I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 60

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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 60
“…A lover?”
“Yes. I’ll have a first, second, and third.”
After all, during my past life as Rosien Wynyak, I never even glimpsed the first stroke of romance.
It’s absolutely not because the Great Annihilation delivers lengthy monologues every single night about beautiful men who illuminate the world.
“What kind of man do you like, Rosy?”
“I haven’t really thought about it specifically yet.”
“Tell me. Your ideal type.”
Kalien was being unusually persistent today.
Finding it somewhat tiresome, I merely shrugged, but he pressed my hand against his palm, holding it firmly.
“You already learned that much about me.”
“Ah….”
“So you should tell me too. That’s only fair.”
Right, that’s true. The analysis chart I’d created to find Kalien’s elixir included an ideal type section.
I remembered what Kalien had answered when I asked about his ideal type.
“I wish for someone who expects nothing from me. Someone who doesn’t ask me to do anything, doesn’t command me, doesn’t request anything.”
“What, that’s all?”
“And someone who won’t run away.”
“You can’t expect anything from them, and they can’t even run away? That’s the perfect recipe for becoming a bad man.”
And I had written this in the ideal type section:
Kalien’s preference was for a woman like a nun.
A virtuous sage type who enjoyed a colorless, desireless life and knew how to be grateful for what was given.
‘Where could such a woman possibly exist? Yet he possesses a face that awakens even dormant desires.’
Goodness, it’s pointless. My brother will likely spend the rest of his life as the hope and public flower of countless women.
“Still muscular and built?”
Kalien remained fixated on my ideal type. His eyes gleamed with stubborn determination to extract an answer.
“Does appearance matter? You’re already radiant.”
“That’s true.”
I nodded seriously.
“The more beautiful the appearance, the better.”
Kalien broke into a satisfied smile.
“Then you don’t need to look far.”
The moment I wondered what he meant, Kalien’s appearance suddenly caught my eye. Anew, as if for the first time.
I gazed at his eyes as if enchanted for a moment, then lightly touched the bridge of his nose with my index finger.
“Yes, I wish there were one more man like you. To make my lover.”
“I guarantee there isn’t another man like me. Rosy, give up and just live with me.”
The words rose to my throat, but I held them back. It had been three years since I resolved never to issue empty promises.
Kalien eagerly squeezed my hand and shook it.
“So muscles are the problem after all?”
“Why do you keep obsessing over that? It’s not necessarily about being muscular. I prefer my own muscles to anyone else’s.”
“Then….”
“I just want someone who won’t betray me.”
Kalien, who had been urging me forward with impatience, stiffened abruptly.
“…Betray.”
“Yes, someone who won’t lie to me. Someone who won’t deceive or trick me. Someone who would never stab me in the back.”
“….”
“If that’s all I’m satisfied with, well.”
“Where exactly does the line on lies fall?”
“Just, by conventional standards, the kind of thing where you’d say there’s no getting around it. For instance, approaching me while deliberately hiding your true identity.”
“….”
“Or trying to cover up a lie with another lie….”
In truth, who would enjoy such things? I clicked my tongue in disapproval.
“It’s better to confess quickly. I hate being deceived most of all.”
“If I confess, will you forgive me?”
“What? Of course not.”
Kalien’s lips pressed shut again. I continued speaking, thinking even the downward curve of his mouth was beautiful.
“The first time is hard, but the second and third times become easy.”
“Then why….”
“If you confess quickly, I can cut you out a day sooner, can’t I? Garbage should be disposed of quickly.”
As I spoke with such finality, silence descended.
Then, very slowly, Kalien let out a quiet laugh—a sound without lifting the corners of his mouth.
“You’re chilling me to the bone.”
“It’s only natural.”
“There’s truly no forgiveness?”
“Of course not.”
“I see.”
Kalien’s answer cut off sharply.
Another sudden silence fell. I felt a bit flustered.
‘Did I misspeak? Maybe he didn’t like the part about disposing of garbage quickly. I’m being unnecessarily soft-hearted….’
But the awkward silence was brief. Kalien raised his upper body and pressed himself against me.
At the same time, his arm around my waist tightened, and my body tilted toward him.
‘What, what?’
I found myself wrapping my arms around his neck. That wasn’t enough for him—Kalien buried his face between my neck and shoulder.
His warm breath seeped through the gaps in my clothes. Heat flushed across both my cheeks and the nape of my neck.
Kalien’s lips touched my skin directly. I felt everything, even the slight movement of his lips.
“But Rosy, you can’t see a lover without me knowing.”
“Why, why?”
“Because I’m jealous.”
“Then you should fall in love too. Love someone, Kalien. Your face deserves to be loved infinitely.”
“Love?”
Kalien leaned against me and chuckled softly. He glanced up at me with only his eyes.
“Innocent Rosien. I’m not like that.”
It was an unexpected response. Even as I couldn’t tell whether I was holding him or he was holding me, I was left utterly speechless.
I had naturally expected a naive answer. Something like, “Thank you for saying that,” or perhaps a cute gesture of pressing our foreheads together while saying, “You alone are enough for me.”
I never anticipated he would react this way.
“Jealousy… you said it arises.”
“Yes.”
Isn’t jealousy something that presupposes love in the first place?
But I couldn’t ask him that. Because then I would ultimately have to ask Kalien, “Don’t you love me?” and that was simply impossible.
Of course, we both knew that this “love” wasn’t that kind of “love,” but speaking it aloud felt strange somehow. We were no longer children, after all—we were adults who understood everything.
As I hesitated, silence fell between us once more.
The conversation kept breaking awkwardly like this. Was it just my imagination?
‘It’s probably… a sensitive time.’
One fortunate thing was that the mana flooding the room had noticeably subsided. It was thanks to the power of Railo seeping from me acting as a stabilizer for him.
This should be enough. I gently pushed Kalien away and slid down from his lap.
“Then, shall we head to dinner soon?”
“Yes.”
Kalien let me create distance between us. He shook his damp hair lightly with his hand and rose to his feet.
“It’s my princess’s mealtime.”
“It’s your mealtime too.”
Ha, Kalien laughed dryly again.
He paused while tying the sash of his robe and asked.
“By the way, Rosien. That person who said such things to you… what was his name again? Something about marriage or introductions.”
“Oh, Jake.”
“Brown curly hair with a pointed beard?”
“That’s right. Isn’t it too much?”
A cold smile flickered in Kalien’s eyes.
“Indeed. It is too much.”
Someone knocked on the door. A trembling voice came from beyond it.
“Y-young Family Head. Breakfast is prepared in the Breakfast Hall.”
“Yes, I’ll be down shortly. Philip. Let’s go, Kalian. I’m hungry.”
Kalien’s lips curved into a dazzling arc. He licked his lower lip gently with the tip of his tongue and answered affectionately.
“Yes. Now I’m truly hungry. Rosien.”
* * *
That evening, I went to the front of Wynack Castle to keep my promise with Lina. She waited for me, pacing nervously with light luggage in hand.
“Rosien! You came.”
“Of course. We promised, didn’t we?”
“Still, I thought you might not make it after the young Family Head detained you earlier.”
“Come on, this was our prior arrangement. Were you very scared back then?”
Because of Seongyeol, who periodically displayed instability, many ordinary castle dwellers feared Kalien greatly.
“I find it curious that you walk out of that room alive and unscathed every time. Aren’t you afraid of him?”
“I’m not an ordinary human, after all.”
It was only natural for a common person to fear a Transcendent who was the incarnation of a star.
“Still, the Young Family Head is relatively mild-mannered. The other Transcendents I know… goodness.”
“My word. The world of Transcendents truly is brutally savage, isn’t it?”
“Indeed. The disciples there are nothing but ruthless—they send their own peers to Gol without hesitation.”
“You’re truly remarkable, Rosien. To hold such a top position in a world of survival of the fittest!”
“Huh? How did you know?”
“You have the Young Family Head wrapped around your finger. He’s helpless against you.”
“Ah, I see what you mean…”
But Kalien is just a novice anyway. How does him losing to me make me the strongest?
“I should stay glued to your side from now on. Then I might be able to work in that terrifying castle for another decade or so. Goodness, he’s reformed quite a bit compared to the old days…”
“…? Who?”
“Huh? Oh my, what’s wrong with me? I didn’t say anything!”
Lina made an awkward fuss.
“Oh, look there, Rosien!”
“Hmm?”
“Right down there. That’s where dozens of mountain goat carcasses were found yesterday!”
Across the vast expanse of the valley, there was one peculiarly barren patch.
As if scooped out with a spoon, nothing remained—not the dense thicket, not the rocks, not the soil.
“…”
Do you know that feeling?
The unease that comes not from something happening, but from nothing happening at all.
Beasts died en masse, yet the spot was immaculately clean. As if it had never existed.
But that couldn’t be. The very fact that something had existed and then vanished was grotesque and unnatural.

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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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