Translator: Nox

Roxana

Chapter 29

Chapter 29

The Female Lead’s

Way to Protect Her Older Brother

Chapter 29

The touch of his hand on my skin and the gaze fixed on the bandage wrapped around my arm were equally cold and persistent.

Deon looked down at my arm exposed beneath the slipped sleeve, then lifted his eyes to gaze straight into mine.

“A Poison Butterfly?”

His look was searching, as if confirming something. The moment his low voice brushed against my ears, my heart gave a small jolt.

Even knowing it was impossible, I wondered if he had caught the butterfly I had sent to the western border.

“I believe I heard one of the eggs hasn’t hatched yet.”

But apparently, that wasn’t it. His next words pointed to the egg still in the incubation room.

When I didn’t answer, his grip on the bandage tightened.

I could feel his fingers digging into the flesh beneath the cloth, wrenching the wound open.

You perverted bastard.

But I had no intention of letting him know it hurt and giving him the satisfaction.

The last thing I wanted to see was that obnoxious, frosty smirk creeping across his handsome face.

Today of all days, I was grateful that I wasn’t the type to show my emotions on my face.

“Let go.”

I murmured in a voice stripped of as much emotion as possible, then pulled back the arm he held captive.

As if he had never been ruthlessly digging into my wound a second ago, Deon released my arm more easily than expected.

It felt as though he were indulging me, which soured my mood.

“When did you get back? I haven’t seen you around for a while because of your mission.”

It was nice not having to look at your face, too.

Deon gave a curt reply to my question, beneath which my true thoughts remained hidden.

“Just a moment ago.”

“Then shouldn’t you go greet Father?”

Of course, even if he knew what I was really thinking, Deon wouldn’t bat an eye. That was just the kind of person he was.

“I heard Cassis Pedelian became your plaything.”

A tranquil gaze whose intent was impossible to read flicked past my shoulder.

His expression was utterly inscrutable, as if draped behind a thick blackout curtain.

It was impossible to tell whether there was any real meaning behind the words he had just spoken.

Deon had always been like this.

He was perpetually cold, without a single shred of humanity in him.

That was why, when I was younger, I used to wonder if there was anything in this world capable of drawing an emotion out of him.

“You’re remarkably well-informed for someone who only just got back.”

Standing face-to-face with Deon like this, an uncontrollable, visceral revulsion washed over me.

“My plaything must be quite famous.”

“I only took an interest because it concerns you.”

The unexpected remark struck without warning, rendering me silent.

In the quiet hallway, he and I locked eyes without a word.

Both of our faces were perfectly placid, yet this conversation was unmistakably bizarre.

Still, neither the one who uttered such bizarre words nor the one on the receiving end showed the slightest trace of agitation as we stared at each other.

If there was one thing worth clarifying, Deon having an interest in me was by no means in the conventional sense of the word.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

I muttered like a self-directed murmur, curling my lips into a cold, derisive sneer.

“How boring.”

After murmuring as though all my interest had vanished, I turned around, and Deon did not stop me.

A thick, lingering gaze clung to my back.

Even feeling it, I never once looked back, walking solely forward.

* * *

Cassis unwrapped the bandage and examined his wound.

Naturally, it was not completely healed yet, but this was still not bad.

With each passing moment, his body felt lighter and lighter.

As long as he took care not to let the wound tear open again, recovery seemed likely to proceed smoothly.

Even so, unable to simply sit idle, he took every spare moment to train his body using whatever methods he could manage inside the room.

Now and then, Cassis would fix a razor-sharp gaze into empty space.

At a glance, he seemed to be staring at the wall, but in truth, his eyes were tracing somewhere far beyond it.

The blueprints Roxana had left behind were seared into his mind like a brand.

Cassis estimated the position of the room where he was held and the layout of the mansion outside, endlessly redrawing dozens of paths in his mind.

Click.

It was right around then that Roxana entered the room.

It was not her usual hour to visit, prompting a flicker of doubt in Cassis.

But Roxana, having opened the door and stepped inside, seemed off somehow.

Cassis started to call out to the figure standing by the door, only to close his mouth again.

With her gaze cast downward, she leaned her back against the door, standing in absolute silence.

For some reason, Roxana was soaked.

Catching the faint scent of grass drifting from Roxana, Cassis thought it must be raining outside.

Then, Cassis noticed something other than colorless rainwater dripping down Roxana’s left hand.

“Roxana.”

But she did not seem to hear his call. Upon closer look, she appeared to be focusing all her senses on the area outside the door.

Cassis listened intently just like Roxana, but no presence could be sensed outside.

Cassis’s brow furrowed slightly. Even in that brief moment, the pool of blood gathering on the floor was growing larger.

In the end, Cassis moved toward Roxana himself. Yet he could not reach her as he wished.

Clank.

The chain attached to his neck pulled taut, ringing with a harsh metallic scrape. The distance to the door was about seven paces.

Which meant it was also the exact distance between him and the person currently standing before the door.

Seen from a little closer, Roxana’s face was considerably paler.

Water was dripping from her wet hair as well.

But more than that, the crimson bloodstain thoroughly drenching her sleeve caught his concern.

“Roxana.”

Was it because the distance was shorter this time, or because Cassis’s voice carried that much more weight?

Only when he called her name once more did Roxana’s gaze finally shift.

A droplet tracing down her glass-smooth cheek slid past her red lips, gathered briefly on her slender chin, and fell.

Soon, their gazes met in midair.

* * *

Unwittingly, I was straining my ears toward the outside of the door.

I wondered whether Deon was still standing in the hallway, but not a single sound came from outside.

Then again, the spot where Deon and I had spoken was a fair distance from this room to begin with.

Yet even knowing that, my senses—locked entirely on the other side of the door—would not readily return.

“Roxana.”

Had that low voice calling my name not resonated in my ear, I might have stood in that exact spot indefinitely.

My vision, blurred as though submerged in water mist, gradually cleared.

Immediately afterward, what met my eyes were golden irises gazing straight at me.

“Cassis.”

When did he come this close?

Preoccupied with the door, I hadn’t even realized Cassis had approached.

Come to think of it, because of Deon, I had ended up coming into this room without thinking. I had originally intended to simply return to my own quarters.

Then, suddenly feeling rainwater running down my face, I raised a hand and wiped away the moisture.

Water must have gotten into my eyes, as they felt slightly stiff. I blinked slowly several times and rubbed around my eyes with my hand.

Cassis quietly studied my face for a moment, then spoke.

“Stop the bleeding first.”

Only then did I cast my gaze down to check my arm.

Ah. The wound I had roughly bandaged to staunch the bleeding had torn open.

It was undoubtedly because Deon had dug into the wound earlier.

But to think blood was trickling down like this.

Deon, that damned bastard.

If I had raised my left hand instead of my right to wipe away the moisture just now, my face would have ended up smeared in blood.

On top of that, from the moment I ran into Deon, my entire body seemed to have been strung tight without my even realizing it.

Only after taking in where I stood did the tension finally drain from my shoulders.

I decided to heed Cassis’s words. Perhaps because Deon’s lingering image still haunted me, I didn’t want to step back outside right away.

It was surely impossible, but the thought of opening the door right now only to find Deon standing in that exact same spot made my skin crawl.

“I’ll get you something to wipe it with. Wait here.”

Cassis didn’t ask me anything.

Whether it was out of consideration or indifference, I couldn’t tell, but in truth, neither mattered.