The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 31
“……It’s strangely irritating.”
The realization that she had to ask Pezin for a favor—and not a simple one like ‘Get out of my way,’ but something substantial—filled her with an indescribable sense of unfairness, resentment, and annoyance.
Furthermore, the certainty that Pezin would naturally refuse made her loathe writing this letter of request even more.
But there was no other way.
For her current self, the mere fact that she could maintain an acquaintance with Pezin Dieus was a stroke of great luck. She had to accept that reality.
April suppressed her frustration and continued writing the letter.
Because of her reluctance, it took an eternity to finish each line, but she finally completed it. Since this was a letter she had to deliver in person, April began preparing to head to the Provincial Capital Police Station.
She found a dress to wear and pulled out a bonnet, though it didn’t quite match. However, she wasn’t in a position to be picky, so she put it on and instead picked out a piece of jewelry she had found in her mother’s jewelry box.
Fred accompanied her on the way to the Provincial Capital in a carriage he had gone out to catch.
Sitting beside her with the pot she had told him to bring back home resting on his lap, Fred chattered away.
“There was a bell-shaped greenhouse-like thing by the lake. Did you see it? Grandfather Bauman said it can’t be repaired and has to be rebuilt from scratch.”
Just as Fred said, that building, which was originally a greenhouse, had fallen into such disrepair over seven years of neglect that it had to be rebuilt.
Maintaining such glass structures in the Grand Duchy was an incredibly difficult task. If the snow wasn’t cleared properly during the periods of heavy snowfall, the structures would eventually be crushed and collapse under the weight.
April nodded.
“Yes, I heard.”
After answering, April took a handkerchief and wiped a smudge of charcoal off the nose of Fred, who was showing great curiosity about the glass greenhouse.
“The people of Lunos used to call that greenhouse the Swan’s House.”
“The Swan’s House?”
“The swans we raised on the lake used to go in and out of it. Eventually, we just left the doors open and kept it as a house for the swans. Then all sorts of migratory birds started frequenting it too.”
“Ah, no wonder it looked like a giant birdhouse!”
“Then you saw it correctly.”
“If a lot of birds fly in, Hannah will really love it. Hannah loves animals.”
“I’m sure she will.”
A dream was reflected in Fred’s face.
April smiled. It didn’t seem so bad to see someone nurturing a dream.
“Then I’ll tell Mr. Bauman to wait on building it.”
“Why?”
When Fred tilted his head in confusion, April spoke.
“I’m going to leave it to you once you’re a bit older.”
“Re—really? I can design it?”
“On the condition that you do it well. ‘Good enough’ won’t do. No building in the Lunos estate is built with a mediocre design.”
At April’s following words, Fred said with a disappointed face, “I still can’t even draw very well….”
“Go to school and learn more when you turn fourteen.”
April ended the conversation there and turned her head to look forward.
However, she felt Fred tightly gripping her arm with both hands. Joy radiated from his small hands.
If you wanted to go to school, you could have just said so….
April thought this to herself but didn’t say it aloud.
Arriving at the Provincial Capital with the letter in hand, April stood before the police station, staring at the door.
She had come this far, but she couldn’t summon the confidence to walk in on her own. She had an uneasy premonition that once she entered, she might never come out again.
Before long, a police officer, suspicious of April as she hid her face beneath a lowered parasol, approached her.
“Do you need assistance?”
It was a very gentlemanly voice.
Even when she looked up, the officer did not recognize April Runos; he merely looked at her with a worried expression.
Feeling an unavoidable sense of relief, April opened her mouth.
“Please call Pezin Dieus.”
“Pardon?”
The officer blinked in bewilderment at her words.
The silence wasn’t short, but fortunately, April realized in that time that the gap in rank between this officer and Pezin Dieus was far too wide for him to simply call him out.
April spoke again.
“Then could you call anyone from the Special Investigation Headquarters?”
“Ah, the staff from the 3rd Division are walking around over there.”
Following the direction the officer pointed, she saw a group of people near the plaza who looked nothing like police officers, gathered together eating sandwiches.
April asked, “What do the people in the 3rd Division do?”
“Ah, they are investigators. People from various professions conduct preliminary research. Their structure and ranks are different from those in the Grand Duchy, so we find it quite fascinating ourselves.”
“I see. Thank you for the explanation.”
April said her thanks and walked toward the 3rd Division staff.
She hadn’t expected the task of meeting Pezin to be this difficult, but thanks to that, she had gained an opportunity to learn more about what he did.
Pezin knew everything about her through his investigation, yet she knew nothing about him.
“Excuse me.”
When April lightly tapped a shoulder, a female investigator turned around. Upon discovering April, she dropped her sandwich on the ground.
“L-Lady Lunos….”
The investigator naturally recognized April, who had been the subject of her investigation, at a single glance.
When the investigator looked around to seek help from the others, the rest of the 3rd Division staff were all avoiding her gaze.
April knew they felt guilty about having investigated her in secret.
If they were police officers, they might have simply thought of it as a necessary part of their job, but these people were not police. It was bound to weigh on their consciences.
April continued, “I’m not here to interrogate you about the investigation, so don’t run away. I’m just looking for a way to meet Pezin.”
“I-Is that so? Well, it’s true the Superintendent won’t have any reason to go to the Lunos house for the time being….”
At the investigator’s mutter, April blinked rapidly a couple of times in spite of herself.
She hadn’t considered the possibility that Pezin would no longer have reason to come to the Lunos mansion.
When she stepped forward to meet the man who had been appearing at the mansion periodically, she realized only now that a massive wall stood between them—a wall with a door that could only be opened from Pezin’s side.
The investigator continued, “Then please come with me to the 1st Division first. The Superintendent usually stays with the 1st Division.”
“Is Mr. Paul in the 1st Division as well?”
“Yes, probably.”
“Probably?”
“They haven’t exactly explained the organizational structure of the Special Investigation Headquarters to us, so we can only guess. Those people have far too many secrets.”
The investigator grumbled.
Seeing that they appeared secretive even to other divisions within the same headquarters, April felt strangely relieved that it was only natural she knew nothing.
April headed toward the 1st Division with the investigator.
The investigator’s surname was ‘Kritz,’ and she said she was in charge of science advisement in the 3rd Division.
She had majored in physics at university and was apparently volunteering for the 3rd Division at the Investigation Headquarters while delaying her graduation in her final year.
Kritz continued, “Our university is conducting extensive research to resolve this fog. Please wait just a little longer, Lady Lunos.”
“You don’t think I’m the cause, Kritz-ssi?”
“Of course not. How could a scientist believe in things like witches? No, one doesn’t even need to be a scientist. Even the Superintendent asserted that such things don’t exist.”
April nodded.
Pezin certainly hadn’t given the slightest thought to handing the investigation over to the Church. That was a source of great relief for April.
However, he had seen April standing in the basement where numerous police officers had collapsed.
Even so, she couldn’t be certain whether he still denied the existence of witches.
