I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 109

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 109
“What do you mean by that? Why would others think it strange?”
Owen asked as if he genuinely didn’t understand. If anything, I found myself bewildered.
“After ten years of being inseparable like siblings, suddenly announcing marriage overnight—wouldn’t that seem a bit odd?”
“Ah…?”
“I’m worried the castle servants will look at us strangely. It’s rather embarrassing…”
I had followed him around calling “oppa, oppa” all this time, after all.
Of course, within the Transcendent Families, marriages between those sharing the same surname were commonplace.
Since they were a collective bound by shared power rather than blood relations, there was nothing unusual about it.
But the crucial point was that just two or three months ago, there had been no hint of this whatsoever, and suddenly we’d become lovers. Embarrassingly so, in others’ eyes.
“Pfft.”
Owen let out an enormously loud snort. Then he declared flatly as if it weren’t even funny.
“That’s the most pointless worry I’ve ever heard in my life.”
“Pardon?”
“Stop anyone on the street and ask them—is it strange that you’re getting married, or strange that you’re not?”
My expression hardened into something sour.
Was this really something I needed to ask others about?
* * *
Just as Owen said, rumors about the relationship between the two young Transcendents of Wynack had already spread throughout Wynack Castle.
The only ones who didn’t know were the parties involved.
“Sister, what would you think if I said I was getting engaged to the Young Family Head?”
Lina gazed sympathetically at Rosien, who suddenly blocked her path with an odd question.
“So it’s come to that. I had a feeling—our Rosien, you’ve lost so much weight lately.”
“What?”
“I suspected the Young Family Head might be tormenting you excessively, but it seems I was right…”
“Wait, wait a moment.”
Rosien frowned and waved her hand.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You stand in front of the Young Master’s bedroom door every night, taking deep breaths before knocking.”
“You saw that?”
“How could I not see it when you’re doing it right in the middle of the corridor?”
Rosien would fan herself with her hands, fidget with her fingers, or grip her hair and pull it taut in hesitation almost every night outside the Young Family Head’s bedroom.
Then, barely managing to knock, the door would swing open as if waiting for her. A hand extended from within seized her like a hawk snatching prey, dragging her into the room.
The door would slam shut immediately after.
Once pulled into the bedroom like that, Rosien rarely emerged again. She would often skip even her dawn training, only crawling out around noon the next day.
Then she would head straight to the dining hall and gulp down a bowl of dark medicinal broth brewed with all manner of herbs. She would mutter curses pitifully while groaning.
“That monster, he’s really trying to kill me… He doesn’t know moderation. I’m certain he embedded that crystal just for this…”
When two grown adults shut themselves in a bedroom at ungodly hours, the range of activities isn’t particularly diverse. Keeping one’s mouth shut doesn’t maintain secrecy.
“In the first place, was this ever a secret, Rosien…?”
Rosien’s cheeks flushed crimson as she stared blankly at Lina.
“No, what…. Is it strange? That I’m in that kind of relationship with oppa?”
“What’s strange about it? You’re an adult.”
“That’s not the point. Being an adult or not isn’t what matters….”
Rosien trailed off and let out a deep sigh. I’m the only one who didn’t know. I’m the only one. Lina ignored her muttering and casually threw out a comment.
“Then we should start preparing for the engagement? I’ll consult with the head maid.”
“…Yes, that’s right….”
Rosien nodded with a deflated expression. Lina swallowed back the words she hadn’t finished saying.
‘Actually, I’ve already been preparing for it, Rosien. I’m sorry.’
Because that was the first order the Young Family Head gave after returning to Wynack Castle.
“I’m thinking about preparing for marriage. How does the process usually work?”
“If you mean the usual way….”
“How do the common nobles of Abuye get married?”
“Well, generally speaking, you hold an engagement ceremony first. The wedding itself takes quite a long time to prepare, after all.”
Given the Young Family Head’s temperament, I expected him to demand everything be prepared as quickly as possible.
‘I want to get married this coming weekend, so prepare for it. But you know there’s no cutting corners, right?’ I thought he’d say something like that while smiling like an angel.
“I see. It would be best to do it properly.”
Kalian Wynack was quite sincere.
“Whether it’s an engagement ceremony or a wedding, I want everything I do with Rosien to remain as a beautiful memory for her.”
Lina was seeing the Young Family Head make such a human expression for the first time.
His facial muscles would melt helplessly whenever he looked at Rosien, but until now, his attitude had been closer to cherishing something rather than treating a beloved one.
However, during the time they spent away from Abuye together, the atmosphere surrounding him had somehow changed.
For example.
“I’m increasingly wanting to see more expressions from her. I want her to smile more, to be happy without worry or concern. I don’t want her to feel conflicted when she looks at me….”
“….”
“But it seems I only bring her ominousness rather than happiness. It happens without my knowing. Strange, isn’t it? It’s difficult. Removing the gloomy and unsettling parts from my love. I don’t even know where the problem starts.”
“…So what do you wish to do, Young Master?”
“For now, I’m thinking of reshaping myself to match her.”
The man he used to be was only preoccupied with figuring out how to make Rosien come to him of her own accord.
He had carefully cultivated a weak personality and numerous flaws, inducing her to have no choice but to adjust to him. He acted as though as long as she remained by his side, the methods and processes didn’t matter.
But now he was actually thinking of adjusting himself to her!
He wanted Rosien to be happy! No less! That beautiful demon in an angel’s mask, that ‘walking disaster’ with the social skills of a drowned rat!
Had he realized something while away from Wynack Castle?
“Then shall we do the engagement ceremony first, as you suggest? What’s needed?”
“First, Young Master, you’ll need to prepare a ring….”
But the other party was a sinister, serpentine creature. Was I perhaps selling innocent Rosien as a sacrifice to a demon right now?
In the end, Lina’s courage abandoned her, and she clicked her tongue.
“Before that, you must propose first, Young Master.”
“Propose?”
“Rosien must accept your proposal before you can proceed with anything else.”
“Accept…?”
“I’m just saying that marriage shouldn’t be used as a means of oppression. I apologize if I’ve overstepped my bounds.”
“…No. You’re right.”
He even admitted it!
‘I thought the ring was still being crafted, but did he propose first?’
Yet Rosien’s left ring finger remained bare.
She had wilted noticeably in the brief moment, waving her hand dismissively.
“As long as it’s not strange, that’s fine. I should get going. Thank you for your hard work today, Lina.”
“Yes, that’s right. …Say, Rosy. You’re handling that well, aren’t you?”
“That? What do you mean?”
“Well, you know, that thing unmarried men and women absolutely must be careful about when spending nights together.”
Lina lowered her voice and whispered, glancing around to ensure no one would overhear. Rosien simply blinked blankly.
“Ah, that….”
“It’s presumptuous of me to say, but the Young Family Head doesn’t seem like he’d worry about such things. I thought perhaps you should look after yourself.”
Rosien’s expression was so genuinely clueless that Lina felt a surge of pity for her again.
The Young Family Head had become more human than before, true enough, but seeing how he made that energetic Rosien wilt like a wilted bean sprout every day suggested he hadn’t changed in certain respects at all.
Rosien held her dizzy head and barely managed to shake it.
“Wait…. That won’t happen, so don’t worry. In the first place, we’re biologically different beings, so it’s not even possible… I should get going!”
She fled the spot before even finishing her sentence.
Lina watched the red hair receding and swaying for a long time.
‘She doesn’t seem to dislike him entirely either. Well, if she truly hated him, they wouldn’t have become what they are now.’
In any case, it was miraculous that the Young Master was showing signs of redemption, and she hoped he could find happiness without incident.
For the sake of peace between Abuye and Wynack—no, Rahnar.
* * *
“I’m completely caught, completely caught.”
The moment I returned to my room, I sighed so heavily the ground seemed to cave in.
On the way back, I’d even heard Jake and Selman say, ‘Don’t you think Owen accepted you from the start with the intention of making you his daughter-in-law?’
“Why are there so many facts I was the only one kept in the dark about? It’s infuriating.”
My creed and dream had always been that more lovers were better, but it turned out to be an impossible goal from the start.
“I should just dump him.”
If not for his appearance, I would have kicked him a hundred times over by now. What Jake casually threw out was quite memorable.
“You’re living off that face, Rosy. It’s a shell you’ll never tire of even after a thousand years. You could be completely fed up, but one eye smile and you’d melt away?”
It’s unfortunate and infuriating that I can’t deny it.
But truthfully, I wouldn’t have been so determined to marry in the first place. There was a reason.
Actually, when I first returned to Abuye from the island, I heard something from the Transcendent Family Heads. It was about a future that Chronos Yeljewa had seen in a dream a few weeks prior.
He said he had witnessed Rahnar engulfed in a sea of fire in that dream.
Kalian Wynack stood in the midst of those inextinguishable flames of calamity.
“We thought he was going berserk because he’d lost his Elixir.”
The hypothesis Luize presented was plausible.
So I decided to strengthen the Elixir Imprinting between Kalian and myself as much as possible. Even if we were apart for a time, he wouldn’t lose his reason.
Luize and Alpien had returned to Delpiam. However, Chronos Yeljewa and Dorian Raylo were still staying at Wynack Castle.
‘For now, I’ll wait until Yeljewa sees a new future….’
Just as I was formulating this plan, someone outside knocked urgently on the door.
“Kirges, are you in there? It’s me, Yeljewa.”
It was Chronos Yeljewa. I hurried to my feet and opened the door to find an elderly man whose complexion had turned deathly pale.
“Yeljewa, what’s happened?”
“A premonition has come to me, Rosien Wynyak.”
The moment I heard those words, an ominous dread seized my spine. Yeljewa’s expression was twisted with terror.
“Whezel was right. I saw you dead in a dream. But, but…!”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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