The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 23

“I don’t want to die……”

Cassis, who had only been pretending to be unconscious, had overheard Roxana’s soliloquy.

At the time, not understanding its meaning, he pushed it to the back of his mind.

But now, seeing the red blood on the floor, that phrase resurfaced and began to swirl in his head.

Moreover, the conversation of the men who had brought Cassis to this room suddenly came to mind as well.

“The Fourth Madam mentioned Master Asil’s name earlier, didn’t she?”

“Does this guy look like Master Asil? I don’t think they look alike at all.”

“Right. I was wondering why Miss Roxana and the Madam were interested in something like this. Do they look alike in their eyes?”

“Isn’t his age similar to when Master Asil died? Maybe seeing this guy in this state reminds her of Master Asil even more.”

Even memories that might not be directly related to this incident made Cassis feel uneasy.

It felt like gritty grains of sand were stuck in his chest.

He had felt this way before.

When Roxana offered to personally treat Cassis’s wounds.

The moment he saw Roxana talking about her brother, his sister, Sylvia, came to mind for a moment.

If that hadn’t been the case, Cassis would never have entrusted Roxana with treating his back.

Cassis frowned and swept the bangs covering his eyes with a slightly rough hand.

Before opening the door and going outside, the faint smile Roxana had shown him flickered briefly before his eyes.

“But I thought you would hate me… to care so much even for someone like that, you’re so kind, you.”

“Thank you.”

And the words she had whispered so softly.

The grit in his chest increased a little more. Cassis frowned even deeper and shook off the unnecessary thoughts.

Then, he suddenly realized that he had skipped lunch and shifted his gaze to the bed. The food on the tray was already cold.

He still had no appetite, but Cassis silently forced himself to eat it all.

Yes, the most important thing was to recover his strength.

Even for the sake of his family, who must be worried sick about him at this very moment.

* * *

As soon as I entered the room, I washed the blood off my body.

I sent Jeremy back to his room for now. The blood on my hands had transferred to his head.

Jeremy lingered in my room for a while after that before finally leaving.

After sending Jeremy away, I sat on the bed.

When I rolled up my sleeves, the bandages wrapped around my arm came into view.

It seemed that it hadn’t been properly tightened because I had roughly wrapped it after washing. Blood was still seeping from the wound, staining the bandage red.

It was the very wound I had inflicted on myself with a dagger in the hatchery earlier.

I moved my hand and unwrapped the bandage from my arm.

Soon, the skin with the long scar was visible.

“Alright, it’s time to eat.”

After checking the blood-clotted wound, I summoned the butterflies. Soon, dark red butterflies appeared one by one in the air.

The sight of a dozen or so butterflies fluttering down onto the blood-soaked wound could be seen as somewhat bizarre.

But it couldn’t be helped because the poison butterflies’ staple food was blood.

The fact that I had already hatched one poison butterfly egg was still a secret.

So, I lied to everyone that the first two eggs of the three poison butterfly eggs had failed to hatch and died. But in reality, only one had died.

The butterfly I sent to the western border some time ago, and the butterfly I attached to Cassis’s room, were both from the very poison butterfly that hatched first.

Perhaps I and the poison butterflies were more compatible than I thought.

Of course, I had expected it since I brought the eggs from their habitat, but it was amazing that I had actually awakened and imprinted a poison butterfly with only a 30% chance of hatching.

Poison butterflies were magical creatures close to semi-entities, so they were different from ordinary creatures.

They usually hid their appearance and appeared before me when I called them.

A poison butterfly born from one egg had the habit of multiplying on its own to form a group.

Currently, I only owned about a dozen poison butterflies, but as time passed, they would multiply again and reach dozens, even hundreds.

Moreover, the characteristics of the poison butterflies changed depending on what kind of poison they ate and how strong the poison was.

So, it was understandable that the person who became the host of the poison butterflies would be consumed if they couldn’t provide food for the multiplied butterflies in time.

In that sense, I belonged to Agriche, which possessed all kinds of poisons, so I was in a favorable position to raise poison butterflies.

Fortunately, the poison butterfly I hatched really liked my blood.

So, until I, the host, died, the poison butterfly would definitely be completely subordinate to me and become a powerful weapon.

Poison butterflies would definitely be a very useful card in my future plans.

That’s why I hadn’t revealed to anyone until now that I had hatched one of the poison butterfly eggs.

I intended to keep this a secret from Jeremy, my mother, and even my familiar [a magical companion], Emily.

At least until the day I helped Cassis escape from Agriche.

Finally, seeing that the wound on my arm had completely stopped bleeding, I sent all the poison butterflies back except for one.

“To the western border.”

I ordered the butterfly I had left behind to check the western border.

This was the first time I had moved it such a long distance, so the connection with the butterfly I had sent to the western border earlier had become faint, and I couldn’t call it back.

I was still unskilled, so it was a little difficult to handle several butterflies at once.

I thought I should increase the amount of poison I took to strengthen my bond with the poison butterflies.

Shortly after, I called Emily to my room and instructed her to increase the types and amounts of poison I consumed.

* * *

Currently, I was a minor, and there were still things I needed to learn until I came of age.

“Oh my, isn’t it Roxana?”

So, on my way back from the education room today, I ran into someone I didn’t want to see.

The woman standing with a parasol in the path overgrown with fresh greenery was Maria, Deon’s mother.

With brown hair and purple eyes, she approached me with a very welcoming face as soon as she saw me.

“Hello. You must be out for a walk.”

The moment I saw Maria, I almost frowned without realizing it.

But I hid my displeasure and greeted her with a gentle voice.

“Roxana, you seem to become more beautiful every time I see you.”

As she always did when she saw me, Maria admired my beauty again today.

She showed her emotions so openly that it was hard to believe she was Deon’s mother, whom I couldn’t read at all.

Her face, admiring my face, even looked quite innocent.

Maria had a round, innocent-looking face and a petite figure, so when you saw her up close like this, she sometimes felt like a cute little animal.

She had what appeared to be maids trailing behind her.

She was very friendly and affectionate, but I was uncomfortable with her.

Just because she was Deon’s mother didn’t mean I had to like Maria. But even aside from that, I was just uncomfortable with her as a person.

Maria was the third wife of Lant Agriche.

She was famous among the other wives for her bright and cheerful personality, which was a world apart from Jeremy or my mother.

“Even Sierra still has a radiant beauty as if time passes her by, but how can you be even more beautiful than your mother?”

“You flatter me.”

“Flatter you? I doubt there is even a word in this world that can describe your beauty.”

Maria kept exclaiming in admiration as she scrutinized my face.

“Oh, right. Since we’ve met like this, why don’t we have a cup of tea together in the garden?”

Looking at her casually suggesting, it felt as if this place we were standing was not the Agriche mansion, but a sunny resort.

“Come to think of it, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Deon. Anyway, the children in this house are so busy. Since it’s a rare occasion, it would be nice to call Deon too.”