The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 225

Protecting the Heroine’s Older Brother – Episode 225 (225/253)

Side Story 16

* * *

“Sister! Why are you standing outside instead of going in and sitting down?”

“I just got here myself. I happened to hear your footsteps, so I waited.”

“I heard your footsteps from far away and ran all the way here!”

Jeremy, who had rushed over from across the hallway, smiled happily at Roxana’s words.

Jeremy usually had a sharp impression, but when he was in front of Roxana, he was like a cute younger brother.

Roxana smiled back at Jeremy.

Although they both took after their mothers’ blood more strongly, the sight of them facing each other and smiling was quite similar, enough for anyone to call them siblings.

“But Jeremy, you seem a bit tired today. Do you have too much to do these days?”

“No, I don’t have more to do than you, Sister.”

The two walked side by side towards the open door, chatting amiably.

Then, Emily witnessed Jeremy, avoiding Roxana’s gaze, sending a fierce look to the other servants guarding the door.

Reading his lip movements, the sentence ‘Lower your eyes before I pluck them out?’ was completed.

The new servants, who had been absentmindedly looking at Roxana, read the murderous intent emanating from Jeremy and hurriedly lowered their eyes in surprise.

Roxana, sensing a strange atmosphere, turned to look at Jeremy.

However, Jeremy simply smiled innocently at her, as if nothing had happened.

Roxana’s eyes narrowed.

But she didn’t say anything and stepped inside with Jeremy.

Emily, as always, lowered her head as if she hadn’t seen anything and followed them inside.

* * *

Originally, there was no dining room in Agriche for the whole family to use together.

The place where Roxana and Jeremy had entered for breakfast was the place where Lant used to hold a grand feast once a month.

Originally, only Lant and the chosen people were allowed to enter, but Roxana always kept the doors open.

She didn’t particularly restrict the other siblings from entering either.

So, some people became curious and came into the banquet hall to look around, or sat at the table and ordered meals or snacks from the servants to enjoy the atmosphere.

Of course, there were occasionally siblings who fought fiercely for the head seat, but most of the time, the situation was resolved before it caused a major disturbance.

As the banquet hall was opened to the public, it was not uncommon to see Agriche’s half-siblings gathered in one space, unlike before.

But no one came here when Jeremy was around.

More precisely, everyone tended to avoid the banquet hall when Jeremy and Roxana were together.

Of course, it was because of Jeremy’s terrifying glare.

“We’re the only ones here again today. Is it because most people don’t eat breakfast at this time?”

“They’re all just lazy. They’re probably sleeping in until late and then slowly crawling out around noon.”

Roxana, who couldn’t possibly not know that, looked around as if she didn’t know.

But Jeremy said nonchalantly.

“Sister, this is delicious! Here, eat the piece I cut for you.”

Roxana looked at Jeremy’s bright face with a smile that was hard to read, and then accepted what he offered.

Then, Jeremy made another satisfied expression, like a full cat.

Clang!

“Ah! I, I’m sorry!”

A servant, who had been glancing at Jeremy’s ever-surprising dual personality, accidentally dropped the plate he was carrying.

Jeremy’s face crumpled.

“What are you doing? Making noise from the morning… Huh? Wait a minute.”

Then, he spotted a drop of sauce on Roxana’s shoe with the eyes of a hawk.

“What’s that? Didn’t what you spilled just now splash on my sister’s shoe?”

The temperature inside the dining room plummeted at once.

“Do you want to die? Who the hell hired someone who works like this?”

No matter how much he was wearing a sheep’s skin in front of Roxana, Jeremy was still Jeremy.

Especially when it came to matters related to Roxana, he had no mercy.

A blue light shot at the trembling servant.

“I don’t think you need hands that can’t even carry a plate properly. Or do you think differently?”

“Hick…! I, I’m really sorry! I’m sorry, Head Jeremy!”

“Yeah, you probably don’t need a mouth either. Can’t you even tell who you should be apologizing to right now? Or do I have to slice open your dull head for you to come to your senses?”

“I’m sorry, Head Roxana!”

The servant, his face pale, hurriedly knelt on the floor.

Roxana’s downward gaze swept over the man’s head bowed towards her and the slightly stained shoe in turn.

Instead of the trembling man, Emily, who was standing behind, came forward and wiped Roxana’s dirty shoe.

“There have been a lot of mistakes made by people working at the mansion lately.”

Finally, Roxana’s mouth, which had been closed all along, opened.

“There are many new people, so it will naturally take time to get used to the work… But if the same mistake is repeated, it can be seen as a lack of ability or a lack of will to improve one’s shortcomings.”

It wasn’t just directed at the person who broke the plate.

The servants in the banquet hall tensed up and straightened their bodies.

The eyes looking down at the trembling servant were not as cold as Jeremy’s, but they were not warm either.

However, Roxana did not inflict a terrible punishment on the person in front of her or fire him immediately.

“Be careful next time. I don’t want to replace the newly hired help so quickly.”

“Th, thank you! I will keep that in mind.”

“Clean up what’s on the floor and get out.”

The servant repeatedly expressed his gratitude and bowed his head to Roxana.

Jeremy watched the back of the person who hurriedly cleaned the floor and left with dissatisfied eyes.

“Really, you’re too nice, Sister. You’re forgiving such a useless thing.”

“You’re always worrying and getting angry for my sake, so there’s nothing for me to do. Don’t be upset from the morning, cheer up.”

When Roxana spoke kindly, Jeremy’s face brightened as if he had never been upset by the clumsy servant.

The servants who watched the scene breathed a sigh of relief.

But Emily recalled Jeremy’s sharp eyes as he seemed to be trying to remember the face of the servant who had dirtied Roxana’s shoes a moment ago.

That morning, too, Jeremy spent a pleasant time with Roxana.

But as soon as he left the door, his face quickly turned grim.

This was because he had to go out to inspect the Agriche territory from the morning.

Roxana patted the lingering Jeremy and sent him away, then moved to her office.

“Emily, I don’t have any plans to go outside the office this morning, so you can spend your time doing other things. The weather is nice; it’s a waste to stay inside.”

At Roxana’s words before opening the office door and entering, Emily nodded as if to understand.

But she really had no intention of leaving her post.

While Roxana was doing her morning work, Emily stood outside the door, waiting to move whenever she needed her.

The lively noise made by the people working outside was faintly pushed to where she was.

Even though only two seasons had passed, Agriche’s appearance had changed considerably.

The fact that many internal people had been replaced also had some influence on changing the atmosphere.

In the past, when several people died every day, everyone was careful not to make even a small breath. So the mansion was always filled with static air.

“Emily, you’re here again today! Hello!”

Of course, the other newcomers, including Gileta, who had just entered the hallway where Emily was with cleaning tools, would not know that.

Emily nodded again in response to Gileta, who was waving her hand vigorously.

As the long hand of the clock moved a few more spaces and passed noon, another familiar person appeared in front of Emily.

“Hello, Emily. Can I go inside?”

It was Grizelda, who had left her residence in the middle district a month ago and returned to Agriche.

She still had a tired look on her face today.

Emily stepped aside from the door because she had received a word from Roxana yesterday.

After Grizelda entered Roxana’s office, the story continued for quite a long time inside.

Although the sound could not be heard because it was well soundproofed, Emily could roughly guess the reason why Grizelda had come to see Roxana.

It must be because of the work that Roxana had entrusted the Agriche’s sorcerers to Grizelda this time.

The sorcerers who originally worked in Agriche were people who were treated almost like slaves.

Lant would traffic or kidnap anyone who found someone even slightly useful from the outside and suck them dry.

Of course, the driving force behind Lant making them work day and night was a policy of fear.

But now they were able to receive fair compensation for their work. Roxana made a few more suggestions to them, all of which were so surprising that their eyes popped out.

She entrusted the management of those who decided to accept it and stay in Agriche to Grizelda.

Grizelda seemed embarrassed by Roxana’s unexpected decision.

Bang.

After about 30 minutes, Grizelda finally came out of Roxana’s office.

She had a more tired face than before and walked down the hallway past Emily.

“Oh my, I’m crazy, I’m crazy… Why did I crawl in here on my own two feet and buy such hardships that I wasn’t meant to have…?”

Emily’s eyes were fixed on her back as she sighed deeply.

I don’t know well, but something didn’t go as Grizelda wanted.

Emily was sure that the conversation between the two had concluded as Roxana intended. And also the fact that Grizelda would eventually follow Roxana’s words.

It could be seen just by the fact that she had returned to Agriche like this, chasing Roxana.

After that, Roxana roughly finished her lunch in the office.

“Emily.”

“Yes, Head Roxana.”

“Have the people on this list come in one by one.”

After that, she moved to another room and called her newly selected confidants and some half-brothers separately after she became the head.

Until last winter, Agriche’s main sources of income were gambling houses and lenders in the central district, illegal trading of drugs and poisons, human trafficking, and contract work, as well as all sorts of other dangerous businesses.

Emily didn’t know all the things Roxana did, but she knew that she had been organizing or changing internal policies for such businesses one by one since last spring.

Roxana shared some of these tasks with useful confidants and siblings.

The reason Deon had been out of Agriche all week was also to carry out the work Roxana had ordered.

Knock knock.

“Head Roxana. It’s Emily.”

“Come in.”

As time passed and it was about 3 p.m., Emily returned to the office and handed Roxana the envelopes arranged on the tray, who was looking at related documents.

“These are the letters that arrived between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. today.”

“Thank you, Emily.”

Roxana, who glanced at what Emily had put on the desk, paused the next moment.

Warmth gradually spread across her face, which had no special expression, and a soft smile bloomed.

Roxana’s hand, which had put down the pen she was holding and moved forward, touched the envelope with a light blue color.

Emily quietly stepped back as she watched Roxana pick up Cassis Pedelian’s letter on top.

Cassis Pedelian visited Agriche almost twice during the summer.

Of course, every time, Jeremy expressed his displeasure with his whole body and stirred up innocent people like he was catching mice.

But Cassis also had a lot of work to do in Pedelian, so he couldn’t stay in Agriche for long each time he came.

Instead, Emily knew that Roxana and Cassis often exchanged letters while they were apart.

She also knew that whenever a letter came from Pedelian, a particularly bright flower bloomed on Roxana’s face.

She couldn’t dare to judge the owner’s mind, but Emily thought that one of the reasons why Roxana was so focused on Agriche’s work day and night was Cassis Pedelian.

Once Agriche’s work was on track to some extent, she would have more free time than now.

Then, just as Cassis Pedelian often visited Agriche, Roxana could also take the time to visit Pedelian, where Cassis was.

But even if Emily’s thoughts were correct, it didn’t seem like a story that was possible right now.

After a while, Roxana opened the door and came out for another schedule.

The two moved to inspect the monster breeding ground under repair.

In the meantime, Roxana said to Emily.

“Emily, Pedelian will be visiting Agriche soon. This time, the official purpose is the summer monster subjugation, so the scale will not be small.”

Because it was an expected event, Emily answered calmly.

“We need to prepare to welcome guests.”

“I think I’ll be busy from tomorrow too. So I have to deal with that matter from before today.”

Emily immediately realized what Roxana’s words meant.

“I will prepare it to coincide with the time you finish your schedule today.”