The Way To Protect The Female Lead’S Older Brother [EN]: Chapter 98

How to Protect the Heroine’s Older Brother – 98

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Jeanne possessed a refined dignity, just as I had perceived before.

The atmosphere she created was calm and serene.

It felt as though she emanated a subtle fragrance, reminiscent of magnolias or orchids.

“I heard from Cassis that you haven’t been feeling well?”

At Jeanne’s question, I felt a slight pang of conscience and replied,

“It’s nothing serious. I was just feeling a bit run down and took a rest.”

She studied my face for a moment before speaking again.

“I heard there was some commotion outside recently.”

*Ah*, she must have heard about the incident with Pandora.

Could that be why she asked to see me?

Of course, Jeanne had also suggested we have tea together sometime when we met in front of Richel’s office. But it seemed like she wanted to see me now for that reason as well.

It was hard to believe that no one besides Cassis and Orca had noticed the poisonous butterfly I summoned that day.

More than anything, it would have inevitably come to light when Pandora testified to Fedelian about what happened.

Orca might have even testified alongside her. They are both Hyperions, after all [Hyperions are likely members of a specific group or faction within the story’s world].

From their perspective, it would naturally be better for Fedelian to know that the guest Pandora tried to intimidate was a woman with magical creatures rather than a helpless one.

Cassis had also mentioned that during breakfast this morning.

I placed the teacup I was holding on the table and said,

“I apologize for causing a disturbance in the mansion.”

“Why apologize? I heard the Hyperion side was the one who acted disrespectfully first.”

“My response was somewhat excessive as well.”

In fact, there was no need to devour Pandora’s magical creature.

But perhaps because it involved Cassis, looking back now, I couldn’t deny that I had overreacted a bit.

In a way, it could be seen as an overreaction.

However, Pandora had a history of trying to bypass Fedelian’s security using magical creatures in the first place.

So, having received the confiscated magical creature back, she caused such a thing again within Fedelian, so it seemed her responsibility was increased accordingly.

That’s probably why no one criticized me for responding to her.

“I’m not a monster tamer, so I don’t know the details, but I heard that poisonous butterflies are parasitic magical creatures that grow by using their host as a vessel.”

Jeanne knew that the magical creature I summoned in the garden that day was a poisonous butterfly.

“Fedelian doesn’t have any renowned monster tamers, but Isidore often goes on monster subjugation missions as a guard, so he has some knowledge in that area. So, when I asked him, he said that the reason you were sick for three days this time was probably because you exhausted your energy due to that magical creature.”

Ah, right. Isidore had seen my poisonous butterfly once three years ago.

“That’s why I was even more worried.”

But this was a bit unexpected.

Were other people thinking that way too?

However, surprisingly, I didn’t suffer any damage from using the poisonous butterfly.

Rather, perhaps because Cassis has been helping me recover my strength from time to time, I felt that my connection with the butterfly was even more active than before.

So, even when I summoned the poisonous butterfly, my body felt light.

Thanks to being with Cassis for the past three days and receiving his energy, I was even more refreshed than before, like grass that had absorbed water.

And more than anything, the reason I hadn’t come out of the annex was because of Cassis….

Hmm.

Without needing to think further, I decided to refrain from speaking about that part.

Above all, everyone was already looking at me with pity in their own way, so there was no need for me to step forward and refute it.

“Thank you for your concern.”

So, I pretended not to know and said,

“I apologize for causing concern unintentionally due to my shortcomings. But thanks to Cassis’s meticulous care, I was able to recover quickly.”

Jeanne stared at me intently.

Looking at her like this, her expression when she was engrossed in something seemed similar to Cassis’s.

“Roxana.”

After a moment, Jeanne called me in a low voice.

“Do you know what kind of power Cassis possesses?”

At that moment, I realized.

*This* was the real point.

The intuition that this was what she really wanted to say when she called me flashed through my mind.

Then, should I answer that I know, or should I answer that I don’t know?

I paused briefly before parting my lips.

“Could I say that I know… vaguely?”

It was an honest but ambiguous answer.

Then, the face facing me slightly clouded over.

She seemed somewhat relieved, or perhaps conversely, anxious.

“I see. You know.”

In any case, it was an emotion that seemed difficult for me to easily define.

“A long time ago…”

As the small words flowed out of her mouth, I closed the lips I had been about to part again.

“Silvia was in danger because of it.”

Jeanne stared at my face again, as before, to gauge my reaction.

It was as if she was trying to judge whether she could continue speaking any further.

“Silvia used to be much more of a tomboy than she is now, and she often played dangerous games on her own. So, she climbed onto the statue in front of the garden alone back then.”

Eventually, she seemed to have chosen to continue speaking, and she quietly opened her mouth again.

“Then, when she fell down, she accidentally hit her head badly. Cassis found her.”

Jeanne’s eyes clouded over slightly, as if recalling the events of that time.

“At that time, Cassis didn’t know how to properly use the power he possessed yet. But because his younger sister, who was bleeding and collapsed, looked too hurt, he used that power.”

I could easily guess that good things didn’t happen after that.

Even when Jeanne spoke a little while ago, she said that Silvia was in danger because of Cassis’s power.

“But in the process, a reaction occurred. And Silvia…”

However, what I heard was worse than I had imagined.

“She completely stopped breathing at that time.”

“……”

“I was a foolish mother, so I resented Cassis. I don’t remember the details of what happened at the time because I was so flustered, but I think I criticized that child quite harshly.”

Then, a brief silence settled around the place where she and I were sitting.

Soon, a faint smile appeared on Jeanne’s face.

“But even if I don’t remember what I said at that time, Cassis probably still hasn’t forgotten.”

I couldn’t easily figure out what to say to her, so I chose my words carefully for a moment.

Cassis, who would be meeting his father Richel right now, flashed through my mind.

“I have been regretting that incident all along. I feel incredibly ashamed and sorry.”

“Did you convey those feelings… to Cassis as well?”

In response to my question, a distinctly different expression than before faintly spread across the face facing me.

“Yes. Three years after that child returned from Agrigent [Agrigent is likely a place of significance in the story’s world].”

Ah… I see.

“Of course, I don’t think I’ve done everything I should have with that. But if the worst situation had come, I might not have been able to say even this for the rest of my life.”

If so, perhaps she in the novel would not have been able to convey her apologetic feelings to Cassis for the rest of her life.

Because in that story, Cassis never returned to Fedelian.

If that were the case, this elegant noblewoman would not be smiling with a face that had relieved even a little of her long-standing feelings.

Also, I can’t fully fathom Cassis’s inner thoughts….

Still, I thought that hearing such heartfelt words from his mother, even late, would be better for soothing his heart than not hearing them.

Thinking that, I was once again reminded of how fortunate it was that Cassis was safely in Fedelian at this moment.

“I hope that Cassis doesn’t have that same experience again. Of course, if it’s now, there’s no one he couldn’t save if he wanted to.”

The next moment, Jeanne’s straight eyes met my gaze.

“Still, I hope that you live a long and healthy life without any pain. Perhaps more desperately than anyone else in the world. Because your happiness will ultimately lead to Cassis’s happiness.”

I quietly listened to her words and then slowly lowered my gaze.

“When I saw you last time, you were clearly standing in front of me, but somehow it felt like you weren’t there. Like a person with only an empty shell left. So, I was a little worried….”

Is sharpness a characteristic of the people of Fedelian?

Perhaps Jeanne had accurately seen through my condition when we met last time.

“Your expression is better now than when I saw you last time. I feel a little relieved.”

Her face was filled with warmth as she said that.

Lastly, Jeanne said to me,

“Please take good care of Cassis.”