The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 111

“Roxana.”

Just then, a gentle voice called her name.

Roxana quietly gazed at the face before her.

“Seeing you this close like this feels strange for some reason.”

Indeed, Nix wore an expression that seemed somewhat awkward, just as he said.

That, too, was too vivid to be something of a doll.

Roxana’s eyes lowered slightly.

She felt just as strange.

She had never even imagined that she would see Asil, alive and moving, again like this.

At least once, she had seen Asil’s illusion during the monthly evaluation when she was fifteen.

But he wasn’t in such good shape back then, and even that was just an illusion, not a real being.

The doll in Asil’s form opened his mouth again towards Roxana.

“Yeah, right. It feels like meeting someone you’ve known for a long time after a long time.”

At that moment, a soft chuckle escaped from Roxana’s lips.

“To think that a doll would talk as if it knows human emotions…”

A clear sneer bloomed on her face, which resembled Nix.

“This is quite amusing.”

Roxana leaned back a little deeper into the chair with a cold sneer.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to claim that not only the body but even the soul is Asil’s?”

Even if Nix were to entice her with sweet words, Roxana would not believe it.

Still, if he was going to spout nonsense, she was willing to listen and laugh at it.

Nix stared silently at Roxana for a moment.

Clear, blue eyes captured Roxana’s face, which was casting a cold chill.

“Well, to be honest.”

Soon, Nix moved his lips, revealing a slight embarrassment.

“Noel ordered me to act like your brother and somehow keep you in Vertium for a long time.”

As expected.

Noel’s shallow trick made her sneer involuntarily.

Perhaps because he knew that Roxana would not believe any sweet talk, Nix surprisingly revealed Noel’s plan honestly.

“As I said, my memories start from when I opened my eyes in this body. So no matter how much you tell me to act like your brother, I don’t even know how to do it.”

“I suppose so. Because you’re not Asil.”

“Actually, I don’t know much about doll arts or anything like that because it’s too complicated to even listen to. So I don’t even know the origin of how I became who I am now. So even if I wanted to answer clearly about that, I don’t really have anything to explain.”

Roxana closed her mouth at Nix’s added words.

“But the moment I saw you, I felt very happy. It’s a strange story, but it’s true.”

Nix’s eyes, staring straight at her, looked truly sincere.

The content he spoke just now also felt far from false.

“What I said at the banquet yesterday about wanting to meet you was also true.”

Roxana could have interrupted Nix’s words, but she didn’t.

“The reason I came to this place today is not to follow Noel’s orders, but simply because I wanted to meet you separately.”

Frosty eyes stared at the face in front of her as if trying to discern lies.

“I became curious after hearing about you from Noel.”

“Curious?”

And then, Roxana’s eyes twitched slightly at the sound that dug into her ears.

“Yeah, curiosity for a doll, don’t you think it’s absurd?”

Nix smiled peacefully, as if understanding Roxana’s reaction.

“But it’s true. I’ve always been curious since I opened my eyes in this body. What kind of person was the ‘me’ before I was revived?”

Roxana closed her mouth tightly.

“My life started from this body. So from your point of view, you might think it’s absurd, but I feel like this body is entirely my own.”

Her face, looking at Nix, was faintly frozen like thin ice on the surface of the water.

“This body hasn’t grown at all since I opened my eyes eight years ago. Needless to say, that’s clearly proof that I’m a doll made by Noel.”

As he said, the person, or rather the doll, in front of Roxana was maintaining Asil’s appearance as it was before his death.

A detailed explanation would have to come from Noel, but as Nix said, it was proof that he was not a real human.

Even if Nix’s vessel was a real human body, once he reopened his eyes through Noel’s doll art, that body could no longer be called a complete human’s.

“But unlike other dolls, I feel emotions, and there’s definitely a real heart beating inside me that Noel restored.”

Nix’s words were unexpected, and as such, quite surprising.

Clearly, dolls cannot feel human emotions.

The other Vertium dolls that Roxana had experienced seemed to merely imitate human emotions.

Their smiles were certainly beautiful, but somehow unnatural, and their actions were strangely rigid and stiff.

“Dante called me a defective product.”

But clearly, Nix, who was in front of her now, looked different from them.

“When you look at me, do I seem closer to a person or closer to a doll?”

“……”

“And if I consider Asil, the owner of this body, as my origin, how much of the elements that make up the current me would you say Asil occupies?”

Nix asked, looking directly at Roxana.

“I don’t know. What about you? Can you answer this?”

A doll questioning its own identity.

Certainly unprecedented.

Roxana, who never expected to hear such a story, remained silent and met Nix’s eyes.

Silence fell in the room.

Roxana stared at Nix with a face that didn’t reveal what she was thinking.

Finally, Nix looked at Roxana and smiled faintly.

“I think it wouldn’t be bad to stay here for a few more days and observe me.”

Instead of a voice filled with strong appeal like before, a soft, beautiful voice tickled her ears like a spring breeze.

“Accepting Noel’s invitation means you’re willing to learn more about me, right?”

Nix tilted his head slightly, adding, ‘Isn’t it?’

“You’ll want to hear the explanation from Noel anyway.”

His beautiful face seemed to have no deception or ulterior motives.

Pure goodness, as if any evil thoughts would turn completely white just by touching his fingertips, was felt in his eyes.

Roxana still looked at Nix with eyes that didn’t reveal any emotion.

“Although it was a more interesting topic than I expected…”

Clatter.

Then finally, she put down the teacup she was holding.

“It wasn’t a beneficial story enough to take the time to listen to.”

Then Roxana got up from her seat.

“I’ll get up first.”

Leaving Nix alone, Roxana walked towards the door.

No regrets or disappointments were felt on her back.

But just before leaving the door, Roxana said to Nix in passing.

“Bring a different tea tomorrow. Something as sweet as this that makes my tongue tingle is not my taste.”

It was, in effect, an indirect acceptance of Nix’s invitation.

* * *

“Was there any gain?”

After Roxana left the reception room, Dante came inside and asked.

Nix was still sitting at the table.

He leaned his chin on his hand, picked up the teacup in front of him, and answered leisurely as he drank the tea.

“Well, as expected. She decided to stay a little longer.”

“Lord Noel will be pleased.”

“I suppose so?”

Then suddenly, Nix burst into laughter.

“Anyway, humans are really stupid.”

Hearing those controversial words, Dante, the only human in this place, narrowed his brows.

“Pretending to be uninterested and cold, but in the end, they are quickly shaken by a few fabricated words and actions. What’s so important about this shell, this body, that they cling to it?”

Around the table and chairs in the reception room, there was a magic circle with soundproofing effects.

So even if Roxana’s poison butterflies came, it was clear that they would not be able to hear what Nix was saying now.

But Dante’s words, standing outside the magic circle, could potentially reach her ears.

Knowing that, Dante refrained from unnecessary words.

Of course, it would be easier to talk if he sat in the empty seat opposite Nix, but it was just like Dante to insist on not doing so.

“After all, the original owner of this body and that woman must have had a very strong sibling bond when they were alive. Thanks to that, I have a gap to dig into. Things will be easier than I thought.”

Nix said that and put the completely empty teacup on the table.

The appearance he showed Roxana a little while ago was intentionally imitating Asil.

Of course, Nix did not know what Asil’s actual appearance was like.

But he had heard about it indirectly, so he could vaguely imagine what kind of person the owner of this body was.

In fact, he had met another member of Agriche when he went outside Vertium to find Roxana under Noel’s orders.

It was when he first set foot on the land of Agriche to track Roxana’s whereabouts.