The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 135

Protecting the Heroine’s Older Brother – Episode 135

* * *

Roxana’s face, turned away from Nyx, was chillingly cold, almost heartless.

Nyx’s confusion emanated from behind her, hanging heavy in the silence.

He seemed utterly perplexed, unsure whether Roxana’s words were true or not.

The seeds of distrust had already been sown.

A person’s faith is more fragile than one might think, especially prone to wavering in moments of crisis. This is even more true when one is already gripped by anxiety.

In any case, they would have to move to Yggdrasil [a massive, mythical tree central to Norse cosmology, often seen as a symbol of the interconnectedness of all things] soon.

So, her promise to take Nyx to where Noel was wasn’t entirely a lie.

Of course, that didn’t mean she actually intended to return him to Vertium.

Moreover, Pedelian and Roxana were anticipating an attack from Vertium on their way to Yggdrasil.

From Vertium’s perspective, they had to prevent Nyx, the living proof of their using a real person’s body in puppetry, from appearing before the other five families.

Having observed them while staying in Vertium, it was clear that Dante was in charge of their schemes.

If the situation didn’t go as planned, his top priority would be to completely destroy Nyx’s body before they entered Yggdrasil.

Of course, Pedelian would never allow Nyx to be taken, so Vertium’s actions were likely to become quite extreme.

If that happened, Nyx’s confusion would undoubtedly reach its peak.

Before completely leaving the underground prison, Roxana glanced back.

She was almost at the entrance, so naturally, Nyx was out of sight.

Her calm red eyes paused quietly for a moment before silently turning away.

Roxana opened the iron door and stepped outside.

* * *

“Roxana.”

Cassis was waiting outside the door.

The subordinate guarding the entrance to the underground prison bowed to Roxana upon seeing her.

He was the one who had allowed Sylvia into the prison.

If it had been Agriche, they would have immediately issued a severe reprimand and punishment without question, but Pedelian carefully examined the circumstances to determine responsibility.

In fact, since there had been no explicit order from above to ban Sylvia’s entry, the treatment was limited to a stern warning to both of them.

Roxana left the area with Cassis.

“How is Sylvia?”

Cassis had visited Sylvia while Roxana was meeting Nyx.

Cassis answered Roxana’s question.

“It seems there’s nothing to worry about.”

“That’s good, I’m relieved.”

She had been worried, so Cassis’s confirmation put her mind at ease.

The fact that Sylvia and Nyx had met in the underground prison had been bothering her.

Of course, the scene she had seen through the poison butterfly didn’t show any major problems….

Still, she felt wary because Sylvia seemed to have a liking for Nyx.

Recalling Nyx’s pretense in front of Sylvia, just as he had done with Roxana in Vertium, made her frown.

So, Cassis had decided to speak to Sylvia directly about Nyx.

Fortunately, Sylvia seemed to understand Cassis’s words immediately and no longer showed interest in Nyx.

They would have to move to Yggdrasil with Nyx soon, so she would have to be careful for a while, but for now, she was relieved.

“More importantly, are you really going alone?”

This time, it was Cassis’s turn to ask Roxana.

His eyes, looking down at her, held a faint light of concern, similar to when he thought about Sylvia.

Seeing this, Roxana let out a soft laugh.

“You admitted that it’s more efficient that way, didn’t you?”

Cassis frowned at that, but he didn’t argue with Roxana’s words.

Some time later, the procession heading to Yggdrasil departed from Pedelian.

Roxana was not among them.

She had gone ahead to the neutral zone.

Roxana had a place to visit before going to Yggdrasil. After that, she planned to enter Yggdrasil separately from Pedelian.

Of course, Cassis initially didn’t welcome Roxana’s plan, but later he acknowledged and accepted that this was more reasonable.

After that, Cassis even helped to ease Roxana’s burden.

Although there was a risk of an attack from Vertium, Pedelian’s strength alone was enough to stop them.

So, Roxana didn’t need to be held back by Nyx’s situation.

Therefore, Roxana was able to trust Pedelian and decide to move separately.

Still, Cassis was worried about any potential danger to Roxana and wanted to assign Ollin or other trusted aides to her.

Of course, he knew that Roxana was unlikely to be in danger, but he couldn’t help but worry.

But Roxana shook her head.

She also wanted to do as Cassis wished as much as possible, but no matter how she thought about it, it was more convenient to move alone in this situation.

Roxana wanted to move quickly without being noticed by others.

Moreover, as was typical of the Agriche people, Roxana was specialized in individual abilities that were most efficient when she was alone.

Cassis respected her wishes.

So, they would move separately to Yggdrasil.

Roxana headed straight to the neutral zone.

Her destination was quite far from where Yggdrasil was located.

The crowded city streets were bustling with energy.

Originally, the neutral zone was a place where all sorts of people came and went freely, so no one paid much attention to someone covering themselves from head to toe in clothing.

Roxana walked a little further through the city.

Finally, her steps stopped abruptly in front of a door that appeared before her.

* * *

Suddenly, her vision felt dark, so she looked up.

Looking out the window, she saw that it was already dusk.

Sierra watched the sky, mixed with orange and purple, for a moment before calling Beth.

“The room is dark; we should light the fire.”

“Yes, Madam.”

Beth moved immediately without another word.

At other times, Beth would have noticed and lit the room’s fire first.

But today, Sierra seemed lost in thought, so she had been quietly by her side, not wanting to disturb her.

Since Deon had left, Sierra had often been alone, thinking about something like this.

…Could she be regretting sending him away like that?

Beth, who had been a servant of Agriche, also knew that Deon was the one who had killed Sierra’s son, Asil.

Beth carefully examined Sierra’s face, a thought creeping into her mind.

But contrary to her worries, while she found traces of contemplation on Sierra, she found no traces of anguish.

Beth, who had moved silently, lit the candle on the table.

Meanwhile, Emily approached the window and drew the curtains.

Rustle….

In the midst of this, for some reason, Emily’s hand suddenly stopped.

“….”

Her gaze was also fixed on something.

A red butterfly that had somehow entered and was perched on the windowsill.

“Emily?”

Sierra and Beth looked at Emily, who had suddenly stopped moving, with puzzled expressions.

Soon, Emily’s hand was removed from the curtain that had been hanging by the window.

However, her steps then headed towards the door, not to where she had been.

Knock knock.

Just in time, the sound of knocking on the door was heard.

The room became quiet in an instant.

Without even checking the identity of the visitor, Emily began to unlock the door without hesitation.

By that time, Sierra had also sensed something and held her breath.

Click. Creak.

Finally, the setting sun, now even deeper, streamed in through the opened door.

The scenery, swirling with deep red color, blurred her vision.

Emily opened her mouth to the person standing tall in it.

“I’ve been waiting.”

Hearing her soft voice, the person slowly raised their hand and took off the hood of the coat they were wearing over their head.

Then, golden waterfalls flowed down below their shoulders as if they had been waiting.

The next moment, what rang in her ears was a voice that had haunted Sierra’s dreams.

“It’s been a while, Emily.”

Thump.

It was only natural that Sierra immediately got up from her seat.

Hearing that sound, Emily bowed her head and stepped back.

So, Sierra was able to make eye contact with the person who had come to find her without anything blocking her.

At that moment, Sierra unknowingly called out the name of the person in front of her.

“Sanaya.”

Roxana silently gazed at her mother, whom she had met face to face after a long time.

Because she had always kept her distance from her mother, even when she was in Agriche, it had been a very long time since they had stood face to face like this.

And….

Because this place was no longer Agriche.

Also, because she no longer had to look at her mother with the same feelings as before.

So, Roxana opened her lips and whispered the honest words she wanted to say to the person she was facing now.

“Mother, I missed you.”