The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 14

Protecting the Heroine’s Older Brother – 14

* * *

“Lady Roxana, what should we do with the toy?”

After Lant Agriche left, the subordinates in charge of moving Cassis asked me.

“Take him to an empty room in my possession.”

Cassis was unconscious.

It was no wonder, considering his already fragile body had just been subjected to Lant Agriche’s merciless violence once again.

Still, the fact that he only lost consciousness after Lant Agriche had completely disappeared from sight showed that Cassis’s willpower should be acknowledged.

“He’s in a terrible state.”

I glanced down at the bloodied Cassis and said, “I don’t think I’ll be able to play with him like this. It seems I’ll have to get him treated beforehand, so take care of it.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Cassis was dragged away, his arms held by two subordinates.

Clear bloodstains remained where he had been. Naturally, Cassis’s body, the source of that blood, was in an utterly unwatchable state.

I looked at Cassis, who was constantly suffering in Agriche, with a pitiful heart.

Then, at some point, I suddenly felt a faint sense of unease. While looking at the bloodied Cassis, a question flashed through my mind.

I narrowed my eyes and briefly glanced at Cassis as he moved away.

Then, I decided to check this question when I met him again later and turned away.

* * *

“Sana, you’re just coming now?”

*Why are you there?*

I stopped walking, looking at Jeremy sitting on the landing.

“Jeremy, why are you sitting there?”

He was sitting on the stairs, his arms on his legs, and his chin resting on his arms, looking up at me.

Since the house was large, the stairs were also wide, so Jeremy’s figure sitting there alone stood out even more.

It seemed like he was waiting for me…….

I couldn’t understand why he was greeting me like this on the stairs, not in front of my room.

“I heard you went to see that son of a bitch… the toy, so I came to see too.”

Jeremy’s voice was a little chilly as he said that.

Seeing the dissatisfaction on his face, it seemed he was unhappy with the fact that Cassis had completely become my toy today.

Last time, he was in a good mood all by himself and offered to prevent Charlotte from approaching Cassis even after she had finished her punishment.

Jeremy, this guy is really, as I already knew, a guy whose mood swings very easily.

“Then why are you here instead of coming to the first floor?”

*What a troublesome guy. I don’t want to cater to [맞춰주기] him.*

I wanted to slap him on the forehead, but instead, I gently stroked his bangs.

“Father was beating up sister’s [누나’s] toy, so I just watched for a while and came up.”

Jeremy’s tone was still a bit twisted, but he seemed to feel better when I touched him. Or maybe he felt better thinking about Cassis getting beaten up.

“Can I go see sister’s [누나’s] toy separately later?”

Jeremy took his hand off his chin and asked me. I tilted my head slightly, looking at his face.

*That’s a look with ulterior motives.*

Still, I didn’t drag it out and answered.

“Yes. But not now, later.”

“Why?”

“You saw father [아버지] beating him earlier, right? He’s not in good condition right now. I don’t feel like playing with him either, so I’ve put him in an empty room for now.”

Hearing my voice, which was coated with indifference, Jeremy shook off his butt and got up.

“Okay, I’ll go see him when he’s in better shape.”

I wasn’t flustered by the sudden words because I thought Jeremy would come to see Cassis at least once.

Rather, what made me pause for a moment was what Jeremy added as he passed by.

“Oh, I just saw sister’s [누나’s] mother.”

But I soon opened my mouth as if nothing was wrong.

“Really? Where?”

“In front of sister’s [누나’s] room. She’s probably inside waiting now.”

I wondered where the two people, who stayed in different buildings and had different ranges of activity, had met, but it was in front of my room.

I was a little curious as to why my mother, whom I had met at the grand banquet a while ago, had come to find me so quickly again.

“It seems like she heard that sister [누나] got a toy?”

I understood Jeremy’s explanation.

*Ah, that’s what it was.*

“Did mother [어머니] tell you that?”

“No, I heard her talking to Emily in front of sister’s [누나’s] room.”

Then Jeremy twisted his lips and smiled, wondering what he was thinking.

“Sister’s [누나’s] mother’s expression was so funny.”

His foot kicked the stair railing.

I realized that the reason Jeremy’s mood seemed low was not because of Cassis.

“Sister’s [누나’s] mother or my mother. Shit, do they think they gave birth to some kind of monster? Why are they trembling [벌벌 떨고] and making a fuss [난리야].”

Both the tone and the content were terribly sarcastic.

No wonder he was waiting for me on this landing, not in front of my room. It seemed that the sight of my mother today had particularly upset him.

I knew that Jeremy was projecting the image of his own mother onto my mother.

The writer who wrote this novel was indeed a master of tragic [피폐] novels, giving even the villain Jeremy a dark past.

His mother had been very afraid of Jeremy for a long time.

As time passed and Jeremy became more and more like an Agriche child, her symptoms worsened.

Eventually, after Jeremy was first invited to the grand banquet, she would scream and run away as if she would faint just by seeing him.

I couldn’t understand how such a weak-hearted person could have married Lant Agriche.

Anyway, Jeremy’s mother died a few years ago.

That day, Jeremy’s mother ran away from her son, whom she accidentally encountered in the hallway.

Jeremy, who would have usually pretended not to see her, was upset with his mother that day and chased after her.

Jeremy had an attachment disorder [애정 결핍], as children who are not loved by their parents usually do.

However, he couldn’t express it and suppressed it, eventually exploding in an instant.

Their game of chase [술래잡기] ended quickly.

Jeremy’s mother arrived at her room and locked the door, but Jeremy, who was very angry, eventually broke the door and went inside.

His mother, who had lost her hiding place, chose to jump out of the terrace.

When Jeremy ran in surprise, fortunately, she was holding onto the railing.

However, the hand Jeremy reached out to save his mother did not reach her.

She refused her son until the end and chose to fall instead.

The place they were in was on the third floor, so she might have been able to survive if she was lucky.

But in the end, Jeremy’s mother broke her neck and died.

“I thought sister’s [누나’s] mother would be a little different, but look at her running over in surprise just because she got a toy.”

I had an idea of what Jeremy was seeing in my mother and why he was acting like this.

Since some time ago, my mother had been looking at me with eyes that seemed to feel a sense of distance from me, while also thinking that I was admirable for receiving father’s [아버지’s] favor.

Sometimes, she would show subtle fear towards me, as if she were dealing with something unknown other than her own daughter.

Maybe mother [어머니] thinks I don’t know that.

But aren’t children originally sensitive to their parents’ emotions?

“Let’s go to the room.”

I reached out to Jeremy in front of me.

He was still kicking the stair railing with one foot.

“Mother [어머니] is in sister’s [누나’s] room right now. I’m not going.”

“No, not my room, your room.”

At that moment, Jeremy stopped kicking the railing.

“Aren’t you going to see mother [어머니]? She’s waiting for sister [누나] now?”

Originally, Jeremy and I were about the same height, but now I had to look up at him because the height of the stairs we were standing on was different.

I took Jeremy’s hand and stepped down one more step. This time, Jeremy willingly followed me.

“Yeah, I don’t really want to see her right now either.”

I couldn’t clearly distinguish whether it was a lie to draw empathy [동질감] from Jeremy, or whether it was my complete sincerity that I didn’t want to see mother [어머니].

If so, let’s just assume it’s the former.

Jeremy’s hand, which was secretly [슬그머니] holding my hand, was warm.

I tried a little not to feel that warmth and moved my steps.