The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 116
Once he had completely sobered up, Kritz pulled April into a sudden, tight embrace.
“Please, think about this calmly, Miss April. You said you wanted to launch a merchant ship, yes? Because otherwise, the food supply would be cut off.”
“…….”
“If so, you must maintain relations with the Empire until you can launch that ship and secure a path to bring in food. So, Miss April…”
April fell into deep thought, still held in the arms of Kritz, who seemed determined to keep holding her until he got the answer he wanted.
After a long silence, she finally spoke.
“I understand what you mean. We can’t let our relationship with the Empire completely fall apart until our food supply is stable.”
Only then did Kritz finally let her go. April continued.
“But Miller must know.”
“Excuse me?”
“The leader of the Grand Duchy needs to know the truth.”
As she spoke, April’s eyes looked so strained they seemed ready to bleed at any moment.
“This is an issue for the entire Grand Duchy, so we absolutely need the power of Grand Duke Miller Dieus.”
Kritz had never been so desperate to know what was going on inside someone else’s head in his entire life.
* * *
“Logan.”
“Yes?”
“Is there any magic trick we can use at a time like this?”
“That wouldn’t be a trick, but actual magic. This is a massive, unavoidable tide we’re facing.”
Pezin clicked his tongue at Logan’s cheerful response.
Paul, who had tried to stop Pezin the moment he suggested reporting to Miller and the Imperial Police leadership that they ‘found nothing,’ chimed in.
“I warned you. I said we shouldn’t do this. Now you’re going to face disciplinary action for neglect of duty.”
“Will I be punished too?”
“That depends on how you answer at the hearing. Please, just speak nicely. I beg of you.”
“I received excellent training in everything else, but I missed that particular lesson. How to speak nicely.”
“Are you actually boasting about that? Logan, what should he say at the hearing to at least minimize the damage?”
At that, Logan, who had been practicing a coin trick, answered.
“Since you did all this for Miss April, just tell the truth. That’s the best way.”
“How on earth is that the best way?”
“Well, they might let it slide while reminiscing about their own youth, thinking, ‘What can you do when you’re in love?’ Honestly, anyone who has seen Miss April’s face would understand…”
Logan, speaking without thinking, caught both Pezin and Paul staring at him and looked up.
“I get why the Superintendent is looking at me like that, but why are you glaring at me, Senior?”
“She is not someone a punk like you can casually praise.”
“I was just talking to myself.”
While they bickered, the tram carrying the three of them arrived at the Imperial Police Agency.
Stepping off the tram, they looked up at the building together.
It was a massive structure built of white brick. People in the Empire often joked that the Imperial Police Agency looked like a stock exchange. In truth, there wasn’t much difference in the appearance of the two buildings.
Pezin stepped inside where the high-ranking police officials had gathered for the hearing.
While waiting for him, Logan and Paul paced the police agency’s lounge anxiously.
After repeatedly sitting down and standing up, Paul, unable to settle, asked Logan.
“What do you think the chances are that the Superintendent speaks nicely and gets off with just a reprimand?”
“Extremely low, without a doubt.”
As they waited and talked, Pezin returned to them, his hearing completed.
He looked so incredibly refreshed that it almost gave them a fleeting, foolish hope that he had somehow beaten the slim odds and things had gone well.
“How did it go?”
Paul asked, gathering every shred of hope he had, to which Pezin replied.
“A three-month suspension.”
“A suspension?”
It was the worst-case scenario.
They had expected a reprimand, or at worst, a pay cut.
A starting police officer’s salary was enough to scrape by in a shabby boarding house in the Imperial Capital, and someone of Pezin’s rank could live much better than that.
In the Grand Duchy, it was enough to buy a nice estate. However, Pezin had inherited a fortune and rolled it successfully on the stock exchange, so a pay cut meant very little to him. Everyone within the police force knew this, so a pay cut would have been their way of saying, ‘We’ll let it slide this once.’
But a suspension was different.
“A suspension… Ha, a suspension.”
Paul buried his face in his hands.
With this, he had fallen decisively behind in his rivalry with Lian Ragnar, who was competing for the position of Chief of Capital Police. It was the harshest punishment one could receive for neglect of duty.
Looking at Logan, who seemed strangely at peace as if he had attained enlightenment—unlike himself, who felt as though the sky had fallen—Paul asked.
“Why are you so calm? Do you have some kind of backup plan?”
“Yes, I do.”
“You do?”
“I invested in Miss April’s merchant ship. Miss April is going to take care of my second life!”
“You’re barely twenty, what are you talking about a ‘second life’ for? And didn’t you know the Lunos family used to send out five or six merchant ships at a time? Because large ships have a ridiculously high chance of crashing into reefs.”
“Of course I know. But when it comes to probability, I’ve never seen Miss April lose a gamble.”
“That’s her own skill, this is different.”
“Even so, I’m going to believe in it. Her gambling luck.”
Paul found Logan’s attitude exasperating, but soon narrowed his eyes and asked.
“Are you going to quit the police?”
“If Superintendent Ragnar becomes the Chief of Capital Police… No, even if he just becomes the Chief of Capital Police, we’ll have to quit anyway. I need to secure an investment.”
“You should have helped me stop him, how can you only look out for yourself?”
“He’s not the type to listen just because we try to stop him!”
Pezin watched the two of them bickering in front of him, clicked his tongue, and turned away.
Paul and Logan followed him, but they didn’t stop arguing. The officers at the main headquarters glanced over at the noisy trio.
Arguing all the way, the three of them returned to Pezin’s house.
The Imperial Capital in June was enjoying fantastic weather. Cheap, delicious fruits flooded the markets, and the trees were in full, beautiful bloom.
The three of them found a spot under the shade of a tree and lay down.
After a long silence, Paul spoke up.
“How are you going to fix this?”
“By doing my best.”
At Pezin’s reply, Logan sat up and said,
“Suspending you now means they intend to disband the Special Investigation Headquarters. Someone else will take over the mission, and from then on, we won’t be able to guarantee Miss April’s safety.”
“I know.”
“We can’t save the Grand Duchy just by stopping one dye leak.”
At Logan’s words, Pezin stared up at the tree for a moment before murmuring,
“I guess I’ll have to put my faith in gambling luck too.”
* * *
With his suspension set, Pezin stood before the Emperor of the Lhasa Empire, August Lilyhill.
The Emperor and Pezin sat across a table from each other and began a traditional Imperial board game. For a while, they chatted idly and threw dice, slowly easing into the main topic.
August spoke.
“You failed the investigation because… you didn’t want to touch the dye?”
“I heard it’s toxic.”
Pezin continued with a look of disgust.
“I had no desire to investigate so diligently that I’d have to touch something poisonous.”
It was such a typical Pezin Dieus answer that August let out a sigh.
“What a waste of your height. You’re afraid of a mere dye that they harvest to make clothes and wallpaper, you fool?”
“Your Majesty, look at these fine hands of mine. It would be a tragedy if they were damaged even a little, wouldn’t it?”
Pezin grumbled as if he found the whole thing absurd.
“Rather, I don’t understand why I’m being suspended over something so trivial.”
“Of course. Do you think I would have given you such a punishment for just that?”
“I suspected as much. What else did I do wrong?”
“I hear you’ve been digging into the Grand Duke’s background.”
At that, Pezin casually played a card and answered.
“Yes, I did a little. I haven't been liking the way my brother has been acting lately.”
“What did you find out that’s making you act like a rebellious teenager?”
“I haven’t found out much yet. I can’t exactly order the Grand Duchy Police around.”
At his words, the Emperor simply smiled without saying much.
Today, as always, he defeated Pezin in the game by an overwhelming margin. Having won, the Emperor spoke to Pezin.
“I will send someone else to the Special Investigation Headquarters soon. There will be some time while we vet the candidates, so start wrapping up your life in the Grand Duchy.”
“I figured you would say that.”
Pezin replied and threw in the towel.
The Emperor said,
“Be grateful that I am bringing you back here instead of casting you out to the Grand Duchy.”
“I am always grateful, even without things like this.”
“I have also found a marriage partner for you, so meet her as soon as you return.”
“My personality doesn’t match my face, so please warn her about that beforehand.”
“I know that better than anyone, so do not worry.”
The Emperor seemed rather pleased with the thought of Pezin returning to the Empire for good.
With a smile, he continued.
“I was worried about your brother. He is a reckless man who fell in love and married the nanny’s daughter. That is why I once wished for you to become the Grand Duke… But the more I see him, the more Miller seems perfectly suited for the position.”
At those words, Pezin couldn’t help but let his lips curl into a smile.
“I think so too, indeed.”
