Roxana
Chapter 45
Chapter 45
The Way to Protect the Female Lead’s Older Brother
Chapter 45
As usual, the room was steeped in silence. Within it, Cassis turned the events of the other day over in his mind, again and again.
It was the memory of when he had escaped this room.
He had known it already, but the people of Agriche were truly far from normal.
Jeremy Agriche had acted recklessly, caring nothing for the harm his own clan might suffer, and the Agriche clan itself was beyond compare, having built a breeding ground for demonic beasts within their very grounds.
And what of the bizarre spectacle he had witnessed in the greenhouse that day? His stomach churned at the thought of the people imprisoned in cages like slaves.
And the other person he had encountered that day…
“Come to think of it, there were search dogs I took care of at the border recently.”
“They seemed to be loyal lackeys of Pedelian searching for their lost master. They were more tenacious than I expected, so disposing of them was quite a bother.”
“I merely sent them on ahead to where their master will soon follow, so what of it?”
As he replayed the voice that still echoed clearly in his mind, Cassis’s grip tightened slowly.
A chill like the northern wind gathered in the golden eyes staring into the empty air.
His expression had looked as though he were asking what could possibly be wrong with crushing a worthless bug beneath his heel.
Though the memory of Jeremy Agriche from that day stirred equal fury, the impression of Deon Agriche was etched far more vividly into Cassis’s mind.
Perhaps it was because what followed had been more shocking than he could have anticipated.
Roxana’s mother had looked at Deon Agriche with terror-stricken eyes, begging repeatedly, ‘Please, do not kill Asil.’
Cassis remembered that Asil was Roxana’s biological older brother. He had also caught wind of the fact that he was dead.
Yet when Deon Agriche forcibly triggered Cassis’s restraints, the words that spilled from the woman who arrived late were utterly staggering.
She had clearly said Deon killed Asil. But for Cassis, such a thing was unimaginable.
Naturally so.
Were they not brothers? No matter if they had different mothers, half the blood coursing through their veins was the same.
Yet Deon Agriche was a man who had unleashed a demonic beast without hesitation upon Roxana’s mother, who stood alone without a single means to defend herself.
Had Cassis not stepped in, the beast would have undoubtedly torn into her.
Considering that, it was hardly surprising that Deon Agriche had killed his own half-brother.
“It would be even better if you cried like you did back then.”
Suddenly, Cassis furrowed his brow.
He was reminded of the faint trace of a scar lingering on Roxana’s face.
The vivid red wound carved into her arm, and the bloodstains seeping through her clothes as though she had been lashed with a whip.
An unsettling emotion he could not quite put into words crept up his spine and settled at the nape of his neck.
This family was abnormal after all.
Even Cassis, who had spent most of his time confined and had only brief contact with the outside, felt as if he were slowly losing his mind.
In Agriche, all manner of senseless atrocities were committed with utter nonchalance.
The norms of the world, its laws, its morals—all were rendered useless here. Even the standards for judging right from wrong ran on a completely different track from the world outside.
If one stayed in a place like this for long, no one would be able to keep their sanity.
Cassis lowered his gaze with somber eyes. The restraints still binding his limbs entered his field of vision.
[From this moment, I shall place a seal upon you.]
In the Hallucination Room where he had been trapped not long ago, Cassis had recalled a long-forgotten memory from his past.
Along with it, he remembered the method to undo the seal currently placed upon him.
That meant he could now utilize the powers that had been sealed away.
Since the root of that power was not restricted solely to healing, perhaps he could even shatter these restraints.
“……”
A myriad of thoughts surfaced in Cassis’s mind.
…Come to think of it, he had never considered what would become of Roxana, his master in name, if he were to escape from here.
Until now, he had thought of her as just another member of Agriche. But as time passed, he found himself thinking she was somehow different.
A girl who had lost her full-blooded older brother at the hands of her half-brother. What was more, that same half-brother had just tried to kill her mother.
Even knowing that truth, there seemed to be nothing Roxana could do.
He also remembered how she had coughed up blood before him in the past.
On top of that, it weighed on his mind that Roxana was being gifted poisonous flowers.
He had heard that regarding this incident as well, if the blame for letting Cassis out had not fallen on someone else, Roxana could have received a far harsher punishment for negligence.
Because of that, Cassis’s heart was ill at ease.
Yet even so, it made no sense for Cassis to hesitate. He had to escape Agriche at all costs.
Still, whenever he recalled what had transpired in the Hallucination Room the other day… a corner of his heart inevitably felt tight and stifled.
Every time he remembered her soft whisper thanking him for saving her mother, and the gentle touch that had brushed his cheek, an inexplicable sensation washed over him.
For the first time since entering Agriche, he had felt neither threat nor tension, momentarily forgetting even to guard his surroundings as he indulged in an unfamiliar comfort.
Perhaps because of that, whenever he thought of Roxana after that day, his heart felt somewhat heavy.
Moreover, it was thanks to Roxana’s help that he had been able to make contact with the people of Pedelian.
“……!”
At that moment, a faint scream rang in Cassis’s ears. The sharp sound made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.
The scream had come from remarkably close by.
A moment later came the sound of a lock being undone at the door. Cassis tensed his body, preparing for any unforeseen danger.
Yet the figure who appeared through the opening door was someone he knew all too well.
The moment the door closed behind her, however, Roxana coughed up blood and collapsed.
Seeing her limp body crumple to the floor, Cassis sprang to his feet before he even realized it.
“Roxana!”
Black blood gushed out onto the floor.
Unidentifiable red butterflies rose one by one around Roxana, alighting upon the pool of blood on the floor and her bloodstained hands.
It was a grotesque scene that evoked an eerie chill. Before long, a dense poisonous aura filled the air around them.
“Ugh…….”
Spilling another surge of blood, Roxana finally slumped down completely.
Cassis snapped the chain connected to his neck and rushed to where Roxana had fallen.
“Roxana, stay with me!”
He couldn’t help but flinch; the body beneath his fingertips was as cold as a sheet of ice.
Her face was so deathly pale that, with her eyes closed, she looked almost like a corpse. Only the vivid red staining her stood out with painful clarity.
Because he had recklessly ripped the chain apart and moved in haste, the shoulder wound dealt to him by Deon Agriche reopened.
Blood seeped through his white shirt. A couple of butterflies landed upon it as well.
“Roxana!”
Fortunately, she had not lost consciousness entirely; at his repeated call, the lowered eyelids slowly lifted.
Yet the crimson eyes looking up at him were unfocused. The tears pooling within them trickled down the corners of her eyes.
“You can’t… go out…….”
Even in that state, Roxana parted her lips to let slip a feeble voice.
“Outside… is dangerous……. I’ll, protect……”
She could not finish her words before spitting up blood once more.
“We need to get to a physician right now.”
At this rate, disaster was imminent. Cassis moved urgently, intending to take Roxana outside.
However, Cassis was forced to halt immediately.
“Don’t…… do that.”
A frail hand that could be shaken off in an instant clung to the hem of his clothes.
Yet the eyes meeting his at that moment held a desperation he could not bring himself to push away.
“Don’t tell anyone. That I’m… like this right now…….”
Her imploring gaze held him pinned to the spot.
He should have retorted, asking what on earth she was saying in a situation like this, but for some reason, not a single word would pass his lips.
“To no one…….”
Roxana whispered as if scattering her final breath, trembling lips barely moving.
In the next moment, her weakly opened eyes shut.
The hand clutching his clothes slipped down and fell limp.
Looking down at Roxana lying limp in his arms, Cassis involuntarily held his breath.
The butterflies, noticeably multiplied in number, fluttered their wings slowly as they hovered around them.
For some reason, they looked just like starved beasts eyeing an opportunity before their prey.
[Power you cannot control yourself is nothing short of a calamity.]
At that instant, a voice as heavy as a boulder echoed in his mind once again.
[From now on, never again must you use your power for such a matter.]
It was a command deeply etched into his mind, as if branded there forever.