The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 60

“Damn it, what the hell is going on?”

Lant spat out a curse as he hurriedly left the banquet hall.

His face was filled with shock, confusion, and astonishment.

“Cassis Pedelian was definitely dead back then…!”

It was fortunate that there was no one around, or it could have caused trouble.

Lant was so distraught that he couldn’t even pay attention to such things.

Well, anyone would be surprised to see someone they firmly believed to be dead come back to life.

He must have felt like Jeremy did, as if he had witnessed a ghost.

Suddenly, he saw Noel Vertium walking towards them in the distance. He seemed to be planning to rejoin the banquet.

I moved before Lant and he could spot each other.

“Father, calm down.”

“How can I calm down?”

I naturally guided Lant to change direction, and Noel Vertium disappeared from view. This prevented Lant and Noel from running into each other right now.

“Father, you clearly saw it with your own eyes back then. He definitely died by my hand.”

“That’s true, but… then what the hell is that?”

Lant’s voice was slightly more stable than before, as if he was recalling the memory of that time. But it still contained confusion.

“Since the real one is already dead, that must be a fake that looks like him.”

Lant frowned at that.

“So you’re saying that’s a stand-in? But that aura is definitely Pedelian’s. Besides, wouldn’t you believe it even if they were twins?”

“Perhaps the truth is simpler than you think.”

I could feel doubt beginning to sprout in Lant’s mind. Eventually, he would not be able to deny what I was about to say.

I looked Lant directly in the eyes and whispered in a low voice.

“There is someone in this world who can create dolls so elaborate that they look like real living people, isn’t there?”

The moment our eyes met, time seemed to stop. He and I had stopped walking without realizing it.

“A doll… you’re saying it’s a doll?”

Lant’s reaction was better than expected.

Looking at his stiff face, he seemed to think that what I had just said was actually plausible.

Of course. What Lant had been constantly trying to connect with Vertium for, and what he had desired, was not different from this.

“Don’t you remember? I told you before that an exchange between Pedelian and Vertium had been confirmed not long ago.”

I had merely touched the hidden part of Lant’s mind and fueled his anxiety and suspicion.

“I thought it was strange… The confirmed exchange was only recent, but perhaps they had been secretly contacting each other before, avoiding the eyes of others.”

Of course, what I had leaked to Lant was false information. For the past three years, Pedelian and Vertium had not had any noticeable exchanges.

“Could it be that Vertium…”

I could almost hear Lant’s mind racing.

Perhaps because there was already chaos in his mind, he didn’t seem to be able to make proper judgments.

I whispered to him again like a cunning snake.

“If the Blue Pedelian, who lost his successor and was in crisis, made a doll that looked exactly like Cassis Pedelian during the past three years while he was lying low, wouldn’t that fit perfectly?”

* * *

As expected, Lant turned back towards the building where his lodgings were, intending to meet Noel Vertium.

But Noel had just headed to the banquet hall.

Of course, Roxana knew that fact but didn’t tell Lant.

Roxana checked their locations through the butterflies and then moved.

Whoosh!

It was at that moment that a strong force snatched her arm.

Roxana realized who the person hiding in the darkness was and didn’t shake off his hand.

The rough force that had pulled her arm now pushed her back. A cold, hard wall touched her back.

At the same time, a body exuding a chilling aura approached her.

“…What is this? That’s a bit much for a greeting.”

Despite the sudden situation, Roxana showed no sign of agitation.

Her eyes, without a ripple, coldly stared at the face in front of her.

Red eyes, with a similar temperature to her gaze, looked down at Roxana as if to pierce through her.

Light flickered in her vision. It was the light leaking from the banquet hall.

Since they were almost facing away from the terrace on the first floor, the music and murmuring voices flowing from inside could be heard faintly.

“Cassis Pedelian has come out into the open again.”

Deon’s face, bathed in the light, was chillingly frozen.

He must have just arrived at Yggdrasil, as he wasn’t wearing a tailcoat.

Roxana slightly lowered her gaze at the faint scent of blood that spread to the tip of her nose.

Then she saw that Deon’s left arm, half-hidden by his cloak, was stained red. He must have been injured while handling the task she had entrusted to him.

But Roxana didn’t feel any emotion about it.

“Were you happy to see him after a long time?”

Rather, this was what piqued her interest.

He knew that Cassis was alive, yet he was showing such emotional behavior.

Roxana’s lips slowly moved, finally forming a small arc.

“Why bother asking if you know so well?”

A smile lingered in her languid eyes. The air surrounding Deon became even sharper as the smile bloomed like a flower bud.

“…I sometimes want to kill you.”

Unlike his typically cold and monotonous voice, the emotions trapped in his eyes were much more intense and savage.

Thud.

It was at that moment that someone’s footsteps were heard from the side.

“I didn’t expect there would be someone here who doesn’t even know the purpose of the Harmony Assembly.”

A low voice cut through the chilly night air, piercing the eardrums.

At the same time, a strong grip dug into Deon’s wrist, which was holding Roxana’s arm.

Roxana broke off her gaze from Deon and turned her head.

She saw silver hair, tinged with light, scattering finely in the air. The eyes, shadowed, held a more intense radiance than she remembered.

The straight gaze was fixed on Deon, who was threateningly looming in front of Roxana, as if to pierce through him.

“Is intimidating the other party Agrice’s unique way of greeting?”

It was Cassis Pedelian who had appeared.

She hadn’t sensed his presence until he had approached this close. It was impossible.

Cassis, who had shed his boyishness, had grown surprisingly in many ways. The overwhelming pressure emanating from him at this moment was enough to take one’s breath away, no less than Deon’s.

If Lant Agrice saw this, he would surely have no doubt that Cassis Pedelian might be a fake.

Of course, Lant would not have the chance to talk to Cassis separately at this Harmony Assembly. It was also impossible for him to meet Noel, the head of Vertium, as he desired.

Because Roxana would make sure of it.

“Deon.”

Finally, Roxana’s lips parted slightly.

At the small call that reached his ear, the cold gaze that had been fixed on Cassis turned back to Roxana.

Deon looked down at her with eyes that showed various emotions colliding and creating cracks, and then he gathered his wildly raging energy and stepped back.

After Deon turned away, Roxana straightened her body.

“Thank you for your help.”

She lifted the hem of her skirt with one hand and bowed politely to the person in front of her.

“My name is Roxana Agrice. May I ask for your name?”

If anyone else saw them now, they would surely think this was their first meeting.

Cassis stared at Roxana silently for a moment.

After a brief silence, Cassis finally moved his tightly closed lips slowly.

“…Cassis Pedelian.”

A low voice with a deep resonance flowed from his mouth.

“The young lord of Blue [referring to the Pedelian family], I presume.”

“If you allow me, may I offer my greetings.”

Cassis didn’t just introduce himself; he also extended his hand to Roxana with an unwavering expression.

“Gladly.”

Two gloved hands overlapped.

As Roxana raised her hand, Cassis took it and pressed his lips to the back of her hand.

A strange warmth lightly permeated the skin, which was cool to the touch.

Gazes collided up close. The eyes she faced head-on were familiar, but they exuded a strange feeling that was more than enough to offset that familiarity.

It wasn’t just his eyes that made her feel that way.

Roxana pulled back her hand, which had been held by him.

“I am well aware of the Blue young lord’s reputation. I am ashamed to show you such a childish squabble between siblings.”

Then Cassis’s calm golden eyes slid slightly to the side.

It coldly swept through the dark space that had swallowed Deon’s figure a moment ago.

“A childish squabble between siblings.”

“Yes, so there is no need for the Blue young lord to be deeply concerned.”

“Is that so.”

Cassis murmured quietly to himself and then looked back at Roxana in front of him.

Roxana, dressed in gorgeous attire for the banquet, was so beautiful that she was blinding, standing out prominently even in the darkness.

But at the same time, she was exuding a strange feeling, as if she would disappear silently into the night air as she was.

“It’s getting late. I should return to my room. The Blue young lord should go back inside the banquet hall.”

Roxana expressed her intention to leave first. Cassis didn’t stop her.

However, a familiar, comforting weight fell on Roxana’s shoulders, as if she had experienced it somewhere before.

“It’s cold at night, so wear this.”

A warm temperature permeated her body, which had been chilled by the thin dress. Roxana looked up at him with Cassis’s coat draped over her shoulders.

The distance between the two was much closer than before.

It had been a long time since she had faced Cassis’s face so closely. Perhaps that was why she felt a strange feeling that was difficult to explain.

Gazes intertwined in the air once again.

“Just like what I gave you last night…”

A low whisper spread between them.

“You don’t have to return this either.”

Hearing those words, she was finally completely sure who the person she had met last night was.

Cassis was the first to turn away.

Roxana stood motionless for a while, watching his retreating figure.