The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 83
Kayani explained the events at the bank in detail.
She shared how she learned that Millet’s father had fought for the Lunos family, and how the Morrow couple—upon discovering that April had entrusted her money to Millet out of personal trust rather than to the bank itself—had also placed him in charge of their assets.
“That is wonderful news. Indeed, it would be strange for a member of our family to entrust their wealth to anyone other than a Virta.”
“You are right.”
After hearing the story, a look of profound relief and joy spread across April’s face.
As Kayani moved to stand up after their conversation, April spoke.
“By the way, Kayani. I have a favor to ask before you head back.”
“Yes, please, anything.”
April looked into Kayani’s bright, sharp eyes and spoke in a low voice.
“There are the Twin Mountains to the north of our estate.”
“Yes, there are.”
“Do you… remember what they were used for?”
“I remember visiting them when I was young. But as for what they were used for…. I will ask my father when I return.”
“I see. However.”
“It is a secret from the outside world, you mean? Yes, I understand.”
Kayani nodded. Then, she finally brought up the question she had been dying to ask since she arrived.
“How did you… endure it?”
“Endure what?”
“Reaching out to the Clan.”
As she asked, Kayani clenched her teeth as if feeling April’s anger on her behalf.
Yet, compared to the weight the questioner felt, April’s voice was calm.
“The Lunos people were always wary of seafarers. And yet, they loved them. Knowing that every sailor on the Right Island was a pirate, they still trusted them and placed them aboard merchant ships laden with brilliant jewels.”
“…….”
“I am simply trying to do the same.”
“The same thing…?”
“I shall be wary, and I shall love.”
As she replied, her face was as composed as her voice.
Kayani was momentarily captivated by April’s golden hair, which made even the winter feel radiant, before noticing her red eyes that shone like the sun. Kayani then gave a broad smile.
“I know it is rude to say this to an elder… but your eyes are sparkling very brightly right now.”
“Yes, that is rude.”
“My apologies.”
Kayani laughed, bowed her head in apology, and left the mansion.
A short while later, April also left the drawing room and headed for the study where Millet was waiting.
Two chairs had been placed by the study window, with some distance between them, and a small table sat beside each for tea. It was Bauman’s arrangement.
This was because he had taken the advice of Kayani, who suggested that when discussing money, it was better to drink from separate tables rather than sharing tea together.
April also took it as a matter of course.
When she appeared so soon, Millet asked, unable to hide his bewilderment.
“Is young master Kayani leaving so early because of me? I heard he had been waiting here all day.”
“Lunos men don’t typically make women wait.”
“Pardon me, but young master Kayani is of the Morrow family….”
“Is that important right now?”
“No, it’s not.”
Millet made a shooing motion with his hand as if to tell her to forget his previous words. Then, looking at the table where his tea was placed, he let out an exclamation of surprise.
“I’ve never seen such a large cup before.”
“Mr. Bauman made it. He said he has many colleagues with kilns, so he went and fired them himself.”
“Please, sell these in front of the bank.”
“That’s exactly why they were made.”
The bankers of the Grand Duchy Central Bank had a motto: ‘A banker who dies while working can go to the warriors’ heaven.’
Millet used to think that phrase, which his father habitually repeated, was quite pathetic.
However, after immersing himself in the Central Bank, he felt he understood. It was that kind of place. A place where money was synonymous with the warriors’ heaven.
At the Central Bank, a ‘Saint’ meant someone who brought in a lot of money for the company.
Millet Virta was also gradually joining that flow.
Thinking back, all of his father’s words were correct. He was becoming more and more assimilated to the idea that a banker must have a heavy backside.
In any case, as Millet was gradually given more banking duties, he had begun drinking coffee like the other bankers. And like those bankers who felt it a waste of time to repeatedly get up and sit down to get coffee, he poured a full cup all at once.
To such bankers, the oversized teacup Millet held with both hands would surely prove highly effective.
April spoke as she watched Millet pour coffee into the large cup.
“I don’t intend to sell them, of course. I plan to give them as gifts.”
“Pardon?”
“Who else would buy those besides bankers? I’m just trying to win their favor.”
Millet felt a strange sense of admiration at April’s nonchalant words.
Trade, in the end, was the business of finding out what was surplus here and what was needed there. April, like her ancestors, possessed that instinct to some degree.
Millet nodded.
“Yes, I guarantee it. The bankers’ hearts will lean toward you in an instant. You’ve saved them a trip to get more coffee, after all.”
“Honestly, they are madmen.”
“I won’t deny that.”
They laughed together at that, and then Millet brought up the main topic.
“As you might have expected, the gas bill has been settled. By the second young master of the Dieus family.”
“Did that boy… have that kind of money?”
“I cannot provide information on other clients. Besides, the banker in charge would have no reason to give me accurate details.”
“Ah, yes. That’s true.”
April accepted Millet’s words and sighed.
“As for that money, I’ll ask Fezin when I see him.”
“Yes. And here is the total cost for the funeral.”
April checked the funeral expenses Millet handed over. It was a funeral into which she had invested most of her wealth.
She nodded and asked Millet.
“Would you like to see the funeral hall before you go? It’s mostly ready.”
“I’d like to see it on the day of. Would that be alright?”
“Yes, of course.”
Millet checked the time and stood up first.
“Then I shall be on my way. I have much to do.”
“Yes, then.”
April stood up with him and saw him off, loading a small gift into his carriage.
Afterward, she walked away to write a letter to the Grand Ducal Residence to resolve the most important matter regarding the funeral.
April entered her father’s study, a room she hadn’t stepped into for a very long time.
The study had been cleanly repaired by Bauman’s hands. It was almost exactly as it had been when her father was alive. His hands were truly magical.
April looked at the various papers from all over the world that Fezin had given her.
“……It feels like a waste to use these.”
『And I like you a little.』
She squeezed her eyes shut as the words she had said to Fezin came back to her.
“I must be crazy.”
Why did she say something like that when there was nothing she could do about it?
No, thinking about it further, it was Fezin’s fault.
He was the one who started talking nonsense about how white clothes suited her, so wasn’t it natural that such words slipped out of her too?
April let out a deep sigh, took a sheet of paper, and sat at the desk. She intended to write a letter requesting the return of her parents’ remains.
Seven years ago, they should have been moved to the cemetery within the Lunos estate, but Miller Dieus had not done so. Although it angered her that she had to be the one to write first, there was no other way.
