I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 146

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

Chapter 146
“You’re everything to me, Rozentia. I mean it.”
“Will you swear it on your wedding ring?”
“Well….”
Kalien trailed off.
There it was—my eyes naturally narrowing into sharp slits was the inevitable result.
I shoved him away rather forcefully.
“Enough. I’ll verify it myself.”
“Verify what, exactly?”
“I’ll comb through the Wynack genealogy records, whatever I can find. Even if the records were erased, surely something remains? The fact that Owen knew of your existence means the name Karga was passed down among the Wynack Family Heads.”
“Ah, I see your point.”
Kalien wore an expression of having been caught off guard.
According to Owen, when Karga concluded that he needed an appropriate position and name, he first stormed into Wynack Castle. He proved himself by casually entering the Holy Temple of Wynack’s Guardian Star, the Judge of Darkness and Chaos, and drawing upon the Star’s blessing.
Seeing as much, it appeared the Dark Soul Heart had indeed granted Karga power. Perhaps because, even after becoming the Avatar of Lost Souls, he was once human who had bestowed blessings?
In any case, Owen spent several sleepless nights reading the biographies of successive Wynack Family Heads to uncover Karga’s true identity. The genealogy had his name erased, but the biographical records of the Family Heads remained.
“At least it should mention whether he had a spouse or betrothed. Move aside. I’m going to check right now!”
“Why would you bother confirming something so pointless and meaningless?”
Kalien swiftly caught me and sat me back down. I stared at him in astonishment.
“What? There really was someone?”
“No, there wasn’t.”
Kalien chuckled softly and interlaced his fingers with mine.
“During the age of the blind Star, I only remember running myself ragged trying to protect a single family. When would I have had time for romance?”
“…That makes sense. Then it shouldn’t matter if I look.”
“I’m embarrassed.”
I glared at him in disbelief. Beneath his bashfully lowered eyelids, his crimson eyes were quietly shifting to the side.
‘There’s definitely something there.’
“My entire life written down by someone else—whatever’s written there will be mortifying… Rosy!”
I leaped up and kicked open the Dress Room door to leave, when Kalien urgently called out behind me.
“There’s really nothing to it, I’m sorry. Let me come with you…!”
* * *
A peaceful afternoon. Wynack Castle was somewhat chaotic with a betrothed couple in wedding attire engaged in a pursuit.
The brief commotion ended when Rosien, who had found a thick ancient tome in the Family Head’s Secret Library and fled with it clutched to her chest, was finally caught by Kalien.
As he lifted her effortlessly, she thrashed about while hugging the book.
“You’re not putting this down? Don’t you realize the more you react like this, the more suspicious it looks?”
“That’s not it. I swear I never made advances toward any other women. I waited chastely from head to toe and gave myself wholly to you. Would I ever thrust something that wounded you in your face?”
“Right. So let’s go to the room and read this together. Come on? Let me see which women wagged their tails at you.”
“They’re all dead now. Why would our Rosy deliberately invite such suffering?”
“It’s not suffering at all? I’m so very curious?”
“Come on, let’s go back to the library. We’ll put this back and come out, and try on some other dresses, shall we?”
The moment the two of them slipped back into the library, the door closed. The sealed library remained quiet for a while before finally opening again as evening approached.
Kalien appeared elated, his spirits soaring, while Rozentia’s eyes were inexplicably red-rimmed.
The two no longer bickered, and instead clasped hands tightly. Those with keen eyes caught sight of a new ring adorning her ring finger—one that hadn’t been there before—and smiled knowingly to themselves.
Luize, who had stopped by the castle briefly to deliver wedding gifts, witnessed their display and departed in disgust—a fact that neither of them had yet noticed.
* * *
Kalien and I spent considerable time in the study.
When I finally opened his biography, Kalien made his displeasure abundantly clear.
“Do you really have to read that?”
“Why not? It’s fascinating.”
My original intent—to scrutinize whether he had lived a dissolute life during his time as Karga—had already begun to fade. The ancient tome contained far more content than I had anticipated.
It was a Wynack tradition for the succeeding Family Head to write the biography of his predecessor. The one who recorded Karga’s life was his disciple and the next Wynack Family Head.
The very man who had handed me the keys to the detention camp during the Rozentia era.
Kalien spoke with bitter cynicism.
“Why bother digging up records written by that traitor?”
“It wasn’t shame you felt—it was aversion?”
“Both.”
Yet he kept glancing at me, which suggested his own curiosity was piqued. With gaps scattered throughout his memories, this biography served as a bridge to complete Karga’s identity.
“It says here: ‘A young Transcendent whose refined appearance, exceptional abilities, and superior interpersonal skills shone brilliantly. Regarded as the strongest across all Transcendent Families in multiple disciplines of his era. From his coming of age until the advent of the “Age of the Blind Star,” marriage proposals arrived without cessation every year….’ The evaluation is quite favorable, isn’t it?”
The brief twenty-five-year chronicle of a righteous and exemplary Transcendent—one worthy of serving as a model to others—was contained entirely within one thick volume. Because his disciple had written it as an act of atonement, the biography was both thicker and richer in content compared to those of other Family Heads.
The short life of a just young man lived vividly within those printed characters.
“I was a good person back then, you know.”
Kalien replied petulantly.
“A decent human by anyone’s measure. Back then, I believed there was so much I needed to protect. It was merely my own delusion.”
“You weren’t wrong. Rahnar was the one who was cowardly and arrogant.”
“Not knowing that made me foolish.”
Kalien answered coldly, then reached out to touch the hair at my temple. His hand lingered briefly on my cheek before descending to irritably tap the corner of the book.
“From that point on, I trusted no one but you. Rozentia.”
Kalien took the book from my hands and cast it aside with a flick of his wrist. Before I could see where it landed, he bent down and pressed his lips to mine, stealing my sight.
He parted his lips urgently, pressing deeper. The sensation of our breath mingling quickly clouded my mind. In the brief moments we separated to breathe, soft whispers tickled my ears.
“Not just until now, but forever and always.”
The Elixir’s effect from our contact spread through my skin and veins, radiating to every corner of my body. A delicious shiver ran through me. At some point, I found myself responding to him with equal fervor.
Only when my raised head began to ache did Kalien finally withdraw his lips.
Seemingly satisfied, the sharp intensity in his gaze had largely dissipated. He knelt gracefully on one knee before me and whispered tenderly.
“Still, if I think of this as time I’ve reclaimed to meet you, it becomes bearable.”
“That’s… a relief.”
I managed to respond breathlessly.
“I’m grateful you have at least one person you can trust. And that person being me is more than I could ask for.”
“Do you know that every time you say something like that, I become the happiest man in the world?”
“That’s hardly remarkable.”
“It is remarkable. It’s the only thing I possess. I hope I’m that for you as well.”
My left hand was already clasped in his. He gently kissed the ring already adorning my ring finger, then retrieved something from his embrace.
It was a small box lined with white velvet. Kalien held it for a long moment, hesitating, before finally meeting my gaze.
“I want to be present in every moment of your life, Rosy. I want to live a life where making you happy is everything. So that you never suffer again.”
“….”
“The way you protected me, I want to protect you this time. …Will you allow me to do that?”
The clasp of the box released. Inside lay a pair of delicate rings, densely studded with tiny diamonds.
They matched beautifully with the emerald ring adorning my left ring finger. As though they had been crafted as a single set from the beginning, the two rings alternated in brilliant, luminous sparkles.
“This is….”
It took me a long moment before I could finally murmur.
“This is definitely a proposal.”
Kalien’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. Yet from his hand gripping mine, I could feel his tension transmitted entirely.
“How is it? …Did I pass?”

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