The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 55

How to Protect the Heroine’s Older Brother – Chapter 55

* * *

“That took longer than I expected.”

As Roxana returned to her room, a low voice greeted her.

Roxana paused for a moment, then moved again to close the door.

Click. With a small sound, the room became a sealed space once more.

“Did you have that much to talk about with Father separately?”

The man sat on the sofa with a naturalness, as if he were the owner of the room.

Perhaps because of the blizzard raging outside, the room was dim even though it wasn’t yet sunset.

Thus, the man, with his elbow on the armrest and his chin resting on his hand, appeared as a dark mass.

Of course, Roxana could easily tell who he was without having to see his face.

Besides, she had been anticipating this moment since before she even entered the room.

“I suppose it didn’t occur to you that I deliberately came late because I knew you’d be waiting like this.”

Roxana murmured with feigned regret, then approached him.

“Yes, I heard you returned. It’s been a while, Deon.”

Deon, who had returned after completing his official duties with Fontaine, stared at Roxana as she approached him.

Soon, Roxana’s hand reached Deon. He remained seated on the sofa, chin in hand, as he received Roxana’s touch.

“I heard you did a very good job with what I asked. Fontaine is quite angry. Just like my clever little dog.”

The touch that brushed Deon’s face was soft and affectionate. The voice that whispered in his ear was equally sweet.

However, the gaze that fell upon him was colder than the northern wind raging outside.

“But sometimes you act stupid. I told you that you didn’t need to report to me in this way.”

Roxana added sarcastically with a chilling smile.

“Didn’t I say that I feel disgusted every time I see your face?”

Finally, Deon moved.

A firm hand covered the delicate hand that was caressing his cheek.

He applied pressure with a strong grip, wearing a smile as cold as Roxana’s.

“You still say one thing and do another. It’s been a while since I’ve seen this side of you, so should I at least offer a hollow greeting to thank you for the welcome?”

In the dark room, two pairs of red eyes gleamed coldly.

It had been quite a while since Deon had been away from the mansion for an extended period, so it had been a long time since they had faced each other like this.

However, as always, no warm conversation passed between them.

“Why, don’t you like it?”

Roxana didn’t even try to pull away from Deon’s grip and slowly opened her mouth again.

But the reason she was being so docile was not out of compliance.

“But it can’t be helped. I still hate you like crazy.”

The soft whisper was laced with thorns. Those thorns were clearly eager to stab the person she was facing.

“And you still want to have even someone like me. How pathetic.”

A deeper smile bloomed on Roxana’s face. As she tilted her head, her long golden hair rippled like waves.

“Seeing as you came straight here as soon as you returned to the mansion, I guess you missed me a lot?”

Deon was silent for a while, looking at the beautiful face in his sight.

The silence in the room was heavy and thick. Anyone who unknowingly opened the door would feel suffocated.

“You always provoke me like this.”

After a while, Deon’s tightly closed lips slowly parted.

A cold, chilling voice flowed from him. The gaze that stared at Roxana was also coldly frozen.

“It won’t do you any good to make me angry.”

Roxana still looked down at Deon with a smiling face.

Now she could understand Deon’s words that he wanted to see her cry.

Because Roxana also felt satisfied whenever she saw Deon’s angry face.

“Don’t make that face. At least I treat you sincerely, unlike Fontaine.”

Roxana whispered in a soothing tone, as if she hadn’t been teasing Deon just moments before.

“Yes, you are not on the same level as Fontaine in many ways. But from your perspective, would it have been better if what you wanted from me was as simple as satisfying your sexual desires like Fontaine?”

Of course, her following words still contained content that contradicted her gentle tone.

A vivid, mocking smile was etched in Deon’s sight.

“Of course, no matter how much you want it, I won’t even let you lick my toes.”

The pressure on Roxana’s hand increased.

Even though it should have hurt where Deon was holding her, she had a calm face as if she didn’t feel any pain.

“So, Deon, getting what you really want will be even more difficult than that.”

Following that, Roxana slightly twisted her wrist and broke free from the force that had been restraining her.

It was hard to believe that Deon’s hand, which had held such a strong coercive power just a moment ago, released what was held within so easily.

“But if you don’t give up and try a little harder, you never know. I might give you a piece of my heart someday out of charity.”

The voice that whispered that was pure white.

The beautiful face, which seemed to have no flaws, was the same.

Only the appearance could make one believe she was an angel, but in reality, she was closer to a devil.

“So, make me more entertained.”

The beautiful devil whispered sweetly to Deon. A honey-like, fragrant voice soon became a sticky swamp, enveloping his entire body.

There was already no way to escape from there on his own.

* * *

The annual Harmony Meeting of the Five Families, held at the beginning of each year, was three days away.

The families attending the meeting were the Azure Fedelian, the White Hyperion, the Scarlet Gastor, the Ebony Agriche, and the Gold Vertium.

The venue for this gathering, ‘Yggdrasil’ [a demilitarized neutral zone], was in the center of the continent.

The work of the world’s rulers, gathered together, was literally to promote harmony between the families.

I was scheduled to accompany Lant Agriche and Jeremy there. Deon was also scheduled to attend, but he would arrive later than us due to other business.

I thought that I would rather Deon not come to the Harmony Meeting because his schedule was delayed.

“Hmph. I wonder what kind of fools will be at the gathering.”

Jeremy, who had become an adult this year and was allowed to attend the Harmony Meeting for the first time, seemed interested for once.

Well, as someone who experienced it a year earlier, that gathering is just a grand name, but there’s nothing particularly fun about it.

However, I didn’t want to spoil Jeremy’s expectations by saying unnecessary things, so I decided to keep my mouth shut.

Thus, we headed to Yggdrasil, where the Harmony Meeting was held.

It took almost two days to arrive.

As soon as we entered the neutral zone, the stone pillars and the huge gate, shaped like the World Tree, as the name Yggdrasil suggested, came into view first.

The moment the carriage we were riding in passed under it, a strange sensation spread through my body.

“What was that just now?”

Jeremy frowned as if he had felt it too. I explained to him what I knew.

“It’s because of the magic circle that covers this entire land. This place is a neutral zone, after all.”

Yggdrasil basically prohibited the introduction of weapons and also prohibited the use of other special abilities.

I heard that about 500 years ago, a member of the White Hyperion family used his ability to communicate with magical beasts to devastate this place.

After that, they engraved a huge magic circle throughout Yggdrasil.

Based on my experience of summoning poison butterflies here last year, the magic circle seemed to disrupt the connection with magical creatures or summoned beasts.

Even if I don’t know well, it was clear that the exertion of other abilities was also being hindered in this way.

But there was also a blind spot there.

“Roxana, you know your role well, right?”

“Of course.”

After some more time passed, we got out of the carriage.

Lant Agriche looked at me and gave me a final reminder. I nodded to him, meaning that I knew.

Today was the first day of the Harmony Meeting. This meeting was scheduled to last for three days.

And during that time, I was planning to act as Lant’s ears and eyes, like a spy.

The blind spot of the magic circle I mentioned earlier was that if you summon magical creatures and bring them in before even stepping on the land of Yggdrasil, it would work.

Of course, if I openly brought in noticeable magical creatures, I would be stopped, but hiding a few butterflies and bringing them in wouldn’t be noticeable.

Perhaps the ancestors who created this magic circle didn’t consider special magical creatures like poison butterflies.

Of course, even so, using magical creatures inside here caused considerable physical strain.

So, all I could use was just a few butterflies. Besides, all other abilities were sealed, so I could only use them as messengers at best.

But that alone was enough to carry out the work that Lant Agriche wanted.

Of course, since the Five Families were so sensitive, it was dangerous to attach butterflies directly to them.

Instead, I was planning to plant butterflies in inconspicuous places in this castle where the Harmony Meeting was being held.

In that way, I could observe people’s movements and eavesdrop on their conversations, and if I happened to acquire important information, I would inform Lant about it.

I had done it without difficulty last year, and Lant was very pleased with me back then.

The information I gave him was almost entirely filtered out of important content, but he was quite amused to be satisfied without knowing it.

Anyway, unlike Fontaine’s thoughts, Lant was not simply bringing me to the meeting to use me as an ornament.

Besides, the work I usually took on was mostly secret missions, so it was just that it wasn’t outwardly revealed.

But in fact, the most useful thing I usually used poison butterflies for was to monitor Lant.

My dear father didn’t realize it, though.

“Father, I’m tired from riding in the carriage for so long, can I go and rest first?”

“Yes, I permit it.”

“Sister, I’ll go with you.”

Lant hurried the schedule considerably in order to plant the butterflies. So it seemed that we were the first guests to arrive at Yggdrasil.

I took Jeremy and walked into the huge castle that stood before me.