The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 248

How to Protect the Heroine’s Older Brother – Episode 39

* * *

It was truly astonishing that Jeremy, of all people, had fallen for Sylvia.

Roxana had no idea when or how he had begun to harbor such feelings.

And she certainly hadn’t anticipated that Jeremy would act so foolishly out of unrequited love.

‘Bringing Sylvia Fedelian here of all places, he’s gone mad.’

Roxana was the first to notice the woman Jeremy had secretly kidnapped and hidden away from prying eyes.

Jeremy had slyly hidden Sylvia in a spare toy room, feigning innocence.

However, Roxana saw that Sylvia hadn’t been kidnapped by Jeremy but had allowed herself to be.

In other words, she had entered Agrigent of her own free will, seeking the truth about her missing brother.

It was clear that the Fedelian family had suspected Agrigent in connection with Cassis for some time. That’s why Sylvia had been lingering around Agrigent, defying her family’s objections.

But for Agrigent’s seemingly impenetrable walls to be breached so easily…

Roxana even suspected that Sylvia might have deliberately seduced Jeremy for this purpose.

Jeremy’s actions were so foolish that it seemed as though he had no brain at all.

It was fortunate that Lant was away; if he had found out, it was easy to imagine what Sylvia Fedelian would have suffered.

Roxana watched Jeremy for a while.

At first, she thought it was mere possessiveness, but seeing him so anxious after bringing Sylvia, it seemed he was serious.

Various thoughts crossed Roxana’s mind.

‘No… could I perhaps use this situation to my advantage?’

As she secretly watched Jeremy, something dark and viscous, like swamp mud, lurked silently on her face.

Lately, Roxana had been spending more days in her room, reading Griselda’s spellbook.

Whether it was something Lant had taught her or simply Griselda’s hobby, the book contained various forbidden spells that were no longer in use.

“How long do you intend to keep Sylvia Fedelian here?”

“How did you find out…!”

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of telling anyone, including Father. She’s your prey, so it’s none of my business what you do with her.”

“You expect me to believe that?”

“If I want to complete the task Father gave me easily, it’s better for Sylvia Fedelian not to be wandering around outside.”

Jeremy, who had initially seemed suspicious and wary, seemed to calm down slightly at Roxana’s last words.

The hand he had raised to attack Roxana, intending to eliminate the evidence, hesitated.

Of course, that didn’t mean he completely trusted her, but that was to be expected.

“If you try to take advantage of the situation and touch Sylvia, I won’t stand for it!”

Jeremy growled at Roxana like a beast protecting its mate.

Roxana looked at Jeremy and chuckled.

“You’re quite pathetic. If you like her that much, why don’t you just tell her honestly?”

“What? Tell her what?”

“It’s pitiful. She’s still wandering around aimlessly, searching for her brother who’s no longer in this world.”

“Ha, are you talking about Cassis Fedelian? What nonsense… are you crazy?”

“Do you really think she still can’t let go because she genuinely believes her brother is alive?”

The words, coated with sweet poison, gripped the heart of Jeremy, who was growing impatient because he couldn’t win Sylvia’s heart.

“She might have thought so at first, but now it’s just a habit. Can you understand searching so desperately for a brother for years? Do you think it’s possible to do that with unwavering devotion?”

“That’s… not true.”

As an Agrigent [a member of the Agrigent family], Jeremy couldn’t understand Sylvia’s psychology.

“Yes, she simply doesn’t have the courage to give up, so she can’t stop herself. In fact, Sylvia Fedelian probably wants to be freed from this endless game of tag. She just hasn’t had a reason to stop yet.”

Jeremy was like a child craving affection. Roxana felt a little sorry for him.

“Shall I guess? When Sylvia came here with you, her resistance wasn’t as strong as you thought, was it?”

“That’s right… it wasn’t.”

“Would she have followed you so obediently if she didn’t have some feelings for you?”

Roxana could use even that to her advantage.

“So, what’s there to be afraid of like a coward? Besides, she’s exhausted now, and in that situation, she’s bound to be drawn to the person who gives her the truth she’s been yearning for so desperately for years.”

The emotion of love is so absurd that it easily paralyzes the reason of those who are captivated by it.

Jeremy was staring at Roxana as if he were hypnotized. He seemed greatly swayed by her words, as he was desperate to have Sylvia Fedelian.

It was only natural, as she was only telling him the stories he wanted to hear.

But he was foolish.

Some of Roxana’s words might be true, but if Sylvia were to learn the full story of Cassis Fedelian’s death, she would never forgive Jeremy, who was also an Agrigent.

Roxana added with a saintly smile.

“As you know, she’s kind. So, she’ll definitely understand and forgive you.”

* * *

Sylvia Fedelian screamed.

She cursed everyone in Agrigent and vowed revenge.

That night, Roxana once again left her room and wandered alone through the darkness of Agrigent, where not even moonlight shone.

The blood dripping from her outstretched hand fell onto the weeds growing haphazardly around the inner walls, seeping into the ground.

Her eyes, ears, and reach were limited.

Then she had no choice but to bring what she needed to her.

A smile like a white crescent moon faintly melted into the shadows of the night.

“You’re up to something strange again.”

At that moment, a low voice came from the darkness.

Roxana, as if she already knew she was being watched, calmly turned her eyes to the source of the sound without the slightest surprise.

“What are you doing every night?”

Deon’s gaze fell on Roxana’s arm, where her sleeve was rolled up.

The red blood still flowing from the carelessly drawn wound sparkled in the moonlight.

“What’s it to you?”

Roxana looked at Deon with a faint smile, as subtle as the scent of blood spreading around her.

“Since when have you been interested in me?”

There was a time when Deon was as scary as Lant, but not anymore. What she really had to fear in life wasn’t things like that.

“You’re not interested in anything in this world, let alone me.”

Roxana knew that Deon had been watching her every night lately.

But she wasn’t worried that he might tell Lant what he had witnessed.

“Leave me alone. Then you’ll get to see something interesting that you’ve never seen before.”

In the end, Deon Agrigent was just another human being who could see through Roxana’s eyes. Such a human being no longer instilled fear in Roxana.

She turned away from the man staring at her with desolate eyes.

* * *

“I’m sorry, don’t be angry. It’s not like I wanted to torment your brother.”

The next day, Roxana sat by the sunset-tinged window and apologized to the boy in the glass box on her lap.

Her face bore a scar that hadn’t been there the day before.

It was from when Jeremy had stormed into Roxana’s collection room and made a mess.

Having failed to appease Sylvia somehow, Jeremy had acted as if he was going to kill Roxana.

Fortunately, Lant had returned home at that moment, so he couldn’t harm her any further, but instead, he had stolen the golden eye from Roxana’s collection room.

Roxana had pretended to resist Jeremy taking it.

But in fact, the eye wasn’t Cassis’s but a fake, so it didn’t matter whether he stole it or broke it.

The real one that Roxana cherished like her life was still nestled in her arms.

“I’m just trying to get a little help too. It wasn’t my intention from the beginning, but it’s okay, isn’t it? After all, that’s what she wants too.”

Roxana rested her head on the glass box, her gaze fixed on the sunset-tinged window.

‘And you too…’ The voice that added was mixed with the evening air seeping in from the window.

“I’ve never been able to protect anything with these hands in my life.”

So, this time, she thought about it the other way around.

“But I think I can destroy it.”

The red eyes, shimmering with a strange glow, held a sweet warmth as if they had secretly glimpsed a sweet future beyond the abyss.

The setting sun falling and pooling beneath the earth was especially beautiful today.

* * *

“You stupid bitch!”

Slap!

Roxana, slapped across the cheek by Lant’s thick hand, fell to the floor.

“How many people did I send with you, and they all died, and you came back empty-handed?!

Recently, even though there was nothing special going on, he had a strange feeling that wasn’t good.

So, Lant had planned to select people and have them patrol around Agrigent, just to relieve his uneasy feeling.

But Roxana had confidently stepped forward and asked him to entrust the task to her.

So, he trusted her and sent her out, but the result was so disastrous.

Moreover, it wasn’t for any other reason, but because they had strayed off course at the border and been killed by monsters. He was so dumbfounded and appalled that the back of his neck was stiff.

Roxana, who had barely managed to escape alone while the subordinates he had sent with her sacrificed their lives to buy time, was not in good shape either.