Chapter 66
“They’re Aunt’s.”
“Do you think Mrs. Merrow lent you shoes to torment others?”
“Yes. I think she did.”
April removed her foot nonchalantly. Then, seemingly embarrassed by her childish action and response, she avoided his gaze.
Fejin pretended not to notice and followed April as she led the way.
“You’re going overboard with the funeral preparations.”
“How do you know?”
“The furniture shops are in an uproar. They say a big spender is making rounds.”
“I used an alias.”
“Oh, I know, Miss May Lucer.”
April had started buying furniture with help from Mille Virta, who worked at the bank.
Worried that sellers might refuse to deal with a witch, the two had created a fictional Imperial bourgeois named May Lucer from the start.
As Fejin said, Miss Lucer was buying tremendous amounts. The Lunos family needed to look proper.
Fejin said,
“At this rate, you’ll go bankrupt within the year.”
“Not quite bankrupt. I consulted with the banker. I’ll still have enough left for the children’s education.”
“Not banker, bank employee.”
“…What don’t you know about me?”
“Nothing. I’m your investigating officer. I know everything.”
He answered casually as he sat at the table prepared for their meal in April’s guest room.
Fejin looked around the room and said,
“They decorated it just like you.”
“Yes, like how I was when young.”
“It suits who you are now too.”
“Isn’t it too elaborate?”
“You have an elaborate look about you.”
Fejin responded offhandedly while removing his gloves.
April noticed the ring on his hand, and thanks to that, could openly stare at his white, strong hands.
They were a man’s hands with strength evident in each finger. Yet they were smooth and beautiful.
Hands that matched his face. Both his indifferent face holding the teacup and his hands were still beautiful.
“I wonder until what age he’ll stay pretty…”
April muttered unconsciously while observing his hands. Then, belatedly noticing the profound silence, she looked up.
Fejin was wearing an incredulous expression.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Couldn’t you keep thoughts like that to yourself?”
“What did I say?”
“‘I wonder until what age he’ll stay pretty.'”
“Who?”
“You just wondered how long I’d stay pretty.”
“…I did?”
How could thoughts inside one’s head escape without their owner’s permission like this?
April’s nape grew hot as she realized she had blurted out her thoughts while looking at Fejin’s hands.
She wished Fejin would tease her about it. Then at least she’d have something to say back.
But Fejin remained silent. He just stared at April with a strange expression, as if he’d heard the most bizarre thing in the world.
By the time the heat from her nape had conquered her cheeks, Fejin spoke again.
“For the foreseeable future, I’ll look like this.”
“It wasn’t a question, so you don’t need to answer.”
“I know. I just wanted to answer it, whether it was a question or not.”
“Right, for now. Well, you might become ugly next year.”
“That won’t happen.”
“You never know.”
“When handsome men age, they become handsome old men. That’s theoretical.”
“What theory is that?”
Thankfully, Fejin kept talking nonsense, allowing April to finally escape her embarrassment.
To say such a thing.
It was fortunate the other person was Fejin Deus; any other man would have thought her very strange.
Ending the discussion about prettiness there, they began talking about flowers for the funeral. What looked beautiful, what flowers weren’t used for funerals.
Talking about flowers throughout the meal made it feel as if spring had briefly visited the Grand Duchy, where the only scenery was snow.
As they continued their meal and flower discussion, they heard an ungainly clatter from outside that seemed impossible for a noblewoman to make.
When April hurriedly stood up, Elenora, who had run to her room, said,
“Jeff seems to have found the strength to speak, April!”
“He’s speaking?”
It was Fejin who asked this, knowing that Jeff Merrow had been unable to speak for seven years.
Elenora nodded with an emotional face, and April immediately headed to the study where her uncle was.
As Elenora had said, Jeff was prepared to say something.
Jeff, who was about to speak upon seeing April’s face, widened his eyes when he noticed Fejin following behind.
“This…”
Jeff pointed at Fejin.
“Deus…”
His pointing hand trembled with rage.
It sounded as if he had pulled those four letters, “Deus,” from the depths of his desperate pain.
Hatred filled his eyes. One had to wonder how such enormous anger remained in someone who had become as dry as drought-stricken trees.
“I’ll wait outside.”
Fejin whispered to an equally bewildered April before tactfully leaving the study.
Only after the Deus man disappeared did Jeff’s trembling, angry hand stop shaking.
Then his eyes slowly turned to April.
Jeff clearly remembered how much the Lunos couple, who had struggled to have children for many years after marriage, had cherished their daughter.
Jeff, who had been unmarried when April was born, recalled that day in April when he first met his niece.
To April, who sat holding his hand, he conveyed that emotion before his intended words.
“The sky was clear. On the day you were born.”
At his sudden words, April blinked without responding.
Jeff continued.
“It had been raining all through April, but on the day you were born, the sky turned deep blue. There was a brief shower, but the clouds passed quickly, and it cleared right up.”
“Hmm, was it like that?”
“How beautiful the weather was that day. How happy your father and mother looked. And how happy I was…”
April listened to his words and smiled silently.
He was the first person she’d met who missed the Lunos couple, her parents, after her confinement.
Others might have missed them too but couldn’t speak of it for fear of falling from the Grand Duke’s favor.
Though Miller Deus was a gentle and kind person, he was still the ruler of the Grand Duchy.
April remembered Jeff Merrow—no, Jeff Lunos—who had been strict with his sons but endlessly generous with his niece.
She gradually remembered how much love she had grown up with. Though it had led to a turbulent adolescence.
Fortunately, because of it, she had known what it was to be loved.
Elenora, who knew how much Jeff had loved April, turned away and cried, then wiped her tears with a handkerchief and chided,
“You broke your silence after seven years just to say that? If you were going to say this, you should have spoken long ago instead of tormenting yourself.”
Though Elenora’s words held affection, Jeff anxiously rolled his eyes as he watched her, feeling apologetic. Only when he saw happiness spread across her face did he smile.
Jeff needed to take a deep breath before saying what he really wanted to say. It was a burden to speak.
Seeing Jeff’s breathing become rough, April said,
“If it’s difficult, tell me later. I’ll come again.”
“D-Deus…”
“Yes, Deus. You mean Miller?”
She had sensed something from the moment she saw the anger that burst forth at the sight of Fejin.
April knew Jeff had something to say about Miller Deus.
April firmly gripped Jeff’s trembling hands.
“Speak slowly. I’m listening.”
“That man often argued with your father. He had a clear goal.”
“You mean marriage to the Grand Duke’s wife?”
“Yes. That was the conclusion. And there was only one way.”
“…”
“For that marriage, Miller Deus absolutely had to destroy the Lunos family.”
The warmth in April’s eyes slowly froze.
