The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 106
Fezin opened his mouth.
“Maybe it’s because I’ve had a lot on my mind lately, but my nerves are on edge and I don’t feel like eating anything. But when I’m with you, it’s okay.”
“Ah.”
Hearing his honest words, April’s expression softened.
Then, Fezin asked.
“Was I very sensitive when I was little?”
“Of course. You were so sensitive you couldn’t even make friends.”
“Why don’t I remember that? I only have memories of being bullied by you.”
At the word bullying, April snorted, took another sip of her drink, and replied.
“Think back again. Did I really bully you?”
“You made me wear your dresses.”
“……Except for that.”
“Fine, since I was waaaay too pretty back then, let’s just say it was my fault.”
That was the one thing Fezin said that wasn’t wrong at all, so April couldn’t bring herself to deny it.
Fezin at that age was, just as he said, far too pretty; girls, boys, and even adults were curious to see him in a dress.
Dressed in April’s clothes, Fezin was every bit as beautiful as the other children imagined.
The sight of him wearing a white bonnet embroidered with pink flowers, pretending to drink tea from a toy saucer, likely existed as a photograph somewhere in the Empire. There was no way the adults wouldn't have preserved that image.
Anyway, excluding that, April didn’t feel the slightest bit of guilt for her actions. Actually, she didn’t even feel guilty about that.
Fezin, too, began to agree with April’s opinion the more he recalled his memories.
“Looking at it from a different perspective, I suppose it was more like you playing with me.”
As a very young child, Fezin hated sports that made him sweat and refused to eat smelly food. He wouldn’t bathe in water that was too hot or too cold, and if a stranger spoke to him, he would keep his mouth tightly shut and simply glare.
This was because he was a late-born child with a significant age gap from his brother and had a weak constitution, leading his parents to raise him without letting him leave his room.
Fezin recalled the day he first met April.
Fezin had met his first peer when he visited the Lunos family with his parents, the former Grand Duke and Duchess.
April, who was much taller than Fezin and possessed an overwhelming amount of information about the world he had never seen, felt more like a much older presence than a friend to him.
April had dragged Fezin around here and there as she pleased.
As they both reached back into their early childhood memories, they spoke almost simultaneously.
“But it was bullying, no matter how I think about it.”
“I really did bully you, didn’t I…….”
After saying that, the two of them burst into laughter together.
Only then did Fezin slow down his pace of eating as he continued.
“Do you know what you said to me when I came to the Lunos estate and refused to eat anything because it wasn't the Grand Ducal Residence?”
At the time, April had watched Fezin intently as he sat with his mouth clamped shut, refusing to eat in an unfamiliar place. She had approached him and whispered in his ear.
“In certain settings, eating is a matter of etiquette. Get out. If you’re going to be rude.”
Fezin, who had been raised like a precious jewel, had never heard such a threat in his life.
Feeling the greatest threat of his existence, Fezin began to eat the food given to him even in unfamiliar environments from that moment on.
And now, nearly twenty years later, he felt as if he had returned to being that young child.
That state where food would only go down his throat if April was in front of him.
April, perhaps curious because Fezin was eating so heartily, picked up one of the sandwiches from the piled-up stack.
The combination of ham, butter, and fruit jam was strange yet surprisingly decent. More than anything, the jam Fezin had chosen was better because it was a mixed fruit jam made from the miscellaneous leftovers of other batches. Since it was made from the scraps of good fruit, it was less sweet than other jams.
When April finished the sandwich and moistened her throat with a drink, Fezin, still focused on his meal, spoke.
“So.”
“Yes?”
“Why do you meet with Kritz from the 3rd Division so often?”
April faltered at Fezin’s words. However, she soon replied with a composed face.
“We became close. I don’t have many friends, you know.”
“You have me.”
“A friend of the same gender.”
“What do you need friends for?”
Fezin grumbled, then soon looked at April and asked.
“Is there something more you want to know about me?”
Though he didn't intend it, the gaze and voice of Fezin, a natural-born policeman, carried a habit that made the person he was talking to feel as if they were being interrogated.
April had kept it a secret that Kritz was investigating the fog and Pezin Dieus himself, separate from Fezin.
She felt a chill realizing that despite her caution, Fezin had known all along that she was interacting with Kritz.
It wasn't surprising for a policeman to be sharp, but both Kritz and April had been trying very hard to keep their exchanges out of the public eye.
Whether it was Logan or Kritz, Fezin knew everyone from the Special Investigation Headquarters that April had spoken to.
April answered honestly.
“You’re not investigating the fog diligently enough……. No matter how you look at it, the fog is related to our family's basement. My reaction is the same in both places. With a clue like that, why aren't you investigating properly?”
“I’m going to now. I’ve been busy. Besides, you were busy with funeral preparations, so it wasn't as if you could permit the police to dig up and investigate the basement of your manor.”
“That’s…… true enough.”
When April conceded, Fezin changed the subject.
“You’ll be busy going forward too, won't you? You're going to look into the dye now?”
“Yes. I need to go somewhere.”
“Let’s go together.”
“Why?”
“There are safety issues, and I need to keep an eye on you.”
April was about to refuse immediately, but after thinking it over, she felt that taking Fezin along would be an opportunity to learn more about him.
To her, Pezin Dieus was like a puzzle with important pieces missing. She wanted to know the answers to her vague suspicions. If there was nothing, that would be fine, and if there was something…….
Having finished her thoughts, April nodded.
“Let’s do that. I remember the area where the dye was located being quite dangerous anyway.”
“Is it toward the Primeval Forest?”
“Yes. It would be good to have a hunter. And……”
“And?”
“Because I’d miss you if I didn't see you for a few days.”
Fezin faltered at April’s muttered words.
She repeated the words as if talking to herself, or as if memorizing them.
“I found myself missing you.”
“You like me too much.”
Even as he spoke, the corners of Fezin’s mouth were creeping upward, and eventually, he leaned his body toward April, propping himself up with one elbow.
When April turned her head away sharply to signal she didn't like that answer, Fezin wiped his hands with a towel, took her hand to place it on his own, and rested his head there.
“Fine. From now on, I’ll come before you have a chance to miss me.”
She looked like she liked this answer.
Fezin, who had been resting his head like that, interlaced his fingers with hers, lifted his head, and asked.
“But what if we see each other so often that you stop missing me? What if you get tired of me?”
“Then we’ll have to see each other less.”
“If you’re going to be romantic, can’t you just be romantic all the way? Why stop halfway?”
“What do you want?”
“Think about it a bit more before you answer.”
At Fezin’s playful grumbling, April tilted her head to one side and fell into thought as if seriously contemplating it.
Because he loved the face she made when she was seriously pondering, Fezin felt like he might laugh naturally, but he strained his facial muscles to keep a straight face so he could hear a romantic answer from her.
He had known for a long time that April wasn't a particularly romantic or imaginative person.
It was just that the situation itself—her taking his request for romantic words seriously—was enjoyable.
After a long silence, April finally answered.
“I think it’s possible—the case where you don’t get tired of someone even after seeing them for a long time. The probability might be very slim, though.”
“…….”
“I think that probability, for me, is you.”
Fezin’s eyes froze in place.
Seeing his expression, April asked.
“Is talking about probability not very romantic?”
“No. On the contrary, it was such an unexpected romance that…… I’m surprised.”
“Is this romance? I'm just saying it's a fact.”
April spoke as if it were a trivial matter out of embarrassment, and Fezin chose not to point it out for once. He liked her words so much that he didn't want to disturb them in the slightest.
As they talked, the rain outside the window stopped.
Fezin spoke as he looked out.
“Ah, I should go.”
“Don’t go.”
“Okay, I won’t.”
“……Really?”
The moment he made up his mind, Fezin refilled his glass.
“I’d rather just drink with you while listening to the sound of the rain.”
He couldn't let go of her hand.
All the more so because he felt that if he let go now, he might never get the chance to hold it again.
