The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 30

“Thank you.”

I obediently took the towel Cassis offered.

As I pressed it against my bleeding arm, the white cloth quickly became stained with red.

“You should sit down.”

At Cassis’s suggestion, I stared at him blankly. It seemed he was now completely unfazed by the idea of sitting on the bed with me.

But if I sit now, the bed will get wet.

While I was worrying about that, Cassis sat down on the bed first and placed bandages and a fresh towel next to him. Then he looked at me again.

Ah, is that what he meant?

I approached Cassis and sat on the towel he had placed. But at that moment, Cassis frowned slightly.

Hmm? Is that not it?

As I looked at him, questioning, Cassis let out a deep breath.

“You’re wet too. At least wipe yourself with this.”

It seemed the towel on the bed wasn’t meant for me to sit on.

But since there didn’t seem to be any other spare towels, Cassis reluctantly handed me a thin blanket from the bed.

“No, it’s okay. You don’t have to go that far.”

I refused.

I wasn’t planning on staying here long anyway, and I didn’t want to make a big fuss and bother Cassis.

When I refused, Cassis closed his mouth. Unexpectedly, a subtle hint of embarrassment appeared on his face.

“Then… just drape it over yourself.”

Cassis looked away from me and reached out his hand again.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t been looking at me properly since earlier. Even now, his gaze was strangely avoiding me.

I subtly lowered my gaze. Then I realized why Cassis was acting this way.

My clothes, soaked from the rain, were clinging tightly to my body. And since I was wearing white, my skin was slightly visible.

Cassis’s voice and expression were as cool as usual, so I didn’t realize it, but he seemed to be embarrassed in his own way.

So, he had been looking away from me since earlier, trying to be considerate.

It’s not really that revealing, but isn’t he being cute?

“Okay, thank you.”

I took the blanket from Cassis’s hand and casually draped it over my shoulders. Only then did his gaze return to me.

When I rolled up my sleeve, the bandaged arm came into view. The bandage was already soaked with rainwater and blood.

I unwrapped the bandage clinging to my skin. Cassis was quietly watching me.

As I completely unwrapped the bandage, the wound, which was wider than when I had checked it in the hatchery, came into view. The blood that had gathered in the gap trickled down.

Ah, what a waste.

I’ve been getting my blood drawn so often these days because of those poisonous butterflies that I feel like I’m donating blood almost once a week.

If I had known this would happen, I should have wrapped the bandage more carefully in the hatchery.

I was going to feed the poisonous butterflies I had already hatched anyway, so I had just tied it loosely.

If I hadn’t met Deon in the middle, I would have gone to my room and fed the poisonous butterflies and stopped the bleeding.

I can’t summon the poisonous butterflies in front of Cassis to feed them now. In the end, I’m just wasting precious blood.

“It looks like a knife wound.”

Then, Cassis, who had been silently looking down at my arm, spoke. He seemed to know just by looking at it.

“And you, your bandaging skills are terrible. Didn’t you say you were good at it last time?”

Oh, I’ve been called out. There’s a reason why I bandaged it so poorly.

“Well, I’m usually good at it, but this one just came undone.”

Of course, he didn’t seem to believe me.

Cassis stared at the wound on my arm as if he didn’t like it.

Then, as if thinking about something, his eyes narrowed slightly.

Following that, Cassis’s hand snatched away the new bandage I had just picked up. Then, he began to bandage my arm without a word.

I stared blankly at Cassis.

“You would be a good older brother to your sister.”

At those words, which I blurted out almost unconsciously, his hand paused for a moment.

“I heard you have a younger sister last time. Actually, our family is quite large, so we have many mothers and siblings.”

Cassis resumed moving his hands silently, as if he hadn’t reacted to my words at all.

But I was still carefully watching his face.

“But we don’t get along very well. We rarely even run into each other inside the mansion.”

I had been pondering why Cassis had momentarily dropped his guard in front of me last time.

And I came to my own conclusion.

“You remind me of my older brother.”

At that moment, Cassis’s eyes met mine.

The moment our eyes met up close, I smiled inwardly with satisfaction.

Yes, this is it. His weakness that I need to dig into from now on.

As I already knew, Cassis clearly cherished his family very much. In particular, his special friendship with his younger sister, Sylvia, had been mentioned several times in the novel.

For that reason, what softened Cassis’s heart was probably….

“You only have one younger sister, right? I also have only one older brother.”

The fact that I am also someone’s younger sister.

That must have reminded him of his younger sister, Sylvia.

Cassis had been silent all along, but I still felt that his atmosphere was slightly different from before.

I weighed several things in my mind and came to the conclusion that now would be a good time.

“Cassis.”

Just as Cassis was about to take his hand away after finishing the treatment, I called his name.

I held Cassis’s gaze and raised my other hand, the one he wasn’t holding, and reached it forward.

I felt the touch of a firm chest at my fingertips. I put strength into my hand and pushed his body back.

With a thud, Cassis’s upper body was pushed back halfway. But instead of completely collapsing backward, he stopped moving midway, using his arm as a support.

Cassis frowned, grabbing my arm as if asking what I was doing.

I leaned over him without hesitation. Cassis stopped breathing for a moment.

Whether he was surprised by the sudden attack or not, I could feel the muscles at my fingertips stiffen.

“What suddenly….”

“Don’t you think it’s been too peaceful so far?”

At my quiet whisper, Cassis’s eyes twitched slightly. He opened his mouth again as if to say something, but I was faster.

“As you know, the situation you and I are in right now isn’t very safe.”

The moisture that had seeped into my wet clothes slowly spread to Cassis’s shirt.

The blanket I had draped over my shoulders had already slipped down behind me. I could feel the heartbeats, not knowing whose they were, from our closely pressed bodies.

“Help me, Cassis.”

The movement of Cassis trying to push me away suddenly stopped, and that was clearly conveyed from body to body.

“…Help you?”

A low voice mixed with a faint breath tickled my eardrums. I could see the droplets of water rolling off my hair and wetting his cheek.

“You and I, we both need a safety net. So, because of what I’m about to do to you now….”

I chose my words as carefully as possible.

So that I could stimulate his weak points without provoking Cassis’s aversion. So that he could comply with what I was about to do from now on.

“Promise me you won’t get angry.”

Cassis was still silently looking at me.

“Promise me you won’t hit me either.”

This time, the corners of his eyes twitched.

I was saying it in advance as a precaution in case something happened.

Of course, I didn’t think he would use violence against me, but he might be surprised and shake me off.

“And… don’t hate me.”

After saying that, I slowly lowered my head.

My hair fell onto Cassis’s shirt.

He didn’t seem to understand what I was trying to do yet. Cassis’s gaze, mixed with suspicion, followed my face.

I opened Cassis’s shirt a little more with my hand and buried my face in his exposed white neck.

And I parted my lips as if trying to inhale the subtle, refreshing scent even more.

The moment my skin touched his bare skin, the body that was in close contact with me stiffened as if struck by lightning.

But I didn’t care and moved my lips.

Whack!

Immediately following that, Cassis grabbed my shoulder with one hand and my arm with the other, pulling me away.

“What….”

A voice full of suppressed emotion rang in my ears.

“What do you think you’re doing?”