I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 28

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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 28
A resonant voice echoed through the Holy Temple with crystalline clarity. The sword shot upward before slapping firmly back into my palm.
“W-what is this? Get away from me…!”
【Don’t leave me behind!】
“You’ve mistaken me for someone else!”
The gazes directed at me shifted in an instant. More and more eyes began to regard me as though I were a delectable three-tiered cake.
Owen stepped forward urgently.
“Rosien, come here at once!”
“Move aside, Owen! Child, come to me.”
I started to rush toward Owen but hesitated. Regina stood beside him with both arms spread wide.
‘Oh, what do I do?’
I wavered before the two Family Heads before ultimately scurrying over to Owen and embracing him.
“Family Head, I didn’t cause this accident.”
“I know. You did well.”
I had expected harsh reproach for recklessly touching a Sacred Relic, but instead Owen gently stroked my head.
“Kalien didn’t try to harm you, did he?”
“Oh, you mean my brother? Not at all! But Family Head, something strange seems to be attached to him…”
“Yes, that vile and cruel entity.”
“You knew about it! That’s right. Something filthy was clinging to Kalien. So I killed it!”
“You killed it…? What?”
Owen, who had been nodding along, froze solid.
“This is a secret, but…”
I whispered into the ear of the statue-like Owen.
“The Guardian Star of Winyak helped me. It seems the Guardian Star also found that thing’s presence distasteful.”
I kept silent about how the Guardian Star of Kirges had also lent its aid.
“I’ve driven most of them out, but some might remain, so I’ll stay right by my brother’s side and strike down that wretched thing whenever it appears.”
“I… see.”
Owen’s face twisted into a strange grimace, as though he’d eaten spoiled oatmeal. He must be worried. I couldn’t have remained composed if my son had something like a demon attached to him.
“I’ll examine my brother carefully later. Please don’t worry too much!”
“Yes… thank you. Now, let’s… go home.”
“Yes!”
While we whispered to each other, the Transcendent Family Heads seemed barely to be breathing. Owen’s cold voice fell upon them.
“We’ll be retrieving Winyak’s Sacred Relic. As for your explanation regarding the intentional concealment of the Sacred Relic’s existence, we’ll hear it later, Kirges. And Whezel.”
“…There were no impure intentions. We merely feared that the Sacred Relic possessed excessive power, and that placing it in Winyak’s hands would shatter the balance of strength we had carefully constructed among the Transcendent Families.”
“So you conspired with the Delpiam Imperial Court and spent ten years attempting to bring Winyak under your control?”
Regina bit her delicate lip. It seemed that Kalien’s secret infiltration into the Harem would be glossed over.
“You come here too, Kalien.”
Owen carried me in one arm and hoisted Kalien in the other, tucking him against his side as he left the Holy Temple.
Kalien, dangling limply from Owen’s thick forearm, met my gaze and smiled weakly.
“Yes, it seems the time isn’t right yet…”
“What did you say, Kalien?”
“Nothing. Anyway, since you’re still with me… I suppose it’s not a complete loss.”
Kalien’s voice, barely audible as if it might extinguish at any moment, trailed off as his body went limp. Startled, I pressed my hand to his forehead, but there was no fever.
‘Perhaps it’s because his body has been invaded and expelled by a demon. Then again, if his physical form weren’t suffering strain, that would be the strange part!’
My older brother’s mental and physical exhaustion was clearly severe.
Once we return, I’ll have to insist he rest and recover!
* * *
After the commotion at the Holy Temple, Kalien lay bedridden for several days.
“What exactly happened in there, Rosien?”
“Well, that is…”
As I recounted the events at the Holy Temple in detail to Owen, his expression became one of utter bewilderment.
“So you stabbed all those tentacle-like things attached to Kalien with the Sacred Relic—with the sword of the ‘Judge of Darkness and Chaos’… That’s why he’s in this state.”
“Yes?”
“It might not be so bad if he simply never regained consciousness and slept eternally…”
“Yes…?”
How could he say something so cruel? As tears began to well up in my eyes, Owen hastily changed the subject.
“No, never mind. It seems to coincide with his Seongyeol awakening period, so you must care for him well by his side. He’ll likely recover within a few days.”
“Yes, understood!”
Though Owen spoke as if it were nothing serious, I was consumed with worry. The boy lying beneath the blankets, groaning in discomfort, had not a trace of color in his face.
Without shame, I summoned the Guardian Star of Kirges once more to cast healing magic on Kalien, but even my lullaby proved ineffective this time.
Kalien, his face pallid with illness, waved his hand dismissively.
“I’m fine, Rosy. Cough.”
“…”
I clamped my mouth shut, but when I looked at Kalien’s limp palm, it was stained with bright red blood.
Hemoptysis?!
“You don’t look fine at all, brother…!”
Was he really going to waste away like this?
Mercifully, Kalien’s eyes, which had turned so wild in the Holy Temple, had reverted to their gentle, obedient light. He no longer gazed at me with that ravenous hunger, as if he were a man who had starved for a hundred days suddenly seated before a lavish feast.
Moreover, he seemed to have no clear memory of what had transpired that day.
‘In any case, I’m grateful. It seems the corrupted soul or whatever it was has completely vanished.’
Kalien wiped away the blood lingering on his lips with the back of his hand, then gestured weakly.
“Hold me, Rosy. If you hold me, I’ll be fine.”
“…Understood.”
In the end, I pulled back the blanket and crawled onto the bed.
As if he’d been waiting, Kalien pulled me into his embrace like a teddy bear, his heartbeat syncopated against mine in an irregular rhythm.
I watched Kalien’s breathing gradually stabilize with bewilderment. I had assumed his request to be held was merely childish dependence brought on by fever, but…
‘He’s calming down this quickly?’
Even the mana churning within Kalien’s body was settling into stability.
This was, by any measure, the process of an elixir’s imprinting.
As if reading my thoughts with uncanny precision, Kalien whispered in his hoarse voice.
“Are you still unwilling to become my Elixir, Rosy? I’m truly struggling….”
“I said no. This is for your sake. There’s nothing more dangerous than a one-sided Elixir.”
“Then if it’s not one-sided, it would be fine?”
“…What?”
I regarded Kalien with disbelief. He, noticeably more animated than moments before, asked softly.
“You don’t have an Elixir yet either, do you, Rosy?”
“Surely you’re not suggesting we form a mutual Elixir bond right now?”
“Why not?”
“Because obviously we can’t.”
This wasn’t merely surprising—it was so absurd that I burst into helpless laughter.
I chuckled as I stroked his smooth jawline.
“You’re such a child….”
“Why?”
“Never mind.”
A mutual Elixir bond. I swallowed the words I couldn’t bring myself to say aloud to Kalien.
That’s only done between lovers, brother.
And only between very serious lovers at that.
Kalien protested as if wronged.
“But Rosy will always be with me anyway.”
“That’s a different matter entirely.”
To be perfectly clear, there was no possibility of Kalien and me ever becoming that sort of couple.
What kind of mutual bond between siblings?
Whenever I recalled the precedents of past Transcendents who had made each other their human Elixirs, I shuddered. They were all legendary scandals that would echo through the ages.
During the manifestation period of Seongyeol, they say such couples couldn’t bear to separate for days.
Of course, I couldn’t relay such scandalous tales to Kalien directly. I suppressed my laughter and corrected him.
“That’s simply not something siblings do with each other.”
“Then if we’re not siblings anymore….”
“Are you trying to have me cast out from Winyak?”
“No, that’s not it.”
Kalien wore an expression of utter bewilderment, as if he had no idea how to persuade me. He soon seemed to resign himself, muttering under his breath.
“Let’s revisit this when you’re older, Rosy. Once your Seongyeol manifests, you might find you need me after all.”
“Sure, sure.”
I gave a dismissive chuckle and agreed half-heartedly.
* * *
Kalien gazed quietly down at the sleeping girl’s face.
Rosien, who had earnestly hummed a lullaby with completely off-key notes, had fallen asleep before he could even close his eyes.
It was no wonder she was exhausted—she had insisted on nursing him these past several days, staying awake through entire nights pressed against his side.
Kalien mischievously pinched her still-chubby cheeks, which retained their childish softness.
“What a troublesome little pest.”
Rosien was hopelessly oblivious.
He lacked perceptiveness, yet there were moments when he struck at the heart with startling precision—timing so exquisite it made me wonder if he understood everything and was merely feigning ignorance.
The Sacred Relic of Winyak had fallen into Owen’s hands. But since it had already acknowledged Rosien as its master, only Rosien would be able to fully unleash the sword’s true power.
Kalien’s brow furrowed slightly.
“This is troublesome.”

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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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