The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 3
Chapter 3
In the Rasa Empire, a nation composed of two massive islands, the Grand Duchy of Dieus lay on the Right Island.
Once, the Right and Left Islands had fought fiercely against each other. However, about a hundred years ago, the King of Rasa forced the King of the Right Island to his knees, ensuring that only one sovereign state could exist across the two islands.
Lasa, lacking the strength to completely occupy the Right Island, chose to kill only its king. They granted the title of Grand Duke to his five-year-old youngest son and began managing the territory under the name of the Dieus Grand Duchy.
Since then, the Grand Ducal line had continued through strategic marriages with the Rasa Empire.
The appearance of the Dieus brothers—possessing both the blue eyes common among the people of the Right Island and the black hair of those from the Left Island—was a testament to that history.
Having completed the mission of arresting the suspect in the Mist Murders, Pezin felt considerably more relaxed.
Fortunately, his hatred for April, who had once tried to murder his brother and sister-in-law, had not diminished in the slightest. Therefore, he had felt no hesitation in identifying April Runos as the prime suspect.
However, the articles published in every newspaper in the Grand Duchy afterward left a bitter taste in his mouth.
[April Runos, the perpetrator of the serial killings in the mist, has been apprehended.
…When April Runos arrived at the provincial capital, the floor was drenched in blood from an unknown source…
Her sinister gaze makes it utterly impossible to believe she was once the Lord Grand Duke’s fiancée…
…Thus, the foresight of the Lord Grand Duke in preventing this wicked woman from becoming the Grand Duchess, and the benevolence of Her Grace the Grand Duchess…]
It seemed April’s red dress had been mistaken for blood, but the latter part of the article was likely more important than such factual accuracy.
“Is this a news report or a hymn of praise?”
At that, Logan, the youngest of the police officers who had accompanied him from the Grand Duchy, raised his hand and spoke as if giving a presentation.
“Isn’t it just PR for the Grand Ducal house?”
“That is the most accurate description.”
When Logan preened at Pezin’s answer, Paul nudged him with a look of pure annoyance.
Logan made an exaggerated show of being knocked back, drawing laughter from the gathered police officers.
Pezin’s first mission upon returning to the Grand Duchy from the Empire was to solve the serial murder cases plaguing the territory.
Upon his promotion to Superintendent, Pezin had been appointed as the Director of the newly established Special Investigation Headquarters, created specifically to handle a single, supernatural, and seemingly unsolvable case.
The young Superintendent, the Grand Duke’s only blood relative, began investigating the problem of dozens of people dying in the provincial capital on winter days when the Dieus Grand Duchy was suddenly shrouded in mist.
A serial killer who appeared with the fog.
The method, which left no trace behind, could only be seen as the work of someone with surreal powers.
In hindsight, it was only natural that the preliminary investigation pointed to April Runos as the only being confirmed to possess such supernatural strength.
It was a rumor that had long since reached the Empire.
A bizarre tale that despite the gas lines being cut off, the great Runos mansion had not spent a single day without light for seven years.
After Pezin sent investigators from the headquarters to watch the mansion where April Runos lived alone for several days, the rumor was proven true.
Among those who hadn’t seen the mansion up close, some said April was playing with fire inside the house she had hidden behind stakes. Absurd rumors circulated that a witch was dancing amidst the flames.
The investigators’ observations revealed that it wasn’t a fire, but indeed gas lamps. Of course, the latter was no less ‘witch-like’ than the former.
Even if she had used a fuel other than gas, it would have been depleted long ago after seven years.
Since lighting that many lamps would require a staggering amount of fuel, the researchers of the Special Investigation Headquarters’ 3rd Division could find no way to explain the phenomenon, no matter how they calculated it.
Once that was confirmed, the Investigation Headquarters moved to arrest April Runos.
Ensuring the citizens of the Grand Duchy witnessed the arrest of April Runos was one of the most important parts of his mission.
The citizens felt a sense of relief as they watched the transport carriage.
To Pezin, April hadn’t changed much, other than finishing puberty and growing a bit taller.
Her face had been fine when she was young, and it remained so now. Her personality, too, was the same, save for a slight increase in gravity.
He thought it was a relief that she was no different from before. If there had been some major change, the discrepancy might have bothered him while arresting her under such uncertain circumstances.
The police from the Empire’s specially established headquarters, having completed their primary mission, finally arrived at the Grand Ducal Residence to pay their respects to the leader of the Grand Duchy.
As the appointment time with the Grand Duke drew near, none of the police officers, including Pezin, entered the mansion.
Pascal, the butler who had looked after the brothers since childhood and was waiting for them at the entrance, asked Logan, the youthful officer with Pezin.
“Why aren’t you coming inside?”
Logan replied cheerfully, with a smile that matched his youthful appearance.
“As you can see, they’re all heavy smokers.”
“They could surely smoke later…”
“Yes, but the Superintendent has no reason to do that.”
“No reason?”
“No reason to delay his smoke for the sake of the Lord Grand Duke.”
Pascal glanced at Logan, who answered with wide, innocent eyes, and unconsciously clicked his tongue.
Anyone from the Grand Duchy learned that this island had once been a single nation. This was true even for those of the Dieus Grand Ducal family, who possessed Imperial blood.
However, Pezin Dieus was now entirely a man of the Empire—an Imperial police officer who had come here on the Emperor’s orders.
Expecting respect for the Grand Duchy from Pezin Dieus, who had started his police career in the Empire at the age of sixteen when he came of age, was an exercise in futility.
While taking his time, Pezin briefly recalled the April Runos he had known as a child.
As the sole heir to the wealthy Runos family, April had enjoyed overwhelming material abundance as if it were her birthright.
There was no girl on the Right Island as glamorous as she.
The Runos couple had ordered their countless servants to clean the streets their daughter would walk in advance, and they designed the gardens so that only beautiful vistas were visible from April’s window.
It was only natural that the most precious girl on the Right Island would become the Grand Duchess.
When the Grand Ducal house first proposed the marriage, the Runos couple declined once, citing the ten-year age difference.
However, by the time the second proposal arrived, April was so infatuated with Miller Dieus—who was then as fresh as a newly bloomed flower—that they eventually accepted.
At that time, Miller Dieus already had a woman he loved: Heidi Basanta, the daughter of his wet nurse, who had grown up studying alongside him.
But for the heir of Dieus, this engagement was an unavoidable duty.
There were only two ways to avoid a marriage between the two most influential families in the Grand Duchy: either one of them had to die, or one of them had to fall.
April, completely smitten with Miller, had busily tormented Heidi from the moment she became aware of her existence.
Pezin had felt sorry for his brother, who was bound by an engagement—a promise he didn’t even want—and was helpless to act.
That was why he hated April.
Of course, he was older now and realized that his love for Heidi had amplified his hatred for April.
In hindsight, the subsequent situation had turned out remarkably in Miller’s favor.
The great Runos family had collapsed so hollowly.
With that event, Miller Dieus had seized both control over the entire Grand Duchy and the woman he loved.
Recalling that fact, Pezin finished his cigarette and slowly entered the Grand Ducal Residence.
The Grand Duke was leaning back in his chair, and the Grand Duchess was sitting beside him with a welcoming expression.
As Pezin entered, the Grand Duke spoke.
“If you’ve entered the Grand Duchy, shouldn’t you have greeted us first?”
“On the contrary, I should avoid you.”
“Avoid us?”
Pezin countered with his hands behind his back.
“I came here as an Imperial police officer. I must avoid any influence my kin might have on me.”
“Always so rigid.”
“What are you talking about? My problem is that I’m too flexible.”
As a boy who had been a late bloomer, the person Pezin had envied most was his brother. He could have Pezin’s first love. Because he was an adult.
Pezin, who had now grown even taller than his brother, stared intently at the Grand Duchess.
The Grand Duchess, now twenty-eight, was as dazzlingly beautiful as when Pezin first knew her, and she still looked at him with those kind, searching eyes.
Was there anyone who hated recalling kindness because it was too painful?
Pezin wondered as he slowly looked away to face his brother, Miller.
Miller said, “Come closer and greet the Grand Duchess.”
“What for?”
“‘What for’? Because she’s happy to see the little boy she was so fond of after all this time.”
Heidi agreed.
“Of course. It’s been so long.”
“You both still think I’m a child.”
Pezin grumbled, yet he strode toward them. He stood before the Grand Duchess, who had risen to greet him, and bowed his head.
“Since I’m the ‘fond little boy,’ are you going to pat my head or something?”
At his words, Heidi lifted her head to look up at Pezin. There was a pungent scent of cigarettes. The young man’s shadow had grown like a mountain, enveloping her.
Miller, still seated in his chair, watched the scene silently.
Heidi narrowed her eyes and then spoke in a teasing tone.
“Why are you making such jokes? How could I do that to a man who has grown this much?”
“Well, the Grand Duke did call me a little boy.”
To Pezin, who smiled as he spoke, Miller said, “Let’s eat first. Since you’re back, we should have a party for about five days. We need to find you a bride.”
“I’m fine without a bride.”
“Why?”
“Because I still haven’t forgotten my first love.”
At his nonchalant remark, the Grand Duke and Duchess were momentarily speechless as they looked at Pezin.
