I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 128

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

Chapter 128
“….”
“….”
An awkward silence wrapped around the room.
Reluctant as I was, I had to obey the homeowner’s wishes. I shuffled hesitantly toward the Staircase.
“First, let me show you to your room. It’s on the second floor, so follow me.”
I deliberately avoided looking at the blonde. The dream I’d had last night kept surfacing, and it unsettled me.
‘He has arms…. And legs too.’
Karga’s movements transcended mere naturalness—they were elegant.
He looked like a Young Master raised with care in a noble household, and that very fact kept making me question whether the man from my dream and this blonde pervert were truly the same person.
Ever since our confrontation at the Cliff, he hadn’t spoken a single word, keeping his mouth firmly shut.
Urs’s Cottage had only three rooms. One was naturally the homeowner’s, and I occupied one of the remaining two.
The last room was a cramped corner chamber. It would be tight for two large young men.
“For now, try it out. If it feels too narrow, I can swap rooms with you.”
When no response came, I glanced over to find both of them wearing expressions like they’d swallowed something foul.
I thought they were friends—were they not?
“Want to swap now? My room is bigger.”
“Never mind.”
The blonde, Karga, opened his mouth for the first time since entering the Cottage. He made an effort to force a gentle expression.
“Since I have nothing to take, I’ll take your room instead. Don’t worry about it. I’ll get along just fine with this guy.”
“Sure thing, then.”
My goodness, now that I heard it, his voice was exactly like the one in my dream.
But I’d never heard him speak at length in the dream before. His voice, unmarred by any metallic edge, was precisely as pleasant as I’d imagined—delightfully soothing to the ear.
“By the way, Rozentia.”
Karga took a step toward me. Just one step, yet the distance between us suddenly halved.
“You’ve been living here alone with that Elf?”
I instinctively stepped backward. My heel struck the wall before I could catch myself.
“You looked young.”
“That’s… that’s not your concern.”
“Don’t say such lonely things.”
Karga tilted his head slightly to study my expression. Though he wasn’t holding me anywhere, my entire body felt bound tight.
His crimson eyes held an oddly vacant light. He whispered dangerously.
“You’ve been living together for five years?”
“That is….”
“It can’t be that you’ve just been gathering herbs together in this cramped place. I’m curious what you’ve been doing—everything.”
The distance was far too close. His fingers, which had been tracing the back of my hand precariously, now crawled across my skin and seized my wrist firmly.
I was caught.
Yet rather than the fact that I was bound helplessly in his grasp, my entire attention was consumed by the face filling my vision.
‘He’s far more my type than I expected…?’
I’d thought about wanting to see Karga up close, but I never dreamed I’d appreciate his beauty in a situation like this.
While I marveled at his flawless, luminous skin without a single blemish, he pressed me against him with surprising tenderness.
“I won’t be angry, so tell me honestly, yes? Did you cheat on me while you were here?”
Only then did my mind snap into focus.
“Ch, cheat…?”
“I’ve been going mad every single day for five years because of you, and here you were setting up house with some other man, picking herbs, and playing house? Is that it? Whether I cried or not, whether I suffered or not?”
“What? No, what are you talking about!”
“I’m asking why you forgot me so completely. Answer me right now. If you come clean honestly, I’ll at least pretend to understand.”
How could I answer when I understood nothing?
My savior was the dark-haired youth. He struck away Karga’s hand that gripped my wrist with a sharp, decisive blow.
“Step back, Wynyak. Let go of my sister.”
“Don’t interfere.”
Karga spoke harshly. Despite claiming he wouldn’t be angry, those bloodshot eyes blazed with the fury of someone ready to find Urs and tear him to pieces.
But Luize Whezel, the stoic young man, didn’t flinch. He issued a quiet warning.
“Do I need to remind you again why you dragged me all the way out here?”
….
“Come to your senses and back away. Can’t you see my sister is distressed?”
Karga exhaled in exasperation.
Watching him clench his empty fist instead of reaching for me again filled me with an inexplicable sense of guilt.
I instinctively grasped his sleeve.
“It’s true that Urs and I live together. I’m helping him with his work.”
“What work?”
“Chores, really. We’re just a homeowner and a penniless lodger—nothing like the relationship you’re imagining.”
“Do you know what I’m thinking?”
“It’s written all over your face. And where did this five years come from? I only opened my eyes in Alfheim last year. It hasn’t even been half a year yet.”
Karga raised one eyebrow crookedly. He repeated the word “half a year” to himself, and finally his lips curved into a smile.
“Ah, I see. No wonder nothing seems different. It feels like we parted just yesterday.”
His smile was oddly lenient, which somehow made me more uneasy. This couldn’t possibly be resolved so easily.
I hastily tried to change the subject.
“Anyway, Urs is just a kind forest keeper, so please don’t take offense.”
“Stop making excuses like that, Rozentia.”
“Why? What now?”
“Why are you being so considerate of me? Are you worried I might misunderstand?”
…How would you misunderstand?
“Maybe you’ve completely forgotten me, but some vague memory remains. I want to check how much you remember.”
….
“I might lose control and come at you. Like a pervert.”
The young man’s mouth smiled, but his eyes remained utterly cold. I stared at him with a grimace.
Why would he mention attacking me while checking what I remember? Surely he hasn’t been dwelling on that “pervert” comment all this time?
“I have so much to confirm with you, Rosy—or rather, Rozentia. Either way.”
“Wh, what exactly are you trying to confirm?”
“You really see me and feel nothing at all? Nothing when I touched you earlier?”
I wondered if he was insane, but the atmosphere made it clear I couldn’t just bluntly admit it.
Karga’s tone was growing increasingly desperate.
“You felt absolutely nothing? …The way I did?”
No, if he kept talking like this, he’d sound like a complete pervert.
Karga seemed to have read the answer from my suspicious gaze. He let out another bitter laugh.
“Ha.”
He stared at me as if at a loss for words, then paced back and forth before repeatedly splashing his face with dry water.
He muttered something in a voice that seemed to fade away.
“A greeting upon reunion, and here I am treated like some pervert. I’m losing my mind, seriously.”
Then he abruptly brushed past me.
He headed straight to the room at the far end and slammed the door shut with a loud bang.
This time, I was truly at a loss.
“What, he’s not even a child. Why is he acting like this?”
I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was thoroughly sulking. What did I do to deserve this?
‘Ever since leaving that filthy Underwater Prison, his personality has changed somewhat.’
Ah, right. Now that I think about it, I forgot to ask how he escaped from there.
Perhaps Karga already knew. How I came to leave my home and end up here, the circumstances of it all.
But if I keep dreaming, I might be able to confirm what happened after I left that prison within the dream itself. I decided not to make the mistake of following him into that cramped room of my own volition.
“You really don’t remember anything at all, Sister?”
A despondent voice cut through my thoughts.
It was the black-haired man who had been backing away and pressing his temples the whole time—Luize Whezel. He approached me.
“He’s not listening anymore, so you can be honest. Are you acting like this because you’re unhappy that we came looking for you, or have you truly lost your memories?”
“Unhappy? How could I be? One of you is a stranger, and the other is someone I’ve only seen in dreams.”
Luize Whezel let out a low sigh.
“What on earth happened? Rosien Wynyak. Where did your Planetarium go?”
“Rosien Wynyak—is that my name? Karga called me Rosy at first. Do I have three names?”
“You’ve forgotten even your own name? Surely you haven’t lost all your powers? Is that why you couldn’t come back?”
“…I don’t know how many times you’re going to make me repeat myself.”
I was the one frustrated, yet I kept receiving the same questions over and over. My tone grew sharper with each repetition. This was already a sensitive subject for me.

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