Translator: Nox

The Mansion Awaits Spring

Chapter 11

Banker Birta had been uncooperative with those who sought to pick apart the Lunos family fortune, and as a result, he had been forced to leave the bank after protecting the very last ledger.

Consequently, his daughter, who had been learning the trade, was also unable to become a banker.

After reviewing the final ledger, April asked, “If I settle all these notes, will I be able to pay the balance on the ship?”

At her words, Birta shook his head regretfully.

“The name Lunos is synonymous with merchant ships, so I understand your desire to keep her,” Birta said, pulling out an abacus. “But by any calculation, it’s impossible. The payments are already as overdue as they can be. If you don’t sell as quickly as possible, she’ll become a debt instead.”

“…….”

There was no way for April to come up with the remaining balance now.

In the end, April had no choice but to agree to sell the ship.

Fortunately, the proceeds from the sale would be enough to maintain the mansion and allow April to live out the rest of her life in quiet seclusion.

By the time she finished her business and left the bank, it was past eight o’clock, and the sun had completely set.

The immediate problem of funding was resolved, but her heart was heavy with the fact that she couldn’t save even the last merchant ship—the very symbol of the Lunos family.

Pressing her palms against her temples, where a headache born of guilt was beginning to throb, April stood at the plaza carriage station and waved her hand to catch a passing carriage.

However, even when a carriage stopped in front of her, the drivers would catch a glimpse of her face—which they had seen in the newspapers—and flee in terror.

When April stepped out into the road and waved again, this time a carriage accelerated, seemingly intent on running her down.

As April froze, unable to move in the path of the charging horses, a pair of hands yanked her body back with force.

The carriage sped away without stopping, and April finally let out a trembling breath.

As she slowly turned around, Pezin, who still had his arm wrapped around her, was looking down at her with a furrowed brow.

April looked up at him and asked, “Why?”

“What do you mean, ‘why’? Don’t you realize what just happened?”

He was right.

Even April found her own question strange.

She pushed against Pezin’s chest to step out of his embrace and said, “You’re far too fearless.”

“You’ve been saying strange things for a while now. I’m fearless?”

“Well, is it right for you to be helping me after seeing police officers collapse with your own eyes? It’s reckless.”

When April met his unconditional kindness with reproach because she didn’t know how to accept it, Pezin’s expression twisted.

“Better you don’t speak at all. You’d be more likable if you kept your mouth shut. At least your face is pretty when you’re quiet.”

“You’re the one whose words are a waste. You managed to make a compliment sound insulting.”

“Which part of what I said was a compliment?”

“You said I was pretty.”

“That’s just a fact. Your face isn’t even my type.”

Pezin scanned April’s face as he spoke.

April turned her head away in disbelief at his gaze, which was clearly intended to offend her.

Of course, she knew she was the one who had picked the fight with the person who saved her.

Was it because he was the only ‘acquaintance’ she had met since her confinement?

Seeing Pezin’s face made the extreme tension that had parasitized her body for the past seven years fade just a little.

And then, like a child acting out toward someone they care about, she found herself grumbling.

Not that he cared for her—it was likely closer to hatred.

He even said her face wasn’t his type.

Regardless, even if she felt bad for picking the fight, his comment about his ‘type’ rankled.

She knew all too well what kind of face Pezin liked. Those brothers had such identical tastes.

When he spoke of his preference, Pezin might have been thinking of Heidi Dieus’s face again.

The rain still hadn’t stopped, and while April had been struggling to catch a carriage, it had grown so late that none were even visible anymore.

Pezin checked the clock tower on one side of the plaza and said to April, “I’ll lend you a carriage.”

As he spoke, Pezin began to pull on a pair of gloves.

Seeing him only putting them on now, April realized that Pezin hadn’t just happened to pass by and help her.

He must have run to her without even thinking to put on his gloves.

How strange. The boy who only cared about himself as a child had grown up to think of others.

April followed him reflexively, but she couldn’t keep up with Pezin’s long strides while dragging her long dress through the mud.

During the seven years April had spent without anyone to walk beside, he had been with the energetic young men of the Military Academy. Their paces could not match.

“Pezin, wait a moment.”

When she called him, Pezin stopped and looked back at April. Then, he asked in bewilderment, “Why are you following me?”

“You said you’d lend me a carriage.”

“Why are you walking through this mud in that dress? Just stay there. I’ll be right back.”

He turned to head for the carriage but then returned, his face twisted in an expression of sheer incomprehension.

“Stay still. I don’t want my clothes getting dirty.”

Pezin spoke as he dropped one knee onto the top of her foot. He then began to tie April’s loose shoelace.

“It’s a miracle you didn’t trip.”

April was startled by his unexpected action, but realizing it was for her sake, she soon calmed down.

She didn’t feel any particular weight on her foot. It was strangely funny to her that he was doing this simply because he didn’t want his clothes to get dirty.

He could have just left the shoelace alone, but he felt he had to retie it.

Finding it ridiculous, April stood there, covered her mouth with her hand, and began to laugh.

At the sound of the laughter that eventually escaped through her delicate fingers, Pezin lifted his head and looked up at her.

“What’s so funny?”

“You.”

“Ah, I suppose I do have a face that makes people laugh just by looking at it.”

At Pezin’s words, April began to laugh properly this time, her voice clear.

Strangely, she was crying even as she laughed.

How many years had it been since she had laughed because she was truly amused?

It must have been while her parents were still alive.

April covered her entire face with the hand that had been over her mouth.

Tears rolled down her palms and fell. It was raining anyway, so it wasn’t that noticeable.

Pezin, who had finished tying the lace and stood up, asked, “Are you laughing or crying?”

“I’m laughing.”

“You’re the type whose eyes water a lot when you laugh.”

Pezin spoke as he pulled out a handkerchief.

He unfolded it and tied it around the wrist of April, who was still covering her face with both hands.

“Wait a moment.”

Pezin said and moved toward the carriage waiting for him.

April stood there for a moment, barely suppressing her sobs, and looked at the handkerchief tied to her wrist.

In the meantime, the carriage stopped in front of her.

The driver was pale at the thought of having to drive April through the night, but he had reluctantly brought the carriage under the practical pressure of Pezin’s command.

Pezin, who had been sitting next to the driver, climbed down and opened the door.

“We’re going to investigate the Lunos mansion again. I’ll let you know once the date is set.”

“Do whatever you want.”

April spoke and motioned for him to close the carriage door.

That night, after returning to the Lunos mansion, it took April a long time to fall asleep.

She had thought similar things for the last seven years, but tonight, the problem was that every thought coming to mind was different from usual.

The guilt over disposing of the ship, the fear of the Church, and so on.

And strangely, the most vivid memory among them was the feeling of his knee against the top of her foot.

Looking back now, she felt embarrassed about why she had laughed so much at that.

She tried to erase the tender moments from her mind, but instead, that small weight pierced through her heart.

April tried to forget that weight. Fortunately, when she thought of her resentment toward his brother, the weight gradually faded under the intensity of that emotion.

Her parents visited her in her dreams that night. When she told them she was sorry for selling the ship, they smiled and said nothing in the world was as important as she was.

She acted like a spoiled child, and they went for a walk in the still-beautiful Lunos estate.

It was a dream where she only heard what she wanted to hear and did only what she wanted to do. It was the first time she had a pleasant dream since her parents passed away.