Translator: Nox

The Mansion Awaits Spring

Chapter 75

Fezin hated taking ships in the winter.

The strait between the Right Island and the Left Island did not have particularly rough seas, and the distance was relatively short.

Even so, he hated it. Crossing that sea made it all too easy to encounter massive swells.

In the old days, the people of the Right Island used to row across those waters where winter waves were a daily occurrence. They did it with barely ten oars, and for steering, nothing more than a single oar for right-handers hung off the stern.

The helmsman was the captain, and if they hit a rip current, that captain-cum-helmsman had to save the crew alone at the threshold of life and death.

Why not just take a ship when the waves were calm?

He thought that only fools took the hard path when there were easier ways in the world.

April Runos was like that too. With a face like that, she could have used her feminine charms. Surely there were plenty of foolish police officers in the Grand Duchy who would have fallen for it?

Or she could have used them on me.

Since I am one of those fools.

At any rate, he couldn’t understand why he had crossed that winter sea he loathed so much.

It felt as though the last remaining candle of the Right Island was being loaded onto a ship and sold off to the Empire.

He knew better than anyone that April Runos did not possess the ability to manipulate gas lamps.

And yet, whenever he looked at her, the ominous, ghost-like fires of the Runos estate came to mind, and after that, she herself began to feel like a flame.

Fezin arrived at the Left Island even before April and sought an audience with the Emperor.

The Emperor welcomed Fezin as he always did.

“I didn’t expect to see you until summer, what business—”

And right then, Fezin dropped to his knees.

While the Emperor’s belief that Pezin Dieus was his own hands and feet remained unchanged, his characteristic prickly nature was something the Emperor had seen plenty of while raising him.

He had never imagined that such a man would start by kneeling, so the Emperor momentarily stopped mid-sentence.

Fezin lowered his head and spoke.

“I have done wrong.”

“In what regard?”

“I do not know. However, since you bypassed me and issued orders directly to the Grand Duchy Police, I must have done something wrong.”

The Emperor recalled what kind of boy Pezin Dieus had been.

When he first arrived in the Rasa Empire, Pezin was smaller than others his age. Nevertheless, the boy would lunged at classmates much larger than himself, and even at his seniors, determined to best them.

It was only after being whipped countless times by the Military Academy instructors—on the grounds that a policeman who does not follow orders is useless—that his temper was corrected. In truth, it wasn’t corrected. It was merely suppressed temporarily.

The fact that Pezin Dieus was a difficult horse to break was something anyone who knew him was well aware of.

Thus, there were not many who could have predicted he would show up of his own accord and start by kneeling.

Even though it was true that the Emperor had intended to give Fezin a bit of a shock.

The Emperor opened his mouth.

“It was a matter that did not require your direct involvement. That is why I ordered the Grand Duchy Police; I am not rebuking you.”

The two men wanted to know exactly what the other was thinking.

However, they also knew the day would never come when either would truly lay their heart bare.

Whenever the Emperor looked at Fezin, he felt as if he were looking into a mirror.

Dangerous pieces should be discarded, yet the Emperor could not bring himself to do so.

He had long since come to love Pezin Dieus, who resembled him more than his own son.

Love ruins everything. The Emperor had to close off his heart.

As the Emperor agonized, the urgent voice of a policeman was heard from outside the office. It was the news that April Runos had escaped on her own and wandered until she discovered the room where the fog was being generated.

The Emperor narrowed his eyes.

If April Runos returned to the Right Island and spoke nonsense, there was no telling how the people there would react.

He wanted to avoid war as much as possible. He wanted a humanitarian occupation.

The people of the Right Island might be a shadow of their former selves now, but weren’t they originally peerless in combat?

He would win the war easily, but even in that short conflict, he would suffer immense losses.

He looked at Fezin. This young beast kneeling before him would never fully gain the Emperor’s complete trust.

Nevertheless, he spoke.

“Handle it. Persuade Miss Runos well so that she does not say anything foolish about the Empire.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

Fezin accepted the command as if he had been waiting for it. The Emperor continued.

“And stay here throughout the Foundation Festival. I want to show you to many people.”

“Yes, I will remain by Your Majesty’s side during the Foundation Festival.”

Fezin, who was about to leave immediately, turned back to the Emperor and spoke again.

“There is no future between April Runos and me.”

“……Indeed.”

“To keep her mouth shut, it may at times appear as though I love her. But I do not engage in such complicated matters that have no future. You know this.”

“I know. Yes, I know you well.”

The Emperor nodded.

Pezin Dieus enjoyed things that were easy. He wasn’t sure if that applied to love as well.

He stroked Fezin’s hair with both hands and said.

“Do not go jumping into the winter sea. You hate the winter sea, don’t you?”

Fezin looked up at the Emperor and replied.

“Yes, I won’t do it again.”

---

He had no words to answer April’s question of why he was here. This was because he didn’t know the reason himself.

What he was more curious about was how she had recognized him in this fog.

April had recognized him even though he was wearing a mask. It was an incredible display of observation. It made him think she should be recruited into the police force.

April, seeing Fezin remain silent for too long, grabbed his arm and said.

“I asked how you’re here.”

“I heard. That you were here. Anyway, there are people who saw the police arresting you, so it’ll be a problem if you end up dying here.”

At Fezin’s words, April nodded, then, in her dazed state, she grabbed his clothes and pulled him toward her.

When Fezin instinctively leaned down, April said.

“The people here… I think they know the cause of the fog.”

“……What?”

“Since they know, they must be able to recreate an environment exactly like this.”

At her words, Fezin looked at the fog filling the room.

Fezin replied.

“I’ll check it out. I don’t know anything about what’s happening here either.”

“Don’t ask them. They won’t tell you. Investigate in secret.”

“Okay. I’ll do that.”

Fezin answered obediently.

It bothered him that April, who had been isolated in the Runos mansion for seven years, was unnecessarily quick-witted.

Moreover, despite being so sharp, she didn’t have a single shred of suspicion toward him.

Fezin’s mind, which was starting to get complicated, cleared instantly the moment he felt the heat radiating from April’s body. Holding April by the waist with one arm as she looked ready to collapse if he let go, Fezin turned to the scholar.

“How long is this going to take?”

“We need to observe Miss April’s reaction to see how long she can endure the fog!”

“So you won’t stop until a problem occurs.”

As Fezin spoke, he sat her down in a chair and checked his watch.

April lifted her heavy head and looked up at him.

Fezin stepped back, leaving her, and waited for the experiment to end while leaning against the wall.

Not long after, April brought her hand to her face as a drop of blood fell.

Her nose was bleeding.

Between the blood draw and the fog, as the bleeding started again, April could no longer stop her eyes from closing.

Her strength failing, her body slid sideways. Even as she lost consciousness, she heard the sound of Fezin running toward her.

She let out a faint laugh and became honest.

“It’s good to see you here.”

She muttered and lost consciousness.

When she woke up, she was in an unfamiliar space. It was certainly not the place she had escaped from.