The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 72

Before I knew it, Cassis’s gaze was on me.

He sent the hawk away again and approached me.

“Didn’t I tell you to lie down?”

His low voice, the color of a frigid winter air, was layered on top of his words. But his gaze and voice weren’t as cold as I expected.

He was about to say something, but I looked up at the approaching Cassis and spoke first.

“Where are you going? And where is this place?”

Cassis answered, as if he had no intention of hiding it from me.

“The place we’ve stopped at is called Frederica. If we travel for another half-day or so, we’ll be completely out of the highlands.”

Hearing the place name, I knew exactly where we were.

In short, this group was heading to Fedelian.

Of course, I had expected it while I was in the carriage, but after confirming it directly, I couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

I asked Cassis coolly.

“So, am I a prisoner, or spoils of war?”

Agrice in flames.

The ruined land.

Even amidst the confused memories, that sight was as vivid as if it were etched into my eyes.

This man had made it that way, and I was the one who opened the gates of Agrice to make it so.

I couldn’t forget that fact, as if I wasn’t allowed to.

It wasn’t like I had any particular complaints about it now.

I knew in advance that Cassis might appear at the Harmony Assembly, and I had guessed early on that that would be the moment when Fedelian drew its sword against Agrice.

So, I deliberately chose that day as well.

To completely destroy Agrice with the help of Fedelian.

Seeing that Cassis and the people of Fedelian were moving in such large numbers, it was clear that things were proceeding as planned.

But the reality of Cassis being in front of me like this was not in the plan.

On the last day of Agrice, I was planning to leave alone.

“What purpose did you have in bringing me here?”

Cassis looked down at me silently for a while.

His eyes, watching my face, didn’t show even a ripple.

After a moment, a fleeting emotion flickered across his face. But it was such a fleeting moment that I couldn’t even grasp what it was.

The next moment, Cassis raised his arm and reached out to me.

The moment his hand, containing a cool warmth, touched my skin, I couldn’t help but flinch.

As if unaware of that, Cassis’s hand brushed my forehead, then swept down to my cheek. I couldn’t help but stiffen my face at the gentle touch.

“You’re getting a fever again.”

I could feel the people around me quietly watching me and Cassis. Among them, only Cassis had a calm look on his face.

Soon, his hand was taken away from my face.

“Isidore, we’ll set up camp here today.”

“Yes, I’ll prepare it.”

The man who had been standing behind Cassis answered his words. Cassis’s gaze turned to me again.

“Don’t you even realize you’re cold because of the fever? Coming outside in that outfit.”

It would have been better if he had spoken in a scolding or disapproving tone.

“You still don’t take care of yourself.”

But the emotion reflected on Cassis’s face as he looked at me was far from that. So, the moment I met his gaze, I couldn’t help but shut my mouth.

Following that, Cassis took off his cloak and wrapped it around me.

No, rather than wrapping it, he almost tied it up so that not a single breeze could enter.

Then, he picked me up as I was.

The series of actions was so natural that not only the people around me but even I couldn’t utter a word of protest to him.

Cassis lightly lifted me as if I were a bundle of straw, not a person, and walked towards the carriage with a steady gait.

I was so dumbfounded that I couldn’t say anything to him.

Cassis took me into the carriage and laid me down on the seat again.

Then, he even pulled the sable fur blanket that I had taken off earlier and covered me with it.

I felt strange at the soft warmth that penetrated my whole body.

“Wouldn’t it be better to tie me up?”

When I asked in a subdued voice, Cassis’s gaze glanced down at my face.

“I didn’t know you had that kind of hobby.”

Even though he knew that wasn’t what I meant, he reacted nonchalantly.

“Unfortunately, I don’t.”

“What if I run away?”

“I’ll have to bring you back.”

I closed my mouth at those words.

Not ‘I’ll have to catch you’ but ‘I’ll have to bring you back’.

I had no idea what he wanted to do with me.

“Is your fever rising because you have so many unnecessary thoughts?”

A low voice tickled my ear, followed by a cool hand covering my eyes.

His hand felt cool, as if to prove that I really had a fever.

Again, a calm whisper flowed into my ear.

“Don’t worry and rest. You don’t have to worry about anything anymore.”

Strangely enough, while listening to that voice, my dizzy mind gradually calmed down.

What happened to Agrice after my memory was cut off?

And what happened to my mother, Jeremy, and Deon and Rant, as well as the other people of Agrice?

Listening to Cassis’s words, I felt like I could put all those thoughts behind me for now.

The person next to me now, and the people outside the carriage, were all from Fedelian.

So, in a way, I could say that I was in the middle of enemy territory.

But, like a lie, I was able to close my eyes with a more comfortable feeling than when I was in Agrice.

Beyond the fading consciousness, I somehow thought it was a little funny…

* * *

Knock knock.

“Are you awake?”

I had taken a nap and was feeling a bit of self-disgust for actually sleeping in this situation.

Along with the sound of knocking on the carriage door, a strange voice was heard.

It was a calm, mid-low voice with a somewhat androgynous feel.

I opened the carriage door myself.

Then, a person with olive-colored hair and dark navy eyes came into view.

“Excuse me for a moment.”

The moment our eyes met, I paused, and the stiff face in my view relaxed very slightly.

It was a subtle change, but it was an expression that seemed to be glad that I was awake.

Her hair was short and her voice was low, but the person who came to find me was definitely a woman.

In Agrice, if you were skilled enough, you would be drafted and made a subordinate regardless of gender, so it wasn’t particularly strange or unusual.

The reason I stopped moving for a moment when I saw her was for a different reason.

“If you’re hungry, would you like me to prepare a simple meal?”

“Where’s Cassis?”

“He’s away for a while with Lord Winston. He told me to check if you were awake and take care of anything you needed.”

Is Lord Winston that Isidore person?

Well, that’s beside the point.

Listening to her words, I was newly curious about what my position and situation were here.

The person in front of me also seemed to be momentarily embarrassed about what to call me.

Similarly, I was a little worried about what kind of tone I should use with them.

“If you want, I can bring something to eat here. Anyway, they’re preparing a meal outside right now, so it won’t take long.”

“Then do that for me.”

But I didn’t think about it for too long and just decided to use informal speech.

It would be strange for me, who doesn’t use honorifics with Cassis, to raise my words to his subordinate. I’m not going to use honorifics with Cassis again anyway.

The person in front of me didn’t seem to care much about my tone.

She bowed her head once with a face that still had almost no change in expression, and then closed the carriage door.

“….”

Looking at that expressionless face, I was reminded of Emily.

Sending her to my mother was the last time we met, and the words I conveyed at that time were my last orders.

Whether the meal preparation was finished earlier than expected, the door opened quickly. So, I didn’t have to think about other things for too long.