The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 87
I thought I would wake up in a hospital, but to my surprise, I was inside a carriage.
The rattling of the carriage was uncomfortable, but no voice would come out of my throat.
When I opened my eyes, I saw Fezin sitting across from me. He was reading a book bound in horsehide.
And from somewhere outside the carriage, the sound of a hymn drifted in.
As April slowly pulled herself up, the thick woolen blanket wrapped around her body slid down.
Fezin put down his book and pulled the blanket back up for her as he spoke.
“We’re on our way to the monastery. I found some monastics heading the same way and let them hitch a ride on the wagon since the weather was bad. They’ve been singing hymns ever since.”
“…….”
“Tell me if it’s too loud.”
April shook her head. If anything, the hymn was pleasant to the ear.
However, the hymn belonged to the traditional religion of the Right Island. What the pirates of the Right Island worshipped was the God of Death.
This deity was said to walk out of the sea once every thousand years to harvest all life and return to the ocean. The life that returned to the sea would evolve again to become human, and the God of Death repeated this cycle every millennium.
There was no reason for this repetition. It was simply that the end was written on a page of destiny.
The pirates believed that all death was scattered into the sea. Therefore, the sea was the parent of all, the child who went before the parent, the lover, and the home to which one would eventually return.
April managed to squeeze out her voice.
“Where are we going?”
“Judging by your voice, you shouldn’t be talking right now.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.”
“You still have a temper even right after waking up.”
“Look who’s talking.”
“I’m nice when I wake up from a nap.”
April let out a small laugh at his absurd claim. Then, the realization that she had laughed made the smile vanish. It was a strange cycle.
Watching her face, Fezin spoke.
“Your parents… they’re at the Noster Monastery. We’re heading there now.”
“What?”
April’s eyes widened at his answer.
Unable to immediately process his words, she soon asked.
“Did you find them?”
“Yeah.”
“How?”
“I suppose I used police resources?”
At his words, the life that had been fading to a precarious degree began to slowly return to April’s eyes.
Unaware of how anxious Fezin had been or how relieved he felt now, she covered her mouth with both hands and closed her eyes.
The moment she closed them, Fezin grabbed her wrist. His forceful grip made April snap her eyes open.
The hand holding her wrist was trembling.
April remembered that she had lost consciousness right in front of him.
When he remained motionless while clutching her wrist, April pulled his hand toward her. Fezin followed her lead obediently and sat in the seat next to her as she gestured with her eyes.
Fezin did not let go of her wrist; instead, he interlaced his fingers with hers and pulled her closer to him.
April didn’t say anything because she could feel the terror he had momentarily felt through his trembling.
The fog that had been clouding her mind slowly cleared, and April murmured.
“I’m so glad… that you found them.”
“Are you grateful?”
“Yes. Very much. More than when you paid the gas bill.”
Fezin let out a short, dry laugh at her remark.
“Ah, that’s right.”
“I have a lot to say, but… thank you.”
When April said that, Fezin, whose tension finally eased, narrowed his eyes and spoke.
“I thought you’d start by swearing at me?”
“I’m going to accept the help first.”
“Rational, I see.”
The carriage continued to climb toward higher ground. The carriage began to rattle again as a biting wind blew, as if the ending winter had returned.
Fortunately, the road was well-maintained, and the carriage arrived safely at the Noster Monastery.
The Noster Monastery was precariously perched on a cliff facing the sea. April thought that this monastery must have served as a lighthouse for the pirates.
Since the horses refused to climb the cliff, they had to walk up to the monastery, but April didn’t mind the time spent doing so. The vast Primeval Forest visible behind them was breathtakingly beautiful.
“It’s incredible.”
As she turned back and murmured, Fezin, who had been lost in thought the whole time, turned around as well.
“What the—was that behind us the whole time?”
April burst into laughter at Fezin’s startled voice.
Whether she laughed or not, Fezin marveled at the Primeval Forest and muttered.
“I wonder what lives in there?”
“Tigers.”
“There must be a lot of them, right?”
“Tigers have large territories, so there might not be as many as you’d think.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, we have an animal expert at our house. Ever since she learned to read, she reads books about animals every day and tells me about them.”
“Ah, you mean Koski. Our future police officer.”
Fezin had jumped to a conclusion, but since Hannah had actually said she wanted to be a police officer, there was nothing April could do about it.
Still, she felt a bit annoyed and gave him a sidelong glance.
“Hannah says she’s really going to become a police officer because of you.”
“Really? She said she’d do it?”
Fezin’s face instantly brightened, and even his indifferent stride became energetic.
“An animal expert police officer… she’s a talent I couldn’t ask more for. I’ll have to look for a place to station her.”
“She’s still a child.”
“They grow up fast. Her father was a big man. Koski will be the same.”
“I can’t imagine it. She’s such a young child right now.”
The two had stopped walking to look back at the Primeval Forest, but none of the monastics hurried them; instead, they sat on the hill and gazed at the Primeval Forest—which they must have seen every day to the point of boredom—as if it were something entirely new.
Fezin still couldn’t take his eyes off the Primeval Forest.
The Emperor had been curious about that forest.
About the things inside it.
The Emperor had said that given the current known mineral reserves were enough to make the Empire prosperous, he wanted to know what else might be hidden inside that Primeval Forest.
He would likely cut down all those trees.
He looked back at April, who was gazing at those trees.
Perhaps because she had found her parents’ remains, she looked at peace.
Perhaps because she had been confined for a long time, she had not lost her curiosity about the world, even in the Empire where she had been kidnapped and taken.
Since he had no intention of rushing April anyway, he stood there and waited for her for a long while.
After enjoying the majestic nature for a time, she looked back and realized the rest of the group was sitting on the hill resting.
“You should have called me if I was spacing out like that.”
“It’s not like we’re busy.”
“Indeed. Besides, who wouldn’t stop in front of that scenery?”
The monastics spoke in kind voices. April smiled as a sign of gratitude.
After finishing the climb and before entering the monastery, the monastics covered their heads with hoods.
Fezin asked.
“Do outsiders have to cover their heads too?”
“No, it’s fine. Please make yourselves comfortable.”
Then, looking toward April, a monastic continued.
“You said you were looking for the Convent? I will call for them shortly.”
“Thank you.”
Not long after she replied, a nun with a surprised expression came running out.
Since she could not speak, she expressed something with hand gestures, but the speed was so fast that April could not understand her at once.
“Slowly. Please tell me slowly.”
At April’s request, the nun expressed something slowly again.
Before coming here, Fezin had been told that many of the monastics in this monastery could not hear or speak.
Because there were many areas within the monastery where speech was forbidden, they were all able to live without discrimination. Therefore, Fezin had studied the sign language used within to some extent.
[I could not tell Miss Lunos that we had enshrined the two previous Heads of the Lunos family here because we had to avoid the Grand Duke’s eyes. I am sorry.]
Fezin said to April.
“She says they enshrined the previous Heads of the family without my hyung knowing. She says she’s sorry she couldn’t tell you because they were avoiding the Grand Duke’s eyes.”
“How could I accept an apology? I’m the one who is so indebted.”
The nun, who read her lips, gave a gentle smile. After making a gesture of brushing down her chest to show April her relief, she beckoned for her to follow.
