Roxana
Chapter 79
Chapter 79
The Way to Protect the Female Lead’s Older Brother
Chapter 79
After a moment, he quietly drew back the curtain and stepped out of the room.
“Oppa!”
Sylvia appeared before him as if she had been waiting.
“Is she awake? Can I go in to see her now?”
Her eyes sparkled with curiosity, just as they had earlier.
Sylvia had long been curious about Roxana and eager to meet her. Ever since Cassis had briefly told her about the Roxana he had encountered in Agriche three years ago, she had been that way.
“Later. She’s still asleep.”
Disappointment flickered across Sylvia’s face at Cassis’s words. But soon, she smiled brightly and stepped forward with brisk, spirited steps.
“Then I’ll go prepare some flowers while I wait. As a welcome gift.”
Watching her, Cassis offered a faint smile.
He caught himself hoping that while Roxana stayed in Pedelian, she too might learn to smile as brightly as Sylvia.
* * *
“Phew…….”
I breathed out a deep sigh from the bottom of my lungs.
Submerged in the warm water, my body melted into soft relaxation.
It felt as if all the accumulated fatigue was washing away at once.
Though if someone asked what kind of exhaustion a person could have after sleeping all the way through the carriage ride and waking up from bed only moments ago, I would have little to say in defense.
Still, it was somewhat astonishing even to me, having never slept so much in my entire life.
Was I making up for all the sleep I had been deprived of until now?
Resting my arms against the rim of the tub, I slowly closed and opened my eyes.
I was glad I had turned away the servants who offered to assist with my bath and chose to stay alone.
Then, a quiet sneer slipped past my lips.
It was strangely ironic that someone who had thought it wouldn’t matter if she died tomorrow was now taking a bath in such deep satisfaction.
The bathing chamber here was just as vast and immaculate as the room I had been in.
The delicate fragrance rising from the bathwater filled the enclosed space.
As I breathed in the floral scent, Sylvia’s face from earlier drifted into my thoughts.
* * *
“Ah! You’re awake.”
The moment our eyes met, she beamed at me.
Her innocent smile gave me pause.
Sylvia approached me with light, fluttering steps, like a dancing bird.
“What do you think of these flowers?”
Then, out of nowhere, she tossed out such a peculiar question.
Her star-bright eyes held nothing but goodwill and gladness toward me.
“Oppa told me to let you rest longer, so I was just going to leave the flowers quietly in front of your door without waking you.”
I looked down silently at Sylvia, who was chattering away like a lark.
“Seeing flowers the moment you open your eyes lifts your spirits, doesn’t it?”
There wasn’t a single shadow on her face.
Her tone and gaze were so warm and familiar that, for a fleeting second, I wondered if we had actually known each other for a very long time.
“So I went to the garden to pick the loveliest flowers, but when I thought of the person receiving them, even the blooms I treasured somehow seemed to pale in comparison.”
Sylvia was far brighter and more charming than I had imagined. Because of that, I could only gaze down at her in silence.
“Because of that, I spent so much time fretting over which ones to choose that it took longer than I thought…….”
Then, the lively voice ringing in my ears began to trail off.
Sylvia suddenly clamped her mouth shut as if struck by a sudden realization.
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Fluster and embarrassment bloomed in the eyes gazing up at me.
“I should have introduced myself first, but I went on rambling all on my own.”
Sylvia looked worried that she might have offended me, but I wasn’t displeased in the least.
“Um, do you happen to know who I am?”
Of course I knew.
I had already seen her face during the Harmony Conference.
Even if I hadn’t, her silver hair and golden eyes were an undeniable reflection of Cassis.
“We both attended Yggdrasil this time…….”
“Sylvia.”
Saying her name aloud was almost an unconscious reflex. The girl before me froze for a split second upon hearing my voice.
Yet that lasted only a moment; soon, an even more radiant smile spread across Sylvia’s face.
* * *
“…….”
Staring up at the ceiling of the bathhouse, I sank into a complicated mood.
The unblemished, crystal-clear smile Sylvia had worn earlier lingered before my eyes.
In the original novel, Sylvia around this time was not an innocent, cheerful, and vivacious girl like that.
After all, the genre of that novel was a bleak, hopeless tragedy.
And as the female lead of such an unforgiving tale, Sylvia had lost her innocence and light with every turning chapter.
In the end, upon learning that her older brother had been murdered by Agriche, she had wept tears of blood in agonizing grief and vowed bloody vengeance.
So seeing her so bright and lively stirred an undeniably strange feeling within me.
It was similar to how I had felt upon seeing the grown-up Cassis.
At the Harmony Conference, she had carried an air of maturity, but seeing her up close, traces of Sylvia’s youth still remained. Come to think of it, she was the same age as Jeremy.
“…….”
Splash. I submerged myself completely beneath the water, ducking under to the top of my head. Bubbles rose to the surface, and with them, the wandering thoughts in my mind scattered away.
* * *
By the time I finished bathing and stepped outside, the sun had already set.
Perhaps because I had soaked in the hot water for so long, a heavy languor weighed upon my limbs.
Earlier, when they asked if I needed assistance dressing, I had dismissed all the servants—now I wondered if that had been a mistake.
I roughly pulled a robe around myself and stumbled toward the sofa.
I had only meant to sit down for a brief moment, but it seemed I had drifted off into a light sleep again.
When I opened my eyes, someone was lifting me to carry me to the bed.
“……Tell me the truth.”
When I murmured in a rasping voice, Cassis looked down at me while holding me in his arms.
“Did you do something to me behind my back?”
I muttered, sleep still clinging to my tone.
“Falling asleep every time I open my eyes isn’t normal. You didn’t use some underhanded method just to keep me from running away, did you?”
Or perhaps he had forced sleep upon me under the guise of restoring my vitality and qi.
To that, Cassis replied placidly, as if telling me not to waste time on pointless thoughts.
“It simply means your body is in that much need of rest.”
Gazing up into his eyes, I let my gaze drop.
“Put me down. I’ve slept enough for today.”
Rather than complying immediately, Cassis walked back to the sofa and gently set me down upon it.
Come to think of it, how much time had passed?
Sylvia had said she would wait in another room to see me again once I finished bathing.
“Where is your sister?”
“I sent her back a while ago.”
So she had returned after all because it got too late. Still, I was relieved she hadn’t been kept waiting until now.
Of course, it wasn’t a formal promise—Sylvia had simply declared it and left on her own accord…….
Yet since I had failed to firmly refuse her after seeing that smiling face, I wondered if I ought to apologize the next time we crossed paths.
“You must be hungry. I’ll have a meal prepared and brought to the room.”
Cassis moved without asking for my opinion. He already seemed to know I would refuse if given the choice.
And from experience, I knew claiming I wasn’t hungry here would do no good anyway.
“Is this really Pedelian?”
“Just as you guessed.”
When I asked in passing, Cassis answered briefly.
In the end, I was made to have a late dinner just as Cassis intended.
Yet still lacking an appetite, I idly toyed with the utensils in my hand and spoke.
“Your sister seemed quite glad to see me.”
“So it seemed.”
Facing me, the light in Cassis’s eyes softened slightly.
Unexpectedly, Sylvia had welcomed me far more warmly than I could have imagined.
On one side of the table sat the bouquet of flowers she had given me earlier. I glanced over at it.
I wondered what on earth Cassis had told her about me.
Should I be impressed by his remarkable tact in making his younger sister receive me with such open hospitality?
My coming to Pedelian had not been driven by any grand purpose or hidden intention.
It was merely, as Cassis had said, because anywhere was the same to me.
With nowhere to go and nowhere I wished to be, I had deemed Pedelian as good a destination as any.
Though I had followed Cassis here and now resided within Pedelian, I did not regard this place as my final destination either.
Even if it hadn’t been Cassis who asked me to come along, I wouldn’t have refused.
“It’s quite quiet here. Considering how few presence and footsteps I sense, there seem to be hardly any people around.”
“It is a detached pavilion for guests, so it is rarely used under normal circumstances.”
As expected, not the main manor.
Placing me in a separate annex likely stemmed from two reasons.
First, because of the risk that the venomous qi within my body might lose control and run rampant once more.
Second, because bringing someone belonging to Agriche into Pedelian meant he could not entirely ignore the eyes and scrutiny of others.
Of course, Cassis had acted without the slightest hesitation on our journey here, but that had been outside.
Now that we were inside Pedelian’s territory, Cassis too might need to exercise caution in his conduct.
At that thought, I stared intently at Cassis. At that, his brow furrowed faintly.