The Mansion Awaits Spring - Chapter 91

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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 91
Miller filled his own glass and drained it first.
He set down the cup and turned to Pejin. “Is that woman really a witch?”

“Where in the world would you find a witch?” Pejin replied.
“Then it doesn’t make sense. I’ve never seen you act like this.”
“Act like what?”
“You’ve always put yourself first. Always. But now…….”
“I still put myself first. I always have.”
Pejin cut him off and continued. “I don’t do anything that harms me.”

“But you are right now. The Empire’s Emperor ordered the Grand Duchy Police to bring April to him, didn’t he? And you went and brought her.”
“That was His Majesty testing me. I apologized and resolved everything.”
“Pejin, you can’t cause even that much trouble. The Emperor favors you. You need to protect the Grand Duchy.”
“Don’t expect too much from me.”
Miller opened his mouth. “Pejin.”
“Do you know how much I love you?” Pejin’s voice softened. “How much?”
Miller only now realized that Pejin had already drained two more glasses while he wasn’t looking.
His attention shifted to the fact that Pejin was drinking at an alarming pace. He watched as Pejin reached for his cup again, fingers closing around the stem.
“I know.”
“You don’t. I could give my life for you. I will, going forward.”
“……I said I know.”
Miller couldn’t let Pejin drink alone, so he drained his own glass as well. But he couldn’t keep pace with the speed at which Pejin drank.
Oddly, the more emptied the glass became, the clearer Pejin’s eyes grew.
Miller found himself thinking anew about how beautiful the young man’s eyes were. They held the same blue as his own, yet the feeling was utterly different. Those infinitely cold eyes resembled winter itself.
He had taken Pejin’s love for granted his entire life. Just as Pejin had once left this island for fear that Miller might grow uncomfortable learning they loved the same woman—so too could Pejin reshape the great decisions of his life for Miller’s sake.
Yet since returning from the Empire, every choice Pejin made had unsettled him. And the greatest unease came from the interest Pejin showed in April Lunos.
Pejin leaned forward toward Miller. “But for that to happen, you have to be the brother I know. The one who raised me like your own child, who is kind, who laughs easily, who respects the law.”

“…….”
“You can’t break the law. I’m a police officer. Protecting love and upholding justice are separate things.”
“……That sounds like a threat.”
Pejin let out a short, bitter laugh at Miller’s words.
“It shouldn’t sound like a threat. People who haven’t committed crimes don’t think anything when they see a police officer.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
“Exactly.”
Pejin made his point and drained his glass again.
After saying this, Miller’s expression softened into a slight smile.
“Actually, I was testing you, just in case. Wondering if maybe……”
“Wondering what?”
“Why you’re so kind to April—I actually kn……. Wait, hold on.”
Miller finally grabbed Pejin’s wrist as he reached for the bottle again and held it firm.
“Stop drinking. You’re drinking too fast.”
“You brought out the liquor to drink, and now you’re criticizing how fast I’m drinking?”
Pejin continued. “I need to leave soon. I have a lot to do.”

“I know you’re busy.”
Miller spoke slowly. “You figured out why April was fine in the Fog, didn’t you?”

At Miller’s words, Pejin stopped trying to pull his hand free.
Miller observed his expression and continued. “Someone came from the Empire and told me. That you’re going to find it now.”

“You told him about that?” Pejin’s voice was sharp.
“Of course.”
“Exactly who told you?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
Pejin’s jaw tightened. “Tell me.”
“What?”
“How much do you know?”
Pejin’s expression grew colder by the moment.
Meanwhile, Miller took the glass from Pejin’s hand and pushed it away. “Not much. That’s all—just that you found the answer. April won’t tell you about the dye?”

“She said she doesn’t remember.”
“That can’t be right……. Are you planning to use it for business?”
“It has good profit margins.”
“That’s not something to be judging for profit. You could save people who are dying without reason.”
“Why should April do that?”
“She should. That’s my job.”
At this, Pejin scoffed and leaned back in his chair. “You don’t trust me, do you? That I care for April?”

“What are you talking about—I was worried, so I made time to discuss it with you.”
“How much do you know about what I’m doing?”
At Pejin’s question, Miller shrugged.
“A little.”
“How much, exactly?”
“You’re gathering police officers at your headquarters who belong to neither the Empire Police nor the Grand Duchy Police, are you?”
At Miller’s words, Pejin laughed aloud—a clear, satisfied sound.
“Right, that’s not even a secret. There have to be. My own people, loyal only to me.”
“And just as you have your work, I have mine. To protect the Grand Duchy…….”
In that moment, Pejin’s mind conjured the face of April’s uncle, Jeff Marrow—the man who had glared at him with such fury. The rage in his voice as he’d barely managed to speak the name ‘Dius,’ as if coughing up blood.
That rage had not come from simply seeing the law applied to his brother. It came from something far more base—Jeff Marrow carried the eyes of a man who had witnessed something debased.
After that, the two of them drank without pause. Each had things they wanted to say, so they drank all the more to keep those words hidden.
* * *
As April arrived, April found herself frantically busy.
In the meantime, Jeff Marrow had visited. He seemed to be recalling his memories of Twin Mountains, but it appeared he would need to actually go there to properly remember anything more.
April promised to visit Twin Mountains after the funeral.
Hanna ran up to April, who was hanging tablecloths she’d washed for the funeral service, and asked, “Miss! Will Master Pejin really bring flowers?”

“Yes, he promised. I know he looks unreliable, but he’s actually quite good about keeping promises.”
“You know, Master said it’s lucky to have a police officer who’s good with animals.”
“He told me the same thing. Seems he wants to turn everyone in the world into a police officer.”
“If I become a police officer, I’ll protect the Lunos Family!”
“That’s what a private guard does. When you become a police officer, you’ll protect not just one family, but all the citizens of this island.”
“……Um.”
At those words, Hanna closed her mouth tight. April set down the tablecloth for a moment and turned toward her.
“Don’t like that idea?”
“Do police officers have to protect bad people too?”
“Yes.”
“Our father too?”
Hanna despised her own father even more than the factory owner who had employed her. She hadn’t learned the details, but thinking of what Bauman had said after visiting Hanna’s home, the fact that Hanna had grown up this bright was nothing short of miraculous.
Still, April remained worried about certain things regarding Hanna.
Hanna carried within her an enormous anger. This rage, larger than her own body, was always threatening to burst forth at the slightest opportunity.
For this reason, April made sure to give Hanna space to vent her anger occasionally. If she didn’t, one day that rage might become a blade and tear someone apart.
“I can’t answer that easily. You should learn about police work from Pejin instead.”
“Master Pejin said as long as you don’t get caught, you can get revenge on your father!”
“……I’ve clearly misjudged. Learn from Fred instead. That would be better.”
But is that any better? Fred is in league with Pejin too, so he’d probably teach the same thing.
April pressed her palm against her forehead. And she certainly couldn’t have Hanna learn about police work from the Grand Duchy Police.
Not from that trash.
As April held her forehead in her hand, Hanna’s eyes went wide. “Miss, are you in pain?”

“My head aches, but not from pain, exactly.”
“You’ve been running a fever this whole time and haven’t had a chance to rest because of the funeral…….”
“I can’t rest because of what I’m trying to do. Who am I to complain?”
“Still, I like it better when you’re not sick.”
“I understand. I’ll try.”
Hanna had taken to pouting at April quite often lately. It seemed she’d grown certain she wouldn’t be cast out of this mansion.
April found herself oddly pleased that she had given Hanna that certainty. The girl did tend to focus a bit too much on her face alone, but that would resolve itself once she went to school…….
As she was thinking this, she spotted Fred sprinting toward her from the distance, moving in a frenzy.
Though his height was gradually increasing, the boy’s face was pale—he ran about so much that he never seemed to gain weight.
“Miss! Miss, please look at this!”
As April took the newspaper Fred handed her, her brow furrowed.
[According to a spokesperson for the Grand Duke’s household, April Lunos is known to possess knowledge of how to survive the Death Mist. The Grand Duke’s household is currently making strenuous efforts to learn this method…….]

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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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