The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 141

How to Protect the Heroine’s Older Brother – 141

* * *

Ryuzak Gastor stood at the entrance of the garden.

He flinched slightly upon seeing me again, then turned his head away with an indifferent air.

Looking around, it was clear he was preventing others from entering the garden. A servant stood beside Ryuzak, holding the very item I had intended to prepare.

As I approached the garden entrance, the servant handed me the tray.

I greeted Ryuzak, “Thank you for your consideration.”

“It’s nothing.”

He remained aloof.

One might think he wanted nothing to do with me. Of course, I knew this was his usual demeanor.

Jeremy was waiting for me inside, so I didn’t linger and moved on. I felt a brief gaze on my back as I left.

* * *

Back inside the garden, Jeremy was waiting, looking much tidier than before.

He was visibly restless, fidgeting, but his face lit up brightly as soon as I reappeared.

He looked like a puppy eagerly awaiting its owner.

By the time Jeremy’s swollen eyes had returned to nearly normal, we left the garden together.

As soon as Jeremy saw Ryuzak standing outside, his expression turned serious, and he tensed.

Of course, no matter how stern he tried to appear, Jeremy’s hand was still clutching mine tightly, like a child lost on the street, and Ryuzak had already seen him crying.

I didn’t want to embarrass Jeremy by pointing that out just then.

Thankfully, Ryuzak merely frowned slightly before turning away, feigning indifference.

“Wow, is that really Roxana?”

“The rumors the others were whispering about were true.”

Walking a bit further, I spotted a few other Agriache people I hadn’t seen in a while.

They seemed to have heard about me from others who had arrived at Yggdrasil earlier.

I felt the need to stop them before they got closer and noticed Jeremy’s reddened eyes.

After all, Jeremy cried because of me, so I felt responsible.

So, as I had done with Ryuzak, I raised a finger to my lips and spoke in a hushed tone to the murmuring people, “Sorry. Greetings later.”

It was a method I hadn’t used in a while, but it was still effective.

The approaching people stopped in their tracks.

Holding Jeremy’s hand, I passed through the dazed crowd.

Jeremy followed me obediently, and we were soon inside the lodging.

* * *

After that, Jeremy stayed in my room until sunset.

Being with him like this felt like returning to Agriache, which was quite nostalgic.

Jeremy, whom I hadn’t seen in a while, had clearly grown taller and broader since last winter. However, he seemed to have lost some weight, which made me uneasy.

Feeling sorry for him, I stroked his noticeably thinner jawline and cheeks, which made Jeremy’s eyes well up again.

Still, this time he widened his eyes and held back his tears, so the same situation didn’t occur.

Jeremy seemed afraid that I would disappear at any moment and wouldn’t let go of my hand.

Seeing him like that, I thought it was a good thing I came to Yggdrasil early.

After visiting my mother, I came straight to Yggdrasil without joining them midway, as I had initially discussed with Cassis.

In fact, it was an earlier arrival than planned.

Because I didn’t stay long at my mother’s residence and left there early.

“…….”

After a long conversation, Jeremy reluctantly left my room, and I went out to the terrace to look outside.

My current room was the same one I stayed in during the last Harmony Assembly [a gathering of influential families].

From here, I could see the main gate of Yggdrasil clearly.

Pat. Pat…….

Suddenly, a long diagonal line was drawn in my vision.

It seemed the sky had been cloudy for a while, and a few drops of rain began to fall.

The red sunset had completely faded, and the lights from the buildings inside Yggdrasil glowed yellow.

I saw some people outside hurrying into the buildings.

Once they had all disappeared, the surroundings became quieter.

Pedelian had not yet arrived at Yggdrasil. Neither had Vertium.

I wondered if they had really met on the way, as expected. I was also concerned if anything else had happened.

Above all, what weighed on my mind was…….

Pat pat. Swish…….

The rain intensified.

Now, raindrops were even falling inside the terrace, and I was getting wet.

Knock knock.

Just then, I heard a knock on the door.

It must be the people who came to help prepare for the evening banquet.

Thinking alone wouldn’t solve anything. So, it would be better for me to do my part here.

I turned around and left the terrace.

Even then, the sound of rain echoed loudly behind me like a buzzing noise.

* * *

“Sister, I’m here.”

Around the time I finished getting ready, Jeremy came to my room again.

I had decided to attend the evening banquet with him. That was why Jeremy had reluctantly left my room earlier.

“Wait, Jeremy. Your tie is crooked.”

Jeremy was also perfectly dressed. That’s why the noticeable flaw stood out even more.

I reached out and straightened Jeremy’s attire.

Then, the corners of his lips twitched slightly.

It was obvious that he had deliberately messed up his tie to receive my touch.

Looking again, his hair was also unnaturally disheveled in the middle, so I smoothed it down with my hand.

It was blatant childishness, but it felt somewhat welcome since it had been a while.

Besides, I thought it might be a bit awkward to meet Jeremy again, but he treated me with the same attitude as before, without any distance, which made me feel at ease.

With Jeremy’s escort, I headed to the banquet hall.

It wasn’t an official banquet because some families hadn’t arrived yet.

So, the heads of each family were not present. Only Jeremy, the young head of Agriache, was an exception.

As soon as I entered the banquet hall, I felt piercing gazes from all directions.

Among them were familiar faces: Orca and Pandora of Hyperion.

They both seemed to have attended the Yggdrasil gathering for some reason.

They didn’t seem surprised to see me entering with Jeremy, as they seemed to have guessed my identity to some extent.

However, they seemed to find it unexpected that I wasn’t accompanied by Pedelian.

Pandora slightly turned her head away from my gaze, perhaps because of what happened in Pedelian, and Orca looked at me with a subtle smile.

Ryuzak, whom I saw during the day, was nowhere to be seen.

“Sister, sit here.”

Jeremy pulled out a chair for me at the table where the Agriache people were gathered.

It was clearly a seat of honor that had been deliberately left for us.

The gazes that had been directed at Jeremy and me since earlier also included those of the Agriache people.

However, they had itchy faces but only offered simple greetings to Jeremy and me, without saying anything else first.

Seeing them subtly watching Jeremy’s reaction, it seemed he had sternly warned them about something while I was away.

Judging from their attitude towards me since earlier, it seemed no one knew that I was behind the downfall of Agriache.

Perhaps it was because I had never outwardly stepped forward at that time.

For now, I decided to stay out of the spotlight and observe the atmosphere.

At the banquet hall, Jeremy took care of me very meticulously.

“Sister, I’ve cut this for you. Give me that and eat this instead.”

“Sister, should I ask them to bring you warm water if this is too cold?”

“Sister, isn’t the music too loud? I’ll tell them to turn it down.”

“Sister, do you need anything else?”

“Sister…….”

“Sana, Sister…….”

But his attentiveness was somewhat excessive.

The ‘Sister’ that Jeremy had been calling from beside me seemed to echo in my ears.

“It’s okay, Jeremy. Stop worrying about me and eat something yourself.”

However, he didn’t take his eyes off me, as if he was full just watching me eat.

Meanwhile, one of my half-siblings sitting across from us opened his mouth, unable to contain his curiosity any longer.

“Um, I have a question. Roxana, Sister, and Jeremy, Brother, have you been in contact all this time…….”

“If you have something to say, say it later. Sana, Sister, is eating now. If someone keeps bothering you while you’re eating, will you digest well or not? Even if you’re stupid, you can figure that out, right? If you can’t even think that much, is there any need to have that head on your shoulders? And if you can’t even remember the warning I gave you just an hour ago and make me say so much, will I get annoyed or not?”

“Oh, s-sorry…….”

However, he quickly deflated like a punctured balloon at Jeremy’s frosty reaction.