Roxana
Chapter 77
Chapter 77
The Way to Protect the Female Lead’s Older Brother
Chapter 77
“I knew it, but it really seems my poison doesn’t affect you at all.”
Parting her lips from his after a moment, Roxana pushed against Cassis’s shoulders.
Yet rather than pulling away, in the very next instant she pressed her body flush against his.
Straddling Cassis’s lap, Roxana met his gaze once more.
“Is this what you want from me, then?”
Roxana leaned forward until their foreheads nearly touched.
A golden veil fell across Cassis’s vision.
“If it’s something like this, I don’t mind either.”
Her soft whisper was sweet, as if coated in sugar.
Roxana smiled with her eyes as she stroked a hand down his chest.
The gesture held an unmistakable intent to seduce.
“Someone like you makes for quite a fine partner, after all.”
Because the curtains were not fully drawn, sunlight filtered through the gap.
Basking in the light, Roxana’s hair and half-lowered eyelashes glittered brilliantly.
The red eyes looking down at him held an irresistible allure.
Cassis gazed at her in silence.
His shadowed eyes, completely unmoving, resembled a bottomless abyss.
Then, Cassis’s hand touched Roxana’s face. His slow touch first came to rest near her eyes.
As that warmth slowly traced down the contours of her face as if memorizing them, Roxana lowered her gaze.
Cassis moved his hand with delicate precision. After gently caressing her cheek, his fingers lightly skimmed her ear, sending a tickling sensation through her.
All the while, Cassis never once took his eyes from Roxana’s.
At last, his hand moved to the nape of her neck, pulling her face closer.
Then, their lips met.
For an instant, a fine tremor ran through Roxana’s body before she could help it.
Yet it was so fleeting that she could not tell if Cassis had felt it.
Cassis lightly took her lips in his, tantalizingly grazing them with his tongue.
And just as Roxana had done earlier, he bit down on her lower lip to part them.
However, what followed was entirely different from what Roxana had done.
Instead of a fervent tongue laced with desire, a pure, crystal-clear energy surged between her parted lips.
Roxana flinched, a shiver running through her.
At that, just as in her memories, Cassis stroked the nape of her neck with a gentle hand, as if soothing her.
A warmth like sunlight filtering through the curtains spread throughout her body.
A serene stillness, bringing with it a profound sense of peace, pooled deeply in the air around them.
…It felt so terribly gentle that she had no desire to shatter it.
It was undeniably a strange experience. Neither spoke a single word, yet in this moment, it felt as though she were having the most intimate conversation with the man pressing his lips against hers.
Thus, only after a long while could Roxana let out a shallow breath and speak.
“…What are you doing?”
“Treating you.”
At his composed reply, Roxana’s brow twitched into a frown.
The golden eyes meeting hers remained entirely unperturbed. Seeing that, an unbidden annoyance welled up inside her for some reason.
“Forget it and stop. I don’t need anything like that.”
Roxana moved to climb down from Cassis’s lap.
But Cassis did not let her go.
“No, you do.”
At the same time, a pair of strong arms wound tightly around Roxana’s waist, holding her so firmly that she couldn’t budge.
“If you don’t even take makeshift measures like this, how do you plan to endure what comes next?”
Their bodies, separated for a brief moment, snapped close once more.
Pulling the nape of Roxana’s neck back toward him, Cassis tilted his head and covered her lips deeply this time.
Their lips met with startling relentlessness, and he bit down more painfully than before.
“Mmh.”
In an instant, their breaths mingled and tongues entwined. Cassis tangled his tongue with hers in a manner far from gentle.
Holding Roxana’s head still as she flinched and faltered, he sucked on her tongue so fiercely that it went numb.
As he stroked and sensuously rubbed against her sensitive inner flesh, a groan spilled unbidden from her throat.
The friction of wet lips and the mingling of saliva echoed licentiously inside the enclosed space.
It was a kiss so ravenous and damp that it left her momentarily speechless and dazed.
Having vaguely imagined a tender kiss suited to the Cassis in her memories, Roxana was flustered.
Yet soon her gaze hardened. Simply taking it lying down was never in her nature.
And so, determined to see who would come out on top, Roxana wrapped her arms around Cassis’s neck and pulled him closer.
For a moment, a thread-thin, low chuckle seemed to escape the man before her, flowing into her and settling deep.
They remained relentlessly entangled to the point where it was unclear who was devouring whom, until finally, the victor was decided.
Roxana glared at Cassis, feeling a strange sense of humiliation.
“Ugh, haah…”
Her face, flushed red from a lack of breath, heaved with ragged gasps.
Cassis, on the other hand, remained thoroughly composed.
“Didn’t you speak so confidently earlier, saying you had no need for treatment?”
Cassis stared at Roxana’s lips, which had been clung to his so stickily just moments ago, then tilted his head to lick and nip at her lower lip once more.
“Yet to be exhausted by a mere thing like this.”
From that motion lingered an unextinguished heat and lingering desire.
Roxana stared at Cassis with exasperation.
The two of them had just done the exact same thing, so why was this man completely fine?
Was the difference in lung capacity truly that immense?
No, that wasn’t it.
Roxana was not in normal condition right now.
She had only just awakened after being unconscious for three days, and hadn’t Cassis specifically come to treat her because she had yet to recover?
In the first place, this had not been a fair contest.
Thus, Cassis, who had engaged her in such a state, could rightfully be called unscrupulous.
Of course, this was neither a battle nor a match, but Roxana somehow felt her pride wounded.
So she spoke to Cassis with a touch of sarcasm.
“And what about you? What kind of behavior is this toward an unwell patient?”
Yet Cassis countered Roxana’s words with shameless nonchalance.
“I gave you what you wanted because you seemed to hate being treated like a patient, yet you’re still angry.”
Roxana glared at Cassis. It wasn’t wrong, of course, but…
“So you’re saying I wanted this, and that’s why you did it?”
“No. I did it because I wanted to.”
Cassis admitted it so readily that it left Roxana struck dumb. Suddenly, the strength completely drained from her body.
What on earth am I even doing right now?
Seeing Cassis’s unruffled expression had twisted something inside her, making her want to rattle him.
That was why she had started it, but in the end, she had gained nothing and was left wondering what this was all about.
The realization that she had done something utterly pointless made the heat gathered in her chest silently drain away.
Without touching her any further, Cassis opened the window and instructed the person outside to set off again.
Afterward, the stationary carriage began to move.
This time, Cassis remained with her.
The arm around her waist tightened, making Roxana wary, wondering if round two was about to begin.
However, Cassis merely drew Roxana’s body close, resting her against him.
“Get some sleep. We aren’t far from our destination.”
His low voice resonated by her ear, and a cozy blanket was wrapped over her body.
His touch and voice were utterly devoid of heat, as though they had never shared such a passionate kiss.
Roxana let out a brief, dry laugh, but when Cassis’s hand began stroking her hair, she quietly held her tongue.
After a moment, Roxana muttered softly.
“…How am I supposed to sleep like this?”
As if he heard her, a faint laugh drifted through the carriage like a gentle breeze. Cassis continued to hold her, patting her back.
From his chest against which her face rested came the thumping sound of his heartbeat.
…It was a truly bizarre situation, and a truly strange man.
* * *
When Roxana opened her eyes again, she was no longer inside the carriage.
She was wrapped in a crisp, white duvet. Where she lay now was a plush bed.
Her red eyes, regaining focus, quietly surveyed her surroundings.
Though she had already anticipated it from Cassis’s words and demeanor, they had not locked her in a prison or the like.
The view of a clean, cozy room entered her sight.
Whoever decorated this room clearly possessed exceptionally elegant taste.
The furniture and ornaments filling the room, down to the curtains hanging on the window and the very duvet covering her now, exuded an unmistakably noble refinement.
Ending her brief observation, Roxana pushed her upper body up.
To sleep so soundly while being brought all the way here.
She could not tell if her guard had dulled in the meantime, or if she was helpless because her strength had yet to fully recover.
…Or perhaps both.
Looking down, she saw that she had even been changed into different clothes. A bleak chill flickered briefly in her downcast eyes before subsiding.
Roxana pulled back the covers and slipped out of bed.
Though there were soft indoor slippers made of what felt like silk on the floor, she did not put them on.
Her bare white feet crossed the carpet soundlessly. Where Roxana headed was the window occupying one wall.
Rustle. As she raised her hand to draw the curtain back slightly, ripe yellow sunlight pierced through the gap.
Dazzled by the brightness, she winced and knit her brows for a moment.
Afterward, Roxana looked out the window.
Perhaps the climate here was warmer than Agriche, for flowers were already in full bloom.
Over the garden bursting with white blossoms pooled rich golden sunlight, like melted honey.
It lent an even more charming elegance to the scenery outside the window.
Roxana’s gaze fixed upon the radiant pair of siblings within it.
It was Cassis and Sylvia.
They seemed to be facing each other, sharing some conversation.
The looks and expressions they directed at each other were as warm as spring sunshine.
Soon, Sylvia left first, her long hair fluttering in the breeze.
Cassis watched his younger sister leave the garden and enter the building, then lifted his head.
Noticing his gaze turning toward the room where she was, Roxana lowered her arm holding the curtain.
Once more, the room grew dim.
Could he have seen her standing by the window?
Leaving the window, Roxana turned her steps toward the door.
Click.
When she placed her hand on it, the doorknob turned smoothly and the door opened.
Roxana gazed down quietly at the unlocked door.
Then, just as she stepped into the hallway, the figure of a young girl approaching from the distance caught her eye.
It was Sylvia, who had been standing in the garden with Cassis only moments ago.
Unexpectedly, her destination seemed to have been the room Roxana was in.
Holding an armful of blossoms as radiant as herself against her chest, Sylvia spotted Roxana and widened her eyes in surprise.
“Ah! You’re awake.”
Sylvia then smiled brightly at Roxana.
For a moment, it felt as though flowers were bursting into bloom across her vision.
It was a smile as bright and warm as sunshine, seeming to welcome her.