Roxana
Chapter 8
Chapter 8
The Way to Protect the Female Lead’s Older Brother
Chapter 8
* * *
It was the dead of night, cloaked in thick darkness.
“…I see. There was no one?”
A low whisper scattered across the quiet room. The curtains drawn over the window fluttered slowly in the breeze.
Moonlight poured generously over the girl perched upon the windowsill.
“Then try the western border this time.”
She was unrealistically beautiful—so much so that one could easily believe a god had personally breathed life into her.
Her softly waving hair cascaded down to her waist, shimmering brilliantly even in the dark, as if spun from woven starlight and the first glow of dawn.
Her eyes, resembling gems forged from refined crimson blood, overflowed with an enchanting allure that sent an involuntary shiver through anyone who met her gaze.
Her delicate skin gave off a faint, jade-like radiance beneath the moonlight. There was something undeniably noble about her, an intoxicating beauty so striking it was overwhelming.
“If you find those searching for him, look for the one among them with the greatest strength and the most blind devotion.”
Roxana gave a new command to her faithful servant.
As if in reply, the dark red butterfly resting atop her finger fluttered its wings gently.
Soon, leaving her hand, the butterfly rose into the air and glided out the window.
Roxana watched its retreating form as it melted into the darkness.
The east and the south had yielded nothing. She hoped there would truly be people searching for Cassis Pedelian along the western border.
If their paths crossed and contact was delayed, the timing would slip away from her.
Roxana let out a soft sigh, thinking of the boy in the underground dungeon.
A faint shadow of worry settled over her exquisite face, lending her a mournful air.
Her mind was working furiously.
The commotion outside the door earlier while she was in the dungeon had been caused by Charlotte, one of her half-sisters, visiting the cells.
Charlotte had supposedly bickered with the jailer, demanding to see the new toy.
The jailer possessed more grit than expected, refusing to open the door despite Charlotte’s tantrums.
Yet there was no telling how long that resolve would last.
“What should I do…?”
Roxana’s eyes sank low.
Earlier, Cassis had quietly accepted the medicine she gave him without forcing her to knock him unconscious.
Did that mean he had lowered his guard against her, if only a little?
Of course, it was far from meeting her expectations, but it was enough for him to believe she wouldn’t feed him anything harmful.
Well, perhaps he had simply resigned himself to it, knowing that if he refused now, she would only knock him out and force it down his throat again anyway.
Tap, tap.
Roxana’s fingers tapped lightly against the window frame.
This month’s evaluation had taken place before Cassis Pedelian arrived at Agriche.
Soon, the Grand Banquet would be held. Roxana had once again secured the right to attend by firmly holding second place.
Her father, Lant Agriche, would be present there as well.
It seemed a frontal assault would be best this time.
3. The Way to Protect You
“Ugh.”
I grimaced at the sudden sensation of metallic fluid rising in my throat.
After a few shallow coughs, I pulled my hand away to find my pale skin stained with red liquid.
It was a side effect of the poison I had been consuming lately.
Still, it was fortunate this happened before dressing for the Grand Banquet. Had I already put on my gown, I would have had no choice but to change into another one.
I looked down calmly at the blood staining my hand and clothes, then raised my head.
In the mirror, the beautiful girl wore a completely expressionless face, as though coughing up blood was nothing out of the ordinary.
With blood smudged around my mouth, my complexion appeared slightly paler than usual.
When I reached out to the side, Emily, who stood nearby, handed me a handkerchief.
I used it first to wipe away the blood smeared along my lips.
Since this was not the first time I had suffered the side effects of poison, neither I nor Emily were shaken.
Knock, knock.
“Sana.”
Just then, someone knocked on the door and called my name.
It was my mother’s voice.
At my subtle gesture, Emily walked over and opened the door. Through the gap appeared a stunning woman whose face resembled mine.
My mother, Sierra Colonis, boasted a radiant beauty that seemed utterly untouched by the passage of time.
She looked nothing like a woman with a sixteen-year-old daughter.
Had Asil been alive, she would have had a twenty-year-old son, making her unbelievable youthfulness truly awe-inspiring.
“It’s been a while, Sana.”
“Yes. It has, Mother.”
For several years now, we had lived in entirely different buildings, so we rarely ran into each other by chance.
As she stepped closer to me, Mother suddenly froze, her eyes widening slightly.
“Why the blood…? Are you hurt somewhere?”
Though I had wiped the blood from my mouth, I had yet to change, leaving the crimson stain soaking across my chest clearly visible.
“It’s nothing. What brings you here?”
I changed the subject without offering an explanation. I saw no reason to inform her of my condition.
When I did not answer, Mother did not press the matter further.
“Today is the day of the Grand Banquet, after all. I came by thinking you might be nervous.”
“It’s not as if this is my first or second time attending. Why would I suddenly be nervous now?”
At my words, Mother looked at me with an expression that conveyed she didn’t know what to say.
She had likely come out of concern that I might do something to displease Father at the banquet.
I had already grown enough to fend for myself, yet she still seemed worried about me.
From a certain point on, the distance between Mother and me had only continued to widen.
Even so, whenever she looked at me with those sorrowful, pleading eyes, a part of me wanted to give her whatever she wished for.
I slowly parted my lips and spoke.
“It’s all right. You have nothing to worry about, Mother.”
Seeing the calm composure on my face, Mother finally seemed reassured. She let out a soft breath and spoke.
“Yes, you are a proper Agriche now, after all.”
Hearing those words, I did not know what expression crossed my face.
Meeting my eyes for an instant, Mother’s delicate body flinched. That alone told me the invisible mask I wore had slipped.
Before any unwanted emotion could surface on her face, I smiled gently once more.
“Yes, just as you wished, Mother. I have become a proper Agriche now.”
How could such fragile beauty—so delicate it seemed on the verge of shattering at any moment—be this sorrowful and endearing?
This was a woman who could do nothing but lock herself in her room and weep when my brother, Asil, was unjustly killed.
And even if I were to be murdered before her very eyes today, she would only watch me die in trembling fear.
“Would you like to rest a bit longer? I need to prepare for the Grand Banquet, so I’m afraid I cannot spend time with you.”
I spoke smoothly, turning my body back toward the mirror.
“No, I would only be in your way.”
Sensing that I had no intention of continuing the conversation, Mother shook her head.
“Then take care on your way back.”
I did not hold her back.
Mother hesitated for a moment before quietly slipping out of the room.
After she left, Emily helped me dress for the Grand Banquet.
Rather than dressing for a family meal, I adorned myself with almost obsessive precision, like a warrior armoring up for a battlefield devoid of swords and guns.
Reflected in the mirror was a girl so dazzling she could blind anyone who looked upon her.
As I slowly drew a smile across my utterly deadpan face, vitality instantly blossomed over the exquisite features that still occasionally felt foreign to me.
“Lady Roxana. It is time.”
I stepped out of the room to head toward the banquet hall.
The hallway was quiet.
Gazing briefly down the corridor where Mother would have walked, I soon turned in the opposite direction.
I did not resent her for failing to protect Asil and me.
Nor did I hate her.
Yet I could never embrace her as I once had.
That was all there was to it.
