The Mansion Awaits Spring
Chapter 94
Even as her body settled, sleep eluded her, held at bay by fear and tension. To survive, she had shouted as if she feared nothing in the world, but being seized and dragged away by a mob that loathed her was a horrific memory.
Fezin tightened his embrace around April’s shivering body and spoke.
“Do you want to go live in the Empire with me?”
“……What?”
“Let’s go live there. You hate it here.”
At Fezin’s words, April blinked slowly.
Her long eyelashes fluttered before her eyes slowly closed. April answered.
“……I’ve never even thought about it.”
“Think about it now.”
“Maybe I should……” April murmured.
Fezin was trying to coax her to sleep, and fortunately, it was slowly working.
More than anything, the solution April needed was his obsessive embrace. His actions—trying to keep her pressed as close to his chest as possible—soothed her anxious heart.
She wished she could melt just like this until their bodies became one. If she could stay like this forever, she thought that might be nice in its own way.
April spoke honestly.
“I don’t want you to let go of me.”
“You don’t want me to let go?”
“Yes. I want you to…… want me more, to be greedier for me.”
“…….”
“I wish you would……”
「There is a reason why he is being so kind to you.」
As April groaned, recalling Miller’s voice, Fezin examined her face and asked, “Does your head still hurt?”
Without answering, April gripped Fezin’s arm and collar. She held on so tightly her hands turned white, leaving vivid red marks on his skin.
If there is a reason.
Then what do I do?
What if this isn’t love?
What if Fezin simply…… wants something from me?
When April began to gasp as if having a seizure, unable to draw breath, Fezin hurriedly sat up. Checking her breathing, he said, “I’ll go get the doctor again.”
“No…… No.”
“What do you mean, no? You can’t breathe.”
“I’m not sick. So it’s okay. Just stay here.”
“If you’re not sick, then what is it?”
“I’m scared.”
At the sound of April’s trembling voice, Fezin’s urgent movements stopped.
April wrapped her arms around his neck and said, “Why have I…… become so afraid of so many things?”
Fezin wrapped his arms around the waist of the woman clinging to him.
Miller had said that Fezin must have received orders to investigate the dye.
April didn’t believe Miller, but at the same time, she couldn’t fully trust Fezin. It was a bad feeling.
First, she decided she should look into the dye without telling him. Since he had said it was a matter for scholars, he probably wouldn’t be curious about it. There was no reason for him to be.
April looked into his face and asked, “Is there something you want from me?”
“What?”
“You’re not…… acting because you want something, are you? Miller said so. That you’re only being nice to me because you want something. That’s not it, right?”
“Hyung said that?”
“Yes……”
“Is there even anything I could want from you? You’re penniless.”
The answer was so ruthlessly realistic that it was absurd; April let out a small laugh.
She felt ridiculous for laughing in such a moment, but she figured it wasn’t entirely incomprehensible for laughter to spill out easily when all her emotions were heightened.
Fezin continued.
“Of course, it’s not like there’s absolutely nothing.”
“What is it?”
“What do you think?”
“……Ah.”
Fezin didn’t say or do anything, but she felt she knew exactly what he meant. His expression was far too clear.
So, when April tried to kiss him, Fezin pulled back slightly, then gave her a light kiss upon seeing her wide, surprised eyes. He pulled away again and asked with a serious face.
“You have a concussion. The doctor said you shouldn’t move a muscle. Do you want to turn me into the world’s biggest piece of trash?”
“We can still kiss.”
“He said don’t move, you troublemaker. Now lie down.”
At Fezin’s words, April reluctantly lay back on the bed.
Burying her face in Fezin’s chest, April said, “Let’s do it after I wake up.”
“Wow, I’m so fluttered.”
“Why do you sound like you’re not fluttered at all?”
“Because we can’t even after you wake up.”
“Then when?”
“When the doctor says it’s okay.”
“Should I give him a bribe or something?”
Fezin burst into laughter at April’s remark, but he wiped the smile away as quickly as possible, patting her to sleep.
In the end, Fezin did not show up for the boating party.
Those who had been waiting for a chance to speak with Fezin—who was rarely seen in social circles unless he appeared with April—expressed their disappointment.
In particular, this boating party was an event Heidi had planned to foster friendship within the Dieus family, while simultaneously displaying the Grand Ducal family’s prestige by enjoying pleasures aboard the largest and most luxurious ship.
On the Right Island, where the blood of seafarers still ran thick, the ‘largest ship’ also symbolized the ‘strongest military power.’
This rule applied even to boating parties on a lake; no one dared to build a ship larger than the Grand Duke’s.
Heidi had put exceptional effort into this boating party, and there were various amusements prepared.
All sorts of flowers floated on the lake, and the sky was a breathtaking blue. However, since the most brilliant flower had not arrived, the host was quite bothered by the fact that the guests’ spirits were flagging.
Her husband, Miller, had soothed her by saying that Fezin only had something he needed from April, but from Heidi’s perspective, it was different.
It was surprising that the world was only now recognizing what kind of person April Runos was.
She had been born a villainess and grew up as an arrogant, self-centered woman. What had the world been doing until now to only just realize her true nature?
Heidi hated April but admired her, and that feeling was little different from love.
When April had appeared before the angry citizens, her clothes soiled and covered in blood, the emotions within Heidi’s heart bloomed even more brilliantly.
April looked like an untamable beast from the mountains, and because of that, Heidi was consumed by an even greater desire to capture her.
Thus, even though she knew perfectly well that April was here, she knocked on the door.
The Butler, Pascal, came out and welcomed Heidi with surprised eyes, showing her to the drawing room.
“The young master has gone to handle some matters on behalf of Lady April. The funeral is approaching, after all.”
“He really can’t stay away from her, can he? That Fezin.”
“Yes. It seems so……”
Pascal, believing that Fezin was head over heels for April, wore an expression full of the excitement of an elder watching a young love. However, on the other hand, he was also concerned about the risks.
Not long after she sat down to wait, Fezin returned.
As soon as he saw Heidi’s face, he spoke with a tired expression.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t make it. But you didn’t have to come all the way here.”
“I had to come so that you’d feel burdened enough not to skip the next family gathering.”
“ I won’t skip it. Unless something happens.”
Fezin spoke firmly, but Heidi seemed to have no intention of leaving easily.
As Heidi’s nagging continued and Fezin grew increasingly frustrated, April eventually came down to the drawing room, perhaps because the conversation was dragging on too long.
“What are you two talking about for so long?”
When April stood at the open door and scolded them, Fezin clicked his tongue openly and said, “I told you to stay lying down. Do you think the doctor’s words are a joke?”
“I’ve been lying down for two days. I’m bored.”
Heidi watched Fezin’s face as he eventually stood up at April’s irritation.
Every time Fezin returned from the Empire, he bought things like women’s clothing, hair ornaments, and silk gloves. Fezin had not handed all those gifts over to April yet, but it was obvious that she would eventually be the one to possess them.
