The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 124
After meeting April at the church and returning to the townhouse, Fezin had been unable to sleep properly for a while.
His mind was dark and heavy all day long.
His nerves constantly scraped at him with a sharp sensitivity, and his heart would drop every time he heard the sound of a carriage passing by on the street.
It was difficult to change one’s inherent nature. He had thought his temperament had changed a lot while spending time at the Military Academy with boys who got dirty at the drop of a hat and didn’t know how to be quiet once they started making noise, but those original traits had returned.
Day after day, as sleep eluded him until dawn and his battle with his raw nerves continued, Fezin drank every night to soothe his mind.
When he finally managed to fall asleep, nightmares would begin as if they had been waiting.
In his dreams, he was searching for April. It was the grand Lunos Mansion, completely abandoned and ruined.
He had received countless reports on the interior of the Lunos Mansion, so he knew its layout better than anyone. He knew what it looked like, and what was where.
Yet, in that very space he knew so well, he could not find April.
Whenever everything threatened to shake him, he recalled April’s words. He also remembered telling her that he would try to live making difficult choices.
She probably wouldn’t even remember, but Fezin regarded his words to her as a promise. He ate well and trained.
Then, he gathered the police officers he trusted most to hold meetings and search for a way to survive.
And then, one day, a welcome guest came to find him. A very welcome guest.
The companies that supplied gas to the Grand Duchy all had their roots in the Empire.
Among them, Jonah Tabish of the Tabish Company was supplying gas to the gas lines of the Lunos Territory, where April lived.
The enormous amount of gas fees wrung out of the Lunos Territory had highly excited Jonah Tabish. In truth, the business in the Grand Duchy was practically pocket change compared to that in the Empire. So, he had been contemplating gradually wrapping up the gas business here and leaving for the Empire. The same went for the Tabish Company’s other businesses.
Since he happened to make a fortune just then, he thought it would be best to use it to start a new business in the Empire.
However, his funds were a bit lacking to fully establish himself in the Empire. He wanted to fill his pockets quickly, but of all times, the Grand Duchy in the summer had white nights, which significantly reduced the hours the gas lamps were lit.
Jonah Tabish wondered if there was anything more to wring out of the Lunos family and left his house with the intention of just giving it a try. Having received that large sum of money once, both greed and confidence had grown.
If she couldn’t pay it, Fezin Dieus would surely pay it for her again this time. He thought he had ended up benefiting from that girl using her pretty face to bewitch a man so well.
Jonah Tabish drove toward Fezin Dieus’s townhouse in a fine new black car he had bought with the gas money he extorted from April.
As he waited on the patio, Fezin appeared, dressed in his police dress uniform.
Jonah clicked his tongue under his breath.
‘Heaven is truly indifferent.’
Jonah briefly resented God for creating such a breathtakingly beautiful creature all on his own when they were born under the same sky.
Jonah asked with an intentional smile, “Were you on duty?”
“What is the matter?”
When Fezin asked, Jonah said, “Even after you paid the gas fees, Miss April has continued to use the gas. As for the matter of those future fees…”
“From what I know, she has barely turned them on since then.”
“No, indeed. A massive amount is continuously being used.”
Fezin tilted his head slightly and looked at Jonah.
That gas supplier had absolutely no way to verify the amount of gas April used. Rather, because of that, he seemed to think he could just make things up as he pleased.
Jonah continued, “So, I plan to charge about this much for the gas fees based on a monthly average. Where should I send the bill?”
Jonah gently slid a slip forward.
After checking the slip, Fezin replied casually, “I will pay it. Since it is not much.”
“Ah, is that so! Yes, it is nice when the conversation goes quickly. Paying monthly like this will turn out cheaper for you than paying in a lump sum later.”
“You are right.”
Fezin replied as such, immediately had the amount on the slip prepared, and then said to Jonah, “However… if there is ever any evidence of double-billing on this slip, I will take back the money I paid. Along with a very heavy fine.”
“P-Pardon? Double-billing? That is absurd. The Lunos Mansion is built in an area where the Tabish Company supplies gas. No other company exists.”
“I see.”
Though the conversation ended there, once he heard those words, a sense of anxiety washed over Jonah.
As soon as Jonah received the payment and left the townhouse, he headed to his company. It was to check the source of the gas used at the grand Lunos Mansion.
Once repairmen and sailors gathered at the Lunos Port, which had previously had nothing, a tavern was the very first thing to appear.
Rather than just a tavern, it also served as an inn and sold meals, much like the establishments in other ports.
The people had left after the Lunos family fell, but the buildings remained. So, it was just a matter of finding someone to run the tavern, and fortunately, there was an applicant.
April did not charge any fees at all for letting people settle in the port.
She stood on the ship and looked back toward the port. Irsa, who had followed her up, said, “You should look at the sea. We’re going to the sea.”
“I’m not going to the sea. You can look at it.”
“That’s true.”
Irsa replied with a slight smile, then turned toward the sea and asked, “But shouldn’t you collect rent? It’s small now, but once more people gradually gather, that will be a lot of money.”
“Did you ever see the Lunos family wring drink money out of sailors?”
“Never. But that’s a story of the people of the past.”
At those words from Irsa, April replied, “There is always a logic of its own in the stories the people of the past tell. No matter the task, it only starts once people gather.”
She watched the bustling people at the port and continued, “What I need most right now is to fill my spaces with people. It’s something I should do even if I had to hand them money, so how grateful am I that people are coming on their own feet?”
“Does that include the sailors too?”
“The sailors represent the whole story.”
With a slight smile at April’s reply, Irsa turned to look out at the port and said, “I suppose so. To think this many would gather before a left-handed captain. Yes, I should feel grateful too. Just as the shipowner says.”
While looking toward the port as she spoke, Irsa spotted Fezin Dieus standing there and turned to April, who was looking in the same direction.
Reading the look in their eyes, Irsa asked, “Should I chase him away?”
“I’d like to. But do you have the confidence not to get caught by the police?”
“…I don’t, do I?”
“What about the other sailors?”
“Why did we live so carelessly all this time…”
As Irsa sighed, April gestured with her chin for her to go down and said, “If you start shaking down the sailors, we won’t be able to launch the ship. Take them and stay in the tavern.”
“Nothing will happen, right?”
“Nothing. He must have something to say.”
At April’s words, Irsa nodded and went down to the port. And while she nudged the sailors’ backs to herd them into the tavern, Fezin walked up onto the dock.
April also climbed down the ladder hooked to the ship and headed toward Fezin. It had been a fortnight since they last met at the church.
Fezin felt as though he had grown a bit more in that fortnight. His build also seemed to have filled out.
April spoke first. “You look well.”
“Yeah, I’ve been well.”
“Why did you come?”
“Because I made up my mind.”
At Fezin’s words, April asked back, “About what?”
“My mind to cooperate with you.”
“With me?”
When April asked back with narrowed eyes, Fezin continued with a calm face, “You said it, right? That you want the Grand Duchy to survive independently, regardless of the Empire.”
“Yes.”
“But that is impossible.”
“…”
“If the Empire’s army marches in right now, the Grand Duchy will vanish.”
“I know.”
“We must have an army too.”
“It’s not like we don’t have one, is it?”
“We have soldiers, but we don’t have an army. In the first place, we are descendants of pirates, so it makes no sense not to have a navy.”
“That’s… true.”
“So, about that.”
Fezin looked up at the ship, then looked at April and continued, “A new Special Investigation Headquarters Director is coming, and they said it would be best to experience the fog together at least once before handing over duties, so they told me to return in December. When that time comes, I will leave for the Empire, and probably… we won’t have any reason to see each other again.”
“I…”
“Did you think seeing me at the church would be the last? The world doesn’t go as one wishes.”
Fezin spoke in a joking tone, but April did not laugh.
Conversely, even though Fezin could feel the hatred in her eyes, he smiled as if he had heard a joke. Then he continued, “I don’t know if you know, but I have quite a bit of wealth. I’m very good at investing.”
Even without listening to Fezin’s words, April felt she knew what he was trying to say.
“I think you will fail, but I still think this is the only chance, April Lunos.”
“…”
“Use my wealth. To achieve your goal.”
