I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 31

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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 31
“That’s….”
I hesitated, unable to find the right words immediately.
I mean, one of my goals in this life was to raise him so he could thrive even without me.
But seeing that desperate expression, I couldn’t bring myself to say such things.
‘That face is unfair.’
This is precisely why I cannot help but love this boy. How could my heart not be moved when he cares for me with such pure affection?
“…You know, brother.”
The truth spilled out impulsively.
“I actually prefer Abuye far more than Delpiam.”
Kirges was certainly where I would return, but not because I longed for it or harbored deep affection for the family.
After all, they weren’t truly my blood siblings, and all I received from them was jealousy and resentment.
Compared to Kirges, rife with schemes and treachery, Abuye and Wynack were peaceful and just. Moreover, my brother in Wynack, Kalian, treated me like a true sibling.
I cherished him as much as he cherished me. I gently wiped the wet tears from the boy’s cheeks with the back of my hand and spoke with forced cheerfulness.
“Let’s stay together until next year. We’ll make one year feel like two!”
“That’s impossible unless a day becomes forty-eight hours, Rosy….”
“It’s just a figure of speech. What should we do first when we return? Should we take a trip to a resort with good air for recuperation? Let’s think about it on the way to Abuye.”
“….”
“Come on, don’t sulk. I’ll sing you lullabies and help with your training. I’ll even reduce my nagging. Deal?”
Kalian pressed his lips together and glared at me resentfully. He knew my stubbornness all too well.
Eventually, he reluctantly changed his attitude.
“Then forget that. Grant me a wish instead.”
“A wish?”
“Yes. In exchange for letting you go.”
Why would he ask me for compensation for letting me go? He should be asking the other Transcendents.
I wanted to retort playfully, but I held back and nodded.
“Fine, I’ll give you one wish voucher! Whenever you want, I’ll grant you anything you ask for. However, you can’t interfere with my visits to Delpiam every other year, and you’re forbidden from asking me to become an Elixir.”
“Then anything else is fine.”
“What….”
“You have no right to refuse. Will you do it?”
Kalian pressed the matter persistently.
Ugh, this is just how he is.
“Fine! If it’s something I can do, I’ll grant it unconditionally!”
“Then promise me. By the Star of Wynack.”
“Understood, understood. I, Rosien Wynack, swear by the name of the Guardian Star 「Judge of Darkness and Chaos」 that I shall unconditionally grant one wish of Kalian Wynack─.”
What could Kalian possibly ask of me that would be so significant? I made the oath lightly before the star. Once a vow is sworn by invoking the star’s sacred words, even human strength cannot break it.
“There. Done?”
“…Yes.”
“Now, during the time I’m away, spend it thinking of a wish to ask me. That should suffice.”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea….”
Only then did Kalian stop his tantrum.
He still looked like the saddest person in the world, but at least he’d stopped clinging to me and sobbing. That was a relief.
Thus my fate was finally decided.
* * *
After a tempestuous fortnight back in Delpiam for the first time in twelve years, the morning of my departure back to Abuye dawned.
Kalian, who had suffered from severe melancholy for days, seemed to have brightened considerably now that the day of return had arrived. Apparently he was delighted that he could monopolize me for the next year, at least.
‘Go ahead, rejoice all you like. Once your recuperation ends, you’re in for intensive training.’
I grinned wickedly and shoved Kalian into the carriage.
Today wasn’t just the Wynack Family’s departure—Raylo and Yeljewa were also returning to their respective kingdoms. A long-distance portal prepared by Kirges awaited before the capital’s city walls.
The Emperor of Delpiam himself came to the castle gate to bid farewell to the Transcendent Families.
“My dear, you truly have no intention of settling down and putting down roots here in Delpiam…?”
The Emperor couldn’t tear his eyes away from the Sacred Relic dangling at my waist. If I didn’t shut his mouth, drool would surely start dripping.
“I’ll see you again in a year, Uncle.”
“What, since when am I your uncle?”
Luize, standing guard at the Emperor’s right side, muttered as though utterly bewildered.
I placed a hand over my navel and bowed respectfully to Luize as well.
“Thank you for providing the Star Residence for the Wynack Family. Rest well, Family Head. I’ll see you next year.”
“…It seems you weren’t originally this kind of person….”
Luize’s expression as he looked at me was deeply troubled. His lips moved as though he wanted to say something more, but what finally came out was merely a perfunctory greeting.
“Be careful. For some reason, your brother feels terribly ominous to me.”
“Ah, don’t worry about that. I’ll keep him well in line!”
I flashed Luize my brightest smile with all the strength I could muster.
‘Wait. I’ll come back next year to verify whether the memory manipulation spell I cast on you is holding firm.’
It would be troublesome if I went around blurting out that I was Rosien.
With that, only Kirges remained. I stood before Regina and swallowed dryly.
‘Master. Forgive this inadequate student for not revealing her true identity.’
“May Kirges be blessed abundantly with the grace of the stars. I look forward to working with you next year as well.”
“…Very well.”
Regina suddenly extended her hand and gently smoothed a strand of my hair. Her gaze was tender, as though looking upon an aching finger. My Master bent at the waist to match my height and placed a kiss upon my left cheek.
“Take care of yourself during the year you spend in Abuye. Let’s meet again this time next year.”
“Yes!”
With that, all the courtesies owed to the Transcendent Families were complete. Though I could sense the Railo Family Head glaring at me with eyes blazing like fire….
That wasn’t my concern.
Owen called to me from a distance.
“Rosien, let’s go. Come here.”
“Yes!”
The moment I climbed into the carriage, Kalian slammed the door shut. The sword hilt dangling at my waist began barking indignantly.
【Lost Soul incarnate, won’t you just disappear? Hey, I don’t want to be in the same space as that thing!】
“There’s nothing, nothing. There’s no Lost Soul anymore, so get some rest!”
Soon the carriage began to move slowly forward.
I waved cheerfully toward the imperial landscape visible through the window.
Goodbye, Delpiam. See you again this time next year!
* * *
The carriage carrying the Wynack Family was the first to be sucked into the portal.
The Transcendent beings, who had remained rigidly tense until the portal closed, finally let their shoulders slump in relief.
“This Continental Conference felt particularly long and chaotic….”
“I should mention in advance—when that girl returns to Delpiam a year from now, please issue a residence permit for the Raylo delegation. I need to examine exactly where my precious crystal has embedded itself.”
Luize stared at Dorian Raylo in disbelief. The elderly physician was already muttering to himself as he walked away toward the portal.
“I’ll need to study anatomy more thoroughly over the next year….”
While Luize struggled for words, Regina had latched onto Chronos Yeljewa and was launching into a tirade.
“Chronos Yeljewa. You should conduct yourself in a manner befitting the Guardian Star’s epithet, ‘The Eye That Foretells.’ Surely you possessed sufficient foresight to predict that Wynack’s Sacred Relic would find its master this year, did you not? You could have at least given us a hint beforehand!”
“Ugh… I’m exhausted. I’ll be taking my leave now. Ah, Emperor of Delpiam—don’t forget to issue a residence permit for Chronos Yeljewa as well next year around this time. Farewell.”
Chronos Yeljewa likewise brushed it off vaguely and disappeared through the portal. Luize watched their departing figures with a sense of deflation.
“Have the old fools all gone mad?”
It seemed as though this conference had been plagued by one absurdity after another.
Moreover, the incident wasn’t even fully resolved—it was abundantly clear that the empire would be thrown into upheaval every two years when Rosien Wynack, or rather, Lozietti Kirges, visited Delpiam.
‘…Sister Lozi.’
Even as his memories of the Holy Temple remained hazy, the shout he had directed at the girl echoed distinctly in his mind.
It was likely because Regina had reminded him that they were the same person immediately after he’d been cursed.
Luize recalled the girl he had met at a goodwill banquet between Abuye and Delpiam during his childhood.
“Hello, little Whezel? I’m Lozietti of Kirges. Your transformation form is so tiny and adorable. Let me have the special privilege of you calling me sister.”
“She was definitely more….”
A girl as beautiful as she was haughty and proud.
At the very least, she had never been so endlessly cheerful and spirited like this.
When he had simply regarded her as a student of Wynack, he’d thought nothing of it, but now that he knew who she truly was, something felt strange.
‘I’m actually looking down at Sister Lozi now.’
I always had to look up at her….
“Then we shall take our leave as well.”
Regina Kirges, offering a cold farewell, turned and led her disciples away.
Luize, who had intended to discuss methods of protecting Kirges and Lozietti when she returned a year hence from the other Transcendent Family Heads, quickly changed his mind.
Now that he thought about it, he had also detected something suspicious from Alpien, the next Family Head of Kirges.
‘Ah, right. Come to think of it, Sister was killed by that man’s hand, wasn’t she?’
Luize recalled that fact and let out a quiet chuckle.
Among those Lozietti Kirges kept close, he was the only one who was remotely sane.
“Truly, enemies surround you from all sides, Sister.”
Various beasts gathered around Luize. They were the Whezel Clan.
“Let’s return to the main house. With Kirges, Raylo, and Yeljewa to contend with from now on, we’ll have our hands full.”
Luize began to move, leading his clan.
‘This is my way of helping you out of old affection, Sister Lozi. I’ll collect my due compensation for this favor later, so please remember that.’
Soon after, the Whezel family also disappeared from view before the Castle Gate.
That year’s Continental Conference, which had been particularly tumultuous, drew its curtain to a close.
Exactly one year later, a red-haired young girl who had grown noticeably taller knocked urgently upon the castle gates of Delpiam once more.

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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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