The way to Protect the Female Lead’s Older Brother - Chapter 24

My hair curled over my shoulder and brushed Cassis’s cheek.

It felt strange to have this man’s head resting on my lap, knowing how terrible his future was fated to be.

Did I really feel sorry for him? Maybe I was only projecting my own feelings. I was also destined to die before I was twenty years old.

“I don’t want to die,” I whispered. At this point, it seemed to be a mantra I kept repeating to myself.

If I wanted to live, I had to save Cassis first. If I failed and he died by the hands of an Agriche, I had another plan, but it would not be easy.

If Cassis died, I would have to prevent Jeremy from kidnapping Sylvia next. No, it would be better if Jeremy and Sylvia never met.

I shook my head.

Let’s worry about Cassis while he’s here now.

I knew that Sylvia would never forgive the hands that murdered her brother.

An image of Asil’s dead body flashed before my eyes.

I knew.

The heroine would never forgive us.

Besides, I wanted a clean break with the Pedelians. If Cassis died, I would have to worry every day about Sylvia coming to kill me.

It must have been a habit from having Jeremy’s head on my lap. I started to stroke Cassis Pedelian’s silvery hair with my fingers.

It’s a shame I can’t see your bald spots anymore, I thought idly.

Tufts were already sprouting from his scalp. I assumed that in a few days, any evidence of torture in that area would disappear under his hair.

If I watched carefully, I could also see Cassis exhaling through his mouth…

Against my better judgment, I began to relax. It was wrong to feel peaceful at such a dangerous time, but I had something to celebrate.

Cassis was finally mine.

Jeremy and Charlotte would beg to have a turn with the toy, but they themselves hated sharing. It would be easy to tease them and say I also felt greedy at times.

I could now visit this room without detection compared to walking all the way to the dungeons before. The dungeons were next to the servants’ quarters which tended to have a flurry of activity and watchful eyes.

In comparison, the upstair quarters tended to be empty. Security was lax. No one would be able to break into the Agriche household without insider assistance. My father only kept guards around as messenger boys or in case he needed a lackey to conduct a menial task. It would be easy to enter this room while the guards were roaming around the other side of the castle.

Cassis had to recover without the notice of Lant Agriche. My father would rather burn his right hand than allow a Pedelian to live comfortably under his abode. I couldn’t have my siblings undo his recovery, as Charlotte had done in the past.

Sorry, Jeremy, if I can’t keep my promise. I don’t know if I’ll be able to share Cassis with you after all.

I smiled and flicked Cassis’s nose.

His face stayed impassive besides one thin eyebrow that jerked subtly. He looked like he was having a bad dream.

I brushed his hair away from his forehead, confirming my suspicions.

His hair was soft as Jeremy’s when my brother had washed and dried his hair after a bath. The hair that wasn’t torn or matted with dried blood even fluttered nicely when a draft came into the room.

Cassis had been a prisoner who had toiled in the dungeon for weeks, compared to Jeremy, who dressed and conducted his toilette daily, atypical of a nobleman’s son. It was strange, but their hygiene was on par.

Yes, strange. Cassis was still covered in blood and piss—I did not think the guards habitually released Cassis from his shackles to relieve himself—and yet…

“You don’t smell,” I said.

It had been hard to notice in the dungeons, where the moldy walls stank of mildew, but here in this clean room, I knew for sure.

There was magic at work.

The demonic restraints did not hold back Cassis Pedelian’s powers.

I knew the smell of blood well. When I had crouched at the dungeon’s antechamber to pick up his tooth, I didn’t smell any blood. When I opened Cassis Pedelian’s mouth, his tooth was also growing back at an alarming rate. The same went for his hair.

I wiped the cream off one of the small cuts on his cheekbone. The skin was smooth and unblemished.

“Cassis,” I teased.

He wasn’t as hurt as I had believed. He had fooled my father and he had fooled me.

I could see why Lant Agriche had been thrilled when he saw the grit and tenacity the Pedelian had shown in the dungeons.

I breathed on his face and felt him twinge on my lap.

Cassis Pedelian, are you awake now?