I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 68

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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 68
The evidence and circumstances against blindly trusting Kalian were far too clear. My suspicions remained unresolved, festering and multiplying with each passing day.
Naturally, no matter how hard I tried, it was impossible to hide.
“Rosien, you seem unusually composed today.”
“I’m an adult now, after all. I should conduct myself with maturity.”
“That’s not what I meant. Usually you’d be glued to that fool’s side, offering warnings about everything. It’s just strange how quiet you’ve been.”
“The Young Family Head is already twenty-two. I can’t follow him around forever.”
I answered with a forced smile, but the atmosphere inside the carriage grew irreversibly cold.
“Well… I suppose that’s true.”
Owen reluctantly agreed. Kalian, who had been staring intently at me, exhaled in frustration and closed his eyes for a long moment before opening them again.
‘He knows. He knows I don’t completely trust him.’
Owen pressed Kalian on my behalf.
“Kalian, you should practice smiling. Don’t just stand there like a statue.”
Kalian hesitated, then forcibly pulled the corners of his mouth upward.
“Like this?”
It was clearly a forced smile, yet the carriage suddenly brightened. I glanced at him sideways and silently clicked my tongue.
‘The ladies of Abuye are going to have quite the time pining for him today.’
Owen seemed to share the sentiment.
“Yes, you look better when you smile. Act more human.”
“Does mimicking humanity make one human?”
“….”
“I think I’ve already failed at being good. So who am I doing this for?”
Kalian spoke carelessly, as if for my benefit. He was just as twisted as I was.
“Why not? Effort might change things.”
The Family Head encouraged Kalian in my stead.
“In that case, dance with the princess when we arrive at the ball.”
“Pardon?”
It was I, not Kalian, who answered.
Kalian also raised one eyebrow skeptically. He asked me.
“Rosien. Do you know how to dance?”
“I do, but…”
I had learned ballroom dancing during my time at Kirges. I wouldn’t call myself skilled, but I was certainly far superior to Alpien, who had been as stiff as a wooden puppet.
Owen the Family Head wore a momentarily vacant expression. Soon his brow furrowed deeply.
“What are you two talking about? I meant Princess Aselli!”
…What?
“The princess of Abuye who’s been courting Kalian for ten years now—what on earth are you two going on about?!”
“Ah, that meaning…”
Heat flooded my cheeks. I screamed silently within.
‘I’ve lost it. I’ve completely lost it.’
From my own mouth—I’m insane. I need to disappear, disappear!
Yet Kalian was far less flustered than I was.
“Ah, I thought you were talking about someone else again.”
“Talking about who?”
“My princess.”
Kalian kept his gaze fixed on me, only lifting the corners of his mouth. Yet his voice was soft enough to feel sweet.
“Rosy, would you like to dance with me today?”
“No, don’t tease me. Kalian.”
My entire body burned with embarrassment. Because Kalian had called me princess so often over the past few years, I had somehow grown accustomed to that awkward title.
Especially after learning that I was the reincarnation of Rozentia Renos, the former princess of Abuye, I felt no discomfort anymore. But no matter how similar our essences might be, that woman and I were undeniably different people.
Yet it was strange. Kalian seemed unwilling to distinguish between me and Rozentia.
“Why, you’re the only one in Wynack who would be called princess.”
And you’re also the princess of Kirges, Lozietti Kirges.
That’s what Kalian’s eyes seemed to be saying.
I flinched and glanced sideways at Owen. I hadn’t yet revealed to Owen that I was Kirges.
“Well, that’s true—Rosien is the only female Transcendent bearing the name of Wynack Castle, so it’s not wrong.”
Fortunately, Owen, unaware of the full circumstances, merely clicked his tongue in exasperation.
‘Why is he bringing that up now?’
Kalian seemed to be testing me silently. Weren’t you also deceiving Wynack?
So neither of us has the right to speak, do we?
Moreover, he clearly didn’t bother to distinguish between “Rosien,” “Lozietti Kirges,” and “Rozentia” at all.
That night too, Kalian called me Rozentia.
Why did he accept such an absurd fact—past lives, reincarnation, things an ordinary person would never easily believe—so naturally?
Come to think of it, Kalian had always been that way. Wasn’t he the same when I revealed that I was Lozietti Kirges?
He simply laughed cheerfully and nodded no matter what I said.
What did he know?
I bit the inside of my lip firmly.
‘No, I shouldn’t get ahead of myself.’
Ever since that night, I kept suspecting Kalian. I turned over his gaze, his expression, even his tone of voice again and again in my mind.
Even when I tried to focus on the most objective facts, once doubt had been spoken, it kept rising like a serpent.
‘Kalian Wynack, and the Lost Soul with those crimson eyes…’
What was the connection between these three?
As I continued to ponder, the carriage was crossing the drawbridge of Abuye Royal Castle.
Soon, the area before Abuie Castle was already crowded with the carriages of numerous nobles.
But the moment the Wynack carriage appeared, the surroundings fell silent as death.
The carriage door opened wide.
Owen descended first, followed by Kalian. I too stepped out of the carriage behind him, when a hand clad in black gloves suddenly extended before me.
Kalian looked up at me with darkened eyes.
“…Thank you.”
In the end, I took Kalian’s hand and descended from the carriage.
* * *
My suspicion had hit the mark.
The moment Kalian stepped into the ballroom, he became the center of all attention.
A Transcendent shrouded in mystery, possessing an alluring beauty—it was a foregone conclusion that he would captivate not just the hearts of women, but men as well.
It wasn’t long before Kalian found himself surrounded by gazes filled with longing and reverence. It was a stark contrast to the looks he received from the servants working at Wynack Castle and the villagers.
‘This is how it should be.’
What on earth had the castle people witnessed that made them so hostile toward Kalian?
Over the past five days, I’d cornered everyone I met and pressed them for answers, but no one gave me a satisfactory response. They all repeated the same words.
“The Young Family Head has no problems at all, Rosy. Really. It’s just that sometimes—quite often, actually—he can be a bit temperamental and sensitive….”
As they said this, they exchanged uneasy glances with one another. Who could believe that?
‘If only Jake would wake up soon, I could learn about the scene he witnessed….’
Jake’s internal injuries had nearly healed. However, he still hadn’t regained consciousness.
But since I was regularly feeding him my blood, he would likely wake within a few days.
I desperately hoped Jake had seen clearly what attacked him.
‘A beast with crimson eyes. It’s almost certainly that, isn’t it?’
Could it be a Lost Soul?
Could the Lost Soul be Kalian?
“Sigh….”
I was about to run my fingers through my hair when I remembered that I’d had it styled, and lowered my hand. Lina had taken great care to braid it and tie it up in a half-knot.
It had been an eternity since I’d dressed so formally. Or perhaps, as Rosien Wynack, this was my first time.
‘I need to stop thinking about useless things. Worrying in advance won’t solve anything anyway.’
I was merely toying with a wine glass while heaving a sigh that seemed to shake the very ground, when someone quietly approached me.
Someone spoke to me softly.
“Good evening, Wynack. It’s an honor to meet you for the first time.”
“…? Ah, yes. Good evening.”
Only then did I lift my head and look around.
Kalian had vanished from my sight. In his place, unfamiliar young men had surrounded me.
“I’ve been most curious about who you might be, and now I finally have the pleasure. I am Max Caravan.”
“Lucius Philope.”
“Dane Arnoval….”
Unfamiliar names tumbled forth from all directions.
‘Ah, I see.’
There was one thing I had overlooked about tonight’s gathering: my position in Abuye society was not so different from Kalian’s.
The Abuye Kingdom had only one Transcendent Family—the Wynacks. And among them, I was the sole female Transcendent blessed by the Guardian Star.
‘I must be quite the eligible bride.’
“Wynack, would you care to dance a waltz with me?”
“I was already in conversation with her, Marquis Philope. Respect the order, won’t you? Wynack, how about a waltz?”
“Ah, haha, um….”
Unfortunately, I had no intention of finding a husband in Abuye. Just as I was about to politely decline, Owen’s words to Kalian suddenly flashed through my mind.
He’d told him not to stand there like a statue and to dance instead. Right now, I was exactly that statue.
‘Then I should dance just one song.’
If I was going to dance anyway, I still wanted to dance with a handsome young man. Yet strangely, no man appeared in sight—only squids.
Beyond the uniform squids, a head crowned with a brilliant halo was drawing closer to me.

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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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