Roxana
Chapter 60
Chapter 60
The Way to Protect the
Female Lead’s Older Brother
Chapter 60
* * *
“Damn it, what on earth is going on?”
Lant spat out a harsh curse as he hurriedly made his way out of the banquet hall.
His face was filled with shock, confusion, and utter astonishment.
“Cassis Pedelian definitely died back then…!”
It was fortunate that no one was around; otherwise, things could have turned troublesome.
Lant was so unsettled that he could not even afford to care about such things.
Then again, having someone he firmly believed was dead return to life, how could his shock be anything less?
Just like Jeremy earlier, Lant surely felt as if he had seen a ghost.
Suddenly, Noel Bertium was visible in the distance, walking toward them.
It seemed he intended to rejoin the banquet.
I moved before he and Lant could notice each other.
“Father, calm down.”
“Do I look like I can calm down right now?”
As I naturally guided Lant to change direction, Noel Bertium faded from view.
With that, I prevented Lant and Noel from crossing paths for now.
“You saw it clearly with your own two eyes back then, Father. He definitely died by my hand.”
“That is true, but… then what in the world was that in there?”
As if recalling the memories of that day, Lant’s voice grew slightly steadier than before.
Yet confusion still lingered within it.
“Since the real one is already dead, what we saw must be a fake that looks just like him.”
At that, Lant’s face contorted.
“Are you saying that was a body double? But that energy was unmistakably Pedelian. Besides, wouldn’t anyone believe they were identical twins?”
“Perhaps the truth is simpler than you think.”
I sensed suspicion beginning to sprout in Lant’s heart. In the end, he would not be able to deny what I was about to say next.
Looking Lant dead in the eye, I lowered my voice to a whisper.
“After all, there is someone in this world capable of creating a doll as exquisite as a living human being.”
At that moment, time seemed to freeze in the eyes meeting mine.
Before we knew it, both of us had stopped in our tracks.
“A doll… A doll, you say?”
Lant’s reaction exceeded my expectations. Seeing his hardened expression, it was clear he found what I had just suggested entirely plausible.
Of course he would.
What Lant had constantly desired and attempted to contact Bertium for all this time was of the exact same nature.
“Don’t you remember? I told you not long ago that exchanges between Pedelian and Bertium had been confirmed.”
I had merely stoked the embers hidden in Lant’s mind, fanning the flames of his unease and doubt.
“I thought it was strange as well… Though only recent interactions have been confirmed, they might have secretly exchanged contact out of everyone’s sight long before that.”
Naturally, the information I fed Lant was false.
For the past three years, Pedelian and Bertium had never engaged in any noticeable exchange.
“Could it be… Bertium…?”
I could practically hear the gears churning frantically inside Lant’s head.
Perhaps because chaos had already seized his mind, he seemed incapable of sound judgment.
Once more, I whispered cunning words into Lant’s ear like a serpent.
“Having lost their heir and fallen into crisis, doesn’t it make sense that Blue Pedelian created a doll identical to Cassis Pedelian during the three years they lay low?”
* * *
As expected, Lant turned straight toward the guest quarters, seemingly intent on meeting Noel Bertium.
However, Noel had just headed toward the banquet hall.
Of course, even knowing this, Roxana did not tell Lant.
After confirming their locations through her butterflies, Roxana began to walk away.
With a sudden yank—!
A strong force seized her arm at that very moment.
Roxana realized who was lurking in the dark and did not shake off the hand.
The rough force that pulled her arm now shoved her back.
Her back met the hard, chilling surface of a wall. At the same time, a figure exuding a frosty aura closed in before her.
“……What is this? That’s far too rough for a greeting.”
Even in this abrupt situation, Roxana did not show a single trace of agitation.
Her unrippling gaze coldly met the face before her.
Crimson eyes carrying a similar chill stared down at Roxana as though trying to pierce right through her.
Light flickered in her vision—spillover from the banquet hall.
With her back nearly turned to the first-floor terrace, the music drifting from within and the murmured voices could be faintly heard.
“Cassis Pedelian has stepped into the light once more.”
Bathed in the light, Deon’s face was frozen cold.
Perhaps he had only just arrived at Yggdrasil, as he was not wearing formal attire.
Catching the faint scent of blood at the tip of her nose, Roxana subtly lowered her gaze.
She saw that Deon’s left arm, half-hidden beneath his cloak, was stained crimson.
He had likely sustained an injury while handling the task she had entrusted to him.
Yet Roxana felt not the slightest stir of emotion at the sight.
“Were you glad to see his face after all this time?”
Rather, what piqued her interest was this reaction.
For him to show such emotion when he already knew Cassis was alive.
Roxana’s lips moved slowly, finally curling into a slight arc.
“Why ask when you already know so well?”
A hint of amusement tinged her languid gaze. As her smile blossomed like a bud bursting into bloom, the air around Deon turned even sharper.
“……Sometimes, I want to kill you.”
Unlike his characteristically cold, monotonous voice, the emotion lodged in his eyes was far more fierce and violent.
A firm footstep sounded.
It was right then that footsteps were heard from the side.
“I did not expect anyone to be here who is ignorant of the very purpose of the Harmony Conference.”
A low voice cut through the chilled night air, striking their ears.
At the same time, a powerful grip seized Deon’s wrist, which held Roxana’s arm.
Roxana broke her gaze from Deon and turned her head.
The figure of a man standing tall on the boundary between light and shadow came into view.
She saw his silver hair, catching the light, fluttering softly in the air.
His shaded eyes held a radiance far more intense than in her memories.
His unwavering gaze bored piercingly into Deon, who loomed menacingly in front of Roxana.
“If threatening an unwilling partner by force is the Agriche way of greeting, it is truly pathetic.”
The one who revealed himself was Cassis Pedelian.
To not notice his presence until he had drawn this close—it was unthinkable.
A voice as stern and severe as his frigid gaze struck their ears next.
“Take your hand off her at once.”
A relentless force tightened around Deon’s wrist without hesitation.
As his hand was forcefully pried away from Roxana by Cassis, murderous intent surged from Deon.
Yet the one facing that malice head-on did not stir in the slightest.
Having shed his boyhood, Cassis had grown astonishingly in many ways.
At this moment, the overbearing aura emanating from him was no less formidable than Deon’s, suffocating the surrounding air.
Had Lant Agriche seen this, he would surely never harbor the slightest doubt that Cassis Pedelian could be an impostor.
Of course, there would be no chance for Lant to speak with Cassis privately during this Harmony Conference.
Meeting Noel, the head of Bertium, as he desired would also be impossible.
Because Roxana would make sure of it.
“Deon.”
At last, Roxana’s lips parted slightly.
At the soft call that reached his ears, the ferocious glare fixed on Cassis turned back toward Roxana.
That single word was all that escaped her lips.
Yet that alone was enough to rein in the beast on the verge of rampage.
Deon looked down at her, his eyes fracturing with colliding emotions, before finally reigning in his wildly surging aura and stepping back.
After Deon turned and melted into the darkness, Roxana straightened her posture.
“Thank you for your assistance during an awkward situation.”
Holding the hem of her skirt with one hand, she bowed politely to the man before her.
“My name is Roxana Agriche. May I ask your esteemed name?”
If anyone else were to witness them now, they would surely believe this to be the two’s very first meeting.
Cassis looked at Roxana in silence for a moment, his face revealing nothing of his thoughts.
“……Cassis.”
After a brief silence, Cassis finally parted his tightly closed lips.
“I am Cassis Pedelian.”
A low voice with deep resonance flowed from him.
“So you are the Young Lord of Blue.”
“Allow me to greet you properly, if you will permit it.”
Not stopping at introducing himself, Cassis reached out a hand toward her with the same composure Roxana displayed.
Roxana hesitated for a fleeting moment at the sight of his hand. But the hesitation was so brief it could barely be called one.
“With pleasure.”
Soon, their gloved hands met. When Roxana placed her hand upon his, Cassis took hold of it and pressed his lips to the back of her hand.
A faint, unfamiliar warmth seeped into her cool skin.
Their gazes collided at close range. The eyes she met head-on were familiar, yet they exuded an unfamiliarity more than strong enough to offset that familiarity.
It was not only his gaze that gave rise to such an impression.
Roxana was the first to pull her hand back from his grasp.
“I am well aware of the Young Lord of Blue’s renown. I am embarrassed to have shown you such a childish squabble between siblings.”
At that, Cassis’s serene golden eyes drifted slightly to the side.
They coldly swept across the dim space that had swallowed Deon moments before.
“A childish squabble between siblings, is it?”
“Yes, so it is nothing the Young Lord of Blue needs to concern himself with.”
“Is that so?”
After murmuring softly as if to himself, Cassis fixed his gaze on Roxana once more.
Dressed splendidly for the banquet, Roxana was blindingly beautiful, standing out distinctly even in the darkness.
Yet at the same time, she gave off an eerie sense that she might silently vanish into the night air at any moment.
“The night has grown late before I realized. I should return to my room now. Please, head back inside the banquet hall, Young Lord of Blue.”
Roxana expressed her intention to leave first. Cassis did not hold her back.
Instead, a comforting weight she seemed to have experienced somewhere before settled over Roxana’s shoulders.
“The night air is cold, so please wear this as you go.”
A gentle warmth soaked into her body, which had grown chilled in her thin dress.
Roxana looked up at Cassis, his coat draped over her shoulders.
“I was concerned, as your attire seems even thinner tonight than it was last night.”
Hearing those words, she was finally certain of the identity of the person she had encountered last night.
Their eyes intertwined in the air once more. The distance between them was considerably closer than before.
It had truly been a long time since she had looked upon Cassis’s face from such close proximity.
Perhaps that was why a strange, indescribable emotion rose within her.
With their gazes locked, Cassis was the one to offer tonight’s farewell first.
“……Then, I wish you a peaceful night.”
His low parting words lingered in her ears.
Roxana stood motionless for a long while, watching his receding figure.
