Translator: Nox

The Mansion Awaits Spring

Chapter 43

The remaining two balls were handled by the pair, one each. Their shots were so magnificent they drew gasps of admiration.

Once the match concluded, Miller assisted April as she stepped out of the arena.

The moment she reached the stands, she marched straight toward the table where the man had been brandishing his knife. Without a word, she seized the decanter of red wine from the table and emptied it directly over his head.

The arena fell into a deathly silence at her actions.

Heidi, who had been strategizing for the next round, turned back to look at them.

As the nobleman from the Grand Ducal house sat there dazed, drenched in wine, April spoke.

“Are you not even afraid? I heard the rumors that I’m a witch are quite widespread.”

“W-What is the meaning of this?!”

“Superintendent-nim.”

April turned her gaze toward Fezin.

“If I truly am a witch, I shall kill this gentleman first when the next fog rolls in.”

“That would be a great help to the investigation,” Fezin replied nonchalantly.

The man’s face turned pale as a sheet, and he hurriedly called out to his cousin.

“Fe-Fezin! Do something about this…!”

“Sure. If you die next winter, hyung, I’ll take it as evidence and launch an investigation immediately. I’ll be sure to appreciate your sacrifice.”

“W-What are you talking about?! What good does that do after I’m dead?!”

“To be more specific,” Fezin added, “I’ll investigate if anyone among those who laughed at that vulgar display dies in the fog.”

At his response, Paul, unable to contain his indignation, huffed.

“Aren’t you being a bit too generous?”

“When have I ever not been generous?”

“You’ve never been generous!” Paul shot back.

Fezin clicked his tongue but did not deny the statement.

Even setting aside Fezin, who never took anyone’s side, the fact that even Miller had sided with April was enough to terrify the wine-soaked man.

To Grand Duke Miller Dieus, brandishing a knife in such a manner was an act of discourtesy that should not be shown even to an enemy. It was now obvious who the social circles—which were swayed more by power than personal taste—would turn their condemnation toward.

The harassment that had been tacitly permitted back when April did not attend these parties was now, with her reappearance in society, classified as an act that must not be committed.

After the man fled in a panic, wine dripping from his clothes, April wished to proceed with the match, but the spectators—and even the players—no longer had their eyes on the game.

Everyone was drifting in and out of the arena, busy gossiping about the scene that had just unfolded.

While April herself seemed intent on continuing, the crowd’s concentration had long since evaporated.

Observing the atmosphere in the arena, Fezin stood up and spoke to Miller.

“It seems you and Miss Lunos have won anyway, so let’s call it here. Continuing the game will only widen the score gap.”

“Yes, that seems right.”

As Miller spoke and looked back at the players, they nodded in agreement, as if it were only natural.

Since April’s goal had been ‘winning’ from the start, she agreed to end the game there.

With the game ending unexpectedly early and those who had joined in mocking April’s parents fleeing to the banquet hall, an awkward air hung over the arena, needing some kind of resolution.

Surveying the scene, Fezin began to take off his evening jacket.

“Let’s go for a swim. Like men of the Right Island.”

Even though the Grand Ducal Residence was located in a relatively warm area, the temperature was still below freezing. At Fezin’s words, the men in the arena hesitated.

The ancestors of the Right Island people were mostly pirates; they might fear the waves, but they did not fear the cold of the sea.

Or rather, they weren’t supposed to.

Whether for nobles or commoners, ending a party with a swim in the sea was a culture that wasn’t particularly unusual on the Right Island.

However, as Imperial culture had seeped in over the last seven years, diving into the sea on such a cold day had come to be regarded as a foolish and outdated custom.

In fact, not just sea swimming, but countless traditions of the Right Island were being dismissed as archaic or unrefined.

Even so, the nobles of the Grand Duchy, who were born on the Right Island and had lived on this land for over twenty years, found it difficult not to align themselves with Fezin’s call for a swim.

Their hearts were pulled. This was a matter for the men of the Right Island.

Yet, while the nobles hesitated, fearing such an act might be seen as lowly, someone among the young men who had come as spectators—a particularly fresh-faced youth who had only just begun to shed his boyishness—stripped off his jacket and spoke.

“I’ll do it too.”

Everyone there, including April, looked at him.

April let out a small, involuntary laugh.

He was a cousin who used to barely reach her waist.

Her father had three younger sisters and two younger brothers. This cousin was the son of one of those two brothers.

It was Kayani Morrow, who now went by his Imperial mother’s surname, ‘Morrow.’

The little boy she had last seen at ten years old was now seventeen; he had grown remarkably in the time since he had passed the age of majority.

April had fourteen cousins. Two were older brothers, two were her age, and ten were younger.

April had to consider who among them she would entrust the family to if she were to die without an heir.

And Kayani Morrow had never once appeared on the list of potential heirs until now. To April, Kayani was just a child—shy and frail of body.

But now, he had shot up in height and his frame had become sturdy.

It was hard to tell with what intent Kayani had joined Fezin.

Was it the thought that a man of the Right Island should naturally answer the call of the sea, or was he expressing a small token of support for April?

Starting with Kayani, one by one, others began to express their intent to join the swim.

The men of the banquet hall were swept up in the excitement of diving into the winter night sea.

Though they were dressed in evening wear following the Imperial fashion, a lingering admiration for the fathers they had watched growing up remained in their hearts.

Heidi, who had been observing the entire situation, sighed as she watched Miller quietly hand his jacket to a servant while glancing at her.

“Men, honestly.”

“I suppose so,” Miller agreed with a grin.

Soon after, the young men, still in their evening shirts and trousers, headed toward the sea.

The noble ladies also joined the procession with smiles.

The path from the hills of the Grand Ducal Residence to the sea was a well-maintained lawn.

Miller selected a few young noblemen and had them carry the palanquin Heidi was riding in.

Heidi, who had been tense due to the dangerous prospect of them diving into the sea, felt her expression soften at the sight of young nobles, rather than palanquin bearers, carrying her.

“Your families would be upset if they knew you were here carrying a palanquin.”

“It is the palanquin of Her Grace the Grand Duchess; they will surely say we did well!”

At the youth’s spirited reply, laughter erupted among the maids and the young men following Heidi’s palanquin.

One of the maids spoke to Miller.

“By the way, since you won the game, please state your wish.”

“I’ll pass my wish to the lady.”

The palanquin almost came to a halt at Miller’s casual remark.

Miller, caught off guard by the relaxed atmosphere, had momentarily forgotten that he had played the match alongside April.

The gazes of the Grand Duke and Duchess’s party slowly sought out April.

The police officers who had come to the banquet with Fezin were moving along with her.

Realizing they were waiting for her answer, April looked toward them.

She slowly shifted her gaze toward Kayani Morrow. Kayani, who had also been looking at her, lowered his head slightly in greeting when their eyes met.

April spoke.

“What wish?”

Kayani, whose eyes had met hers, explained.

“It is customary that once the Green Ball ends, the losers must grant the winner’s wish as much as possible.”

“I don’t know how such a bizarre custom came to be,” April replied, looking back and forth between Miller and Heidi.

Her gaze stopped on Heidi.

April looked into Heidi’s clear, pure eyes, which seemed almost moist, and said:

“Just as it was in the old way I knew—hang my family’s crest in the arena. Until the next winner emerges.”

At her words, one of Heidi’s maids said with wide eyes:

“The rules have changed since then, Miss Lunos. You might not know since you haven’t attended a banquet in seven years, but…”

“Then consider it a wish. It may not be ideal… but I am glad there is someone among the losers who can grant my wish.”

April said this while looking at Heidi, a smile playing on her lips.

Heidi did not move for a long time after the words were spoken, then, very rarely, she let out a derisive laugh. It was a smile seldom seen from the woman who was always so gentle.

She tapped the door of the palanquin with her hand, signaling it to move, and spoke to a servant.

“Hang the flag of the Lunos family in the arena.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”