The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 17
In the brief silence, Fezin asked.
“Why are you shaking?”
“When I poured wine on Heidi, you threw acorns at me.”
“I think I remember that.”
April looked up at him and continued.
“I fell while running to catch you, but you had already run far away.”
“You fell?”
“That was the first time I’d ever run like that, and the first time I’d ever fallen.”
“Why bring that up all of a sudden?”
April didn’t answer immediately, and silence stretched between them again.
She remembered the dirt and blood matted on her elbow, which had been scraped raw when she fell onto the grass.
She didn’t know why that memory had suddenly surfaced.
Eventually, Fezin asked, “Are you telling me to apologize for that, too?”
“No.”
The corners of April’s mouth lifted faintly.
“But if you’re upset about getting hit just now, let’s just call it even, since you hurt me back then.”
“Who touched our little girl?”
April instinctively flinched back.
She remembered sobbing while lying with her head in her mother’s lap.
Her father had been beside her, treating the wound on her elbow, and she had drifted off to sleep under the touch of her mother stroking her hair.
It was the first time she had ever been injured like that. Despite having entered social circles at a very young age and acting like an adult, she remembered her parents comforting her like a child for the first time in a long while.
The memory of how good that felt made her keep backing away.
Sensing something was wrong, Fezin grabbed her arm.
“April.”
“Get out.”
She had worked so hard to forget, yet the memory had returned so abruptly.
As the sense of happiness from that moment surged back, this place began to feel like hell.
April spoke once more to Fezin, who was staring at her.
“I said get out….”
Fezin narrowed his eyes as he studied her face.
“Did you forget I’m currently surveilling you? I’m not leaving you alone.”
“If I were a witch, I would have killed your brother first. I would have killed the Grand Duchess, and if I had the strength, I would have killed you too.”
“Be quiet. They’ll hear you outside.”
“If I had that kind of power! Do you think I would have left the man who executed my parents…!”
She was about to scream, but Fezin clamped his hand over her mouth.
He spat out a curse under his breath and waited for April, who couldn’t contain her agitation, to eventually wear herself out and go limp.
Only after her struggling subsided did Fezin speak.
“I get it, so stay quiet.”
When a weary April nodded, Fezin removed his hand and asked in a low voice.
“Have you forgotten why you lived like that for seven years? You shouldn’t threaten the Grand Duke couple, even as a joke.”
“…….”
Only after hearing his words did April realize why Fezin had covered her mouth.
There were officers outside, and her claim of wanting to kill the Grand Duke wouldn’t be taken as mere venting. She understood that his actions were entirely for her own protection.
Though she knew it intellectually, she couldn’t quell the rage in her heart. She clenched her fists and gasped for breath, trembling as if she had been crying for hours.
Watching her, Fezin leaned forward.
“Hit me more.”
“What?”
“I look like my brother. I’ll let you hit me a few more times. It doesn’t even hurt that much.”
As he spoke, Fezin’s face drew closer, his eyes coming to a stop nearer than they had ever been.
If he were a woman, it was a face the whole world would have called beautiful. Up close, the sharp, clear lines of his eyes were etched into her vision.
The afterimage remained as if branded there.
How could I hit this face again? was the first thought that entered her mind.
Absurded by her own thoughts, April squeezed her eyes shut and forced the idea away.
“I don’t want to.”
When she said that instead, Fezin narrowed his eyes again and asked, “Why?”
“You’re not your brother.”
Fezin straightened his posture as if slightly disappointed and muttered.
“It’s true that I’m neither the person you liked nor the person you hate.”
“What are you talking about? I do hate you.”
“Why? Because I threw acorns?”
“Do you think that’s all?”
“What else is there?”
“Plenty. You were always making my life miserable because you claimed I was bullying the Grand Duchess.”
“So, what exactly did I do?”
“Wait. I don’t remember things from when we were kids very well.”
Because she had tried so hard to erase them, the memories wouldn’t come. It felt as if her childhood memories had vanished entirely.
On the other hand, Fezin looked as though he remembered every single detail, yet had the audacity to never let a single one of his own flaws slip from his lips.
While April was struggling to remember, Paul knocked on the door from outside.
“Superintendent, a dog… a dog came into the mansion to escape the fog.”
“And?”
“Logan is causing a scene, saying it’s too cute to kill and refusing to let anyone touch it. Also, an elderly man has also taken refuge here.”
“…….”
After listening to Paul’s report, which was full of nothing but nonsense, Fezin turned back to April and asked.
“You didn’t call for them, did you?”
“How would I even do that?”
“If not, who in their right mind seeks refuge in a witch’s house?”
“They probably didn’t know.”
Bickering like that, the two of them stepped outside.
Just as Paul had said, Logan was causing a stir, though perhaps ‘riot’ was an exaggeration.
“Don’t touch it! Don’t even come close!”
Logan had one arm wrapped around the dog while waving his other hand frantically.
Fezin watched the scene with a sour expression before turning to Paul.
“You said he claimed it was too cute to kill.”
“Yes.”
“The dog is as big as Logan.”
“The judgment of it being ‘cute’ was not mine.”
Paul agreed with Fezin’s assessment of the dog’s size.
Of course, the dog wasn’t literally as big as Logan, but it was far too large to be called cute.
Paul spoke to Logan.
“It’s a hound. Hounds are vicious; if you don’t kill them, they might attack people.”
In the Grand Duchy, most owners raised hounds to bite without distinguishing between humans and prey.
For now, the dog was so terrified that its tail was tucked all the way to its belly, remaining docile in Logan’s arms, but there was no telling when it might turn and snap at someone.
Despite knowing this perfectly well, Logan spoke firmly.
“You’ll have to kill me first.”
“Here’s your chance, Superintendent. Dispose of Logan first.”
Paul joked coldly.
Fezin nodded once, playing along with the joke.
After sharing a brief laugh with Paul while watching Logan’s eyes and mouth fall open in shock, Fezin spoke again.
“Tell the owner of the house to deal with the dog. Where’s the old man?”
“This way.”
Paul pointed toward the back door of the mansion and spoke to April, who had been watching the hound.
“Shall we, young lady?”
“Let’s.”
April was about to head out to check on the uninvited guest when she turned to Logan.
“Make sure it doesn’t attack the chick or the child.”
“Yes! I’ll keep a close watch!”
Logan felt relieved by the homeowner’s decision not to kill it for now.
When April stepped out to the door, she saw a white-haired old man standing on the porch, which was shrouded in dark fog.
Up close, though his hair was white, he looked healthy enough and of an age where he could easily return home on his own feet.
The old man, who had been coughing incessantly in the fog, took off his hat, held it with both hands, and bowed politely as April appeared.
“Good day. My name is Bauman.”
“I am April Lunos. What brings you here?”
“I… if it wouldn’t be an imposition… could you use my life to clear even a little bit of this fog, my lady? Even just a tiny amount would be enough.”
