The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 46
Seeing April’s plate still full because she had been busy feeding him, Pezin suddenly took her spoon, scooped up a mouthful, and held it out to her.
“You eat too.”
“It’s okay, I’ll eat on my own.”
“How is that fair? Let’s share the things we don’t want to do. Don’t make me do it alone.”
“I was just helping you.”
“Just one bite.”
Pezin couldn’t understand why he was pleading like this.
April likely understood even less, as she stared at him with a peculiar expression.
However, his stubborn logic that they should share the unpleasant tasks seemed to work, and she opened her mouth.
Pezin found himself staring intently into her mouth as it opened at his request. Her tongue and teeth were small.
“How can you chew anything with those?”
Having taken the food into her mouth, April furrowed her brows as if asking what on earth he was talking about.
Pezin said, “Your teeth. They’re small. I was wondering if you could actually chew food with them.”
The fever was making him stupid.
The April playing Green Ball, the April lying in the snow, the April Lunos who told him not to die with a face that—though she didn’t know it—made his head spin.
All those versions of April Lunos overlapped in his hazy vision.
She felt like many people. She felt like one. For a moment, it felt as if the entire world were surrounded by her. It was a foolish thought.
Pezin spoke as he lay back down on the bed.
“I’m finished.”
“I’ll have someone clear the table.”
“You haven’t finished your meal.”
Pezin reached out and grabbed April’s arm as she tried to stand.
“Finish eating before you go.”
“You need to rest. I’m leaving.”
“No, it’s cold when I’m alone.”
His muddled mind was speaking nonsense.
Pezin muttered those words and closed his eyes, and April sat back down in her seat.
Since most women were favorable toward him, Pezin was accustomed to the fact that few women would leave when he held onto them.
Furthermore, he knew that at the very least, April Lunos saw him as a man.
He knew he had to reject that feeling quickly, but he couldn’t.
Pezin closed his eyes and tried to seek sleep as if he were comfortable, but he felt as though he were rolling over a thousand needles. Even so, he still didn’t want her to leave. A cold really did make a man a fool.
He thought to himself: if she doesn’t know why I came to the Grand Duchy, isn’t it fine? If she remains ignorant until the very, very end.
Then, wouldn’t it be okay for her to see him as a man, or even for him to see her as a woman?
Playing with fire is a light matter.
As long as one pursues a minimum of safety, it won’t spread too far. If one watches closely and takes care not to let it grow…
April gazed blankly at the soundly sleeping Pezin, who was still holding her arm, before gently detaching his hand and placing it on the bed.
His hair was matted against his peach-colored cheeks with cold sweat. It looked somewhat poignant, yet a small laugh escaped her when she remembered he had caught this cold by jumping into the winter sea on such a freezing day.
“He’s like a child.”
She knew he was well past the age of being called cute, but because he acted like a child, he strangely appeared that way to her.
In truth, if she thought about it, he put on airs as a member of the Police, but he only held his position due to his bloodline; he was absurdly young for his rank.
For someone who acted like an adult everywhere he went, he was excessively childlike, yet compared to the little boy in her memories, he was excessively like an adult.
Inside her mind, a newly defined Pezin Dieus took root without anyone’s permission.
April knew better than anyone that the fire of emotion was difficult to extinguish. Therefore, she thought it better to set a backfire. Her ambition for her family was that countermeasure.
Affection would not overcome ambition.
April reinforced this vow to herself several times.
She left the room and slowly headed for the third floor. The family portraits on the third floor always caught April’s feet and held her fast. She stood before them for a while before stepping out onto the rooftop.
Bauman had cleared away all the furniture he intended to repair, leaving the rooftop in its original, bare state, revealing the true form of the grand mansion.
April walked a full circle around the rooftop along the railing.
The territory was vast, but the weather was clear, bringing everything into view. The land toward the Provincial Capital was limited, but the road toward the Southern River was long.
The ships of the Right Island had developed to be suitable for piracy and were well-equipped to sail up the river.
Looking down from here, one could see merchant ships coming and going on that Southern River.
Countless merchants disembarked from the south.
After unloading what they brought, they would load up honey, furs, and sometimes nothing more than potatoes before heading back out to sea.
The title of ‘witch’ made her appear strong, but at this rate, she could never bring people into this territory.
April had no intention of clearing up the rumors of the witch that made her—who possessed nothing—seem powerful.
If there was no one to judge her, there was no reason to fear.
She had finally thought of a way to gather people in this territory without damaging those rumors.
There was only one way to gather people, especially the Clan, without arousing any suspicion. She had simply been waiting for the right time.
“It’s time to hold the funeral.”
And she decided that she must execute this plan now, while her heart was wavering. Before her heart leaned any further in a certain direction.
She slowly descended the stairs. As the sun was setting, Bauman was waiting for her with candles prepared.
“Will you be lighting the lamps yourself today as well, Young Lady?”
“I will.”
Even though he knew April never entrusted this task to anyone else, Bauman asked her the same question every day.
He seemed to believe that one day, she might entrust it to someone else.
April also knew that her seven-year term was over and she should leave the lighting to the servants, but the habit had become so ingrained that it was not easily uprooted.
April took the candle and spoke to Bauman.
“There is something I must do.”
“What kind of work is it?”
When Bauman asked, April looked up at the field where the two children had begun pulling weeds and spoke.
“I’m going to hold a funeral.”
“A funeral… Ah, yes, a funeral.”
Bauman, who was about to ask whose funeral it was, realized immediately and nodded his head.
April continued.
“The members of the Clan cannot possibly fail to gather for the funeral of the former Head of the Family.”
“That is true.”
The funeral for the couple who had headed the Runos family.
April intended to hold a funeral that would gather the people of the Runos family for the first time in seven years.
April added, “I’m going to use everything I have to make it grand and magnificent. I might even go into debt.”
“I know many skilled craftsmen within the country.”
“Yes, I’m starting this because I’m counting on that.”
At her words, Bauman wore a gratified expression.
April intended to summon people to this territory in a way that was legal, yet somber.
