Translator: Nox

The Mansion Awaits Spring

Chapter 74

The car came to a stop at the Academy not long after. Instead of the smell of books that April had expected, the fragrant scent of flowers reached her first.

“You may step out now.”

Escorted by the police, she stepped out of the car and removed her blindfold. Her eyes fell upon an openwork ceramic vessel meant for potpourri—the same design as the small bowl Fezin had bought along with her dress when he visited the Empire.

Seeing it made her think of him.

Based on what the police had said earlier, it seemed that what she was doing here truly was part of the investigation for the Right Island.

April was exhausted, and as the resulting aches began to spread through her body, she found herself wanting to naively believe those words.

If she looked at it that way, Fezin’s act of feigning ignorance regarding her arrest wasn’t entirely unforgivable.

Of course, whether she forgave him or not likely didn’t matter to him. But for her, it made a difference in how she felt.

Still, she couldn’t understand why this had to be a kidnapping rather than an invitation. Furthermore, throughout the journey here, the police had taken turns emphasizing several times that she must keep her presence here an absolute secret.

What exactly was the secret for? As April was pondering this, a scholar from the Academy approached her with a beaming smile.

“I presume you’ve heard the story? We feel nothing but apologetic for having to bring you here in this manner.”

“If this was the reason, you could have just made a request to the Grand Duke of Dieus.”

“Ah, well, that is…”

“Was there really a need to resort to kidnapping? I don’t understand.”

At the word ‘kidnapping,’ the scholar replied with an apologetic expression.

“We were simply trying to minimize unnecessary commotion… We are truly sorry.”

She felt she understood that ‘unnecessary commotion’ carried a lot of weight. It didn’t just refer to the unrest on the Right Island. It was likely for the sake of conducting their experiments freely here in the Empire.

A moment later, a doctor entered and spoke to her politely, just like any other Imperial citizen.

“I will be drawing some blood.”

“And if I say I won’t do it?”

“I would still have to ask for your cooperation.”

The doctor began the blood draw after saying those words.

April watched her arm and spoke to the doctor.

“Imperial citizens all speak so softly.”

“Is that so?”

“As if you are speaking to a young animal.”

She continued with a weary expression.

“You aren’t listening to my answer.”

Her thoughts returned to her as a confirmed certainty.

She felt the doctor flinch for a moment, but he soon returned to a gentle expression that matched his tone and continued the blood draw. He did not speak to her again.

Coupled with her exhaustion, the blood draw caused her to lose consciousness midway through. Perhaps she had simply fallen asleep, having stayed up all night in a state of anxiety.

Since she had been kidnapped in the dead of night, she hoped for a fleeting moment that when she opened her eyes, she would be back on the Right Island. But nothing had significantly changed.

* * *

When she opened her eyes, it was night again, and she was dressed in pajamas she had never seen before.

She had woken up in a small room.

When she tried the door, it was, predictably, locked.

April instinctively looked toward the window.

Irsa’s words about there being a way out through windows came to mind, despite how ill-suited they were to her current predicament.

April walked toward the window without thinking. When she opened it, she saw a roof immediately in front of her.

“…….”

She climbed onto the windowsill.

Below the roof sat a building that looked to be at least five stories tall. She knew she would die if she fell, yet she still wanted to go out.

She wanted to know what was happening. Why she was here, and how long she had to stay. She couldn’t just wait blindly in a place where no one would explain anything, no matter how much she asked.

“The fever must be making me lose my mind.”

She muttered a self-deprecating remark to herself, but strangely, she even felt a sense of enjoyment in this moment.

Seeing herself commit such a dangerous act made her suspect that perhaps pirate blood did flow through her veins after all.

Pirates enjoyed heading out into the surging seas and fighting while prepared for death.

After a perilous traverse, she narrowly reached the roof. She walked slowly across the sloping surface, looking for a place where she could climb down.

At the back of the building, April found a balcony piled with crates and managed to step down onto it without much difficulty.

“…That was easier than I thought.”

April whispered as she cautiously entered the building.

She descended the stairs of the Academy where everyone was asleep. The building was shaped like a square surrounding a central courtyard. It seemed no one had imagined she would escape by going over the roof.

There was nothing that could be called security inside the Academy. She found a closed door and was about to head out when, as if possessed, she entered a building with an open door instead.

It was the building where her blood had been drawn.

April recalled how the scholars had been constantly moving in and out of one room in the building.

She slowly opened the door and stepped inside.

Inside was a massive, sealed space where a fog had been generated.

“You aren’t supposed to come in—oh dear, you’re already inside.”

A scholar who turned around let out a sigh.

However, his voice soon brightened as if this were actually for the better.

“I don’t know how you got out of your room, but it’s better that you’ve been caught. Yes, I will be honest with you.”

“About what?”

“We have recreated the exact conditions of the Right Island here. So that we can conduct experiments.”

Scholars wearing masks were watching her with inquisitive eyes.

April narrowed her eyes.

“The exact conditions?”

“Yes, Miss April.”

“Which means… you know the cause of how the fog is formed.”

The scholars flinched at her words.

One scholar spoke up quickly.

“It isn’t exactly the same. It’s only a hypothesis…”

April didn’t believe a word the scholar said. To begin with, it was laughable to believe anything said by those who had kidnapped her.

The scholar continued.

“More importantly, it’s true then—that you are safe even inside this fog, Miss April. How on earth is this possible?”

“I have no idea either. It’s frustratingly mysterious.”

April was the one most curious about the reason.

It wasn’t that she was entirely unaffected by the fog, but it was clear that she was less affected than others.

Cold sweat poured down April’s body, but she turned her back on the scholars. She picked up a chair that had been knocked over and sat down.

There was no one who would listen even if she screamed to be let out. In that case, she had no intention of saying such things.

She would never beg over something like this.

She would rather rot here than do that.

She sat upright and glared at the scholars.

When being crushed, people from places with many great mountains would say they are being crushed by a mountain, and people from places with rough seas would say they are being crushed by a great wave.

April Runos was a person of the Right Island, a place with both mountains and waves.

She felt as if a mountain were pressing down on her once, and then a wave, but she locked her thoughts away.

She wouldn’t even think about how hard it was, because if she did, she would collapse and die right then and there.

Just as she thought that, the door swung open.

“We are in the middle of an experiment! You must not open the door!”

Regardless, the door opened, and several policemen wearing masks entered.

April recalled the day when the fog had been thick and she had recognized Fezin.

Why was that? What had she seen that let her know the masked man was Fezin?

Even thinking about it again, she couldn’t fathom it. Why was it that she could recognize that man instantly, no matter where or how they met?

Did she distinguish him by his gait, the scent of his cologne, or perhaps every subtle movement?

She spoke to the man who stepped into the fog and gathered her into his arms.

“Fezin.”

“…….”

“Why are you here?”

There was no way an Imperial policeman wouldn’t know what was happening in the Empire, yet April asked anyway.

It was her way of saying she was glad to see him.