The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 112
April turned her gaze away from him and spoke.
“When the world is this quiet, don’t you feel like even your thoughts could be read?”
Only after hearing her words did Fezin snap out of his thoughts.
He looked out at the vast nature stretching before them, offering his belated admiration.
“Ah, it is beautiful here.”
“What a quick reaction,” April teased with a laugh.
Fezin smiled along with her, but at some point, he realized that something was going terribly wrong.
That he was deceiving her, and that his brother was hiding so much about the downfall of the Lunos family, were certainly problems—but those were circumstantial.
What he had just realized was a deeply personal issue.
Lately, he had been experiencing emotions entirely through April’s voice. He only felt an appetite when she permitted it, and only now did he truly look at the nature around them.
Was it out of guilt, or was it love?
Or was it because of a lingering childhood fear, from when April used to scold him to eat his food whenever they were at formal gatherings?
As Fezin pondered this, April continued.
“If Miller refuses to buy the dye, we’ll just have to find a way to make him buy it.”
“By selling it to him at a high price?”
“Yes. I’m going to sell it to him for an incredibly high price.”
April answered, casting a sidelong glance at Fezin.
“So don’t even think about interfering.”
“Why would I interfere? I’m a police officer dispatched here because of the fog. As long as the fog issue is resolved, I’ll do whatever it takes. However…”
Fezin muttered, staring at the red mineral rusted by the moisture.
“A lot of people from the Empire come to work on the Right Island, so they’ll definitely need this dye too. Besides, the Empire is full of money-grubbing bastards, so there will be plenty of people trying to snatch this dye business for themselves.”
“And?”
“If we sell it to one of them, you can make an amount of money unimaginable in the Grand Duchy.”
The quantity of the ore was too small to be used in both the Grand Duchy and the Empire. If so, selling it to the Empire was by far the more profitable choice.
April nodded at Fezin’s suggestion.
“Yes, I think so too.”
Fezin imagined leaving for the Empire with April.
An imagination of living with her in his home back in the Empire.
Then, April spoke again.
“But you know, taking the easy road usually means you have to compromise on your goals.”
Fezin paused at her words.
The shadow of a massive bird flying above temporarily blocked out the sun. Even in the shade, April’s eyes shone brightly.
“I want the Grand Duchy to be able to survive independently, regardless of the Empire. So, no.”
“Your goal is to restore the reputation of the Lunos family. What does the Empire have to do with that? Why are you trying to take the hard road?”
“What do you mean, what does it have to do with it? What meaning does a prestigious family have in a place that can’t even hold a single Founding Day festival!”
When April’s voice rose, Fezin flinched.
He recalled how April had shown interest in the Founding Day festival on the Left Island.
Perhaps displeased that she had momentarily revealed her inner thoughts, she frowned and continued.
“And life is originally difficult and complicated. For everyone, there has never been an era or a person for whom it wasn’t so. Don’t we all just make up reasons one by one, to endure and keep living?”
“……”
“For me, my goal is that reason. It has always been the same ever since my parents passed away.”
Fezin couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh at her words.
It was because the impossible imagination of bringing April Lunos into his luxurious house in the Empire and living together felt so utterly ridiculous.
She was a woman whose sole purpose in life was the reconstruction of the Lunos family, a woman who did not remain in this world for even a single moment because she actually wanted to.
Strangely, once Fezin started laughing, he couldn’t easily stop.
Oddly enough, he felt as if he were falling into a bottomless pit.
Since when had this started? Since the ship leaving for the Empire? Or even before then?
Misfortune kept making him laugh.
Fezin spoke again.
“It’s fascinating that a goal is your reason for living. I couldn’t live like that.”
“What’s so fascinating about it? You know I like to win.”
Avoiding his gaze, April muttered as she lightly brushed off the snow clinging to her sturdy leather boots.
“That was the only reason I was able to hold on.”
“Your goal?”
“That I won’t lose, not even to death.”
“……”
“From this moment on, I am going to win, one victory after another.”
Concerned by April’s boots as she spoke, Fezin dropped to one knee.
Using his hands, he brushed away the damp dirt and snow clinging to her boots.
April asked,
“How is it that someone from the Grand Ducal family kneels so easily?”
“I kneel easily to anyone. It makes everything much simpler.”
Having dusted off her boots, Fezin stood up and spoke to April.
“But fine. I’ll give it a try.”
“Try what?”
“Living life while making the difficult choices.”
At Fezin’s words, April looked up at him.
Fezin glanced back at her, then lightly tapped her forehead with his own.
April frowned and stepped back.
“What are you doing?”
“I can’t touch you with my hands since I handled toxic substances.”
“Then you just shouldn’t touch me at all.”
“I’m someone who likes to be praised, but since you won’t praise me, I had to take it myself.”
“What am I supposed to praise you for?”
“For choosing to live a difficult life from now on.”
“Why should I praise you for how you live your own life?”
“I was raised pampered, so I’m a brat who needs to be praised for every little thing.”
After teasing her, Fezin began packing the minerals into his bag.
After gathering enough to be used for research and dye extraction at the Lunos estate, the two of them returned to the Lunos mansion with Shaefer.
Since Fezin’s visit, Miller had become noticeably quieter.
He was suffering from a wave of fear and depression that he hadn’t experienced in quite some time since the fall of the Lunos family.
Lately, he had been meeting frequently with his maternal uncle, Devin Meyer, the Chief of the Grand Duchy Police. Devin looked at Miller’s face, which had grown significantly haggard over the past few days, with a look of pity.
“Are you taking care of your health?”
“Yes, of course. I am taking care of it.”
Miller answered, but his usually clear eyes were clouded with depression.
Devin sat down heavily across from him and spoke.
“There is no need to worry so much. Fezin went to investigate the dye with April Lunos, so he is simply doing his job as an Imperial Police officer.”
“But he is investigating me.”
Devin paused at Miller’s words.
Devin, too, could not help but worry about Fezin’s movements.
Fezin was gradually expanding his influence even among the Grand Duchy Police. And those Grand Duchy Police officers were doing things that the Special Investigation Headquarters could not.
A prime example was the investigation into Miller.
While it was impossible to know exactly what they were investigating, it was clear that Fezin had developed a great deal of curiosity regarding Miller.
Devin spoke.
“It is troublesome from the perspective of the Grand Duchy Police as well. Since Fezin has so much free time, he’s been poking around all over the police force…”
Though Miller harbored fear toward Fezin, he still disliked hearing criticism of his beloved younger brother. He raised his eyes, cutting Devin off as he replied.
“Fezin has wanted reform ever since he decided to become a police officer. Even now, he is simply doing what he wants.”
“What is there to reform? Whether it’s the Imperial Police or us, we both take orders from the Empire anyway.”
Devin wore a displeased expression. Since he was the one leading the police force, the idea of reforming it rubbed him the wrong way.
Miller replied,
“I am not a police officer, so I wouldn’t know. He must have his own thoughts on the matter.”
Though Devin clicked his tongue in disapproval, he filled Miller’s glass and said,
“At any rate, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Fezin is ultimately a man of the Empire. His Majesty the Emperor took him in and raised him as an imperial citizen. Don’t you know him?”
“……”
“Fezin will quietly cover up anything that becomes an obstacle to the Empire. That is just the kind of person he is.”
It wasn’t that Miller thought differently from Devin. Even so, his anxiety stemmed simply from the fear of the moment Fezin might stop loving him.
Left alone after Devin departed, Miller poured himself another glass of strong liquor.
He set the glass down on the table and picked up a pen with one hand. Unable to write down the important matters, he merely tapped the pen against a gold-trimmed notebook.
In his mind, there was only one visible path to overcome this situation. Every problem arose from the existence that was gradually staining Fezin.
From April Lunos.
Miller imagined the moment April Lunos would discover that the cause of the fog lay within the Empire.
Since Fezin would follow his mission, he would have no choice but to silence April.
She was not a woman who would be easily quieted, so Fezin would ultimately end her life.
It would cause Fezin pain for a short while, but eventually, it would be forgotten. Just like a boy’s first love.
And then, he would marry a member of the Imperial family, becoming a bridge between these two islands.
There was no doubt that there could be no life more perfectly brilliant for his younger brother.
