The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 103
If anything, the real concern was Fezin, whose expression had remained frozen throughout the funeral. He had departed the estate even before Miller and his wife once the service concluded.
Early the next morning, Heidi rose from her bed and left the bedroom, only to find Miller nursing a glass of liquor. She sat beside him with a look of surprise.
“Have you been drinking all night?”
“Heidi,” Miller murmured, burying his face in her shoulder. “I’m too scared to sleep.”
He wrapped his arms around her waist.
Heidi held him back, her expression clouded with worry as she patted his back. “What exactly are you afraid of?”
“I’m afraid of April gaining power, and I’m afraid of Fezin… growing to hate me.”
“That would never happen! Fezin will love you for the rest of his life.”
“Yes, I know. But love and hate are two different things.”
Miller’s shoulders trembled.
Heid stroked his shoulder and asked, “Should I go and see how he’s doing?”
“No. Sending you would only make him angrier. This time, I have to be the one to go.”
Miller took a deep breath and straightened up.
Heidi had seen him like this once before. It was back when he was marrying April, and he had been consumed by the fear of losing Heidi.
Heidi had pitied him then, but it hadn’t taken long for him to find a solution. In the end, they had achieved exactly the result Miller wanted.
Would it be the same this time?
As she was lost in thought, the sound of footsteps approached.
Miller instinctively knew it was Fezin and spoke to Heidi.
“I’ll go out and talk to him.”
“Can’t you talk here?”
“No, I think this needs to be just between us.”
With those words, Miller stepped out into the hallway.
A hundred years ago, before the King’s head was claimed by the Left Island, the Grand Ducal Residence had been known as the Royal Palace. Its hallways were wide and magnificent.
Some corridors were even named and used to host small events. The building was constructed with such opulence that no corner was left untouched by splendor.
Even on a gray day like today, the pristine white wallpaper and gold leafing remained beautiful.
Miller watched as Fezin walked slowly down the ornate hallway. The young man possessed a beauty that even the weather could not dampen, yet as he walked, that light seemed to fade.
Miller would have given his life for his only blood relative. It was only natural that he didn’t want to be hated by the one he cherished so much.
“Why do you have such a betrayed look on your face?” Miller asked quietly.
Fezin stopped in front of him and spoke. “Because I feel betrayed.”
“I’ve never betrayed you.”
“You said you didn’t know about the fog. You lied to me—how is that not betrayal? Since when did you know that fog was caused by the Empire?”
When Fezin asked, Miller first scanned their surroundings.
The hallway was empty.
Of course, Fezin would be the more sensitive one to notice if anyone was listening, and even if someone did hear, the news would never leave these walls. The servants who worked in the Grand Ducal Residence were tight-lipped.
Miller was the same. He didn’t want to say anything to Fezin. Partly because he was drunk, and partly because he knew that anything he said would only fuel the younger man’s rage.
Miller pulled Fezin into an embrace. “Stop with the questions.”
“Don’t try to brush it off like this.”
“Fezin, I had no choice. You’re also pretending not to know because you have no choice. You’re deceiving April because you have no other option.”
“…….”
“Like I told you, just stay on my side. You love me, don’t you?”
You love me, don’t you.
Fezin let out an involuntary laugh at those words.
Whenever Miller found the burden of playing parent to Fezin too heavy, he would embrace his younger brother and say those very words.
You love me, don’t you.
You love me, don’t you.
Those words acted like a spell, forcing Fezin to stop.
There was no other way. It was the truth, after all.
Even if he forgot for a moment, the fact would resurface the second Miller reminded him.
Before leaving for the Empire, Fezin used to tuck himself neatly into Miller’s arms, but he had since grown so much that he now had to stoop slightly for his brother.
He lowered his head further and spoke. “Love was always the most important thing to you, hyung.”
“It was.”
“When I was young, I thought that was quite romantic.”
Fezin slowly straightened his body.
Miller felt a sense of despair looking into those cold eyes.
“You did… but what about now?”
“Thinking about it now, it turns out you just wanted to have everything you desired. It’s the same even now.”
“…….”
“You really never grow up, do you?”
He murmured the words. He pushed his brother away, but when Miller staggered as the alcohol rushed to his head, Fezin caught his arms to steady him.
Fezin spoke. “Fine. I won’t ask anymore.”
“……Yes, please do that.”
“I’ll just find out on my own—exactly what you did to be with the person you love.”
At those words, Miller let out a hollow laugh, perhaps because he was so drunk. He looked at Fezin and asked, “You won’t be like me, will you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You won’t choose love over everything else like I did. Right?”
Fezin gave no further answer. Miller, as if expecting the silence, simply wore a faint smile.
Miller brushed off Fezin’s hand and leaned against the wall.
“Go on then. Don’t get sick. Eat well. You don’t eat properly when you’re in a bad mood.”
“I don’t do that anymore.”
“What do you mean you don’t? You’re exactly the same. You only get less sensitive when the person you like is by your side.”
At Miller’s words, Fezin seemed to sink into thought, as if remembering something, before turning away without a word.
The overcast sky finally gave way to rain. It was a spring shower.
Miller watched Fezin’s retreating figure in the hallway for a long time.
After the funeral, bankers were constantly in and out of the Lunos estate.
The very bankers who wouldn’t even meet her eyes if she appeared at the bank before the funeral were now lingering around Lunos.
Most of them returned to their banks clicking their tongues the moment they heard April’s answer: “I am sending a merchant ship to sea.” It was far too dangerous an investment.
The eastern side of the Right Island had powerful currents and heavy fog. Unless a captain had a compass practically swallowed into his soul, it was no easy feat to pierce through that sea mist.
Furthermore, the underwater terrain was treacherous. While many ships departed from the Right Island, the reason foreign merchant ships couldn’t reach it was due to that very geography.
The only reason the Right Island had an advantage in such waters was the design of their ships, which could navigate even in shallow depths.
Still, welcome news arrived from Logan. He sent word that the navigator had safely crossed to the Left Island and succeeded in negotiating Irsa’s release.
April went outside the mansion to wait for Irsa.
Hannah, who had decided to wait with April, pointed at Sebio.
“My Lady, look at Sebio’s raincoat. Fred’s grandmother made it for him.”
April turned to look and burst into laughter.
“She really is skilled.”
After it was decided that Fred and Hannah would enroll in the school in the provincial capital this autumn, Fred’s grandmother had been coming to the Lunos mansion almost every day to cook, knit, or sew things April needed.
Fred was a child born with incredible artistic talent, and it was perfectly clear where that came from.
Had Fred’s grandmother received an artistic education from a young age, she surely would have become a renowned artist. The better the materials she was given, the more her skills shone.
She had made many beautiful things, but the masterpiece was the raincoat she made for April after the funeral, using waterproof fabric.
Using a black waterproof material mixed with rubber, Fred’s grandmother had crafted a magnificent lady’s raincoat.
When asked where she had found such a wonderful pattern, she said she had mimicked the raincoats worn by noblewomen in the capital and added her own touches.
In any case, what Sebio was wearing was a raincoat cobbled together from the leftover scraps of fabric after making April’s.
Since it was made to look as similar to April’s as possible, it looked as though the hound was wearing a name tag identifying exactly who his owner was.
