The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 65

Protecting the Heroine’s Older Brother – Chapter 65

* * *

“Where are you rushing off to in such a hurry?”

Jin, one of the Agrit’s servants, flinched, his shoulders trembling at the voice that grabbed the back of his neck.

Turning around, the figure of a dazzlingly beautiful woman filled his vision.

“L-Lady Roxana.”

He stammered involuntarily. But stammering in front of Roxana was something everyone always did, so it wasn’t particularly unusual.

Roxana tilted her head slightly at Jin’s stuttering.

“The servant quarters are in the annex, not this way.”

“Ah, th-that’s… I’m not feeling well for a moment…”

“Is that so?”

“Yes, yes…”

Jin’s face was pale. Seeing him sweating, he really did seem unwell.

Roxana nodded as if she understood.

“Then you should rest.”

A gentle voice flowed into his ear.

Jin bent over, feeling both relief and guilt for deceiving Roxana.

Tap.

However, Roxana didn’t turn away immediately but approached him for some reason.

“When you wake up, it will all be over, so you don’t have to worry about anything.”

There wasn’t even a chance to ask what those words meant.

“So, close your eyes comfortably.”

A melting smile flickered in his vision. The feeling of soft hands caressing his cheek was like a dream.

The sweet fragrance that rushed in from close by made his head spin.

Jin’s memory was cut off as the beautiful face that tightened his heart approached.

* * *

“I should say this is just like Father until the very end.”

Roxana smiled coldly, holding the crumpled letter in her hand.

There clearly wouldn’t have been time to contact others separately, yet there was someone trying to smuggle Lant’s message out like this.

Does this mean he was always prepared for the worst-case scenario?

Moreover, the one who took on that role wasn’t one of Lant’s cherished subordinates or a servant he always kept by his side, but an inconspicuous servant who couldn’t even be known to have been in the mansion.

Since those who blindly pledged allegiance to Lant had already been eliminated, using such an invisible person was quite clever in its own way.

Of course, that’s only if he hadn’t been caught.

Roxana’s cold gaze plunged down onto the man collapsed at her feet.

He had lost consciousness as soon as he faced Roxana up close.

The Lant of reality didn’t make his daughter Roxana seduce other men by prostituting her body, as in the novel.

It was more accurate to say he couldn’t.

The reason was that Roxana’s entire body was like a deadly poison.

It was because she had been steadily ingesting large amounts of potent poison as the master of the poison butterflies.

So, someone without immunity to poison could show symptoms of poisoning and lose consciousness just by mixing breaths up close like this.

Of course, she had become able to control the poison in her body to some extent through training, but that was only when there was no intimate contact.

In the novel, Sylvia’s kiss healed people, but conversely, Roxana’s kiss could kill people.

“Anyway, it’s Vertium again.”

Roxana tilted her head.

She had known from the beginning that Lant wanted to build a friendship with Vertium, but was it a relationship where he could request troops in this situation?

At least Lant clearly thought so.

If so, it meant that there was a secret connection between the two families that others didn’t know about.

At least to the extent that he could ask for help in this situation, it meant that Lant had given something to Vertium.

But hadn’t he already harbored suspicions about Vertium because of Cassis’s matter at the Harmony Assembly?

Ah, but Lant was currently aware of Roxana’s betrayal, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable for him to distrust everything she said.

Roxana thought about this and that for a moment, then soon stopped worrying about the relationship between Agrit and Vertium.

Because now, such a thing felt useless.

Even if Vertium sent troops now, it would be a useless act.

Besides, Roxana felt that all of this was annoying now.

“Sister.”

At that moment, Jeremy appeared at the end of the hallway.

He approached Roxana, who was holding the letter, and stood before her.

Jeremy’s gaze flicked over the man collapsed on the floor.

“What is Emily doing, leaving you alone, Sister?”

At Roxana’s answer, Jeremy looked at her face silently for a moment.

Jeremy’s eyes were somewhat darkly submerged.

“Sister, I did as you told me.”

Unlike when he faced his father Lant in the Chamber of Judgment earlier, Jeremy was now feeling some confusion.

He was ready to follow any order from Roxana.

He was dissatisfied that the unlucky Deon was sticking close to Roxana, but because of her order, Jeremy had never touched Deon once in the past three years.

Unlike before, he didn’t feel like he would lose to Deon anymore, but because Roxana didn’t want it, he clenched his tingling hands and suppressed his desire to compete.

The last time he acted recklessly with a childish heart was three years ago when he accidentally put Roxana’s ‘toy’, Cassis Pedelian, in danger.

Now, Jeremy wanted to become a truly useful person to Roxana and stand proudly by her side.

So, he wanted to fulfill any of her wishes with his own hands.

So, if Roxana wanted to have Agrit, he was willing to bring it to her.

If she wanted to kill Father Lant miserably, he would gladly take the lead.

But the task Roxana gave Jeremy after driving out Lant was somehow strange.

It was as if… from the beginning, the goal wasn’t to have Agrit…

“Yes, well done. Would you like to take this person to the servants one last time?”

Roxana spoke with a nonchalant attitude, as if unaware of Jeremy’s agitation.

So, Jeremy swallowed the questions and anxieties that rose to his throat.

“Yes, I will.”

Anyway, he wanted to help Roxana with whatever she wanted.

Jeremy picked up the man collapsed on the floor and carried him to the annex where the servants were summoned.

Roxana stared at Jeremy’s back, and after he completely disappeared from her sight, she turned her steps.

She burned the letter in the flame of the candlestick hanging on the wall.

Then, she brought the paper with the remaining embers to the curtain hanging on the opposite window.

Whoosh!

The flickering flames quickly spread to the thick cloth.

Roxana stood with an expressionless face, watching the flames slowly spreading, then turned her body.

Wooo-oong!

At that moment, an alarm announcing the intruder echoed throughout the hallway. Noisy sounds rushed in from afar.

But Roxana’s steps, which continued through the noise, did not falter at all.

The butterflies that received the order scattered throughout the mansion.

Behind her, the flames, which had grown larger than before, opened their mouths like the gates of hell.

As always, survival in Agrit was each person’s responsibility.

* * *

In the first month of the new year, at the end of that month, the Azure Pedelian [referring to Cassis Pedelian and his forces] broke through the gates of the Ebony Agrit and invaded.

The sound of weapons and armor colliding broke the silence of the night and raced through the frozen winter wind.

The Pedelians surrounded Agrit without a single gap and launched fierce attacks from all directions.

Agrit was unable to respond quickly to the unexpected raid. The impact of not receiving proper instructions from above was great because it was a chaotic time due to internal strife.

Cassis, who instantly cut down those who stood in his way, ordered.

“Do not chase those who flee! Securing Lant Agrit is the top priority!”

He did not attack those who did not carry weapons or those who ran away. The purpose was not to annihilate the people within Agrit.

In the midst of the commotion, someone opened the door to the menagerie [a place where animals are kept and trained], and Agrit’s interior was soon a scene of chaos with monsters and humans mixed together.

Cassis did not stop walking and swept away everything that blocked his path.

When he raised his head, a building with flames spreading caught his eye. Cassis knew who was there.

Even though he had already completed all the preparations, the fact that he did not immediately invade and attack the castle in front of him was the greatest patience and courtesy he could show.

Even if Agrit surrendered, Cassis would not stop. The person beyond those flames clearly wanted the same thing.

Kie-ack!

The monster that was attacking from the front was torn in half by the blade that was drawn from top to bottom as if tearing the air.

Cassis looked down at Agrit’s subordinate, who was trembling and covered in the monster’s blood, and opened his mouth coldly.

“Where is Lant Agrit?”