The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 65
Chapter 65
Pezin received word via a servant sent from the Morrow family that April was staying at Eleanor Morrow’s residence.
Since it was a mere twenty-minute carriage ride away, his schedule for tomorrow had suddenly become much more relaxed.
He had initially intended to simply share a meal while discussing the flowers for the funeral, but if there was something April wanted to do, he felt inclined to indulge her a little more.
After all, she had been unable to do anything for seven years; surely there were things she wanted to enjoy.
Pezin was just finishing his preparations to head to the Morrow estate when Logan rushed frantically into his dressing room.
“Superintendent!”
As Pezin turned around, Logan, who had run all the way here without a single breath, began to cough as his parched throat stung.
Pezin filled a glass on the table with wine and handed it to him.
“What’s the rush that you’re running like that?”
While Pezin scolded him, Logan drained the cup of wine completely. Only after catching his breath did he look up at his superior.
Fear now filled the eyes of the man who was usually known as the most sly and unflappable officer in the headquarters.
“A soldier from the Imperial Guard went to see Commissioner Devin Meyer.”
“……What?”
“He was wearing the Imperial Guard uniform. Which means…”
It meant he was carrying a direct message from the Emperor.
Pezin couldn’t understand it. Even though he knew Logan wouldn’t have the answers, he asked demandingly.
“What business would His Majesty have giving orders to the Police Commissioner of the Grand Duchy? When I, an Imperial Police officer, am right here?”
“Exactly!”
“Logan, have I done anything recently to get on His Majesty’s bad side?”
“No, you’ve always been the same, Superintendent. Even when you were with the Emperor and Empress, you were annoyed by everything, yet they cherished you so much it could only be described as love… No, that’s not what’s important right now!”
“You’re the one getting sidetracked, so why are you snapping at me?”
“I-I’m sorry. I just suddenly got so anxious… What could it be? What kind of order did he give?”
No matter how much he thought about it, Pezin couldn’t imagine a command the Emperor would give to Devin.
Pezin let out a low sigh and turned to Logan.
“For now, put a tail on my uncle. Report everything you see. If he does anything even slightly suspicious, report it to me immediately.”
“Yes, Superintendent.”
Only after reporting to his superior did Logan feel a slight sense of relief, letting out a long breath. Then, a moment later, he looked at Pezin and narrowed his eyes.
“By the way, are you dating someone?”
“What kind of nonsense is that? I’m just meeting April for a bit.”
“Ah… And?”
“What do you mean, ‘And’?”
At Pezin’s retort, Logan’s already large eyes grew even wider, and his voice rose accordingly.
“That’s not exactly a straight answer to the question of whether you’re dating. Saying you’re meeting April-yang for a bit.”
“I can’t date April, so it obviously means no.”
“But are you really going out dressed like that?”
Logan had known Pezin for a long time. Ever since Pezin entered the Military Academy, Logan had spent a significant portion of his relatively short life as his subordinate.
But he had never seen Pezin dressed up like this.
Though Pezin was overflowing with confidence in his looks and was obsessively fond of bathing, he generally had little interest in grooming himself otherwise.
Madame Eve always looked after him, so he was capable of dressing sophisticatedly, but that was the extent of it. Thanks to that, Pezin’s preparations to head out were usually brief.
Yet today, Pezin had clearly put effort into styling his hair.
Logan gasped and pointed at Pezin’s hand.
“T-T-The ring! You’re wearing a ring!”
“It’s a memento from my father.”
“That memento! This is the first time I’ve ever seen it! Which means it’s the first time you’ve worn it…”
Pezin used the hand wearing the ring to muffle Logan’s mouth.
“Why are you shouting? You’re being noisy.”
“Mmph! Mmph!”
“Yes, just like the scenery of this Grand Duchy is beautiful every day, my face is likely the same.”
Logan stopped struggling at those words and shoved his own arm forward. It was a gesture meant to show how much Pezin’s words had given him the creeps; indeed, his skin was covered in goosebumps.
Regardless, Pezin kept Logan’s mouth shut with an iron grip and dragged him out of the townhouse before shoving him toward the street.
“Go and do your report.”
“Superintendent.”
“Don’t mention the ring.”
“What about the coat? It’s excessively stylish.”
“The clothes look good because I’m handsome. It’s nothing special.”
“You’re deliberately trying to kill my desire to talk to you, aren’t you?”
Logan looked reluctant to leave, but at Pezin’s gesture to get lost, he finally started walking toward the main headquarters.
After he left, Pezin muttered to himself.
“Noisy brat.”
He had cursed him, but his eyes couldn’t help but drift toward the ring.
This ring, a memento from his father, had always occupied a corner of Pezin’s mind.
He had thought about wearing it once, and had finally made up his mind to take it out and put it on.
The fact that it happened to be today was simply because he had an unusual amount of time left over during his preparations—since the trip to the Runos mansion had been shortened to a twenty-minute ride to the Morrow estate.
Pezin stared at the ring on his hand, making excuses in his head. It was a ring engraved with his family crest.
He had never felt a great sense of pride in the Dieus name, nor had he ever felt a sense of duty toward it. To him, Dieus simply meant his older brother.
It was true that April had made him think about family again. That was why the thought of wearing this ring had occurred to him on his way to meet her.
That was all. That was the extent of April Runos’s influence on him wearing the ring.
Pezin pulled a glove over his ringed hand. Then he climbed into the carriage and headed for the Morrow estate.
Upon arriving at the Morrow residence, he found that Kayani had gone to school, and Eleanor was so busy tending to Jeff that she wasn’t in the right frame of mind to come out and greet guests.
“Even so, a guest is coming out to greet a guest?”
When Pezin made a peculiar expression, the elderly butler of the Morrow household smiled leisurely.
“She is not exactly a guest. After all, April-yang is our Head’s niece.”
“It seems she’s being doted on all of a sudden. Even getting a place to sleep.”
After they all looked away when she actually needed them.
The old butler smoothly brushed off Pezin’s underlying barb with a gentle smile.
A moment later, April, having finished dressing, came down the stairs.
The butler bowed and left, and April spoke.
“My aunt said not to go out and to eat here instead.”
“Why?”
“She thinks my uncle has something he wants to say to me.”
“Is he even in a mental state to converse with others?”
April glared at Pezin’s blunt remark.
Pezin scoffed.
“What, why are you looking at me like that? It’s the truth.”
“It’s a lie that you were popular in the Empire, isn’t it? There’s no way.”
“I was. Go to the Empire and ask.”
“Right, I’ll have to go to the Empire. Just to ask that.”
“You sure are interested in me. Most women are, though.”
April looked revolted at Pezin’s words and stepped firmly on his shoe.
The toe of her white shoe pressed down atop Pezin’s black one.
Pezin looked down at it and asked.
“Whose shoes are those? You don’t have new shoes.”
