The way to Protect the Female Lead’s Older Brother - Chapter 39

Cassis tugged at the metal collar around his neck, before laying on his hands on his lap again. He was still sitting down next to his tray of uneaten food. It was his supper, if he remembered correctly, which meant Roxana would visit him tomorrow. He disliked that his thoughts kept coming back to her. Yet, in a confined room with no weapons to train or parchment to draw on, what else was he supposed to do but think about the only person who visited him three times a day?

He had tried shadow boxing and doing push-ups on the floor, but gave up the idea of exercise quickly. His cracked ribs were still healing. Although his face no longer looked like an overgrown and mutated mushroom—he had seen his reflection in the bath water—he could still feel his insides rearranging themselves from the abuse he had been given from Lant Agriche.

Again, he wished he was more like his father, who could sit still for eons with a regal and pensive air and enjoyed meditating in his free time. Cassis had learned to emulate the bored, pensive look, but underneath his façade, he was still restless on the inside. He had naturally been an active child, which displeased his servants and guards who had chased after him.

Indeed, Cassis still had a suspicion that his knights had given him the title of the Blue Scion to hint how sophisticated he must act among the other noble families. Cassis had to admit, the thought of being the just and sole male heir to the Pedelian line had gone to his head a year ago. He had practiced his speeches and sticking out his chest for ages in front of a mirror, when he was sure Sylvia wasn’t lurking around to laugh at him. He supposed on the outside, the Pedelians seemed like the perfect family, but it was really just his parents who had dignified hobbies and a patience to watch the opera.

Like a pervert, his thoughts kept straying to his time with Roxana when his head was on her lap and she brushed his hair with her fingers. She had mentioned that her life was in danger.

I don’t want to die, she had whispered.

The same girl who had coughed up blood in front of him. Why was there so much blood in this godforsaken fortress? He knew the Agriche were a bunch of thugs with noble lineage, but the people who ran this place didn’t seem to be committing heinous acts for money. They were inherently crazy. They enjoyed seeing people suffer and grovel in front of them.

What else did he know about the Agriche family? Besides Roxana, one of the Lady Agriche’ seemed more genuine and delicate. He was sure that woman was Roxana’s mother now. He hadn’t gotten the best view of the woman—his head had been upside down and he was half-bleeding to death when he had opened his eyes into tiny slits to see which mad person he was going to meet next. The blond hair colour was definitely identical, the shape of their faces, and something about the two’s demeanor. The mother and daughter could almost be identical twins, if Roxana had blue eyes and was doing her innocent girl act.

No, Cassis was sure that Roxana was far from innocent. There was some ability she had to get under his skin, but he didn’t think she was particularly evil anymore. The guards who brought him here had also mentioned that he looked like somebody to the physician, who had done a shoddy job of patching him up.

Was it true? Cassis mused. Was Roxana and the fourth wife of Lant Agriche interested in caring for him because he reminded them of the late Master Asil? Lant Agriche had many children. It would be impossible to have kept up with all of their names and histories. Most of the Agriche line seemed to be sickly as well. If he recalled correctly, only a tenth of the children in each generation lived to adulthood; one of the reasons he had surmised the Agriche had harems.

Cassis was still disappointed that he couldn’t recall who Asil or Roxana was before during his lessons in Pedelia. He knew most of the nobles from the other families, but the Agriche tended to be mum about their personal affairs and rarely talked with others outside of business. He had remembered one of Lant Agriche’s sons at one of the annual banquets, but the fellow was a wallflower who had declined speaking to anybody. When Lant Agriche left the room, the fellow had walked behind his father like an obedient dog. Just like how Cassis had inherited his father’s white hair and golden eyes, the fellow seemed to be a younger version of Lant Agriche.

Asil must have been one of the lesser favourite offspring to the bastard Agriche Lord, Cassis decided. It made sense if Asil had been an embarrassment to Lant Agriche, who wouldn’t have shown the boy in public.

Asil and he were about the same age, perhaps the same build.

He could understand why Roxana must have loved her late brother. The first time Roxana had walked into this room, he had planned to disable her and escape, but the Asil sob story had made him hesitate. How many times had Sylvia given him a heart attack with her mischievous tricks in the Pedelian Manor? His little sister had never cared enough about her personal safety. She had almost fallen off the balcony when she had danced too lively during a windy day, and her skirts had flipped over. He couldn’t imagine Sylvia with a broken leg, let alone dying.

If Roxana cared for her brother, Asil, she must not have been an entirely bad person. Unlike her other siblings that Cassis had encountered, Roxana was polite too. Despite her teasing, she said please and thank you, and seemed to want to have a cordial relationship with him.

He laid a hand against his heart, willing himself to calm down. It might be better if he asked Roxana to stop visiting him. He was becoming too emotionally involved with her well-being, but he knew he would never ask her to leave him.

Cassis moved his solemn gaze to the tray of food beside him. The food had gone cold. He wasn’t hungry, but Cassis took his first bite of the meal and chewed slowly before finishing his entire plate.

Nothing has changed, he told himself. His first priority was to recover and get out of this hellhole.

There was no use worrying about Roxana or her mother when he was going to tear apart their family. He still planned on murdering Lant Agriche, even if it meant having the bastard’s dirty blood on his hands.

Translator’s Note: Lol, Cassis is such a sleuth. He thinks Roxana is saving him because he looks like Asil. Bro could’ve been in sync with Roxana sooner if had read more web novels ^_^;;