I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 138

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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 138
Father coldly cast me out.
“I am placing you under house arrest. You are not to set foot outside your bedroom. If you disobey the royal decree and leave, I will personally refer you to the International Court.”
“Father!”
“I don’t want to see your face. Get out. You there, take the Princess with you!”
I was seized by the Knights and half-dragged from Father’s office.
Two words circled through my mind, bleached white by rage and injustice.
Riltear. Explosion.
In the end, it was because of me that he could no longer exist, not even as a mere shell of a body.
I was foolish to have believed I could slip in and out of Riltear so recklessly without leaving a trace. My arrogance had killed him twice over.
From the moment Father discovered the truth, my escape from the Transcendents’ encirclement became impossible. The ending was already written.
Riltear would explode, and he would sink into the deep sea, scattered like grains of sand, forced to endure eternity.
And I would….
A bitter laugh escaped me.
‘I would simply live well. Marry into the Transcendent Families, receive lavish treatment as the Princess of Abuye.’
Could you live that way, Rozentia? I asked myself.
Another me within stirred, straightening my spine and lifting my head as if I had been waiting.
‘No. Wrong is wrong. Don’t abandon that pitiful soul by riding on the coattails of cowards.’
‘The truly blind ones aren’t Star—they’re the Transcendents and the small-minded wretches who hide in their shadow. Would you become like them?’
‘Don’t. You don’t want to abandon him.’
My halted steps resumed. I began to run without looking back.
Where this courage, which had never surfaced before, suddenly sprang from, I had no idea.
* * *
That night, I escaped through a dog door in the Royal Palace. After living twenty years in the Abuie Royal Castle, house arrest held little power over me.
The key in my pocket felt unusually heavy that day.
I don’t remember how I made it down to Riltear Island in that state of mind.
The moment I stood before the familiar iron bars, I grabbed the lock without greeting and thrust the key inside. I turned it with all my strength.
The key turned with tremendous resistance.
After hurling the released lock to the ground, I pushed the prison door open with all my might.
The iron door, sealed shut for decades, swung wide open with a chilling screech of friction.
Simultaneously, the aura that had enveloped the damp prison burst outward. The invisible spell that had concealed this place shattered.
Only then did my held breath escape. I gasped, my lips parting.
“Run.”
I hadn’t brought a luminescent stone today. Nothing was visible in the darkness beyond.
But at least I didn’t have to show this face, twisted and streaked with tears.
“You can leave. Tell me you can leave.”
I whispered, biting my lip.
“The Transcendents will come soon. This place will explode. No matter what you are, the scale will be beyond what you can withstand. They said you might be shattered into even smaller pieces than before.”
Only then did the faint sound of chains striking the wall echo from the darkness.
“All I can do is leave the door open. Leave this place now. If you’re not human, you might even be able to go beyond Rahnar. Go anywhere.”
From within came the sound of chains dragging long and heavy. I held my breath and cried out.
“Go far away. Go and never come back!”
“…Why are you crying?”
At last, that fractured voice pierced through the darkness. Only then did I realize my cheeks and jaw were damp with tears.
“D-don’t mind it.”
I hastily wiped my face with the back of my hand. From the invisible depths, he asked quietly.
“Will you come with me?”
“…Don’t say such nonsense.”
Come with me. Take me too. The words clawed their way up my throat, but I swallowed them down completely.
When no answer came from me, Karga spoke with urgency.
“Let’s go together.”
This time his voice carried more force. I shook my head firmly.
“I refuse.”
What should I say to reject him? Ideally, words cruel enough to wound him—so that he might abandon all hope and leave without hesitation.
Within days, I would surely be dragged before the International Court. If he were to appear there claiming he would save me, it would be catastrophic.
I spilled out whatever words came to mind.
“I cannot go with you. Everything you said was right. It’s not that I’m unafraid of you just because I’m… I’m me…!”
“…”
“The truth is, I truly despise you—you’re hideous! Tomorrow, I’ll certainly regret this. So leave now. Never appear before me again, go far away…!”
My hands trembled like aspen leaves. Surely I looked utterly consumed by terror.
From beyond the darkness came a voice thick with metallic sounds, rumbling forth.
“If you’re so afraid, why did you open that door?”
“Consider it an apology.”
“For what?”
“Since the world abandoned you, somewhere there must be someone who saves you. That’s how balance is maintained. That tiresome balance…”
So go out and do what you wish. Seek revenge, or live a human life.
I had nothing more to say. I stepped back from the iron bars.
One step, two steps, three steps. Then I turned completely around and ran down the corridor.
Now I was running toward death. Soon, once I ascended above, I would stand before the International Court.
Ah, laughter bubbled up uncontrollably, like madness.
Strangely, I felt remarkably relieved and refreshed.
* * *
It didn’t take long to return to the surface.
Before disembarking from the boat, I deliberated one last time.
Should I flee as well?
If I abandoned my status as a princess and hid myself among commoners, might I survive a while longer?
But I had to buy Karga time to escape from the depths of the seabed. If he couldn’t break free and the island exploded, my sacrifice would become meaningless.
Even a day or two—any brief respite would help redirect the Transcendents’ attention elsewhere. It was best that I allow myself to be captured by them.
‘Besides, how long could an ordinary person like me evade the eyes of Transcendents?’
When I looked back at the sea one final time, the once-calm surface was trembling with unease.
A black mist trailing ominous afterimages seeped heavily into the sea. What could that be?
Whatever it was, I hoped it would sink deep—very deep—and aid him in his descent.
I had poured out nothing but harsh words, and suddenly realized I hadn’t properly said farewell.
I hadn’t even seen his face clearly. I should have gazed upon those handsome features and etched them into my memory.
“Humans are destined to die someday, or so I once said.”
Regret flowed from my lips unfiltered.
“But that’s not true. Souls exist within cycles of reincarnation and oblivion, or so I’ve heard.”
Within the infinitely vast Cosmos, souls ceaselessly perish, yet equally they are reborn anew, gaining fresh life.
Perhaps life is not a straight line but a gentle curve. The end merely signals the beginning of something new.
I whispered softly toward the sea shrouded in darkness.
“So you shall live eternally.”
The sea began to swirl as if in answer.
“Don’t forget me. Live for an eternity. And come find me again. Just as I descended to the depths to search for you.”
This life I revived with my will and hope—your remaining eternity should be devoted solely to loving me.
Though perhaps you won’t hear these words.
Yet somehow, my heart felt lighter. I straightened my clothes and disembarked from the ship.
As I walked alone through Casanos Harbor, my heart—which had been shaking relentlessly like a buoy swept by waves—gradually settled.
At the entrance leading to the village, soldiers in familiar uniforms had established their camp. Abuye. They were from my Kingdom, sent to capture me. Father must have dispatched them.
It seemed he intended to personally bring me before the Transcendents’ Court for trial.
This was the path I chose, so I must harbor no regrets. I straightened my drooping shoulders and quickened my increasingly faltering pace.
Now it was time to face the consequences of everything I had done.

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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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