The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 42
The participants for the game soon moved to the court.
The temperature had dropped well below freezing, but for the people of the Grand Duchy, it was a level of cold that caused no issues as long as they wore their coats.
The Grand Ducal Residence was particularly warm compared to other areas in the territory; even in the harshest winters, the temperature rarely fell below minus fifteen degrees Celsius. Considering that some parts of the Grand Duchy plummeted to minus thirty, it was clear why the old royal family had chosen this spot to settle.
Miller walked over slowly and offered his hand to April.
April did not take it, but Miller merely smiled as if he had expected as much.
After a moment, he asked, “What did you say to Fezin?”
At his words, April turned to look at him.
Even after seven years, he still possessed that characteristic soft curve to his lips. In the past, she had found it hard to believe he and Fezin were brothers, and now that they were grown, the contrast was even more stark. Fezin was like a predator moving through a midnight field, while Miller still looked perfectly at home at a midday party.
April replied, “It’s not as if we’re meeting out of affection, so you needn’t worry.”
“Affection?”
Miller actually laughed, as if the word was unexpected.
Look at him laugh, April thought, and she found herself letting out a short, hollow laugh of her own.
She realized then the vast difference in how she and this gentleman perceived the same events. The fact that Miller Dieus found nothing shocking about the incidents surrounding their engagement made even her slip into laughter.
If you’re going to laugh, I’ll laugh with you, she thought.
As she joined in his laughter, Miller’s brow furrowed slightly. He seemed to find it strange that she was laughing while looking at him.
However, showing no interest in parsing the reason behind it, Miller continued.
“Well, I suppose that’s possible. One can never truly know what goes on between a man and a woman.”
“Indeed. Even if one objects, there’s nothing an outsider can do about it.”
“…….”
“In my experience, when people around you try to stop it, it only fans the flames.”
April replied while watching the opposing team roll their balls.
Fezin felt that the thorns in her answer were far too sharp, yet he thought it was very much like her.
The court was located in one of the private rooms attached to the banquet hall. There were several such rooms, equipped with tables for various card games, including bridge. However, not just anyone could enter during a game; only those verified as being close to the players were permitted inside.
Those allowed into the room where the Grand Duke couple and the Head of the Lunos Family had entered were limited to people with direct or indirect ties to the Dieus family, or those who could claim a similar connection to the Lunos family.
Because Fezin understood April’s desire to ‘gather the clan,’ he wasn’t surprised that she had joined the game, even knowing she would be plastered all over the gossip rags after the party.
As the name ‘Green Ball’ suggested, all the balls used in the game were green. The match took place within a court enclosed by a black, knee-high fence.
The game was simple: use a long wooden mallet to strike a white ball, hitting seven clustered green balls to scatter them across the court, and then use the white ball to knock them accurately into seven different holes.
Six teams, each consisting of a man and a woman, participated.
Because the fence was high, the game began with the gentleman escorting the lady over it.
After three teams, including Heidi’s, finished their turn, Miller stood up to escort April.
Miller’s brow twitched involuntarily as he watched April place her hand on his.
Miller Dieus possessed a relatively strong sense of patience. Therefore, he was able to offer his hand even to a woman who could be described, without exaggeration, as the person he most dreaded in the world.
He was also aware that the hatred April harbored was likely far greater than his own.
Despite that, she accepted Miller’s escort.
Her face certainly didn’t look joyful, but even as a child, April hadn’t been one for much laughter.
She had grown up.
He couldn’t tell if her childhood edges had been smoothed out by hardship, or if her true nature had simply surfaced after the emotional turbulence of adolescence had passed. Miller leaned toward the latter, mainly because he was well-acquainted with the Dowager Lady Lunos—a woman everyone in high society knew.
He was beginning to see the Dowager Lady in April.
In this modern banquet hall, she seemed old-fashioned, and she was even lagging behind in various cultural trends. Yet, at the same time, she stirred a sense of nostalgia he hadn’t known he possessed.
April stepped over the fence and stood inside the court.
The crowd held their breath as they watched the match. Both April and Miller had been taught the game from a young age, so they were more familiar with Green Ball than anyone.
The spectators soon discovered something unexpected: the two of them were remarkably well-coordinated.
“Should we hit that one first?”
“No, this way.”
“Ah. Toward number three?”
The two focused on the game to forget their mutual hatred, and that concentration caused the balls to be sucked into the holes at a rapid pace.
Fezin hadn’t known April for long, but he was reminded of the fact that she had won every single game so far.
Even on days when there was no fog, the police officers at the investigation headquarters often invited April to card games, but he had never heard of anyone actually beating her.
April had been competitive even before her house arrest. However, her attitude then wasn’t quite like this—this absolute resolve to win at all costs.
Fezin recalled what April had said about why she won.
“Because I focus on winning.”
Back then, April had said she fought tooth and nail to win.
In social events and games meant for socializing, few people played with the mindset that they absolutely must win.
Therefore, April won. She steadily built up her victories.
Fezin watched April as she played. He watched her accumulate those small wins one by one.
Ultimately, winning or losing a game was a matter of probability.
The winning percentage created by her small victories might eventually lead to a grand triumph for Lunos.
Exactly as she desired.
While Fezin was lost in thought, laughter erupted from a table where some of the players were gathered.
Before Fezin could even turn around, Paul stood up with a scowl.
As soon as he rose, Fezin commanded, “Sit down.”
“Please look at that, Superintendent-nim.”
Paul sat back down but pleaded with Fezin, who looked toward the source of the laughter with a look of utter indifference.
The two people sitting there were both members of the Grand Ducal family—Fezin’s maternal cousins.
Fezin saw his cousin, who was seven years older than him, dangling a knife between his thumb and forefinger, swinging it back and forth.
He realized his cousin was mocking April’s parents, who had been executed by guillotine.
April also turned toward the laughter. Then, she gauged the remaining Green Balls on the court. There were two left.
With a hardened expression, Miller said, “This has crossed the line. I’ll go speak to them.”
“Forget it.”
April grabbed Miller’s arm to stop him as he tried to leave the court.
“Win the game before you go.”
“Is this trivial game important right now?”
“Yes.”
April looked up at him.
There were thorns in her speech and in her eyes. Her eyes seemed to glow like those of a nocturnal animal.
Even if she wasn’t a witch, it was a light that evoked an uncertain fear—a sense that she was surely capable of casting some kind of spell.
“I am going to win. Every single game.”
“…….”
“I will never lose to anyone ever again.”
A sunspot.
Could something like a sunspot, which devours stars, truly exist?
Miller was certain such a thing would never happen. But he couldn’t entirely dismiss the thought that there were exceptions to everything in the world.
