarely seen before.
The Dieusz Brothers looked so little alike one might doubt they were brothers at all. But when Miller wore an expression like this, it brought Pejin instantly to mind, making one nod and think—yes, after all, they are brothers.
[I am writing again because you did not reply to my previous letter.]
Miller was receiving his second letter from April, and just as it had been before, the moment he opened it, he could not help but recall the previous head of the Lunos Family.
Letters from the Lunos Family always carried such a spice scent.
Scent was the most powerful trigger of memory, and he found himself unable to escape the faces of those he had thought he had finally cleared away for today’s peace.
[I request the return of the ashes of the previous head of the Lunos Family.]
He recalled a warning that Pejin had given him long ago.
At the time, he had thought—if I just ignore it, won’t it go away? Why is he so angry about this? But thinking more rationally now, Pejin had been right.
Heidi looked at him with sudden concern and asked.
“What are you going to do?”
His first thought was to somehow procure remains and prepare them.
But April seemed like the type who would not simply move on if she examined remains without a scrap of evidence left behind.
There was a part of him that wanted to simply ignore her, considering April had no real power to leverage. But that was not an option either.
To refuse to return a parent’s ashes—both nobility and commoners alike would take April’s side in that judgment.
The real problem was that April Lunos was still alive.
At that time, what he wanted had been simple. Only one thing. To marry the person he loved.
In his future, only Heidi existed. Every moment after marrying another woman would be nothing but hell. And death was his only escape from that hell.
If he had any regrets now, it was only that he had not killed her then. He should have made certain by any means that she could never speak again.
The closest answer now within Miller’s reach was singular. To kill April Lunos.
But before that answer, he felt as though someone were always standing in his way.
Of all people, it was the one he loved beyond measure. The one who loved him beyond measure.
He had heard that April’s bail might have been paid by Pejin instead.
That cursed bank would not divulge precise information even to the Grand Duke himself, so he could not know for certain. But he was aware that Pejin’s people had been frequenting the bank at the time the bail was settled.
The order to arrest April had come from the Empire itself. Yet would Pejin have acted against such an order?
He was increasingly unable to trust Pejin.
While Miller sat lost in thought, the steward’s voice came from outside.
“Your Highness, Miss April Lunos has arrived.”
“Tell her to wait. I’ll be out shortly.”
“Yes, Your Highness.”
“God, this is maddening.”
Miller groaned and threw himself back down on the bed.
* * *
When no reply came, April had sent a second letter at once. Still unsatisfied, the real reason she visited in person today was anxiety.
It had been such a reasonable request, and Miller should have addressed it immediately.
She would not have found it strange if he had apologized for not attending to it sooner. But he had given her no answer. There was no reason for this, none at all.
Arriving at the Grand Duke’s Residence—a place she had no wish to return to—April paced the Reception Room.
Shortly after, Miller entered the Reception Room.
The way she had looked when she was young, and loved him—that image remained with him still.
The neat, orderly black hair was the same as ever, but what stood out most in his memory came from her face. The gentle gaze in her eyes, the lips that always held a natural smile. April Lunos—Miller loved her gaze, her smile.
And now, seven years later, she possessed nothing but anger—so much so that it seemed strange to her that she had ever loved him at all.
April opened her mouth.
“On a matter this important, you should have answered my letter quickly.”
“I meant to. There was just… a problem that came up.”
“What kind of problem?”
April asked, her brow darkening.
She knew that Miller disliked seeing her angry. Much as he himself did, and as his wife did, he preferred not to show emotion. He was a man who wished always to be surrounded by perfect courtesy.
April had once loved that kindness in him, but she had learned now that kindness could not be used to distinguish good from evil.
At least to her, he was wicked. Whereas Pejin, that man so far removed from gentleness, had often proven kind to her instead.
“What problem, you ask?”
When April pressed sharply, Miller answered.
“I’m still searching for them.”
“…Searching?”
“The burial records were damaged, so I don’t know where they were laid to rest.”
…
At Miller’s words, April fell silent, simply watching him.

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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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