Roxana
Chapter 85
Chapter 85
The Way to Protect the Female Lead’s
Older Brother
Chapter 85
It was an unexpected request. Sylvia looked at Roxana, her face tight with tension.
Watching Sylvia, Roxana blinked, then subtly averted her gaze as she gave her consent.
“Alright.”
A blush promptly rushed to Sylvia’s cheeks. She quickly rose from her seat and moved behind Roxana.
As if reflecting her exhilaration, her steps were light and brisk, almost dancing.
“Your hair is as fine and lovely as silk thread, so I’ve always wanted to touch it just once. I-If it’s alright, may I brush it?”
“Do as you like.”
“Then, what about tying it with a ribbon…?”
“That is fine.”
Though it was nothing of consequence to Roxana, Sylvia rejoiced like a young child receiving sweets for the first time.
Seeing Sylvia like that brought a strange sensation to her chest.
A touch that clearly conveyed a fluttering heart began to caress her hair.
And in that moment, Roxana forgot what she had meant to say to Sylvia.
* * *
“Your hair changed.”
Cassis, who entered Roxana’s room right after Sylvia left, hardened his expression faintly.
His gaze was fixed upon Roxana’s hair.
“Sylvia tied it for me.”
Her long golden locks were loosely braided into one and bound with a deep red ribbon resembling the color of her eyes.
“Does it look strange?”
“No.”
There was nothing that did not suit Roxana, so he could answer that without hesitation.
However, Roxana’s current hairstyle bore a resemblance to Orca’s. Of course, since Sylvia had never seen Orca, she must have done it without knowing.
Yet Roxana was…
For a moment, Cassis stood still, taking in the sight of Roxana, before stepping closer to her.
Soon, his slow hand brushed against her hair falling down her back.
“…Did you ask Sylvia to tie it like this yourself?”
Whether it was merely a trick of the mind or not, a voice that carried a strangely barren, rough edge grazed her ear.
“No, I told her she could do as she pleased, and Sylvia styled it this way.”
Roxana replied nonchalantly, seemingly unaware of the thoughts crossing Cassis’s mind.
Cassis’s hand covertly hovered around the ribbon woven into her golden hair.
As though he wanted to snatch and untie it right this second, casting it away somewhere far.
His gaze looking down at the red ribbon was also restlessly coarse and sharp, like a starving beast facing its prey.
After a moment, Cassis barely shook off the fierce temptation and lowered his hand.
Returning to his usual composed demeanor, he spoke to Roxana.
“I won’t be able to have dinner with you tonight.”
“I heard from Sylvia.”
“I’ll return as early as possible, so don’t even think of starving yourself.”
Cassis feigned ignorance of the discontent surfacing on Roxana’s face.
“I’ll be back soon.”
* * *
“My, I never imagined such a beautiful lady resided in Pedelian. If I had known there would be such a fateful encounter, I would have attended the Harmony Conference long ago.”
During dinner, among the four people present, only Orca wore a bright countenance.
Each time he opened his mouth and tossed out a remark, everyone except Orca felt their expressions turn ice-cold.
He carried the look of a street scoundrel tossing flirtatious remarks at a woman who caught his fancy.
In contrast to his clear, crystalline appearance like shards of glass, the words tumbling from his mouth were exceedingly cheap.
“Fate, you say? I haven’t the slightest clue what you mean.”
Sylvia instantly cut down Orca’s words with a frosty demeanor.
Yet he remained undaunted.
“Not at all. Think carefully about it. Sylvia-yang is as lovely as a flower, and I am as beautiful as a butterfly, so wouldn’t we make a truly splendid pair? Ah, but seeing as my beauty is also exceedingly radiant like a blossom, I could take on the role of the flower while Sylvia-yang takes the part of the butterfly. Sylvia-yang, do you perhaps like butterflies?”
As Orca’s words continued, the expressions of the three seated around the table transformed in diverse ways.
Cassis’s face chilled into a grim mask, Sylvia could not conceal her bewilderment, and Pandora stared at Orca as if wondering what sort of lunatic drivel this fellow was spouting.
“White Beast Tamer. If you continue to flap your mouth so frivolously before my younger sister, I will send you right back to where you were yesterday.”
Cassis warned coldly.
“Ah, my apologies. I am naturally very shy, so the more nervous I become, the more talkative I get. If my rambling words offended you, I offer my apologies, Sylvia-yang.”
Orca apologized politely, yet the content was still utterly absurd. Claiming to be shy was something that all the people and beasts across the world who knew Orca would scoff at.
Sylvia firmly corrected the part of Orca’s words that displeased her.
“One more thing. I never gave permission for my name. Call me Pedelian-yang.”
“Haha, very well. Though I would prefer it if you called me Orca.”
Even so, somewhat normal conversation flowed back and forth afterward.
Orca seemed deeply interested in Sylvia, striking up conversation with her quite frequently.
Whenever he acted overly familiar, Cassis intervened.
As they exchanged a few more words, Orca’s speech gradually dwindled. Eventually, he closed his mouth, seeming somewhat disheartened.
Yet Sylvia merely seemed relieved that Orca’s attention had drifted away from her.
“Ugh, suddenly my stomach…”
Then, suddenly, Orca complained of discomfort as if his stomach were upset, rubbing his chest and abdomen.
“Could it be trouble from eating rich food for the first time in a while after grazing on wild greens outside all this time?”
True to his words, Orca was even breaking into a cold sweat.
“Ah, suddenly the energy of mother nature within my bowels is…”
“Quit your foul mouth and get the hell out if it’s urgent!”
Pandora yelled at Orca in sheer horror. As if he were truly pressed for time, Orca hastily begged their pardon and scrambled out of the dining hall in a flurry.
“It seems Hyperion’s family customs are quite liberal.”
“Orca is the unusual one…”
When Sylvia politely minced her words, Pandora groaned and muttered under her breath. If there had been a mouse hole, she would have wanted to crawl right into it.
The moment Orca exited the dining hall, Cassis gave a slight nod of his eyes.
At that signal, two subordinates standing by the entrance of the banquet hall soundlessly vanished behind Orca.
“I apologize on Orca’s behalf for his insolence.”
Gritting her teeth inwardly at Orca, Pandora defended him before the Pedelian siblings.
“He must not have fully adapted to a new environment yet, perhaps because he has lived out in the wild for a while, wandering through magical beast habitats.”
For better or worse, Orca was the successor of Hyperion.
“I also deeply feel the responsibility regarding this trespassing incident. My ability to control magical beasts is somewhat lacking, so while surveying the habitats around this area with Orca, we unintentionally crossed the castle gates of Pedelian.”
Thus, she could not simply leave him to plaster a disgraceful impression over the family name.
“Surveying the habitat of magical beasts was also a matter requiring prior permission, so I sincerely apologize for letting eagerness get ahead of us and missing the proper timing.”
She had no idea why the one who made the mess and the one who cleaned it up always had to be different people, but regardless, someone had to clean up the aftermath.
Moreover, what felt utterly lamentable to Pandora was that the beast used when crossing Pedelian’s castle gates happened to be hers.
“Pedelian is well aware of the White Beast Tamer’s unique disposition. Since the matter has already been concluded with Hyperion via official correspondence, there is no need to make separate excuses like this.”
Cassis spoke in a formal tone, as if he harbored not the slightest interest in Pandora’s personal excuses. His voice was so dry that it felt utterly heartless.
Judging from his words, he seemed to have already seen right through the fact that this incident had transpired solely on Orca’s arbitrary impulse.
“Thank you for saying so.”
Of course, the meaning behind Cassis’s words was not to defend Pandora, but she spoke while feigning ignorance for now.
Cassis’s arid gaze brushed Pandora briefly before pulling away.
Yet even after that, Pandora stared intently at Cassis for a long time. Inwardly, she was quietly marveling.
‘Looking at him now, the Young Lord of Blue has grown remarkably dashing, hasn’t he?’
When she had seen him a few years ago, he seemed to possess a much softer, gentler impression, yet his atmosphere had transformed so drastically.
Of course, even then, Cassis Pedelian boasted an exquisite allure like the light of dawn, more than worthy of the title of young lord.
Yet looking at Cassis now, she felt as though the youth back then had been nothing more than unripe fruit.
Pandora covertly swept her gaze over Cassis.
In truth, from the moment she first stepped into the banquet hall, she had been preoccupied with stealing glances at Cassis.
‘Until now, Ryuzak Gastor was the most to my taste. But the Young Lord of Blue is unexpectedly quite…’
A suggestive glint flashed across Pandora’s eyes for a fleeting second.
‘Shall I make him mine while staying here, then?’