Roxana
Chapter 26
Chapter 26
How to Protect the
Heroine’s Older Brother
Chapter 26
* * *
“Lady Roxana!”
Just before she stepped into the mansion, a voice called out to her.
Roxana’s gaze drifted toward the direction of the sound.
The face of the man hurriedly running toward her from a distance looked somewhat familiar.
It was the guard who had watched over the underground prison when Cassis was kept there.
She had felt someone following her for a while now; did he have something he wanted to say?
Come to think of it, what was his name again?
Roxana pondered for a moment before speaking just as the guard drew right before her.
“Yoan, it has been a while.”
Watching him run over had brought it back to memory after all.
Well, it wouldn’t have mattered much even if she had forgotten.
“I-It’s an honor that you remember my name.”
Yoan seemed deeply moved that his name had fallen from Roxana’s lips.
“Um, Lady Roxana. I am terribly sorry for stopping you so suddenly. I knew it was rude, yet I couldn’t help myself…”
Roxana tilted her head slightly before the stammering man.
At that small gesture alone, Yoan turned bright red, looking as though he might faint on the spot, utterly at a loss.
“I… I’ve recovered enough to walk around again.”
Now that she thought about it, Yoan, the prison guard, had required medical treatment after Charlotte raided the underground dungeon.
So this was the first time she had seen him since that incident.
Even so, Roxana could not help but wonder.
Why go out of his way to stop her just to report his physical condition? How pointless.
“I… I heard that you were worried about me, my Lady. Thank you so very much. For someone like you to care about the likes of me…”
Hearing his next words, Roxana understood his behavior.
She had merely asked the new guard about the previous guard’s well-being in passing just once, but it seemed the message had been slightly exaggerated along the way.
Thus, Yoan felt a warm affection toward Roxana and had come to offer his gratitude like this.
“Yes, I heard you suffered quite an ordeal because of Charlotte. I’m glad to see you’re well now.”
Roxana spoke with routine politeness, devoid of any genuine feeling or emotion.
Yet everything that comprised Roxana was inherently and terribly enchanting; without even trying, she effortlessly seeped into the hearts of others as naturally as breathing.
Yoan was overwhelmed with gratitude at just this much, his expression brimming with emotion.
“It’s not much, but… this is a gift for you, my Lady.”
Soon, Yoan held out what he had been carrying in his hands all this time.
Upon seeing it, Roxana’s expression turned peculiar.
“A gift? For me?”
“Yes! Of course, it pales in comparison to your beauty, Lady Roxana… but if you would accept it, I would be so happy…”
Unable to finish his sentence properly, Yoan mumbled and bowed his flushed face deeply.
Roxana’s eyes shifted to the bouquet Yoan held out before her.
Soon, a soft chuckle slipped from her lips. Unaware of why she had laughed, Yoan flushed crimson all the way down to the nape of his neck.
Though Yoan seemed unaware, this purple flower was a type of poisonous herb cultivated by the Agriche family.
Still in its experimental phase and not yet perfected, it had no proper name, and the only proven effect so far was paralysis.
However, its potency amounted to little more than a slight numbness in the hands and feet, making the experiment virtually a failure.
She recalled hearing in passing that they had decided to breed a new strain this time around.
That was why Roxana had never imagined, even upon seeing him carrying it, that his intention was to give it to her as a present.
He had likely picked it simply because it looked pretty, knowing nothing of what the flower truly was.
Then again, was it not said that all venomous creatures were singularly vibrant and alluring?
“Thank you.”
Roxana accepted the flowers Yoan offered.
Though utterly worthless, there was no reason to reject it right to his face either.
Of course, with no further reason to visit the underground prison, she would have no occasion to cross paths with Yoan again…
Still, whether concerning objects or people, one never knew when and where they might prove useful once more.
Roxana offered a picture-perfect smile to Yoan, who beamed, unable to conceal his joy.
“And, Lady Roxana. Um, about your plaything…”
Yet that was not the end of Yoan’s business, as he added hesitantly:
“Part of the plaything’s injuries are my fault, so… I am sorry. Had I known he would become your plaything, I would never have laid a hand on him…”
Ah. So this prison guard was worried that Roxana might have taken offense to his whipping of Cassis in the underground dungeon.
He repeatedly apologized before Roxana, looking thoroughly distraught.
Yet Roxana had no intention of blaming Yoan for that matter. Nor had she been troubled in the least by Cassis being whipped.
“You only did your job as ordered, so it is not my place to interfere. Think nothing of it.”
Having said that, she decided it was time to take her leave and turned away first.
“Thank you for the flowers. I will see you next time, Yoan.”
The dazzling smile spreading before his eyes was enough to practically blind him.
Even after Roxana had completely vanished from sight, Yoan remained rooted to the spot, dazed.
* * *
“What are the flowers for all of a sudden?”
“I received them as a gift on the way here.”
Roxana stepped into the room where Cassis was, holding an armful of flowers.
At Cassis’s question, Roxana replied as she approached him.
Perhaps due to the flowers she carried, Roxana’s face appeared noticeably brighter.
The purple blossoms with white patterns seemed so common that one might have seen them anywhere, yet at the same time, their appearance felt quite unfamiliar, as if seen for the very first time.
It was a rather contradictory impression, but Cassis knew little about flowers anyway.
Thus, the only objective deduction he could make was that the flowers suited Roxana remarkably well.
Roxana had always been a girl of such beauty that even Cassis had momentarily failed to hide his astonishment.
With such a girl now holding these vibrant flowers, her beauty somehow felt even more striking.
Anyone else would surely have stared at Roxana with a dazed, fiercely captivated gaze.
Yet Cassis averted his eyes from her instead.
Ever since his vision began to return, he had avoided making eye contact with Roxana even more than before.
In truth, whenever Cassis looked at Roxana, he felt an inexplicable, faint discomfort.
It was not out of distaste for her, but rather akin to his instincts subtly sensing some danger and unconsciously seeking to avoid it.
“There’s hardly any scent.”
It was the same when he watched Roxana lower her head slightly to catch the scent of the flowers.
Silken hair resembling spun gold cascaded softly over the purple blossoms.
Her long, thick eyelashes, casting soft shadows, were of the same brilliant gold as her hair.
No expression rested on her fair face, yet by her inherent beauty alone, she possessed more than enough power to effortlessly bewitch anyone’s gaze.
Her slightly lowered crimson eyes lifted once more, fixing upon Cassis.
Yet Cassis, maintaining a composed demeanor that revealed nothing of his inner thoughts, soon asked Roxana a meaningless question.
“You seem to be in a better mood than usual. You must like flowers.”
“I wonder.”
Roxana gave an ambiguous reply, looking down once more at the bouquet in her arms.
“They are pretty, but…”
Parting her lips after a brief pause, she spoke again.
“I don’t care for them much because they die too quickly.”
Roxana was thinking of the duration this flower’s toxicity lasted. Much like medicinal herbs, poisonous plants were exceedingly delicate, their potency varying depending on the plant’s freshness.
This flower possessed its greatest efficacy when freshly plucked; as time passed and the blossoms began to wither, the poison deteriorated and its effect became negligible.
Yet as mentioned before, this flower originally had extremely low toxicity due to a failed breeding attempt.
On top of that, among plants, this one withered particularly fast.
Of course, not all poisonous herbs were like this. Among them, some proved more effective when dried, while others were deliberately left to rot before use.
If only this flower were like that. To be useful only as an ornament—truly one of the few failed creations of the Agriche family.
When she lifted her head, for some reason, Cassis was looking at Roxana with his mouth firmly set.
Roxana asked him,
“Would you like to have this?”
“Why give me something you received as a gift?”
“I thought you might feel stifled staying only in this room. Since they’re quite pretty, wouldn’t it help change the mood?”
Since keeping them myself would be useless anyway, and they would only end up in the trash.
Thinking this, Roxana stepped closer, intending to pass the flowers in her hands off to Cassis.
“Wait. This is…”
Yet as the distance between them narrowed further, Cassis, whose gaze abruptly dropped to the flowers, suddenly froze.
“Who gave this to you?”
Why was he suddenly asking that?
“One of my father’s subordinates.”
Roxana answered, puzzled.
“Do you usually receive things like this as gifts?”
“Fairly often.”
Even if not flowers, she regularly received various small gifts.
Contrary to appearances, Roxana had quite a few admirers within the Agriche estate.
Yet what was the reason?
Looking at the flowers cradled in Roxana’s arms, Cassis’s face had hardened slightly.
