The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 22

Protecting the Heroine’s Older Brother – Episode 22

* * *

“Sana, Sis!”

I had barely stepped out of my room when I ran into Jeremy this time.

Jeremy, walking from the end of the hallway, called out to me happily and ran over like an excited puppy.

I paused, not expecting to meet him right in front of my door. Jeremy also hesitated and stopped walking as soon as he saw me, for some reason.

Of course, it was only a fleeting moment for both of us, and soon Jeremy and I approached each other as if nothing had happened.

“What’s that? There’s blood on your clothes, Sis?”

Ah, it was because of the blood on me.

I subtly moved the sleeve that was still covering my mouth and deliberately smeared the blood on my cheek.

“My toy wasn’t listening, so I gave it a little punishment.”

“Ah, so it’s that bastard’s blood.”

Fortunately, Jeremy’s face relaxed, probably because the blood on my face looked quite natural. Moreover, he seemed even more pleased to hear that I had punished Cassis.

All the children of Agriache had been ingesting poison since they were young, but they didn’t disclose to others what kind of poison they were taking or the extent of the side effects.

This was because it could be a weakness in case of emergency.

In fact, there were siblings who tried to exploit this during the monthly evaluations to gain a higher ranking.

Of course, I don’t think Jeremy would threaten me with this…

In a way, this kind of defense mechanism had become a habit while living in Agriache.

Besides, even if I had vomited blood in front of Jeremy, it would be different, but otherwise, there was no reason for me to tell the truth.

“Sis, you should stop rubbing it. It keeps smearing.”

“Really? It’s unpleasant because I think it’s dirty blood.”

I lowered my arm after hearing Jeremy’s words.

Looking down slightly, the bloodstains on my chest looked quite natural. At this point, it seemed like one could really think that someone else’s blood had splattered on me.

“I should go to my room and wash up.”

*Why* are you so satisfied?

Jeremy seemed to like the way I described Cassis’s blood as dirty, and he had a satisfied expression, like a child with candy in his mouth.

“Jeremy, what brings you here? Did you come to see me?”

“I didn’t see you in your room, so I thought you might have gone to see your toy.”

So, he *did* come to see me. I’m glad I came out of Cassis’s room a little earlier than usual today.

“Okay, then let’s go to my room.”

I took a step closer to Jeremy, who was in front of me.

At that moment, Jeremy sniffed the air for a moment and then spoke.

“But Sana, Sis, have you been to the Poison Butterfly Hatchery again?”

I flinched.

*This guy, does he have a dog’s nose? Could he have smelled it and noticed?*

“You smell like poisonous herbs, Sis. Just a little bit, though.”

He was disparaging Cassis as a bastard, but Jeremy wasn’t in a position to talk.

Since Jeremy had known for a while that I was going in and out of the Poison Butterfly Hatchery, it wasn’t something to keep secret.

“Yeah, I just stopped by a little while ago.”

Even if it’s faint, if Jeremy can tell by the smell, it means that the greenhouse’s poison still lingers on my body.

If so, there was a possibility that the poison on my body could affect Cassis.

From now on, it would be better not to go to the greenhouse before visiting Cassis.

“Do you think it will hatch this time?”

Jeremy, who was walking side by side next to me, asked in a displeased voice.

“Shouldn’t you just throw that egg away? Or just give it to someone else.”

I remembered having a similar conversation last time.

Jeremy had been unhappy with me hatching the Poison Butterfly from the beginning.

So much so that on the day Emily brought the Poison Butterfly’s egg at my direction, he pretended to drop it and break it.

“Jeremy.”

I felt the need to warn him again, just in case he tried to do that again.

“If you try to interfere again like last time, I’m really going to get angry.”

“I won’t!”

Jeremy shouted urgently in a startled voice at my words.

The chilling gaze I had given him when he tried to break the Poison Butterfly’s egg, pretending it was a mistake, must have left a considerable impact.

“I’m just saying that because if that parasite-like monster hatches, you’ll have to feed it your blood, Sis.”

Soon, Jeremy mumbled.

I knew why he was doing this.

This is because the owner who imprints the Poison Butterfly is essentially the host of the Poison Butterfly.

Besides, since it was still a monster, there was still a risk, even if one succeeded in taming it.

As a prime example, there was a case where the owner of a Poison Butterfly, who had succeeded in imprinting it but could no longer supply blood, was eaten to death by the Poison Butterfly they were raising.

So, Jeremy must be really worried about me.

I raised my hand towards Jeremy next to me, but soon stopped moving in the air.

“I want to pat your head, but my hands are covered in blood.”

“It’s okay, I can wash it off, too.”

Aren’t you answering as if you’ve been waiting for this?

Jeremy said without a second of hesitation. Hearing that, I couldn’t help but smile a little.

As Jeremy wished, I just patted his head with my bloody hand.

Jeremy was still happy, smiling at me with his hair messed up.

“Still, it’s a relief that the two eggs that were about to hatch just died in the end… Oh, no! Of course, I’m also sad that it didn’t go the way you wanted, Sana, Sis…”

Jeremy spoke without thinking and soon made excuses in surprise.

“It’s hard to tame more than one anyway, and we can succeed this time… You know what I mean, right?”

“I know. You’re the only one who cares about me this much. Thank you.”

I freed Jeremy from his agony because I felt sorry for him struggling.

When I smiled kindly and patted his head again, Jeremy looked relieved. His hair was now almost like a bird’s nest.

I took Jeremy and went up the stairs to my room.

But what Jeremy had just said to me was wrong.

I had already succeeded in hatching one of the Poison Butterfly’s eggs.

* * *

Cassis’s face, looking at the closed door, was stiffer than usual.

Roxana’s figure, who had just left through that door, still remained in his vision like an afterimage. The faint sound of footsteps that had been vaguely heard from outside soon disappeared.

In the quiet room, Cassis finally lowered his head.

Red blood droplets were scattered on the spot where Roxana had been standing a moment ago.

Cassis’s brow furrowed slightly.

The food, which had been giving off a rather appetizing smell, didn’t even catch his eye.

His appetite, which wasn’t very strong to begin with, dropped sharply.

Of course, the reason was what had just happened.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.”

“Yeah. This kind of thing has always happened often.”

*Does that mean that vomiting blood happens so often that she reacts so calmly?*

In fact, Roxana said that it was something she was already used to, and she didn’t expect that her vomiting blood would surprise others.

Roxana’s expressionless face as she wiped her mouth flashed through his mind. The red stains that dotted her white sleeves and front.

In fact, Cassis often felt doubts whenever he saw Roxana.

Whenever the distance between Roxana and him became very close, a faint scent of poison would sometimes pass by him.

At first, he thought it was a mistake once or twice, but as the meetings became more frequent, he was able to confirm that his thoughts were correct.

Of course, the scent of poison he felt from her was so subtle that Cassis would not have noticed it unless he had been sensitive to such things from the beginning.

In any case, there were two possible causes in such cases.

Either her body itself was emitting poison from within, or she had ingested poison from the outside.

The former meant that her body was sick, and the latter meant that she was poisoned.

Cassis didn’t know which of the two Roxana was experiencing.

However, seeing that she was emitting the scent of poison every time they met, it was clear that she had been in the same state for quite some time.

But for some reason, Roxana, who came to see Cassis during lunch today, felt a slightly stronger aura of poison than usual. Moreover, she was also giving off a faint smell of blood.

So, Cassis had been subtly observing Roxana since she first entered this room.

But he never expected her to vomit blood in front of him…

Come to think of it, he had smelled blood from Roxana when he was in the underground prison.

The day Roxana came to Cassis and told him in advance that she would not be able to come here for a few days. He remembered feeling puzzled because she didn’t explain the reason and came to the underground prison with a clear smell of blood that day.

So, could it be that she was vomiting blood like she was now back then?

A deep furrow was drawn on Cassis’s straight forehead.

Suddenly, Roxana’s mutter to herself when she came to see him a while ago came to mind.