The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 28

Seriously, it feels like I’m hearing more and more nonsense every day.

Roxana almost chuckled involuntarily.

She thought it was ridiculous, but Lant seemed serious.

She felt unpleasant, but on the other hand, Lant’s misunderstanding was proof that she had been doing well so far.

“When you were young, you were just weak and had no outstanding qualities.”

Lant clicked his tongue as if recalling Roxana from those days.

“Come to think of it, was his name Arl? Your dead brother, who had no redeeming qualities even if you washed your eyes and looked for them.”

He resembled Sierra and had decent looks, but otherwise, he was unbearable.

Remembering his dead son, who clung to his pants and cried, ‘I can’t do this,’ filled him with renewed annoyance.

“No one was weaker than him. Arl must have been negatively influencing you.”

“If you’re talking about my brother who was disposed of and died, it’s Ashil, not Arl,” Roxana said, finally breaking her silence.

Lant raised his eyes from his glass.

“Of course, he died disgracefully, so you don’t need to remember his name. Mother and I are always ashamed of him.”

Roxana smiled faintly, her expression unchanged.

“It’s true that I started showing results after Ashil died, as you said, but I think it’s just a coincidence.”

*So Lant didn’t know how coldly her heart had turned.*

“Ashil means nothing to me, so whether he lived or died, I would have been standing here anyway.”

Roxana’s voice didn’t waver at all.

She seemed arrogant, but that was the attitude an Agriche should have.

“I am a proud Agriche and a daughter who resembles my respected father more than anyone else.”

Lant agreed with Roxana and contentedly raised his glass again.

Of course, he had no idea that Roxana was secretly mocking him.

* * *

“You can leave now, Emily.”

“Yes, Lady.”

Roxana returned to her room, took her daily dose of poison brought by Emily, and sent her away.

She felt more tired than usual today.

She wanted to lie down and fall asleep immediately, but it seemed her day wouldn’t end like this.

*Flutter.*

Two butterflies appeared in the air and flew to Roxana, who was sitting on the sofa. They were the butterflies she had sent to the western border before.

“You’ve come.”

She held out her hand, and they gently landed on Roxana’s finger.

“So, what did you find?”

One of the butterflies shared the scene it had witnessed on the western border with Roxana.

A silent black forest.

A red waning moon.

The cries of crows awakened from their sleep.

Blood soaking the grass.

Mutilated corpses.

A black-haired man standing alone among them.

“……!”

*Thump.*

Roxana suddenly stood up.

The butterfly on her finger flew into the air due to the sudden movement. The connection with the butterfly was also severed.

However, the scene she had just seen was vividly replaying in Roxana’s mind.

The man standing like a grim reaper among the mutilated corpses was someone Roxana knew well.

The son that Father Lant Agriche cherished the most, the monstrous man who invariably attended the grand banquet as the undisputed number one in every monthly evaluation.

Deon Agriche.

He had returned.

5. Who is Tamed

I was on edge since morning.

It had been like that ever since I found out that Deon had returned, but it was especially worse this morning.

There was a time difference between the day the butterfly saw him at the western border and the moment I confirmed it, so I would probably see Deon at Agriche sometime today or tomorrow.

Recalling the scene the butterfly had shared made me want to curse.

The people who had died in front of Deon were likely the Fedelian people who had come to find Cassis. But they were already cold corpses.

*Damn it. I’m one step late. Did Lant order Deon to clean up the border?*

But to run into Deon in the west of all places in that vast border…

I could only describe it as bad luck.

“What is it? Say something if you have something to say.”

Perhaps my troubled mind was showing, Cassis opened his mouth with his usual cool and calm demeanor.

He kept touching his neck, as if the collar was uncomfortable today.

Led by his composure, I opened my lips without realizing it.

“Cassis…….”

But as soon as I uttered the first word, I just closed my mouth again.

It seemed better not to reveal the truth to him yet.

Fedelian would not give up on finding Cassis, so the best way was to strengthen patrols around the border and wait for the next opportunity.

“Get well soon.”

So, when I just said that, Cassis looked at me again with strange eyes, as he had done before.

* * *

*Thud. Thud, thud…….*

I was on my way out of the hatchery after giving blood to the poisonous butterfly eggs.

Dark clouds seemed to be gathering early in the morning, and eventually, it started to pour.

I looked up at the dark sky for a moment. Still, the rain was still light, so I thought I could just walk in it.

If Emily were here, she would have taken the lead in bringing something to block the rain. But I was alone here now.

Most of the people in Agriche had strong personal tendencies and liked to act alone.

So, Maria, who took her maids with her every time she went out, was rather unusual.

The rain-soaked plants gave off a unique, subtle fragrance.

I walked through the path and entered the mansion.

Then, I suddenly realized where I was heading and stopped walking.

*Ah, right. It’s not time to go to Cassis’s room yet.*

I had changed the time I visited the hatchery after hearing Jeremy’s words last time.

But because my mind was focused elsewhere, I realized I was unknowingly walking towards Cassis.

Besides, my hair and clothes were wet from the rain.

*I can’t go to Cassis looking like this. I should just go back to my room.*

The reason why I was so distracted was clearly because of Deon.

And just recognizing that fact made me feel down.

*Step.*

At that moment, I suddenly felt someone’s presence behind me.

The position was closer than I thought, so I reflexively moved my body.

But by the time I noticed and turned around, the other person was already within my reach.

The same faint grassy smell I had smelled outside brushed past my nose.

The next moment, a man in all black stood before me, his figure blurred by the rain.

*Drop. Drop.*

The transparent water dripping from him and me formed spots on the floor like stains.

The man, who had come close and was blocking my view, was like a tall tree standing alone on a frozen lake.

The surrounding temperature dropped rapidly. It felt like the background surrounding me had suddenly turned into a frosty winter.

The man, who had now shed his boyishness and become a complete young man, looked down at me with the same cool eyes as ever.

His icy face, as if carved from ice, looked particularly white against his jet-black hair.

I felt the density of the air surrounding me had become noticeably thicker than before and opened my lips.

“Deon.”

At that moment, a strange light flashed in his glassy red eyes.

I almost took a step back to distance myself from him.

But before I could, Deon’s hand reached out and grabbed my wrist.

The feeling of cold body temperature spreading over my skin made me flinch.

It felt like a snake was crawling up my arm and coiling around it. At the same time, Deon’s gaze dropped down.

“Here.”

Then, a low voice, almost a whisper, brushed past my ear.

“Why are you hurt?”