I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 135

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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 135
I couldn’t think of any defense. Urs leaned on the poker like a cane and issued a threat.
[If you’re going to keep staying at our home, you need to pay rent. Such an inflexible person.]
“I’m not the only uninvited guest here.”
[Your friend woke up at dawn and helped prepare breakfast. While you’ve been drinking nothing but the medicinal tea I brew since morning.]
Urs gestured with his chin toward Luize, who sat silently at the table.
Finally, Karga reluctantly asked.
“What do you need?”
[I don’t need anything—just run an errand for me. Take this basket of medicinal herbs to the Village Chief in the Lower Village. And give me that bouquet.]
Urs snatched the bouquet from him and handed over a basket heaped with medicinal herbs instead.
Karga, suddenly burdened with the herb basket in both arms, glared at him irritably.
“That’s mine. Don’t give it to Rosy.”
[What are you going to do buried under a pile of flowers with dirt clinging to their roots? These flowers are going into our home’s garden. Come on, get up and go run that errand.]
Karga grumbled irritably for a moment, but eventually he rose from the sofa and left the cottage.
Before the door even closed, Urs pushed my back.
[What are you doing? Miss. Go follow him quickly.]
“Me?”
[Yes. It’s an opportunity for the two of you to spend time together. I’m tactfully sending you out.]
“Oh, well….”
[His personality is a bit rough, but that young man must be carrying tremendous heartache inside. He came all this way to find his beloved, only to face memory loss. Even if he seems fine on the surface, he’s surely not. So go and comfort him gently. Who knows? Perhaps as you do, your own memories might return bit by bit?]
By the time I’d processed these irrefutable arguments and snapped back to reality, I was already outside the cottage.
[Have a pleasant time, then.]
Urs waved kindly and slammed the cottage door shut.
I had no choice but to turn around. The one who’d left first was already far ahead, shrunk to the size of a fingernail in the distance.
Seriously, what is this? I shouted at his retreating figure in exasperation.
“The Lower Village isn’t that way! Wait up—I’ll go with you!”
He doesn’t even know the way, and he’s wandering off like that!
* * *
After the woman followed the young man out of the cottage, Urs began busily tidying the table.
[You there—let’s plant some flowers together.]
Luize, who had been standing in the corner of the kitchen with his arms crossed, straightened up obediently. Urs studied him and asked.
[You’re friends with the Author?]
“What? Absolutely not!”
[My, what a surprise.]
His composed demeanor cracked, and Luize flared up indignantly.
“We simply happened to meet! That’s quite an accusation!”
[Ah… well, is that so?]
Urs tilted his head. Strange. They seemed to know each other quite well.
[In any case. Does the Author plan to take the young lady away once she recovers all her memories?]
“…I assumed that would naturally be the case. But now I’m not so certain.”
Luize barely managed to swallow his displeasure and gathered his thoughts with composure.
Though he’d been dragged here against his will, he was prepared to stop Kalian Wynack immediately if the man showed any sign of forcibly taking Rosien away.
What did it matter where or with whom she lived, as long as she remained safe and happy? There was no need for her to return to Rahnar.
As Kalian himself had worried, perhaps the greatest obstacle to Rosien’s happiness was Kalian Wynack himself.
Yet since arriving here and meeting Rosien, Kalian seemed strangely to have lost his resolve. It was almost laughable that he’d dragged Luize along as some sort of restraining tool.
He wasn’t causing trouble, wasn’t angry with Rosien, wasn’t openly seducing her. His behavior amounted to nothing more than the cute level of forcing her to wear a wedding ring.
Even just now—he’d been delighted asking if I appeared in her dreams, then turned deathly pale, and finally left the room in confusion, not knowing what to do with himself.
‘…This man is infuriating!’
It was somewhat irritating, but that ashen face was familiar to Luize. It was the expression of someone on the verge of tears.
If that elf named Sionir hadn’t come in with flowers, he would’ve gone outside to indulge in more self-pity.
Luize cursed under his breath.
‘Why does he require so much attention? And he’s not even attractive.’
The man hadn’t even burned the flowers the elf had given him—he’d just held them blankly, muttering nonsense until Urs took them away.
The Kalian Wynack of old would have reduced flowers to ash immediately and chased after Sionir. It wouldn’t have been strange if he’d disposed of everything without a trace. That was Kalian Wynack’s way, after all.
When someone who never acted that way suddenly became docile, it was natural to suspect he’d received a death sentence.
Or perhaps he was anxiously waiting for all the accumulated pressure to explode at any moment.
Right now, it was both.
Luize stared intently at the teacups and teapot that Urs was clearing away.
“What did you give him this morning?”
[A decoction of white birch bark and arborvitae berries. It acts as a sedative. He doesn’t seem to be the type whose body responds well to medicine, but it’s better than letting him explode.]
“A sedative…”
[He had such a sorrowful expression that he just sat blankly at the table all dawn, so I gave it to him.]
“I see. That explains why he was so composed.”
The mystery was solved. Luize pressed his throbbing temples and thanked Urs.
“You did well. I’ll continue to rely on you going forward. He’s quite temperamental, so he’s difficult to manage.”
[Hmm.]
“My sister—Rosien—disappeared, and he’s been missing some hair for the past five years, you could say. Though truthfully, even before that, he wasn’t the type to think much about anything. At this point, I wouldn’t mind if we just fed him some deadly poison and let him suffer through an illness. Watching him not even realize he’s in pain makes my blood boil…… He’s not even incompetent, so what’s his excuse?”
[Hmm?]
“In a way, he’s pitiful, but sometimes I just want to hit him once. If he’s lived that long, shouldn’t he have seen and heard and learned quite a bit? I can’t understand what my sister sees in him to love him so much.”
A friend, Urs thought with an inward smile.
But if he said that aloud, a violent reaction would surely follow, so he tactfully changed the subject.
[I don’t know what tragic circumstances surround him, but he’s certainly a pitiful creature.]
“Can you tell just by looking?”
[He clearly doesn’t want to explain it in words. Are all those Transcendents from that world so heartless?]
Instead of answering, Luize let out only a sigh mixed with resignation. As one of them, there was nothing he could say in response.
* * *
As I descended toward the Lower Village, Karga and I bickered for quite some time.
“Give me that basket. Let me carry it.”
“No.”
“Are you going to keep that for yourself too?”
“Yeah.”
“You look so frail…”
Karga’s head snapped toward me in an instant. Her eyebrows shot upward—she was clearly offended.
“I’m not frail.”
“Hmm.”
“I’m serious. I’m not weak. And if you call me a rabbit one more time, I really will get angry.”
Of course, Karga wasn’t frail. For a woman, she was far from small—she stood a full hand’s breadth taller than me, with broad shoulders and an impressive build.
Despite the mysterious allure that seemed to emanate from her appearance, she possessed an elegant beauty that was anything but delicate.
Yet when I recalled the bloodied young man huddled in the corner of the wall with only his upper body intact, I simply couldn’t help but worry.
In my eyes, even watching him shuffle his legs as he walked seemed remarkable. And his arms…
Urs’s description of him as “tattered” only deepened my concern.
In the end, I’d forcibly taken the herb basket from his arms.
“Fine. You’re not frail. Not a rabbit—more like a big, scary lion.”
“…”
“Still, I’ll carry this. Just pay attention to the path ahead. We’ll be stuck here for a while, so you should familiarize yourself with the surroundings.”
Karga seemed ready to protest further, but when I quickened my pace and moved ahead, he reluctantly followed.
“Let’s go together.”
His large hand enveloped mine. His palm was warm—so large it could completely engulf my right hand.
An emerald ring gleamed on his ring finger.
I considered pulling my hand away since others were watching, but I didn’t. I didn’t dislike it.
No, that wasn’t quite right. It was more than just not disliking it.
‘The way I keep thinking about him, the way my attention keeps drawing to him…’
The words spilled from my lips without thought.
“I think I liked you quite a lot.”
Karga, who had been walking half a step ahead despite not knowing the way, stopped abruptly.
“Liked whom?”
“You.”
“So who exactly? Karga?”
“Do you have another name? Oh, I think you mentioned Kalian Wynack as well.”
At my indifferent response, Karga grew anxious.
“So which one do you like? Be clear about it.”
“Karga.”
“That’s a lie.”
The moment I answered, he flatly denied it. His face was clouded with suspicion.
“Why would you think I’m lying…? Just because I called you a pervert?”
“Don’t call me that either. I hate it as much as being called a rabbit.”
“Well, with those red eyes and pale face, you do look like a rabbit. Whoever came up with that nickname nailed it.”
His gaze sharpened with genuine irritation. I chuckled and walked briskly down the forest path. Karga quickly matched my pace and whined like a child.
“Can’t you just say it one more time? That you like me?”
“‘Like’ has many meanings. There’s liking someone as a person, familial affection, friendship…”
“There’s love too.”
“Well, I suppose that could work as well.”
“Do you love me?”
“Rozentia, perhaps?”
Embarrassed, I deliberately gave an evasive answer.

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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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