The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 21

Protecting the Heroine’s Older Brother – Episode 21

* * *

“Miss Roxana, are you going to the toy store right away?”

“No, I’m going to stop by the Poison Butterfly hatchery first.”

Three days had passed. My routine with Cassis was much the same each day.

I visited him three times a day to personally oversee his meals. Cassis seemed to mark the passage of time by these visits.

I couldn’t tend to his wounds every time, so I made sure to call a doctor separately.

In truth, I had many other tasks besides looking after Cassis. Visiting the Poison Butterfly hatchery was one of them.

The Poison Butterfly hatchery was filled with humid, hot air, as usual. The air in the enclosed space was heavy and stifling.

This place had originally been one of Agriache’s greenhouses for growing poisonous plants, but it was converted into a hatchery after we obtained the Poison Butterfly eggs.

So, even now, the place was overgrown with plants that emitted toxins.

An ordinary person entering this place would surely collapse in less than ten seconds.

However, this stuffy air, saturated with various poisons, didn’t affect me much.

I walked through the dense poisonous plants, deeper into the hatchery.

After a while, a black egg wrapped in thorny vines came into view.

The Poison Butterfly egg had now grown to about the size of two of my fists combined.

I stopped in front of it and took out a dagger I had prepared. Without hesitation, I rolled up my sleeve and cut my arm.

The sharp blade sliced through my skin. A stinging sensation accompanied the gushing blood.

Drip, drip.

The red blood flowed from my arm, dripping onto the black egg. The blood-covered egg slowly began to turn dark red.

“Eat well. And if possible, grow a little faster.”

I had started with three Poison Butterfly eggs, but now only one remained.

The probability of successfully hatching a Poison Butterfly is only about 30%.

Poison Butterflies are a type of monster, and finding a habitat with eggs is very difficult, but subduing them is even more so.

To imprint as the Poison Butterfly’s owner, you had to periodically offer blood like this from before it hatched.

Also, the nutrients that aided the hatching of the Poison Butterfly were, as the name suggests, poison.

So, this greenhouse, which had been growing poisonous plants for so long, was a very suitable place for them.

My blood, which had been consuming poison since I was young, was also ideal. For that reason, my poison tolerance was significantly higher than before.

Originally, finding this Poison Butterfly egg was supposed to be the job of one of the male leads in the novel, the ‘White Beast Master’.

He was someone with the ability to handle monsters, and in the story, he succeeds in finding the Poison Butterfly habitat and hatching its eggs.

I vaguely remembered that scene, so I told Emily the location of the Poison Butterfly habitat and had her bring me the eggs.

Raising or taming monsters was a very rare ability. I certainly had no talent for it.

But if it was a Poison Butterfly that hadn’t hatched yet, it seemed possible to imprint myself as its owner.

Ultimately, the more ways to protect myself, the better.

Even if I failed, I had nothing to lose.

So, thinking it was worth a try, I collected the Poison Butterfly eggs and periodically fed them my blood.

The Poison Butterfly egg, which had now absorbed all of my blood, seemed to be covered with a thin film.

I roughly stopped the bleeding on my arm and stroked the surface of the egg.

A warm sensation, like touching the skin of a living animal, soon permeated my fingertips.

For some reason, I had a feeling that the day this egg would hatch was not far off.

* * *

After leaving the Poison Butterfly hatchery, I headed to Cassis.

“It’s lunchtime.”

Today’s lunch menu was chicken stew, grain bread, and fruit.

I was still avoiding foods that required forks and knives, so the menu I could give him was limited.

“It must be bothersome, you coming here in person every time.”

Cassis still had a cool attitude towards me, but he seemed less uncomfortable than before.

He was more docile and cooperative than I thought.

So, if I was convinced he wouldn’t use them as weapons, I might be able to let him have a proper meal that requires forks and knives soon.

Of course, he ate the food I brought him every time without complaint.

I brought the food to Cassis, who was sitting on the bed.

I put the tray on the bed and stepped back when I suddenly felt something churning inside me.

Ugh, a sound like retching escaped my mouth.

Thud.

Next, dark red blood flowed down my hand, which was covering my mouth.

My stomach had been aching since I ate the poison Emily brought me yesterday, and I was finally seeing blood.

I calmly wiped my mouth with my sleeve.

Clatter.

Then, I heard a sound from the front and raised my head. Cassis was looking up at me.

His face was stiff, as if surprised by what was happening.

His round eyes, widened slightly, felt somehow unfamiliar.

He seemed to have dropped the tray on the bed again after trying to lift it.

“You…”

Cassis opened his mouth as if to say something, but he didn’t seem to know what to say.

“Is that blood…”

“Ah, I’m sorry.”

Seeing his reaction, I apologized. It must have been unsettling for Cassis.

“It’s mealtime, but I must have upset you.”

I understood why he was making such a face; I had suddenly vomited blood in front of him. Maybe he thought it was disgusting?

Cassis’s expression changed at my nonchalant reaction.

He looked at me, confused, and spoke again.

“It’s not that… Didn’t you just throw up blood?”

“Well, yes… Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”

I said, covering my mouth with my sleeve. There was no mirror here, so I couldn’t wipe the blood off my mouth and chin cleanly.

But my sleeves were already stained with blood. Cassis’s gaze was fixed on the red marks on my clothes.

“Throwing up blood is nothing?”

Cassis’s face seemed a little stiffer than before.

“Yes. This kind of thing…”

I hesitated for a moment, wondering how to answer, and then continued.

“It’s always been a frequent occurrence.”

Did I need to explain the circumstances of throwing up blood?

If I said that it was an Agriache family tradition to eat poison from a young age to build up resistance, it might backfire.

Maybe he would think of me as a venomous person, no different from other Agriache people who eat poison like they eat rice every day, and get tired of me.

Ah, then maybe I shouldn’t be so indifferent? Would it have been better to show a surprised reaction, as if it was the first time I had seen blood like this?

Of course, it was too late now.

For Agriache people, this really was nothing, and I hadn’t even considered how my appearance would look to Cassis.

“Often?”

Then, Cassis, who was looking at me with a stiff face, suddenly frowned, as if he had thought of something.

“Come to think of it, last time too…”

Huh? Last time? When did I throw up blood in front of Cassis before?

I had no memory of that.

Cassis didn’t elaborate, so I was curious about what he was trying to say.

But more than that, right now…

“Don’t tell me you’re worried about me?”

I asked Cassis, watching his face. For a moment, Cassis flinched.

“Worried? Why would I be?”

Suddenly, his face turned cold.

“Isn’t it natural for anyone to be surprised to see someone throwing up blood in front of them?”

A cold voice rang in my ears.

It was an answer that denied my words head-on, as if they were nonsense, and his face was even colder than before.

But I instinctively sensed that this was a weakness I could exploit.

“Ah, I see… It’s so familiar to me that I didn’t even think other people would be surprised.”

Come to think of it, Cassis, as I’ve observed him, seemed to be the type who is strong against the strong and weak against the weak.

Then, it would be okay for me to show him a weaker side this time.

“But I thought you would hate me… It’s kind of you to care about someone like that.”

I smiled faintly at Cassis, deliberately creating a poignant and bitter atmosphere.

“Thank you.”

Cassis, who saw me like that, had a speechless expression.

Ah, but now that I think about it, I have a record of punching him in the solar plexus and knocking him out, right?

Hmm. But Cassis seems to have forgotten about that, so let’s just pretend I don’t know. Besides, Cassis couldn’t even see at that time.

“Then I’ll go now.”

It would be better to make a poignant exit.

For Cassis’s pleasant mealtime, it would be better to leave anyway.

“Sorry for surprising you.”

I said that to Cassis and turned around.

When I looked at his face for the last time, Cassis had a stiff expression and his mouth was tightly shut.

Behind my back, Cassis’s gaze seemed to follow me longer than usual.