I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 134

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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 134
After that brief moment of awkwardness, the meal proceeded peacefully. Karga seemed to have no appetite for food, merely sipping at his teacup throughout.
More precisely, he would inhale the aroma of the tea for a long while, then drain the cup as if discarding it down his throat once it had cooled.
By now, I understood that he was not a being who required sustenance, so I simply left him be.
Yet naturally, my heart remained unsettled.
‘Surely he must have a separate form of “nourishment” beyond ordinary food. The memory is on the tip of my tongue, yet it eludes me….’
Fidgeting with my teacup alone grew tedious, it seemed. Karga leaned his weight on the table, inclining his upper body toward me.
Drawing close enough that his arm brushed lightly against my shoulder, he smiled with shameless audacity.
“By the way, Rozentia. These dreams you speak of—you’re seeing the day we first met, correct?”
“It seems so. Though not just the first meeting—I believe I’ve witnessed about eight encounters so far.”
“Ah…?”
“Strangely, this dream feels as though it’s drawing to a close soon. As if approaching some kind of climax.”
Though I attempted to piece together the fragments positively, I could not shake the ominous feeling that accompanied them.
It had been some time since I awoke from the dream, yet my entire body remained cold. I continued rubbing my arms, which were covered in goosebumps.
I had a premonition that the conclusion of these resurfacing memories would not be pleasant.
Perhaps it was because I had heard words like execution, trial, and such.
“Could it be that I died in Rahnar and was reborn here…?”
Karga, who had been listening quietly to my murmuring, suddenly drew his upper body back.
Setting down his teacup, he pushed himself up from his seat. The face I looked up at in surprise had turned ashen in an instant.
“There’s still tea left. Won’t you have more?”
“I don’t feel like it. I’m leaving first.”
“Wait, you don’t even know the way, so where are you——”
But before I could grab him, he had already thrown open the cottage door.
Like someone who knew exactly what I was curious about and was hastily fleeing the situation.
‘That reaction only makes it more obvious.’
It was as good as confirming the answer.
Even the most oblivious fool would realize that Rozentia’s life became considerably darker after meeting The Author.
I rose from my seat to follow him, intending to catch up and tell him that it was my choice anyway, so I was fine with it.
However, Karga could not step outside. A massive bouquet of flowers suddenly thrust its way into the cottage.
“…?”
Karga stepped back with a bewildered expression.
Luize, Urs, and I—all seated at the table—were equally taken aback.
The fragrance of fresh flowers permeated the air.
The bouquet was so enormous that the face of the one presenting it was completely obscured.
“Good morning!”
Ah, this. The moment I heard that spirited voice, I recognized who it was. A young Elf named Sionir who had recently been showing considerable interest in me.
An excited voice emerged from behind the door-sized bouquet.
“I found flowers blooming beautifully in the meadow and thought of you, so I brought them. I hope you’ll accept them as a symbol of starting the day with fragrance!”
Karga looked at the bouquet and me in turn with an expression of utter disbelief. Then his lips curled upward knowingly.
“Well, isn’t this an amusing situation.”
At the unfamiliar voice, Sionir appeared flustered. The bouquet swayed precariously from side to side.
Karga accepted the flowers with remarkable swiftness.
“Thank you. I’ll take good care of them.”
In that moment, everyone likely shared the same thought.
‘Why are you the one taking them?’
Beyond the bouquet, Sionir’s expression revealed itself—as though he’d been half-robbed of his gift.
The innocent young man had clearly been startled by the sudden male voice. Instead of my expected smiling face, here stood a strikingly handsome youth grinning while holding the flowers—no wonder he looked bewildered.
“They’re beautiful. Just like me.”
“Um, who are you…?”
“And who might you be?”
“Could you be the foreigner who fell through the Rift yesterday?”
“You know well. Then these must be a welcome gift. Thank you.”
Karga offered his thanks graciously and stepped backward. The cottage door began to creak precariously, as though it might fall off at any moment.
I rushed to the doorway and pulled Karga back.
“I’m sorry, Sionir. With a guest here today, I’m afraid the timing is difficult.”
I ignored Karga’s murmur from behind: “Today?” Sionir composed himself and straightened with courtesy.
“No, I should have anticipated this when I heard the Forest Keeper had taken in foreigners yesterday. I apologize for calling at such an early hour.”
“Not at all. I’ll arrange the flowers in a vase for you. Thank you so much.”
“Yes…”
Sionir’s eyes lingered wistfully over my shoulder. He seemed to regret not having handed them to me directly.
“Then I’ll see you again later, Sio. Take care.”
I retreated gradually and quickly shut the door.
When I turned back around, quite an impressive sight greeted my eyes.
A beautiful young man cradling a bouquet nearly as large as himself.
It was almost too perfect—there was nothing to say about it. The way it suited him was simply unmatched.
Karga blinked his crimson eyes several times before speaking with an unfamiliar tone, as though he’d just realized something.
“So the romantic interest wasn’t the homeowner. I was barking up the wrong tree.”
“Stop talking nonsense and give them here.”
“Since they’re all dead flowers anyway, how about we cremate them?”
A small flame flickered to life in Karga’s left palm. My alarm was the natural response.
“No. Why would you burn someone’s kindness? Besides, those flowers aren’t dead. They must have dug them up carefully, roots and all.”
The Elves were not a people who destroyed nature without reason. They were a pure and virtuous race who gave flowers with their roots intact.
After I defended Sionir, Karga’s smile deepened.
“Ah, this isn’t the first time…?”
“Give them to me. I’ll put them in a vase.”
“They were given to me—why should you take them? They’re mine.”
“You intend to keep them?”
“They weren’t said to be for you. The one who receives them is the owner.”
“Well, fine then…”
Apparently unwilling to share even a single stem with me, Karga cradled the entire bouquet in his arms and headed toward the sofa.
“…You said you were leaving.”
“I’m not leaving. I’m going to see the flowers here.”
Without sparing the flowers a single glance—what was this? I was at a loss for words.
Urs cleared the teacups from the table and whispered to me.
[You know, Miss. You said you had a lover, but was he your husband?]
“Pardon?”
[Ah, is he your fiancé? You’re both wearing matching rings.]
“…I’m still not sure. I don’t have clear memories of it.”
[But you just accepted the ring like that? Sionir must be heading back in tears by now.]
“W-well, the jewels aren’t at fault, are they?”
Suddenly embarrassed, I quickly hid my hand behind my back. It seemed only natural that a pair sharing matching rings would appear to be promising a future together.
Urs laughed knowingly, as if he understood everything.
[I was actually ready to throw him out immediately if I sensed anything ominous. He does seem a bit precarious, but I don’t feel any truly malicious energy from him. So I’m reassured.]
“Is that so?”
[Yes. I wondered what could have reduced you to such a state, but the man himself is in tatters. Absolutely tattered.]
“Tattered…what do you mean?”
I couldn’t understand the first part, but I couldn’t let the latter pass.
If an Elf—one who could see through the purity of souls—said such a thing, it was difficult to dismiss it lightly.
Suddenly, the desolate landscape from my dream surfaced in my mind, and my heart sank. Could it be that the wounds from the severed limbs back then still hadn’t healed?
“What do you mean by ‘tattered’?”
[Who knows how many times that one has died and come back to life? And there are traces of fusion and separation with something terribly ominous afterward. Poor thing—at that level, I think we should overlook a bit of his crookedness.]
Urs shook his head, clicking his tongue.
[If he’s this fragmented and tattered, even attempting to cleanse his soul would be difficult.]
“But outwardly, there’s nothing wrong….”
[The scars of the soul cannot be seen with eyes.]
Receiving Urs’s pitying gaze, Karga reflexively pulled at the corners of his mouth and forced out a smile.
This wasn’t the time to smile. Does he just smile reflexively whenever he makes eye contact with anyone?
I pressed Urs urgently.
“But he’s not in immediate danger right now, is he?”
[Not immediately. He can at least earn his keep?]
Before I could even fully grasp his meaning, Urs called out loudly to Karga.
[Hey, handsome youth. If you’ve stayed a night for free, you need to pay for lodging, don’t you? Or else earn your keep with food.]
“Earn my keep with food?”
[That’s right. My Miss here works to help me and lodges here, but you’re rolling around in someone else’s house without paying anything.]
Karga, already in a foul mood, let out a dismissive snort.
“I haven’t even eaten, so what food to earn?”
[….]
Urs, wearing a benevolent smile, tilted his head slightly toward me and whispered.
[His manner of speaking really does lose him all the points, doesn’t it?]

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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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