Roxana
Chapter 13
Chapter 13
The Way to Protect the Female Lead’s Older Brother
Chapter 13
I wondered if he might lash out wildly as he had when we first met, but Cassis did nothing of the sort.
Instead, he merely pierced me with a terrifyingly cold gaze.
Judging by his reaction, Cassis had clearly deduced my true identity before I even stepped foot in here today.
Had the truth come from Charlotte after all?
She had likely run her mouth when she raided the dungeon to attack him.
Well, what she would have said was all too obvious.
It felt rather crude to put into words, but she must have spat out something along the lines of, ‘Rather than let Roxana-unnie have you, I’d sooner break you into pieces!’
Mm, putting it that way made it sound like some tacky lovers’ quarrel.
Perhaps she hadn’t stopped there and had even thrown around the word ‘toy.’
I already knew Cassis did not trust me.
Nor was I blind to the fact that his allowing me close under the guise of treatment was merely to discern who I was at a closer range.
This time, Cassis sought to confirm my standing within Agriche.
“What is your relation to Lant Agriche?”
“He is my biological father.”
Then had what he said earlier also been in that same vein?
Perhaps he meant that the time without me felt long simply because he was impatient to confirm my identity, and I hadn’t shown up.
Still, I had hoped he might have missed my presence even a little—wishing for my help—but it seemed far too early for that.
Then again, if he placed blind faith in me after so little time, the proud name of Pedelian would weep.
In truth, I had never intended to hide my identity from Cassis forever.
Had that been my intention, I would never have told him my name in the first place, nor would I have allowed the spell to unravel and his sight to return.
Cassis needed to be acutely aware that he was being helped by ‘Roxana Agriche.’
I was no philanthropist, and I had no intention of saving him for nothing.
“What was your reason for hiding who you were to approach me?”
“I withheld my identity because it was obvious you’d be even more guarded than you are now. As for why I approached you… I already told you. I don’t want you to die here.”
At my words, Cassis let out a frigid, mocking laugh.
“So instead of killing me, you intend to make me your plaything?”
Ah, so Charlotte really had spilled everything down to that. But there was a reason for that…
In any case, Cassis’s treatment was about to change from this moment forth, and he needed to be informed of it, so there was no real harm in him knowing about the ‘toy’ matter.
Still, trying to explain it right this second was a bit awkward.
“Isn’t that better than being tortured to death?”
Was that perhaps too blunt?
“This is the only way for you to leave this dungeon. If you want to walk out of Agriche alive, taking my help is the wisest choice.”
“You expect me to trust Lant Agriche’s daughter?”
For a moment, Cassis seemed to weigh something in silence.
I wanted to read his thoughts, but his inner walls were so unyielding that I couldn’t divine what lay beneath.
“I do not trust you.”
A moment later, Cassis spoke, fixing me with eyes that held not a single ripple of agitation.
“Yet strangely, I do not believe you are lying, either.”
Even as he said this, his expression remained entirely indecipherable.
“Cassis Pedelian.”
In that moment, he and I were unequivocally measuring one another.
“I will protect you.”
At that, Cassis’s face warped into a deeply strange expression.
Looking at him as he stared back at me as though he had heard something utterly bizarre, I continued.
“Until you leave this place safe and sound, I will keep you alive.”
If only doing so could alter the tragic end of this terrible fate.
Cassis Pedelian and Roxana Agriche.
Two names that could never rightfully stand on the same line had just been inscribed upon the very same page.
The first chapter of his story and mine had only just begun.
4. The Hound and Its Master
Naturally, my esteemed father, Lant Agriche, did not simply release Cassis from the dungeon out of the goodness of his heart.
Cassis was dragged out by Lant’s subordinates and forced down onto the floor in a humiliating kneel.
With heavy, thudding footsteps, Lant Agriche strode forward and stood before him.
I quietly watched their gazes clash in midair.
Just as on the day he first arrived, Cassis’s limbs were bound tight, and a gag had been forced into his mouth.
His body was battered and mangled just as it was then.
On top of that, he was now forced into a posture of coerced submission.
Yet the light in his eyes as he stared down the man before him had not diminished in the slightest.
Who could possibly look upon the Cassis of this moment and see a captive?
The glare Cassis leveled directly at Lant Agriche surged with an intense, suffocating bloodlust.
To exude such overwhelming pressure even while forced onto his knees…
I thought that in itself was a truly remarkable feat.
Lant Agriche looked down at Cassis with a gaze no less venomous.
I could almost see sparks crackling in the air between them.
Then, at a certain moment, a sickening smirk spread across Lant Agriche’s face.
Thud!
Without warning, his heavy boot flew forward and slammed into Cassis’s chest.
Watching the sight, I sighed inwardly.
Right. Once again, my father is diligently racking up his death flags.
Crack!
Ah, that was his flank—the very spot Charlotte had shredded into bloody rags.
I had deliberately left it untreated so I could tend to it properly once Cassis was fully handed over to me, yet he went out of his way to dig his boot straight into it.
I suppose he wouldn’t be my father otherwise.
Smack!
“Ugh…!”
This time, Lant’s kick struck Cassis square across the face.
Remembering what had just transpired in the dungeon, I subtly turned my head away from him.
I could no longer bear to watch Cassis’s wretched state.
Having just promised to protect him until he safely escaped, it felt rather mortifying for this to happen immediately after.
Yet for now, my hands were tied. Cassis had not officially been transferred to my custody, and above all, the man inflicting violence upon him was none other than Lant Agriche himself.
“Carrying the blood of Richel Pedelian as you do, you even inherited that arrogant glint in your eyes.”
Only after thoroughly drenching Cassis in fresh blood did Lant Agriche finally cease kicking him.
With his head pressed against the floor, Cassis bled from his flank, his forehead, and the corners of his gagged mouth.
Even amid all that, the murderous glare he directed at Lant Agriche gleamed with such terrifying brilliance that it drew an involuntary sigh of admiration.
“When I learned that wretched dog had two brats, I spent some time pondering which one to take.”
Then, curling his lips into a smile malicious enough to slap every villain in the world across the face a hundred times over, Lant Agriche continued.
“Still, I figured you’d last longer than the wench, which was why I went out of my way to pick you. And you certainly haven’t disappointed.”
It seemed my dear father was never satisfied until he stepped on every landmine in sight.
To drag his younger sister, Sylvia, into this before Cassis, a man practically overflowing with love for his family and devotion to his sister…
Just look at our heroine’s oppa right now. Doesn’t it look like he could effortlessly tear a person or two to shreds with his glare alone?
“Roxana.”
“Yes, Father.”
Of course, there was no way Lant Agriche could hear the thoughts in my head. He pressed down firmly on Cassis’s head with the sole of his boot and called out to me.
Having stood quietly behind Lant this entire time, I answered softly at his summons.
Cassis’s burning gaze slid toward me as well.
Um, excuse me, Mr. Heroine’s Oppa. You aren’t lumping me in as your enemy right now, are you?
Just because I’m standing in this position on the surface doesn’t mean I’m truly on my father’s side.
Still, that murderous look is a bit much…
No, fine. Given the circumstances, it was only natural he’d look at me that way.
If I were Cassis Pedelian, Lant Agriche and I would look like nothing more than a villainous father-daughter duo. A sigh threatened to slip out, but I had to hold it in for now.
“It wasn’t long ago that your birthday passed.”
“Yes, I am glad you remembered.”
“I give this dog to you as a gift. Take him and play with him until you grow bored.”
Honestly, this man. If he wanted to give him to me, he could have just done so. Why bring up a birthday just to put on airs?
As if he had ever once bothered to celebrate any of his children’s birthdays before.
“Thank you, Father.”
Concealing my cynical thoughts, I smiled brightly at Lant Agriche.
“I shall train him well so that I do not disappoint you.”
And just like that, I came into possession of my very own hound.
