The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 234

Protecting the Heroine’s Older Brother – Episode 25 (Side Story)

I was sitting by the office window, which offered a clear view of the main gate, when the group returned.

I saw two figures outside the window and couldn’t help but stare.

It was Cassis and Deon, both covered from head to toe in monster blood and venom.

They’ve both done their fair share of border patrols; shouldn’t they be more careful?

It looked like they’d fallen into a trap together while trying to herd a group of monsters.

And even from a distance, the atmosphere between them didn’t seem very friendly.

“Jeremy.”

“Yeah?”

“Are Deon and Cassis Fedelian on bad terms?”

“Ah, yeah! They’re not close at all.”

Jeremy, who was sitting at his desk, replied cheerfully without even glancing out the window.

He was currently camped out in my office, reviewing documents that needed to be processed that day.

“But they’ve gotten a lot better lately. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been able to send them out together like today. Before, they would snarl at each other like a pack of dogs fighting over territory whenever they made eye contact. Tsk, what are they doing acting like that at their age? Honestly, they’re so immature.”

It felt like just yesterday that Deon would bristle and hiss like a wild animal whenever he passed by him on the street…

Jeremy clicked his tongue as if he had no such past.

Besides, just yesterday, he had tricked Cassis by lying about my condition.

Knowing that made me chuckle.

“I know, right…? Jeremy, you seem like the most mature and grown-up person here.”

I agreed with Jeremy and praised him.

Jeremy’s lips twitched, and his mouth seemed to stretch all the way to his ears.

“Ahem, well, it’s nothing. It’s only natural. I’m your brother, after all.”

He couldn’t hide his soaring emotions, but he still pretended to be nonchalant and stretched his neck out. He looked like a peacock proudly displaying its feathers.

“I’m the closest and most intimate person to you in this Agrigente, no, in this world, so it’s only natural that I’m this mature and reliable.”

Uh-huh… I see.

I looked at Jeremy with a faint smile.

“Besides, as an equal head of Agrigente, I’m the only true life partner who’s allowed to stand beside you!”

Jeremy, who had given a lengthy self-introduction, struck an even more dramatic pose than before as he flipped through the papers in front of him.

Then, he stylishly readjusted the seal in his hand and began stamping it down with a thud.

I sat on the desk and stroked Jeremy’s head as if he were a good boy.

“Yeah, you’re definitely a big help. Thanks to having such a wonderful and grown-up brother, I can leave things to you with peace of mind. You’re very reliable.”

“No, Roxana. This is nothing!”

“Then, my capable and trustworthy brother Jeremy, I’ll be back soon, so hang in there a little longer.”

“Huh? Roxana…! Where are you going?”

“I’ll be right back.”

I left Jeremy in the office, grabbing my attention, and slipped out the door alone.

He seemed to want to show me a more mature and impressive side of himself as a nineteen-year-old.

But honestly, no matter what Jeremy did, he still looked like a cute child to me.

Anyway, I wanted to stay by Jeremy’s side a little longer as he wished, but… I couldn’t help but feel concerned about what was happening outside.

I walked out of the building and soon saw a group of people gathered in the distance.

Someone who had separated from the group was walking alone on the path in front of me.

“Deon Agrigente.”

The man, who was taking off his dirty cloak as he walked, suddenly stopped at my call.

The next moment, his cold red eyes pierced through me.

“You’re quite a sight.”

I approached Deon with an expressionless face, not revealing any particular emotion, and asked.

“Cassis Fedelian looks similar; what happened?”

He didn’t react immediately.

Just as my patience was about to run out, Deon Agrigente, who had been staring at me without blinking, finally spoke.

“…Unexpected. That you would speak to me first.”

He spoke vaguely, but the meaning conveyed to me was clear.

“I thought you wouldn’t even acknowledge me for at least a week.”

He meant that he thought I would ignore him until I regained my memories.

He seemed to know that the current me wouldn’t welcome his presence.

I raised the corner of my lips in a mocking smile at Deon.

“You’re saying that you’ll disappear from my sight for a while, as I wish, aren’t you?”

“No.”

However, he denied my words without hesitation.

“Whether you’re sick of me or not, I was planning to stay by your side as always.”

As expected of Deon Agrigente, he didn’t hesitate for even a second to answer in a way that he knew I would find unpleasant.

“Unfortunately, it may frustrate you, but as you know, other people’s circumstances or positions have never been a consideration for me.”

Deon finished taking off his cloak and lowered his arm, the heavy fabric soaked in monster fluids dragging on the ground.

“So, whether you look at me with contempt again, or want to curse and slap me, it’s none of my business.”

He spoke as if my confusion was not worth considering at all.

He didn’t seem to think there was any reason to consider the uncomfortable feelings I had towards him.

‘What a joke.’

I thought as I looked at Deon Agrigente, who spoke in such a repulsive way.

Even as he got older, this hadn’t changed.

He was saying, in a roundabout way, that no matter how much I hated and despised him, he wanted to stay by my side.

“Didn’t the people around you tell you how much I annoyed you during the past four years that you don’t remember?”

And I sensed another possibility within those words.

He was still provoking me and trying to make me angry, but the underlying essence and intention were clearly different from what I knew.

Deon’s words now sounded like he wouldn’t even flinch if I hit him or cursed at him, so I could vent my anger as much as I wanted until I felt better.

“Well, I guess it’s not surprising. I’ve always been that kind of person, anyway.”

Deon Agrigente muttered to himself as he wanted, then stared at me quietly.

As if waiting for a reaction to follow.

I closed my mouth and stared coldly at the man in front of me.

Then, I decided not to deal with him any longer and resumed walking.

But I couldn’t help but say one last word.

“Deon Agrigente. What nonsense are you talking about?”

As I passed by Deon, his left arm with the prosthetic and my elbow briefly brushed against each other.

“You say you’re the same as before. You’ve already changed, you.”

The moment I murmured quietly, Deon’s shadow on the ground seemed to tremble.

“But it doesn’t seem like the current you is someone I’d want to curse and slap.”

I left him there and walked away alone.

Deon Agrigente stood motionless, as if he had taken root in the ground, and didn’t follow me.

I asked what he had been doing in the monster habitat to get into such a dirty state, but I didn’t get an answer in the end. That was a bit disappointing.

Still, I could get a little sense of how the adult me could accept Deon Agrigente.

After a while, I arrived at the place where the subordinates of the two families were gathered.

It seemed that Deon had already issued a dismissal order, but I sent back the Agrigente people who were still there.

Cassis Fedelian was nowhere to be seen.

Before leaving, all the Fedelian people who found me bowed politely.

I felt it when I saw them from afar, but perhaps because they resembled their master, they all had a neat and refined feel.

But… did they all put an incredible amount of effort into the border patrol? Not as much as Cassis and Deon, but somehow they all looked disheveled.

And they all looked incredibly tired.

Then, one of them suddenly ran up to me and spoke to me separately.

“It’s been a while, Head Roxana.”

It was a woman with olive-colored hair and dark navy eyes.

“I wanted to greet you as soon as I arrived in Agrigente, but the situation didn’t allow it. Although it’s late, I sincerely congratulate you on becoming the master of Agrigente.”

Who is she? I didn’t remember, but she seemed quite happy to see me, so I smiled and greeted her.

“Hello, it’s been a while.”

Somehow, her expressionless face and disciplined demeanor vaguely reminded me of Emily, so I ended up being more friendly than I intended.

“I heard you weren’t feeling well yesterday; are you okay now?”

“Thanks to your concern, I’m feeling much better.”

The woman’s face relaxed as I responded gently.

Still, there was no need to have a long conversation with someone I didn’t know, so I naturally changed the subject.

“By the way, where is your master?”

“He went to the rear for a moment. Ah, he’s coming now.”

I turned my gaze to where she was looking, and I saw the figure of a man approaching.

As expected, something must have happened at the border, as I could feel a rather cold aura emanating from him even from a distance.

But that dissipated the moment his eyes met mine.

“Roxana. You were with Olin.”

Cassis Fedelian found me and immediately approached but then seemed to realize his condition and slowed his pace.

His gaze, looking down at his body still stained with the fishy fluids of the monster, was one of distaste, as if he didn’t like it.

Eventually, Cassis Fedelian stopped some distance away from me.

“It would be better to greet you again later. As you can see, I’m not in very good condition.”

The woman in front of me, whom he had called Olin a moment ago, tactfully left the spot.

I approached Cassis Fedelian.

Then he stepped back.

“Don’t come too close. You’ll smell disgusting because of the monster blood.”

“Everyone smells similar anyway, so I don’t even know if it’s your smell or not.”

Perhaps those words worked; Cassis Fedelian didn’t back away any further and stood still, staring at me as I approached.

Soon, he smiled with a strange expression that seemed slightly forced.

“That’s true, but… I’m still not used to being in such a dirty state in front of you.”

I glanced at him, wondering if there was another meaning to those words.

At that moment, Cassis Fedelian lightly touched my arm, which had brushed against Deon earlier, with his fingertips.

I flinched and widened my eyes as I witnessed the small stain on my clothes instantly disappear.

I reflexively opened my mouth, then closed it again, conscious of the surrounding gazes.

A smile like a ray of sunlight appeared on Cassis Fedelian’s face as he faced me.

The narrowly curving eyes seemed to be seducing me.

“If you have time, would you like to come to my room now? I think there’s something to talk about regarding last night’s events.”

Look at this?

A low chuckle escaped my lips.

In the end, I followed him, smiling, and gladly accepted the invitation.

“Okay. I’ll make an exception and accept that invitation.”