The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 187

Protecting the Heroine’s Older Brother – Episode 187

* * *

“I will find Mother!”

“I’ll go to Lady Agriche!”

Ryuzak and Pandora parted ways after leaving the exhibition hall.

Ryuzak planned to exit the building through a passage on the opposite side.

Pandora, concerned about leaving Roxana alone, decided to follow her.

The two separated in the middle of the hallway.

Clang!

As Pandora hurried down the hallway alone, she suddenly heard glass breaking behind her.

Instinctively turning, she saw someone bursting into the hallway amidst shards of glass.

Since she was on the second floor, Pandora momentarily questioned what she was seeing.

The dark figure quickly rose from the broken glass.

Seeing that it was a person, Pandora felt a surge of tension.

The metallic sound from the dolls earlier echoed from beyond the broken window, making her wonder if this, too, was a doll.

The black-clad man, now upright, turned to Pandora.

His face was covered in blood, making him difficult to recognize at first.

“What are you looking at?”

Upon hearing that unpleasant voice, she realized the man was not a doll, but a person.

And the voice belonged to Jeremy Agriche, the leader of the Blacks.

His demeanor was different from what he had shown during the social gathering, but this side suited him perfectly, as if it were his true nature.

Jeremy had used a doll’s head as a stepping stone outside to grab the second-floor windowsill and climb up. He had deliberately gone to the trouble, as breaking the first-floor windows might have allowed the dolls to push their way inside.

He ignored Pandora and immediately ran past her.

Belatedly, Pandora followed Jeremy, running after him.

“Are you perhaps looking for Lady Agriche?”

At those words, Jeremy glanced back.

“Lady Agriche went ahead a little while ago. She said she had a place to stop by. Do you know where it is?”

However, he simply ignored her, as if her question wasn’t worth answering.

Pandora frowned and silently started to run again.

She had a vague conviction that Jeremy Agriche would know Roxana’s location.

“Ah!”

Soon, Pandora and Jeremy encountered others at a fork in the hallway.

As soon as they saw the two, they spoke urgently.

“That blood…! Are there more of those things ahead?”

“We need to treat those injuries immediately…”

Naturally, Jeremy ignored them and dashed off.

The others, caught off guard, also ran after him.

“Did you two close the south gate as well?”

“We were on guard duty when it seemed like there was a problem outside, so we were on our way to check…”

“Those things wouldn’t have gotten inside the building, would they?”

They seemed to have many questions, not stopping their inquiries to Pandora even as they ran. She answered them simply, to the best of her knowledge.

Pandora now had a better idea of where Roxana had gone.

Hearing that they were on guard duty reminded her that Nyx, a Vertium doll, was in this building.

Leaving the guards behind, she sped up to keep pace with Jeremy.

Jeremy glared at Pandora with a scowl, annoyed by her close proximity.

Then, he suddenly remembered the light blue hair fluttering like water, and the distinct features revealed between the strands.

“You…! I remember now, you fat bird’s new owner!”

Jeremy, recalling the past, shouted.

Pandora was startled and gasped.

“W-what are you suddenly talking about? I don’t know what you mean!”

“Don’t lie!”

As Pandora became flustered, the image of the face vaguely remaining in his memory became clearer.

Back then, she had made that face when she saw Jeremy clinging to the demon’s leg.

Then, she had struck him on the head with that damn fat bird’s wing and fled.

“Damn it, I’m busy now, but I’ll deal with you later!”

Jeremy gritted his teeth and promised himself revenge later. Right now, joining up with Roxana was the priority.

Pandora continued to feign innocence, pretending not to know anything, while gradually slowing down to follow Jeremy from outside his field of vision.

* * *

“How boring. Was that little bit of resistance all you had?”

Orca asked Roxana with an annoyingly leisurely attitude.

Unlike Orca, who seemed quite refreshed, Roxana’s mood was rapidly plummeting.

It was only natural.

As Roxana subtly moved her body, the thick vine tightly wrapped around her waist constricted even more forcefully. Her lungs were compressed, causing her to feel slightly suffocated.

The vine was extending from the demon behind Orca.

Its towering torso was constantly melting and flowing downwards like mud.

On top of it bloomed a large purple flower with black spots, and countless vines extending downwards wriggled and swayed like living creatures.

From the center of the gaping petals flowed a sticky venom.

It was a flamboyant but equally grotesque demon, seemingly both fitting and unfitting for Orca, who boasted a refined beauty like a single flower.

“White Beast Tamer. What is the meaning of this?”

Since Orca had abandoned courtesy and started this nonsense, Roxana didn’t need to treat him with respect.

‘How can he use a demon inside Yggdrasil [a sacred tree in Norse mythology, often depicted as a source of life and wisdom]?’

Her mind was racing.

She was overwhelmed with intense doubt because she didn’t know that Orca Hyperion could use demons inside Yggdrasil.

“Well, this gathering is a social event, after all.”

Orca said with a bright smile, still wearing an innocent expression.

“So I thought I’d deepen my friendship with Roxana-ssi [an honorific suffix in Korean, similar to ‘Ms.’ or ‘Madam’].”

Roxana suppressed her rising anger.

Really, this guy and that guy were both incredibly annoying.

Noel Vertium and Orca Hyperion.

Is having no sense of decency a common trait among male leads in tragic novels?

How can they consistently choose to do only irritating things like this?

Of course, Ryuzak Gastor was excluded from that for now, but even so, the fact remained that two out of the three were crazy.

“You’re talking nonsense. You must know what the situation is like outside right now, don’t you?”

“Of course, I know. That’s why I’m doing this.”

Orca added with a pearly smile.

“You know.”

Looking at that beautiful face, Roxana felt genuinely annoyed for the first time in a while.

Suddenly, the perverted atrocities that Orca had committed against Sylvia in the novel came to mind, and a repulsive discomfort began to rise.

“It seems like you’re upset that you can’t bring out the Poison Butterfly.”

Orca, seeing Roxana’s cold face, wore a rather pleased expression.

“I’m also disappointed. I wanted to see you show the same appearance you showed Pandora in Fedelian again.”

Although she had known to some extent, he really had a nasty, perverted taste.

“But I have no intention of feeding my demon. Besides, if you had the Poison Butterfly, I wouldn’t have been able to catch you like this.”

While in Yggdrasil, Orca had occasionally watched Roxana secretly, like someone gauging the timing to set a trap.

Superficially, he acted like someone who had no interest or concern for her, but Roxana had realized early on that this wasn’t the case deep down.

The same was true for Cassis, so she had been watching Orca.

She could tell how much obsession Orca had just by looking at his passion for the Poison Butterfly.

“Besides, the Blue Young Master’s defenses should have been a bit more solid, you know.”

So she thought he would reach out at least once during the social gathering, but…

For it to be at this timing of all times.

“If you were so worried about having it taken away, you should have locked it in a cage so it couldn’t fly anywhere, honestly.”

Orca said with a slightly spiteful smile.

“If you had, I wouldn’t have had this opportunity.”

The demon’s vine slithered down her neck and into her collar. It wriggled and moved like a living snake.

The smooth sensation brushing against her skin made the back of her neck prickle with goosebumps.

Orca whispered in a voice intoxicated with his own emotions.

“It was worth looking forward to today for the past few days. Now that you’re in my hands like this.”

At that moment, Roxana’s eyes twitched.

Orca’s words sounded as if he had known in advance that the Vertium dolls would invade.

Roxana parted her tightly closed lips.

“You were expecting today’s events.”

As if Roxana’s thoughts were correct, Orca curved his eyes.

Is it related to the fact that he’s brazenly taking out a demon inside Yggdrasil?

Orca was moving the demon around as he pleased, looking far too normal. It seemed that he wasn’t affected by Yggdrasil’s magic at all.

Moreover, he appeared in this path as if he knew in advance that Roxana would move to where Nyx was.

“I wonder if the Yellow Leader has met that doll by now?”

Orca spoke in a tone as if reciting song lyrics, as if this situation was quite amusing.

“I understand Roxana-ssi’s desire not to have her dead brother’s doll taken away, but you’re going to such great lengths to get that doll, so it wouldn’t be right to ignore that admirable devotion, would it?”