I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 129

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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 129
“I simply found myself in Alfheim one day. I don’t remember how I ended up in a place where there isn’t a single other human, whether I had a family or friends, what abilities I possessed or what I did, or even my own name or age. The only things I remember are the name Rozentia and the name of that man who just got upset and shut the door.”
“That Elf named Urs didn’t explain anything to you? Like what state you were in when you first fell to this place, or anything like that?”
“Urs only said I’m in the midst of a process I must go through. So stop probing me. I don’t even know if I’m the Rosien Wynyak you’re looking for.”
“…I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to press you.”
Luize Whezel ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
“But somehow your personality seems unchanged, Sister. You’re just as quick to take offense as ever…”
“It seems your Rosien Wynyak resembles me too. So can I ask you something now?”
“What do you want to know?”
“Are we siblings? You keep calling me Sister.”
Luize hesitated and shook his head.
“We’re not siblings. Just… an older sister and younger brother I knew. Something like that.”
“You must have been quite close. You came all the way here to find me.”
“Rather than close, I just… liked you a lot.”
It was an unexpected answer. And it was in the present tense, not the past.
My eyes widened as I looked up at him, and Luize Whezel awkwardly averted his gaze. He muttered in a tone of resignation.
“To become a control tool, to try controlling myself—I should have just rejected such absurd requests. Yet at the critical moment, I couldn’t push you away and ended up being dragged along. I worried about you quite a bit.”
“About me?”
“Yes, about you, Sister. I had my own sins to atone for, and debts to repay…”
“…”
“I didn’t anticipate this situation, but seeing that you’re safe puts my mind at ease.”
His words felt genuine. My guarded heart softened somewhat.
“It seems I left that place quite roughly.”
“You don’t need to hear the details of that process. It’s not a scene you must remember. You can forget about it.”
“Then what about Karga?”
Luize’s eyebrows twitched.
“What was my relationship with him? It clearly wasn’t an ordinary one.”
“…How much do you remember about Kalian Wynack?”
“Kalian Wynack? I’ve never heard that name before.”
“How is that possible? Those two names are inseparable.”
Luize furrowed his brow in confusion. I sighed and corrected myself.
“The person I remember is someone named Karga. Though I didn’t recover that memory—I met him in a dream—but regardless.”
“…By the Star.”
“I’ve been having recurring dreams lately of going to meet him in the Prison Dungeon. But he looked a bit different from how I saw him in my dreams… His face is the same, but he didn’t look so neat and tidy. And his personality seems somewhat different too, but I can’t say he’s a different person since he also called me Rozentia.”
“…”
“You know him and he knows me. What is our relationship?”
Luize’s lips trembled slightly before pressing firmly shut. After a long moment, he slowly shook his head.
“The relationship between Karga and Rozentia isn’t something I can explain. I don’t know the details myself. I’m sorry.”
“Then what about the relationship between Rosien Wynyak and Kalian?”
He hesitated for a while, searching for words to explain. When his answer finally came, it was only a single word.
“Elixir.”
“Elixir….”
I turned the unfamiliar word over in my mind repeatedly. Though I’d never heard it before, the sound clung to my tongue in an oddly natural way.
“But I still can’t be certain. Elixir is a soul’s Imprinting, and I have no way of knowing your current state.”
“What exactly is that?”
“It’s difficult to explain in words. But in my opinion, if you showed no reaction whatsoever upon seeing him… then perhaps you’re no longer bound by Elixir. An Elixir serves as both a stabilizer and a stimulant between two souls. If the mutual Elixir Contract still held, you would have known immediately upon contact.”
“Upon contact…?”
Without realizing it, I lifted my hand and pressed it against my left chest. The warmth of that large palm pressing against that very spot came vividly to mind.
I was well aware that his touch held no improper intent. My accusation of perversion had been nothing but a startled outburst.
Karga had been measuring my heartbeat with his hand.
‘Did I feel something? All I remember is the heat.’
There was one more thing, though. The sensation of someone listening to my heartbeat didn’t feel strange or unfamiliar to me.
Luize Whezel offered me comfort with a somber expression.
“But since you remember Karga, the Elixir effects might gradually return as more time passes. Don’t be so impatient, Sister.”
Naturally, his words provided little solace.
* * *
‘Touch and you know immediately—what kind of nonsense is that?’
Was Elixir some sort of psychic ability to communicate without words?
Rosien Wynyak, Rosy, Rozentia, Kalian Wynack, Wynack, Karga, Luize Whezel, Whezel. The names I’d learned throughout this single day swirled through my mind like a small tempest.
And to think I’d have to share the same floor with these people who’d brought such chaos into my life….
Contrary to his promise to return soon, Urs didn’t come home until deep into the night.
In the end, I extinguished the lights on the First Floor and climbed to the Second Floor. I saw a black silhouette standing before the Staircase.
The young man perched idly on the railing glanced back at me, who stood a couple of steps below him.
“Hello, Rozentia.”
It was Karga.
“…When did you slam the door and enter, and why?”
I climbed the remaining steps with deliberate irritation in my voice.
He seemed even more pristine and otherworldly at night than during the day. The darkness pooling beneath his eyes lent him an even more captivating aura.
Yet he appeared calmer than before; the roiling crimson light in his eyes had settled like cooling lava.
I maintained a careful distance from him. Whether because of his words about “knowing through touch” or his mention of “overwhelming” me, I found myself reluctant to draw near.
“What is it?”
“I need more blankets.”
“There should be some in the Wardrobe. Did you look?”
“I did. But there aren’t enough. I’d rather die than share a blanket with Luize Whezel.”
Despite saying something so unreasonable, he never took his eyes off me. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he was scrutinizing me piece by piece.
“How many layers of blankets are you planning to sleep under?”
“I get cold easily.”
“Then I’ll light the brazier for you.”
“I don’t want that. Give me blankets.”
Karga shook his head stubbornly. With his lips pressed shut and his insistent manner, he looked like a petulant child.
With no other choice, I retrieved a thin blanket from my room and draped it over him.
“People who fall through the Dimensional Rift always experience confusion at first. So rest well, and if you have anything to say, we can talk again tomorrow.”
“Were you confused too?”
“I suppose I must have been. Though I don’t remember. Anyway… get some sleep.”
It was merely a conventional farewell, yet he clearly disliked it, his eyes drooping with displeasure.
“Sleep well then. I’ve truly forgotten everything, Rosy. Was it your choice to erase me completely?”
“I don’t know. Whether I forgot willingly or was forced to.”
“You sent my flame through the crack in the Dimensional Rift.”
“Your flame?”
“What I gave you. What you said was beautiful. You don’t remember that either… Right. Rozentia wouldn’t know such things.”
The young man spoke as though resigned to his fate, slipping his hand into his pocket. A small black velvet box, no larger than his palm, emerged in his grasp.
As he opened the lid, something glimmering inside revealed itself.
It was small and round, hollow within. Upon its smooth silver surface sat an intricately carved emerald gem.
Not ostentatious, yet possessing an elegant charm that captured the eye at first glance—an ornament of refined grace.
A ring. It was a ring.
Karga let it fall into my palm.
“I’ve been waiting to give you this. Take it—it’s yours.”
“Really? It’s mine?”
“I made it for you, so it’s rightfully yours. It should fit perfectly.”
“It doesn’t go on though…?”
Before he could even suggest I try the ring on, I was already testing it against my index finger—a motion that had emerged naturally, without conscious thought.
Karga let out a soft laugh and shook his head.
“That’s not the right place, so it won’t fit. Give it here.”
He gently took the ring from my hand, and before I could withdraw, I found myself offering him my left hand.
My ring finger passed through the cool metal band. The ring settled onto my finger as though it had been made for me alone.
An exclamation escaped me unbidden.
“It’s truly beautiful….”

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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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