The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 152

“Deon Agriche.”

The hand that had impulsively exerted force loosened ever so slightly.

His sharp gaze shifted toward the direction from which the voice had come.

As expected, Cassis Pedelian stood there, the person Deon wanted to kill more than anyone else.

“You’re truly hopeless. You can’t discern the time or place, just causing trouble without a clue.”

Cassis’s cool gaze swept past the two people held in Deon’s hand.

They were from a collateral branch of Hyperion.

Both seemed to have temporarily lost consciousness due to oxygen deprivation, but they were still breathing.

Deon also stared at the person who had appeared before him with coldly sharpened eyes.

“Did you crawl here on your own two feet because you wanted to die in their place, Cassis Pedelian?”

“Isn’t your reckless behavior up until now enough? Are you planning to cause even more mayhem?”

This place was Yggdrasil.

If the place where the two had encountered each other was outside like last time, he might have responded, but at least now, he had no intention of indulging Deon Agriche.

However, it was a separate matter that the senses throughout his body were sharply heightened in response to the destructive instinct surging from within.

“What the hell is going on here?”

The thick scent of roses, carried by the wind from the inner part of the garden, floated in the air.

Turning his head at the voice that had pierced his ears, he saw two figures standing against the backdrop of swaying rose bushes.

Jeremy spat out another curse, as if chewing on his words, after confirming what Deon had done.

However, the gazes of the two men who were already there were not directed at Jeremy Agriche.

A woman standing quietly among the red roses, as if she had just stepped out of a painting.

Roxana, who had appeared with Jeremy, silently scanned the scene before her.

No emotion or agitation surfaced on her beautiful face.

Then, finally, her petal-like red lips parted slightly.

“Deon.”

The name that flowed out caused Cassis’s fingertips to subtly twitch for a moment.

“Don’t make things bigger than they need to be.”

It was a static voice that felt almost serene. However, its impact was not small.

The red eyes, resembling Roxana’s, coldly sank.

After maintaining eye contact for a while, Deon finally moved.

As he slowly released the force from his knuckles, the people he had been holding fell onto the grass.

Deon didn’t spare them a glance, as if he had completely lost interest in those he had felt murderous intent towards just moments before.

Following this, Jeremy, who had been glaring at Deon as if to kill him, moved from his spot.

Jeremy picked up the fallen men, one on each arm. Then, avoiding any potential encounters with others, he disappeared like a shadow into the bushes, away from the path.

Three people remained in the suffocatingly rich floral scent.

Roxana’s gaze, which had been fixed on Deon without a flicker, left its fixed point after a moment and reached Cassis.

The moment their eyes met, Cassis’s hand, which had been hanging down, clenched even tighter.

Cassis slowly closed his eyes.

And after managing the emotions stirring noisily within, he took a step forward.

Deon’s gaze was fixed on Cassis’s back as he walked past Roxana and moved into the inner part of the garden.

“Don’t you have to follow him? He’s supposed to be your cherished pet.”

Even at the blatant mockery, Roxana didn’t even furrow her brow once.

“If you’re just going to do things that are this annoying, why did you even come to Yggdrasil?”

A low voice cut across his ears.

“If that’s the case, why didn’t you just die that day?”

The tone was even, but the content within was as sharp as it had always been.

Deon stared at Roxana in silence for a moment. Then, he parted his lips again, letting out a heartless voice.

“Ask your mother about that. She’s the one who saved me that day.”

The desire to hurt Roxana made Deon bring up Sierra’s actions.

If it was Roxana that Deon knew, there was no way she could easily accept the fact that her own mother, of all people, had saved his life.

However, not even a hint of wavering could be detected from Roxana.

Rather, in the next moment, her red lips drew a slender curve. A sigh-like laugh leaked out from between them.

“You’re like a child desperate for attention.”

The hem of her black skirt rippled slightly on the blue grass.

Roxana took a step closer to Deon and whispered.

“But what to do?”

And at the words that followed, Deon’s eyes shone with a more chilling light than ever before.

“Deon. I don’t need you anymore.”

The hand that had been strangling someone else’s neck just moments ago wrapped around Roxana’s arm so tightly that it hurt.

“Say that again.”

The slow and heavy voice, as if syllables were being cut off, scattered and fell among the red roses.

Roxana didn’t shake it off but simply stared at the face in front of her.

“It’s strange. It feels like I can see through you even more clearly than before.”

A beautiful hand, slipping with a fluid movement, landed on Deon’s chest.

“Right now, this inside is filled with anger. As always, your eyes are burning with the desire to kill me, who’s right in front of you.”

It was a touch so weak it was almost frail. But Deon couldn’t move a muscle, as if his heart had been seized.

“……Considering you know that, you’re still acting as recklessly as if you have multiple lives.”

A deeper smile bloomed on Roxana’s lips.

“You can’t kill me.”

The fragrant whisper pierced Deon’s chest as sharply as the thorns of the roses swaying behind her.

“But I know that you, who killed my son, could die for my daughter.”

At that moment, the words she had heard from Sierra resurfaced once again, thinly overlaid on Roxana’s voice.

“And you can’t just take it out on someone else here as if you’re venting your anger. Not unless I allow it.”

The inexplicable unpleasantness that had been slowly crawling up Deon’s body from his toes finally reached his heart.

“Just looking at the fact that you, who used to kill anyone without hesitation, carefully spared the people who were here just now and sent them away, the answer is too easy.”

Roxana’s fingertips pressed down on the unpleasant, sticky feeling stagnating in the center of his chest.

“The relationship between you and me, which is barely being maintained by a thin thread……”

Roxana moved her body and easily removed Deon’s hand, which was still gripping her arm.

“You know better than anyone that that’s when it will be completely over.”

The smile spreading before her eyes was so beautiful that her vision momentarily blurred.

“Don’t tell me you didn’t imagine this. You’re the one who directly handed me the leash I didn’t even want.”

Deon stopped moving and stared at Roxana’s coldly smiling face.

“Unfortunately, I have no intention of letting go of that leash, nor do I intend to feed you with it.”

However, it was Deon Agriche who had refused to escape from her hand in the first place.

And so, from then until now, he had been unable to find a way to quench this endless hunger, struggling with the ever-increasing hunger and thirst.

As if she had ever made his heart beat with a warm touch, Roxana, who had instantly frozen over, stepped away from Deon.

“Your usefulness is already over. So don’t do anything like this, and stay quietly out of my sight.”

The blood-red voice mercilessly struck Deon’s ears.

“That’s my last order, Deon Agriche.”

* * *

Jeremy succeeded in transporting the two unconscious men to their rooms without being noticed by anyone.

It would have been impossible if it weren’t for the skills he had painstakingly honed in Agriche, so he praised his own achievements, thinking for the first time in his life that all the hard work in Agriche hadn’t been in vain.

Of course, the two men from Hyperion, who woke up in the evening, protested to Agriche, bringing up what had happened in the garden during the day.

However, contrary to their claims, no external injuries were found on their bodies. The red handprints left on their necks had also disappeared without a trace.

Also, since no other witnesses came forward to prove their words, and everyone knew that there had been friction between the two families since they entered Yggdrasil, the matter eventually passed without incident.

It was fortunate that no one else had discovered what Deon had done at the entrance of the garden. If that had happened, a conflict between the families would have been unavoidable.

Jeremy already harbored deep personal feelings towards Hyperion, with whom he had a conflict at the entrance, so he pretended to be wronged twice and skillfully feigned ignorance in front of others.

“Crazy bastard. I knew he was out of his mind, but he’s doing this crazy shit even here.”

After resolving the troublesome matter and returning, Jeremy repeatedly cursed at Deon, who had made his heart sink for a moment.

He felt like he wouldn’t be satisfied unless he went to find him right away and tore his face apart.

However, Deon had disappeared into the ground in the meantime, and no hair of his could be seen no matter how much he searched Yggdrasil after meeting him in the garden.

So Jeremy was in a very bad mood.

He wondered if he should go see Roxana, but then the face he had to take care of first came to mind.

Come to think of it, he had resolved to personally re-educate Charlotte at the afternoon tea party.

Jeremy clenched and unclenched his fist, which had been tingling for a while from not being used, and headed to Charlotte’s room.

* * *

Late in the evening, Roxana was on her way to meet someone.

Small footsteps echoed in the quiet hallway.

Finally, her steps stopped in front of a tightly closed door.

It was a natural flow, as if he knew Roxana was coming without seeing her.

A hand that came out through the crack in the door pulled her inside.

Thud.

The sound of the door closing behind her was clear.

The person who pulled Roxana in was in very close contact.

Perhaps that’s why the refreshing scent, which she had become more than accustomed to, tickled the tip of her nose from close by.

The moment she raised her head, her eyes met with the golden eyes looking down at her.

Roxana called out his name.

“Cassis……”

But Cassis, who lowered his head, swallowed her lips right away, so she couldn’t continue speaking.