The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 12

Protecting the Heroine’s Older Brother – Episode 12

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It was three days later that I finally went to see Cassis.

The guard in front of the underground prison had been replaced. The original guard, attacked by Charlotte, seemed to be receiving treatment.

In the meantime, I had obtained permission from Lant Agriche to enter the underground prison.

Therefore, I was able to enter without being stopped by the new guard.

“Are you okay?”

Cassis turned his head as I entered.

Cassis looked noticeably worse than the last time I saw him.

I thought his condition had improved slightly compared to the first day I saw him, but it was clear that his body had been damaged again by the incident with Charlotte.

He was less injured than I had expected, but he had been left neglected with injuries, so it was no wonder his body couldn’t handle it.

Cassis didn’t answer my question.

For some reason, he just stared at me as I opened the iron bars and entered.

Soon, Cassis’s lips slowly parted.

“Roxana.”

Hearing my name whispered from his lips for the first time, I couldn’t help but be shaken.

I felt a moment of surprise and blinked, but soon regained my composure.

After all, names are meant to be called, and I had already told Cassis my name, so there was nothing to be surprised about.

Then, Cassis asked me in a low voice.

“How many days has it been since you last came?”

I tilted my head slightly and answered.

“It’s been seven days.”

“I see.”

Somehow, calm voices that didn’t quite fit the situation were exchanged.

“I thought it had been longer.”

A calm voice without any emotion was added.

I felt a little strange hearing that he felt the time I was gone was longer than it actually was.

I wanted Charlotte, who had incurred my father’s wrath, to be punished and prevented from approaching Cassis again.

But in fact, I also hoped that Cassis would realize my necessity to some extent.

So, I deliberately left him alone like this for a few days.

Knowing that Charlotte would come to attack him, I did nothing, and I didn’t even come to see him today, even though he was injured.

I stared at Cassis for a moment before moving from my spot.

“I’ll heal you.”

“Didn’t you say it was difficult to treat noticeable wounds?”

“The situation has changed a little since then.”

It was like giving medicine after causing the illness, so in a way, I felt a little ridiculous about my actions.

I approached Cassis. He was quietly watching me as I got closer.

Perhaps the restraints that were broken this time were the ones on Cassis’s left wrist. Only the restraints there were clean, without a single bloodstain, as if they were new.

There were also more scars on his handsome face that I hadn’t seen before. The thought that Charlotte had left them made me feel a little uncomfortable.

I reached out to Cassis and examined his condition.

As I initially thought, his limbs weren’t torn off, but the wound near his waist, which was torn to shreds, was a bit serious.

Let’s see. Besides that, his right shoulder seems to be dislocated. There’s also a large cut on his abdomen.

Oh, but this bright blue bruise isn’t from me, is it?

“You’re badly hurt this time. If I had left you alone any longer, the wound would have become severely infected.”

I, who had contributed to that neglect, spoke as if I knew nothing.

“It must be very painful, but you endured it well. Now that I’m here, don’t worry.”

But for some reason, Cassis’s energy felt a little strange.

I suddenly felt something was off and raised my head.

At that moment, I met Cassis Fedelian’s gaze, who was wearing an expression I had never seen before.

Cassis was looking down at me with a face that seemed to have stopped breathing.

His face, adorned with scars, was as stiff as a marble sculpture.

The radiant golden eyes, like the sun, pierced me head-on. Within them was a confusion and embarrassment that could not be explained in words.

In that moment, I realized the reason for the discomfort.

“Ah, I see.”

The moment a small sound escaped from my lips, Cassis took a shallow breath, as if he had finally come to his senses.

Yes, now I understand.

I faced his face, which was close enough to feel his breath, and finally smiled slightly.

“At this distance, you can finally see my face clearly.”

I felt somewhat pleased to witness Cassis’s agitation unexpectedly.

Cassis regained his composure very quickly, though.

The eyes that had momentarily drawn faint ripples calmed down again like a still lake after a while.

There were people in Agriche who still couldn’t come to their senses when they saw me, even after spending years together, so from my point of view, Cassis’s reaction was bland to the point of being dry.

“You could be a little more surprised.”

“I wasn’t surprised.”

“Really?”

Liar.

Cassis closed his mouth when I didn’t seem to believe him.

His face was stiff in a different sense than before. He seemed quite shocked by the fact that he had been momentarily shaken by my appearance.

But that’s only natural, so there’s no need to take it so sensitively.

The people who have seen me so far have all been either horrified, lost in thought, or wearing expressions that made them wonder if where they were standing was a dream or reality.

That was especially true from the time I started to shed my childishness.

Besides, my beauty was a kind of weapon that had been relentlessly honed since I was young.

So, no matter how noble the young master of Qing was, there was no way that Cassis, who was only seventeen years old, could remain unresponsive in front of me.

It would be worth looking forward to if he became an adult who had experienced more of life’s ups and downs, but it was naturally impossible now.

Rather, he should praise himself for not showing an unsightly appearance in front of me.

For reference, the previous prison guard named Yoan, who was attacked by Charlotte, had his soul taken away on the first day he faced me up close, and he just stupidly repeated ‘Yes? Yes?’ even when I spoke to him.

It took some time for him to be able to have a conversation with me.

In comparison, Cassis’s reaction was very uninteresting.

Cassis was silently looking down at my face now. But it didn’t feel like he was looking at me because he was fascinated.

Cassis’s eyes were a little colder than usual. Come to think of it, it seemed like that from the time I first entered the underground prison and he looked at me.

As I faced him so closely, the difference in temperature was even more clearly felt.

“What are you thinking about now?”

I didn’t avoid his eyes. I had an idea of what the meaning contained in the gaze I was facing now was.

“Are you perhaps thinking about killing me?”

I deliberately chose a slightly extreme word to say.

Cassis didn’t answer my question, which was whispered softly afterwards.

Even though it was a somewhat absurd statement, he didn’t seem to question it.

“Ask me what you’re curious about. Now that you’ve seen my face, you must have something to say.”

I resembled my mother a lot, but that didn’t mean I didn’t resemble Lant Agriche at all. In particular, my blood-red eyes seemed to be completely copied from my father’s.

At that moment, the same fire that I had seen before flickered once in Cassis’s golden eyes.

He didn’t ask what my identity was.

He just recited my name in a low, whispering voice, as if confirming what he had already guessed.

“Roxana Agriche.”

I gladly confirmed the answer for him.

“That’s right.”