The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 71

How to Protect the Heroine’s Older Brother – Episode 71

* * *

It was a harsh season, defined by relentlessly biting cold winds and blizzards.

The night, which had felt endless, finally passed, and the first cold light of dawn illuminated the ravaged landscape.

Morning inevitably arrived, even for those fleeing the destroyed land.

Thump.

The carriage wheel must have hit a stone, as the vehicle suddenly lurched violently.

Roxana woke from a deep sleep and slowly opened her heavy eyelids.

The surroundings were dim; at first, her blurry vision suggested it was still night.

However, as she blinked, her unfocused eyes gradually made out a faint light flickering in front of her, seeping in from somewhere.

It turned out that sunlight was entering through a small window covered by a curtain.

Thump.

The carriage shook once more, and the ray of light distorted before her eyes.

In that moment, she realized that she wasn’t in her room in Agriache.

“You’re awake.”

Just then, a low voice echoed above her.

Roxana gasped and sat up abruptly.

Thump!

At the same time, the carriage shook even more violently than before.

Roxana lost her balance and reached out a hand for support.

However, there was nothing to hold onto, and her outstretched hand grasped at empty air.

If an arm hadn’t reached out from the side to wrap around Roxana and steady her, she would have surely fallen.

“Be careful. We’re still in a moving carriage.”

The low voice that resonated near her ear felt strangely familiar.

Roxana didn’t even consider pushing away the person touching her; she simply turned her head.

In the next moment, her eyes met golden eyes looking down at her from close range.

“…Cassis.”

Roxana unconsciously spoke his name. A fleeting light flashed in his eyes at the sound of it.

She couldn’t understand what was happening.

She tried to sift through her memories of the previous night, but only a headache emerged; no useful recollections surfaced.

However, she seemed to know that she was traveling somewhere with Cassis.

It was only natural that Roxana’s mind was filled with confusion.

* * *

When I opened my eyes, Cassis was next to me.

But for some reason, it didn’t make sense.

No, why was I unconscious in the first place?

Even then, my memories were fragmented, as if they had been forcibly torn away or erased.

I had no idea why or how I was here now.

“You should lie down a bit more.”

Once again, a low voice echoed above me.

Was it the whisper, so low it sent a chill down my spine, or the face, difficult to see clearly in the deep shadows?

I felt like the person next to me wasn’t the Cassis I knew.

First, I decided to move away from him. As I shifted, the arm around my waist tightened slightly.

However, perhaps intending to comply with my unspoken wish, he released his hold and let me go.

As our closely touching bodies separated, I felt my stiff head relax a little.

Come to think of it, until just now, I had been lying down, using Cassis’s leg as a pillow.

“What happened?”

Why is my voice so hoarse?

My throat was also sore, perhaps from disuse. It felt like I hadn’t spoken in days.

I tried to recall the events of last night again.

“Why am I here? Why am I with you…”

Then, suddenly, a small fragment of memory spread like ink in water into my previously blank mind.

“Sister… are you going to abandon me too?”

At that moment, my head throbbed with pain.

I covered my forehead with my hand and slowly closed and opened my eyes.

…For some reason, I didn’t want to remember.

Cassis was staring at me silently.

The carriage was dark, but my eyes, now accustomed to the dimness, could see clearly. I could easily make out his face.

It was the first time I had seen Cassis since our brief encounter outside the banquet hall on the last day of the Harmony Assembly [a political gathering].

Of course, I met him in Agriache after that, which is why we’re together like this… but I still couldn’t remember anything leading up to this moment.

I wanted to glean some understanding from his expression, but I couldn’t decipher the meaning within it.

Soon, Cassis slowly spoke again.

“For now, don’t think about anything and rest a little more.”

Then, I couldn’t believe the words that followed.

“It’s been three days since you regained consciousness, so it will take time to fully recover your strength.”

* * *

I had been unconscious for three days.

I wondered if I had been overloaded and shut down [referring to mental or emotional exhaustion].

I had a lot to worry about, and although I don’t remember everything, many things happened before I left Agriache like this.

I carefully pulled back the curtain and looked outside.

The carriage was stationary, having stopped for a while. I was the only one inside.

As soon as I pulled back the thick cloth, bright sunlight pierced my eyes. I narrowed them unconsciously.

Flap!

Suddenly, a grayish-white shadow appeared in my dazzling vision.

A hawk that had flown from the sky landed nimbly on an arm wearing protective gear.

I stared at the man standing under the deep blue sky with a strange feeling.

Three years seemed to have been longer than I thought. Enough time for a boy to become a young man, and for someone who was once familiar to become a stranger.

His height, which seemed to have increased by at least two spans [an old measurement, roughly 18 inches] since I last saw him, his broad shoulders, and the strong arms that had wrapped around my waist earlier were all unfamiliar.

The face, with its cold energy like morning frost, was also different.

I thought he used to have more delicate and pretty features, like a beautiful boy. Now, I couldn’t even flatter him by calling him ‘pretty’ to his face.

Of course, it’s not that his handsome appearance had disappeared, but the feeling he projected was definitely different from before.

I felt this when I saw him at the Harmony Assembly, but Cassis, now an adult, resembled his father, Richel Pedelian, more than I had realized.

It was the atmosphere rather than the appearance itself.

Even now, the way he stood with a large hawk on his arm, facing the wind, looked like a solid rock towering over the plains.

It was strange to think that Cassis, who had survived his youth and grown up, had become like that, and I felt a sense of novelty.

At that moment, a man approached Cassis.

A brown-haired man with an eye patch. It was the man I had seen at the border of Agriache three years ago.

He had guided me to the black forest on the northern border where Cassis was, and he was still alive.

I tried to remember his name, but it didn’t come to mind easily.

The hawk that flew to Cassis seemed to have been a messenger pigeon.

Cassis untied something from the hawk’s leg, checked it, and said something to the man who had approached him.

I watched the scene and soon lowered the hand that was pulling back the curtain.

Click.

After that, when I opened the door of the carriage, cold air rushed in as if it had been waiting.

I had forgotten for a moment because the interior was warm, but it was the coldest time of the year.

Still, I didn’t give in and stepped outside.

There were more people around than I had anticipated.

Some were grooming their weapons or tending to their horses, while others were maintaining the carriage.

Those who weren’t occupied were standing guard nearby. Among them, there should have been servants, but unusually, they all appeared to be knights.

Those who were working stopped moving instantly and looked at me.

The surroundings became quiet in an instant. It was as if time had stopped from the moment I got out of the carriage.

The intensely focused gaze was a bit burdensome, but not something to particularly dwell on.

I ignored the others and walked straight towards my destination.