I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 58

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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 58
“You’re up early, aren’t you? Brother.”
The young man leaning against the window with his head tilted back slowly lowered his gaze.
Golden hair caught in the morning sunlight fell disheveled across his forehead. His clothes were in disarray, as though he had come straight here the moment he woke.
I paused for a breath, then exhaled with difficulty.
‘…I’m startled again today.’
Despite his slovenly appearance, he exuded an atmosphere so captivating it stole one’s breath away. In rags he radiated melancholy; in ornate uniform, nobility; and in this carelessly disheveled state, a decadent allure that was utterly intoxicating.
Lately, even I found myself taken aback each time I saw Kalian. It was as though witnessing proof that such a man could actually exist in this world.
No matter how many times I saw him, I needed time to adjust. I could no longer even jokingly refer to him as a baby rabbit.
While I steadied my racing heart, Kalian gazed at me in silence.
His pale face bore no expression whatsoever.
After a moment, Kalian spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Where did you go?”
“Hm? Where did I go?”
Having just finished my moment of adjustment, I cast him a puzzled look.
I thought he was asking without any particular meaning. After all, Kalian knew my routine well.
“I’ll wash up and come back, so wait a moment. Let’s have breakfast together.”
So I replied casually and turned toward the bathhouse.
But before I could even grasp the doorknob, Kalian seized my arm with surprising force.
“Where did you go, Rosy?”
The grip of his hand felt rough and powerful enough to hurt.
Of course, it lasted only an instant, and his grip loosened immediately, but I was startled. Kalian had never used force against me like this before.
My forearm was still entirely enveloped in his single hand.
What’s gotten into him? I looked at him in bewilderment.
“I went to the Training Ground for morning practice. I do that every day, don’t I?”
“…Ah.”
Kalian’s expression went blank. The strength drained from his hand.
The forearm that had been gripped moments before tingled with numbness.
“I’m sorry.”
Kalian muttered while running a dry hand over his face. His voice was rough and hoarse.
“I thought you’d disappeared.”
“Where could I possibly go? Anywhere I go would still be within Abuye territory. That would be rather dull….”
I rubbed my sore arm and was about to enter the bathhouse when I suddenly turned back to him.
“And what about you, brother? Shouldn’t you still be in the land of dreams at this hour?”
“Ha, the land of dreams.”
Kalian laughed dryly. Strangely, his crimson eyes seemed unusually vivid today.
“My eyes opened early. I was thinking of going to wake you, but you were nowhere to be found, so I was startled. Let me wake you sometimes too, Rosy.”
“Is that so? I’m not sure such a day will ever come. But…why are you sweating so much?”
I noticed something glimmering between the strands of his hair, which fell like golden threads—beads of perspiration.
Now that I looked closer, Kalian’s complexion was noticeably paler than usual today.
“Hold on a moment.”
I approached him without hesitation and rose onto my toes. The moment I brushed his hair aside and pressed the back of my hand against his forehead, I gasped in shock.
“Kalian, you’re running a fever right now…!”
His forehead was burning hot. Alarmed, I flipped my hand over and felt his forehead, cheeks, and neck in several places, causing Kalian to shudder slightly.
“How long has this been going on? Surely not all night? You should have woken me!”
“And what exactly did you think you could do for me if I had?”
“What are you talking about? Haven’t I nursed you through illness before?”
“Nursed me through illness…”
Kalian blinked stupidly a few times. Then a soft laugh, like the whisper of wind, escaped him.
“Rosien. Sometimes I wonder… if this is even right. It’s like I can’t see even one step ahead of myself.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. Are you alright? Can you stand? Should I carry you?”
“How far? To the bed?”
The bed was only three steps away. But with a fever this high, he could collapse while walking!
Kalian now wore an expression of resigned acceptance.
“You’re one to talk, Rosy. You’re drenched in sweat yourself.”
“This is healthy sweat. I’ve been doing strength training for a solid two hours.”
“You never skip a single day, do you? I’ve never met anyone as diligent as you.”
“Says the man who wakes up at eighteen o’clock every single day.”
“…Every time you nitpick like that, my heart skips a beat. Do you know that?”
“How would I know? If you can walk, get yourself to bed right now, you patient.”
Unfocused eyes, blurred and hazy; a face and body damp with cold sweat; a voice pitched higher than usual; abnormal behavior. Every indicator pointed to a single truth.
‘Has the time for Seongyeol’s manifestation come around again already?’
The cycle had been growing noticeably shorter lately.
I hesitated for a moment.
‘Should I use sorcery or not?’
It had been a long time since his fever had spiked this high. With his condition this poor, was it safe to leave it alone?
More than three years had passed since we last visited Delpiam and returned.
I had spent those three years searching tirelessly for Kalian Wynack’s elixir.
The result was a complete failure.
Kalian had been so particular and sensitive—I wondered if there existed a more finicky cat than him.
Even when I analyzed his constitution, preferences, talents, tastes, the shapes of objects he favored, and even his ideal type down to the finest detail, presenting candidate elixirs before him, he rarely so much as glanced at them.
So even now, at twenty-two years old, Kalian had no elixir. The one saving grace was that the rampage symptoms caused by Seongyeol were internal implosions.
In other words, instead of harming those around him, only he himself was slowly dying.
It was only because I, who possessed the crystal, remained by his side that things stayed contained at this level. If Seongyeol were to rage while I was away, subduing the boy would be child’s play.
As a result, my plan to make a grand return to Kirges upon reaching adulthood was already a month behind schedule.
For now, I hastily pushed Kalian onto my bed.
“Just rest for a bit. I’ll have someone bring up meals and fever medicine.”
“What about you?”
“I’ll wash up quickly and be right back.”
In my current state, I was hardly fit to care for a patient. At the very least, I needed to wash away the sweat and grime, so I hurried straight to the bathhouse.
* * *
When I emerged from the bathhouse after just five minutes, there was one more person in the room. It was Lina, trembling slightly as she clutched a water basin and towel.
“R-Rosien.”
My sister gazed at me with desperate urgency, as though I were her savior. Her complexion had turned ashen with fear.
And with good reason. The room was roiling with an ominous mana, surging with ferocious intensity.
Kalian sat perched at the edge of the bed, gripping the sheets tightly with both hands while staring at Lina with an unwavering gaze.
‘What could Lina have done wrong?’
I thought so for a moment, but quickly realized I was mistaken. Kalian wasn’t angry.
He stared at Lina with an intensity that suggested he was wrestling with some primal impulse. The tendons on the back of his clenched hands stood out in stark relief.
“Lina.”
Seized by inexplicable dread, I hurried forward and positioned myself between her and Kalian, blocking him from her view.
“Please leave, Lina. I’ll handle this.”
“Thank you…”
“I’ll see you this evening.”
Lina looked as though she wanted to embrace me and shower me with kisses. As she was ushered out, she murmured in a hushed voice.
“B-be careful, Rosien…”
My sister cast a fearful glance over my shoulder.
It was a natural reaction for an ordinary person.
A Transcendent pushed to the absolute limit was little more than a miniature supernova—a star erupting with tremendous energy.
Only fellow Transcendents could approach one in such a state, and even then, at least two were required.
This was precisely why an Elixir was absolutely indispensable for a Transcendent.
After Lina left, I approached Kalian with the water-dampened towel in hand.
He remained fixed on the door through which she had departed, listening intently to the sound of her footsteps receding down the corridor.
As though entranced, Kalian’s lips parted slightly. His crimson tongue emerged, moistening his parched lips before retreating back between them.
The moment I witnessed this, the fine hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
‘Did he just… lick his lips…?’
An inexplicable sense of danger washed over me, and my entire body tensed.
Those eyes gleaming with obsession. His throat bobbing continuously as though parched. The way he swallowed repeatedly with that ravenous gaze reminded me of a starving hyena.
I clapped my hand over my mouth at the thought that suddenly struck me.
Surely not Kalian.
‘Has he taken a fancy to Lina…?!’
An Elixir! Is he eyeing her as an Elixir?!
Barely three minutes had passed since I’d safely evacuated Lina. I suddenly felt the urge to rush after her and drag her back.

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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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