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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: An Older Brother's Role
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No, that wasn’t right. If she had, she would have been getting into accidents outside from a much younger age, and he would have died first from the sheer anxiety.
Ekiel walked over to Jusi, who was looking at the blue mana stone on the raised bracelet as if mesmerized.
“I’ll put it on for you.”
He removed the old mana stone bracelet and fastened the new, blue one around Jusi’s slender, white wrist.
‘She’s too thin.’
He wished she would gain some weight. Was it because she was constantly moving around as a White Tiger?
He regretted it, wondering if he had trained her too harshly or if he should have paid more attention to her diet.
Feeling sorry for her thin wrist, he patted it gently.
Slightly embarrassed, Jusi scratched her cheek and called out to him.
“Ekiel?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you. It’s really pretty.”
Jusi brought the wrist Ekiel had released closer, examining the bracelet with a broad, happy smile.
Ekiel crossed his arms, sighed, and began to nag.
“Jusi. Yes, I know you worked hard to achieve this. You deserve the freedom to move about. But don’t go outside the imperial palace on your own yet. It’s dangerous.”
The smile on Jusi’s face vanished, her expression instantly turning serious.
She glared at Ekiel and asked sharply.
“What’s so dangerous? Is the security in your empire that bad?”
“…That’s not it. We monitor criminals with our magitech system, and the guards are dispatched immediately.”
Caught off guard by her unexpected question, he found himself making a correction. Her prickly words made him think he needed to teach her a little more.
Jusi blinked before replying.
“That’s impressive.”
“But you’re special, Jusi.”
As Ekiel rubbed his throbbing temples and stared at her resentfully, Jusi shrugged.
“I’m super strong.”
“…I know.”
Left speechless by her confident demeanor, Ekiel could only nod.
Jusi continued in a loud voice.
“And don’t worry! I won’t do something reckless like going out alone. If I do go out, it’ll just be to the Berk thoroughfare. And with Claude, who knows the capital well. So stop worrying, Ekiel.”
“Claude?”
“Yeah. Claude’s mansion is right near the Berk capital’s thoroughfare. His family must be pretty rich.”
Ekiel was a bit dumbfounded, watching Jusi suddenly ramble on about the immense value of the Claude family’s real estate.
What was she saying in front of the biggest capitalist in the country, a man who had bought up the most expensive plots of land and secured thousands of patents for magitech devices?
Ekiel pressed down on his furrowing brow and said.
“So?”
“So even if I go out, you can just keep working without worrying. I’ll have fun with Claude and come back safe and sound. I’ll even report my return, Your Majesty!”
Just moments after threatening to cut ties with him, Jusi was now saluting smartly, her right hand raised to her eyebrow.
But Ekiel felt his heart freeze over, a wave of hurt and helplessness washing over him.
First of all, he was worried!
Ever since Jusi and Claude had become friends.
The scale of the trouble the two had caused while playing together over the past five years was astounding.
Countess Continell, Regent Jetar, and even Ekiel himself had to rush over and work tirelessly to clean up their messes.
Mere property damage was a cute offense in comparison.
‘Sigh.’
The combination of Jusi and Claude was dangerous.
They were absolute troublemakers. When together, they were a duo that feared nothing, creating the ultimate synergy.
Now that Jusi had succeeded in humanization, it would only get worse.
Furthermore, no matter how strong Jusi was, Ekiel couldn’t be free from concerns about injuries, kidnapping, and other threats to her safety.
His worries hadn’t lessened; they had doubled.
Ekiel waved his hand dismissively.
“The two of you going out together is absolutely forbidden.”
Jusi’s pretty eyebrows shot up in discontent.
“Why?”
“Why do you think I’m saying this? Don’t you think there’s a good reason?”
Ekiel smiled faintly and leaned in, applying pressure.
Jusi broke into a cold sweat as she began to recall one incident after another that she and Claude had caused.
Laughing nervously while glancing at Ekiel, Jusi tried to change the subject.
“By the way, Ekiel, are you not going to avoid me anymore?”
“…Right. I won’t. It was just for a moment. I had some things to think about.”
“You need time to think too, Ekiel? Hmm. Okay, I get it. I’ll forgive you.”
Jusi smiled brightly and patted Ekiel’s shoulder.
“So you were going through puberty? Well, that makes sense.”
“What?”
“Come on, Ekiel. You should have just told your big sister. I may be young, but I’m mentally mature, you know? So come to me for advice, haha!”
Giggling, Jusi gave Ekiel a slap on the back.
Having watched Uni’s interactions with Xaviet for so long, she had ended up mimicking them exactly.
It didn’t hurt, but Ekiel stood there with his mouth agape, stunned as if he had been hit in the back of the head with a hammer.
Big sister?
She was Anash’s reincarnation, so it was true that she was mentally older.
Still, it was hard to accept.
You’re so small and cute and precious.
“If you want to be treated like a big sister, you’ll have to get taller, Jusi. Eat some more.”
“I am eating a lot!”
Puffing her cheeks out in protest, Jusi glared up at the much taller Ekiel and stood on her tiptoes.
She still had a long way to go.
Ekiel felt a sense of relief knowing that he still had many days left to look after her, and he stroked the top of her pure white head.
“Alright, I get it.”
“Hmph.”
He felt much lighter and in a better mood than when he had been avoiding Jusi.
Ekiel continued to gently stroke Jusi’s soft hair. Just then, Jusi, who had been looking up at him, said suddenly.
“Ekiel.”
“Yes?”
“Come to think of it, you’re a lot like my older brother.”
“…You mean Crown Prince Ijeten Rumiare Penterin?”
The Crown Prince with dazzling blond hair, dark golden eyes, and a sculpted face, who had charged at him with a terrifying aura.
She thought he was similar to that man?
“In what way, exactly?”
Ekiel tilted his head slightly as he asked, and Jusi beamed.
“Not in looks. Just, the feeling.”
“The feeling?”
“Yeah. That overprotective feeling? You remember my brother, right?”
As Jusi spoke teasingly, covering her mouth as she laughed, Ekiel arrived at a similar conclusion.
Ah, right. An older brother.
‘I just need to become Jusi’s older brother.’
He had to protect Princess Jusielia from the Dark Divine Beast and its minions until she was fully grown.
But there was something else he had to do.
Now that the Princess had completed her humanization, she would grow into an increasingly pretty, beautiful, and noble young lady.
Vicious wolves would surely try to approach our innocent, fragile, and soft-hearted Jusi.
‘That’s not happening.’
Couldn’t he just take on the role of an older brother in place of the absent Crown Prince Ijeten?
That must be it.
This possessiveness and obsession, this desire to keep her with him and not let her go anywhere…
It was as an older brother.
But Ekiel would come to regret this immensely in the future.
While his mind was at ease at that moment, the ‘older brother’ role he had assigned himself became increasingly difficult as Jusi grew up.
It was a complete mistake.
The next day.
Jusi, who was scheduled to train with Ekiel again, appeared at the Emperor’s training grounds, walking side by side with Claude.
Ekiel, who had been expecting another cozy (?) one-on-one training session, trembled with a sense of betrayal and cracked his knuckles.
Without so much as a greeting, he summoned his mana chains, wrapped them several times around his hands, and let them flicker around him.
A startled Jusi and Claude stopped in their tracks, hesitating.
The training ground was filled with a formidable pressure, crackling menacingly and roaring with thunder.
He had never unleashed his mana chains and lightning like this during training before. Surprised, Jusi instinctively grabbed Claude’s sleeve.
The sight of this irritated Ekiel even more.
“Jusi! Why did you come with Claude Continell? And why are you so scared today?”
Flustered by his resentful voice, Jusi quickly let go of Claude’s sleeve and scratched her head.
“Huh? Uh, good question?”
And just as Jusi was about to explain that she had brought Claude because he could start learning the basics of swordsmanship today.
Claude spoke first.
“The reason I came is that I have proposed to the Princess, Your Majesty.”
“What? Hey! Claude!”
“…What did you just say?”
Jusi’s high-pitched, panicked shriek and Ekiel’s voice, which had dropped as low as it could go, blended together.
But Claude, oblivious, continued to grin at Jusi standing beside him.
“If I want to be chosen as her husband when she comes of age, I have to make a good impression early on. I’ll do whatever she asks, starting from a young age. Haha.”
No sound could be heard other than his cheerful laughter.
Because they were dumbfounded. Utterly speechless.
No, there was some background music.
The sound of Ekiel’s furious lightning, echoing through the training ground.
*Sizzzle, crackle—*
*Rumble, boom.*
The loud clap of thunder snapped Jusi out of her daze.
“That’s not it, Ekiel. He’s lost his mind and is joking—Agh!”
Jusi tried to explain, but shrieked and dodged as a vicious chain flew between her and Claude.
