The way to Protect the Female Lead’s Older Brother - Chapter 17

Three days later, I went back to see Cassis.

A new man was guarding the entrance to the dungeons. Father’s men were probably disciplining the last guardsman for allowing Charlotte to enter. I suppose the next time I saw Yo-han, I would see his round face stitched back together with cheap nylon thread.

I had no trouble entering the dungeons. Father had given me permission to enter shortly after the last family dinner.

My body had not forgotten the routine. I walked on the right side of the corridor to avoid a drip from the ceiling and opened the prison door slowly to ease the rusty creaking sound.

Cassis turned his head as I stepped in.

“Are you alright?” I said softly.

His condition had reverted back to an almost unconscious doll. Under my care, the colour of his complexion had improved and his cheeks had become less hollow, but Charlotte had undone all of my work.

It could be worse, I thought. I had considered other contingencies. I had a plan if his legs were amputated or if he became permanently blind. My only fear was that Charlotte had affected his mind. I had a feeling that the Pedelian family would incite war if I returned a stupefied son to them.

Cassis still hadn’t responded to my question. Curiously, his sharp tongue was absent today.

His lips opened slowly. “Roxana.”

I blinked. It was the first time he had uttered my name, and I felt inclined to blush. It truly took strenuous training to hold back adolescent hormones.

I decided that there was no deeper meaning to our exchange. I had told him my name last time. He had few visitors. He was only casually addressing me.

“How many days has passed since you last came?” he said quietly. He struggled to enunciate every word. His cracked lips showed that he was dehydrated.

I tilted my head, letting my hair fall lower against my shoulder.

“It’s been seven days,” I said.

“I see.” His resigned expression was odd and didn’t suit a prisoner who had been tortured the past week. “I thought the time was longer,” he sighed.

Cassis was quite mysterious. Unlike my younger siblings, I could not always tell what he was thinking.

Father had given me permission to see Cassis days before Charlotte had entered the dungeons, but I had held back from visiting him, waiting for Charlotte to make the next move.

I knew she was going to torture him, but I thought it wise to stand back and have him roughed up. I could protect him a lot easier if he trusted me. He had to know that he needed me to escape from Lant Agriche. Everyone else here was an enemy.

It was a heartless move. I hadn’t stopped Charlotte or came to see him as soon as I knew she had attacked him. I took a risk. He could have been permanently damaged.

I gazed at his unreadable face for another movement before stepping closer.

“I’ll treat you,” I said.

“Didn’t you say you couldn’t treat visible wounds? The guards will find out about us,” he said.

“The situation has changed,” I said.

I knew my actions toward him were inconsistent. I had to be cautious about approaching him too kindly. Nice people did not last long in dungeons or in lands owned by Lant Agriche.

Anyway, being kind wasn’t particularly in my nature.

Cassis stood still as I came within arm’s reach of him.

His metal restraints were new and pristine, unlike the old ones that were dented and splattered with dried blood. Perhaps another demonic hex was hidden underneath one of his shackles.

Light scratches that matched the curve of a little girl’s nails covered his handsome face. I felt a bit sick realizing that Charlotte may have left a permanent mark on him.

I reached out to touch his skin, checking for critical wounds. His limbs were safely secured to his body; fortunately no broken bones. I ignored the gash on his waist, already predicting this was the worst injury.

“Let’s see,” I murmured. His right shoulder jutted out oddly as if someone had yanked the shoulder out of its socket. A small bruise left a dark circle right above his belly button.

Oh, that bruise wasn’t because of me, was it? I thought humorlessly.

“Your condition is serious,” I told him. I could feel the top of my head tickling his jaw. “Did you see your stomach wound? You almost bled to death if your blood hadn’t clotted and molded with your shirt. I suppose breathing has been difficult for you.” I spoke innocently, as if I hadn’t had a hand in tormenting him. “You’ve held on well. Now that I’m here, you won’t have to worry anymore.”

The atmosphere changed. I finally noticed that Cassis Pedelian had been holding his breath, his eyes locked on my movements the whole time. He hadn’t winced at all when I had touched any of his wounds. Instead, he was rock still, as hard as a piece of marble.

His golden eyes, bright as the sun, pierced through me. Unlike before, his expression was easy to read now. He looked confused, frenzied, and embarrassed that we were so close to each other.

I noticed his discomfort and laughed quietly.

When my lips parted, I saw Cassis gulp and breathe in short spurts, as if he was someone who had just woken up.

I had seen men react like this before.

I leaned in until I was close enough to bite him. “You can see my face now, can’t you?” I smiled softly.

Unexpectedly, I wasn’t irritated by his response as I generally was when I met new people. I actually felt a little happy to see him nervous.

His eyes, which had faintly showed his lust, deadpanned again. I had only affected him for a few seconds. There were some men who worked for my father for years and still couldn’t meet my eyes directly. Compared to them, Cassis Pedelian’s reaction was a bit dry.

“You can act a bit more surprised. Do you think I’m pretty?” I teased.

“You’re not my type,” he said.

“Really?” I said.

Cassis bit his lip when I saw I didn’t believe him. I could see the self-reproach in his eyes.

I felt a bit sorry for him. He shouldn’t be too bothered.

Every person in this house was still entranced by my beauty. Often, I was compared to a spectre or demon angel, as if I was too stunning to be human. The compliments only increased after I started my seduction training. I had been trained since childhood to use my looks as a weapon.

No matter how disciplined and just the Blue Scion was, Cassis was still seventeen years old. If he finished puberty and aged a bit more, perhaps he could withstand my charm. For now, it was impossible.

Rather, he should be praising himself for talking clearly with me. His response was starkly different from the former guardsman who had been attacked by Charlotte.

I still remembered that round, paunchy face. When I first spoke to him up close, the guardsman named Yo-han had kept saying, “Yes? Yes” like a parrot. It took some time for him to speak to me naturally.

My eyes smiled as I compared the two.

Meanwhile, Cassis Pedelian’s face had hardened, as if I had deceived him. It was the same distrustful look he had given me when I had first entered the dungeons. His cold stare seemed to drop the temperature in the room.

“What are you thinking?” I stared back at him, as if no love had been lost between us. “Do you think you will ever try to kill me?” I whispered.

I had an idea of why his mood had suddenly changed. Here was our first test. Was our bond strong enough to overcome this obstacle?

Cassis didn’t answer. It was another red flag.

“Ask whatever question you wish,” I continued. “You’ve seen my face now. It looks like you have something to say.”

Although most of my beauty came from my mother, my looks had been enhanced by my father’s blood-red eyes and roguish cheeks. My eyes in particular seemed to have been plucked from his skull and implanted in mine. Our eyes were completely identical.

I was a mix of both my parents’ genes and if Cassis had never met me before he was captured, he had certainly seen the face of Lant Agriche.

Those golden eyes burned with hate for a brief moment; the same look he had given me when I had first laid eyes on him in the main hall.

He didn’t ask any questions. Instead, he spoke two words as if confirming what his heart had already known from the beginning.

“Roxana Agriche,” he said. An Agriche.

“Correct,” I smiled.