The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 51
April spoke to Vincenz.
“I’m sorry, I’ll be back as soon as I see him off.”
“Not at all. Please, take your time.”
After Vincenz gave his half-hearted reply, April headed toward the door where Fezin was waiting.
When she opened the door, she found Fezin standing right there, dressed in his police uniform.
Fezin said to April, “Surely you won’t have any strange misunderstandings about the policeman who’s currently guarding you?”
“Of course not. Don’t be ridiculous.”
“A son of the Grand family, I see.”
Fezin recognized Vincenz and spoke.
Fezin tilted his head slightly as he continued to address Vincenz, who had hurriedly stood up to give him a polite greeting.
“I heard you enjoy hunting. We should meet sometime.”
Fezin’s marksmanship was legendary.
Vincenz felt as if he were being challenged to a wager, so he changed the subject with almost desperate haste.
“I also enjoy rowing. How about you?”
“Yes, there was a large river in front of the Imperial Police Academy, so I learned it there.”
“That is good to hear.”
April, who had been listening to their exchange, scolded them.
“Men and their obsession with competition. You just can’t help yourselves, can you?”
“You like games too.”
“I like winning. I hate betting on things. That’s just gambling.”
“That is an important distinction.”
Fezin said as he unfolded the coat he had been carrying over one arm. He then personally draped it over April’s shoulders.
Vincenz realized that Fezin’s action—personally helping her with her coat instead of letting a servant do it—was a clear warning directed at him.
He reflexively turned his gaze toward his teacup. He felt intimidated.
* * *
As April walked down the stairs with Fezin, she scolded him.
“Why are you trying to scare off someone else’s suitor?”
“When did I ever do that?”
“Just now.”
“I wasn’t scaring him. I just wanted it to look like you have someone backing you. There are too few elders left in your family.”
“…….”
That was true.
Normally, before children went on their first date, the elders of both families would have extensive conversations.
Between the women, they would usually share tea or walk slowly through the gardens.
Between the men, the visitor would present a gift of fine liquor, and the host would bring out an even better bottle to share.
Of course, sometimes the men walked and the women drank, but either way, the purpose of all these rituals was conversation. Through countless topics and endless answers, they would decide whether it was appropriate for their children to meet.
But in the Lunos family, there was no longer anyone left to hold those conversations.
April murmured while looking at the floor.
“I really should bring back at least one member of the Runos family. Even if I have to use force.”
“Please don’t plot crimes in front of a policeman.”
“Who said anything about kidnapping? I just meant I’d use firm methods.”
As they talked, they reached the police carriage waiting to take Fezin back.
Fezin looked back toward where the suitor was and spoke to April.
“You said you liked brave men.”
“Yes.”
“He doesn’t look particularly brave.”
“The fact that he came all the way here on his own feet makes him brave enough.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
Fezin nodded and continued with a smile.
“Don’t worry about your backing; just meet whoever you want to meet. The police are going to keep following you anyway. It’s a nuisance, but it’s an advantage for your safety.”
“I know.”
Perhaps because of his words telling her to meet whoever she wanted, April felt a sense of distance from Fezin.
The events of this morning felt as if they truly hadn’t happened, just as she had first resolved. No, if anything, he felt even further away.
Afterward, she returned to the drawing room, but conversation with her suitor did not flow well. The problem was that Vincenz had been somewhat cowed after Fezin’s visit.
Eventually, after a series of awkward exchanges, Vincenz spoke as he prepared to leave.
“As for the cinema… let us discuss it further… in due time.”
“Let’s do that.”
April wasn’t the type to use vague phrases like “in due time,” but she gathered from the atmosphere that she wouldn’t be going on a date with this young man.
Strangely, her heart felt light. Yet, when she had heard Fezin tell her to meet whoever she wanted, it had felt heavy.
As Vincenz Grand left as if he were fleeing, April stepped back into the manor lobby and muttered to herself.
“Did I get dumped twice in one day?”
“What on earth does that mean?”
Startled by the sharp tone, April turned to see Madame Eve standing there with warm clothes for her to change into, having appeared the moment Vincenz left.
April snatched the clothes and said, “It’s nothing. I’ll change into these myself.”
April headed toward her room.
She didn’t have eyes in the back of her head, but she could feel Madame Eve’s piercing gaze fixed on her. It wasn’t even her fault she’d been “dumped” twice, so being glared at like that made her feel a bit slighted.
* * *
Since Fezin had left the Lunos mansion, Madame Eve also began preparing to return to the Grand Ducal Residence.
While packing her things in her room, Madame Eve sat on a chair for a moment and pressed her fingers to her temples.
April said she’d been dumped twice, and the young lady had only met two young men today.
Vincenz Grand and the young master she served.
Madame Eve knew that Fezin had deliberately asked April to see him off to interfere with Vincenz Grand’s courtship.
Fezin would have known better than April that his presence where a suitor was waiting would be of no help at all.
According to April’s words, it meant she had been rejected once by Fezin and once by Vincenz.
Of course, Fezin rejecting April could be understood given the circumstances.
But if he was going to do that, he shouldn’t have sabotaged Vincenz Grand’s proposal!
The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became, and she packed her bags with forceful thuds. When she stepped out of the room with a face as if nothing were wrong, Bauman, who was waiting in front, held out his hand.
“Let me take your bag.”
Madame Eve handed over the bag and let out a long sigh.
Bauman asked, “Why are you sighing like that?”
“I was just wondering why men are the way they are.”
“Isn’t it the other way around? I can never understand the hearts of women.”
With that, Bauman, acting as the butler, saw Madame Eve to the door.
Once the guests had left, Hannah, who loved a bustling atmosphere, ran up to Bauman looking dejected.
“There was so much delicious food and it was so nice, but now…”
“How are your studies? The young lady said she would give you a test once the guests left.”
“I’ve memorized all the letters!”
“Wonderful! When Fred arrives later, let’s tell the young lady you’re ready for your test.”
Thanks to Bauman’s enthusiastic praise, Hannah grew excited and began to chatter away about how hard she had worked.
* * *
Back at his desk, Fezin sat leaning back in his chair, staring at the envelope he had requested from the Police Headquarters secretary.
He needed to pick up his pen, but there was no strength in his hand.
The condolence money for those who had died in the fog was all set to arrive at the Investigation Headquarters. He intended to write a short note to include in the envelopes containing the donations.
He didn’t know what to write.
If the fuel factories sending supplies to the Empire were stopped, the fog would vanish.
But the Empire stopping the fuel factories would never happen. No matter what he did, the factories would keep running.
There was one thing Fezin had learned in the Empire.
The Empire sees the Grand Duchy as nothing more than an object of exploitation.
Everything he had been taught at the Grand Ducal Residence since he was a child—the stories about the Allied Nations, how cooperative and friendly the Rasa Empire and the Grand Duchy were—it was all a lie.
In all of history, these two islands had never once existed in the form of an alliance. It was only ever the Right Island plundering the Left, or the Left Island plundering the Right.
And now, it was the latter. The Grand Duchy was being incessantly plundered by the Empire.
Regardless, Fezin knew the truth: he was feigning ignorance of the cause of the fog and collaborating with the Empire while ignoring the people dying within it.
He laughed at the futility of sending consolation for deaths he himself had a hand in.
