I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 87

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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 87
Kalian shrugged with casual indifference.
“There’s no reason to dislike her, is there? If Rozentia hadn’t come to me and spoken, if she hadn’t freed me, I would have slept eternally in this place. The name Rozentia holds a meaning all its own.”
In stark contrast to Kalian’s serenity, I found myself twisted like a wrung-out rag, knotted with frustration.
‘Right. She was even executed here for that sin, so naturally his heart would go to her. Of course it would. How infuriating.’
Then why doesn’t he just embrace her portrait and kiss it, caress it all he wants? Why must he cling to me like this? What benefit does any of this bring me?
I swatted away the large hand that had been stroking my waist and abdomen.
“Stop it now. This is excessive treatment.”
Kalian, predictably, didn’t budge an inch. Instead, he gripped my waist firmly with both hands and spun me halfway around in one fluid motion.
“…!”
My vision remained shrouded in darkness. I reached out to feel his face, confirming his position. My index finger caught on his parted lips.
“I don’t distinguish you as anyone in particular, Rosy.”
I felt Kalian’s lips move against my fingertips.
“But if you ask me when I began to love Rosien, I would say it was that moment when you first took five sacks of my grain upon your shoulders instead.”
“What?”
“Or was it when you first recognized my soiled clothes?”
“…And also.”
“When you dragged me to bed on the nights I couldn’t sleep and wandered the castle, when you first sang me a lullaby.”
“….”
“Beyond that, every year, every day, every moment—I love you for always prioritizing me. If I must distinguish, I have never felt such emotions for Rozentia. Does that ease your mind?”
It wasn’t entirely satisfying, but it was a line I could accept. My rigid expression softened slightly.
Kalian continued speaking.
“I love you without any conditions. Even if I had been just a pebble rolling on the ground, I would have come to love you as I do now.”
A pebble? What kind of metaphor was that….
“You are special. You are someone very special to me. If you tell me to stop, I will stop. If you lead me forward, I will follow. Of course, the best way would still be for you to align with me, but I find that even the opposite wouldn’t matter.”
“….”
“If this is what humans call love, then I love you.”
Kalian seemed unfamiliar with his own words even as he spoke them. He repeated the final phrase silently several times before finding his conviction.
“I love you.”
Kalian’s elongated eyes curved into a gentle smile.
In those ruby-red eyes, affection directed solely at me overflowed like a flood.
“Ah….”
I hadn’t expected such a direct confession, and I couldn’t hide my bewilderment.
Rosien was receiving a love confession for the first time in her life.
And from an older brother whom I had been absolutely certain was a cute, gentle rabbit—only to discover it was a tremendous misunderstanding.
Anyone with sense would understand this confession meant something far beyond familial love.
I awkwardly averted my gaze.
“Well, I… did sense something like that…. Um, thank you…?”
“Do you feel the same way, Rosy?”
“I….”
“I wish you felt the same way.”
Kalian gazed at me with hopeful eyes.
Truth be told, I still wasn’t entirely certain. The words hovered on the tip of my tongue.
‘Is it love, or merely an extension of the affection built up over time? Perhaps it’s compassion. I can’t quite distinguish.’
I imagined an extreme scenario. Could I survive without Kalian?
‘I wouldn’t die, so I suppose I could go on….’
But what if Kalian vanished before my eyes?
I would certainly be concerned, but unlike before, I didn’t think I’d feel that gut-wrenching panic that would drive me to rush out searching for him. Instead, I’d worry more about whether someone else caught up in his affairs might be hurt.
‘But honestly, this is karma. Even if I wanted to appear favorable to him, he still concealed his true nature flawlessly for a full decade…?’
Recalling all those years I’d spent frantically cleaning up his messes filled me with indignation.
And yet, despite everything, I still cherished Kalian.
I felt tenderness toward him—stripped of his humanity by the Transcendents. I wanted to give him everything I could.
By coming here, I’d come to accept both Kalian and Karga as they were.
But passionate romantic love between a man and a woman….
Well. That was a different matter altogether.
Physically, it might burn hot, but the emotional foundation itself felt closer to the humanitarian compassion one human feels for another—altruistic and selfless, didn’t it?
Desire and love are fundamentally different things, after all.
Beyond that, I couldn’t say. I settled on an ambiguous conclusion.
‘If it’s not burning hot, that’s fine.’
In any case, there was absolutely no chance of a mutual Elixir Imprinting. And that didn’t mean humanitarian love wasn’t love either.
“Rosy…?”
As the silence stretched, Kalian’s expression grew anxious.
I smiled softly and caressed his cheek. Then I gave my gentle affirmation.
“Yes, that’s right. I love you too.”
Good. I could say this much every day without difficulty.
Yet for some reason, Kalian’s expression seemed subtly distorted compared to before.
Chapter 10. The Avatar’s Jealousy
I tested the water’s surface with the tips of my toes. Splash, splash—the pleasant sound of water echoed.
I grew a little excited and began splashing about wildly.
“This is my first time walking on the sea.”
“Mine too.”
Of course, this was only possible because I had the protection of the Stars wrapped around my feet.
It had been roughly two hours since Kalian and I left the Riltear Underwater Island.
That place wasn’t somewhere one could stay for long. Kalian, who had no need to consume food, wasn’t affected, but I, being human, needed to breathe the air of the surface world and fill my stomach.
The moment my provisions—crammed haphazardly into the subspace—ran out, I took Kalian and departed Riltear Island.
The small wooden boat I’d left on the sea bobbed gently not far away. I stepped lightly across the rippling surface and made my way toward it.
“Here.”
Kalian leaped onto the boat first, then leaned down and wrapped his arms around my waist. Without any particular effort, he lifted me onto the deck.
As I withdrew the protection of the Stars, wet squelching sounds came from beneath my leather shoes.
“Where do we go now, oppa?”
“Do you want to go back to land?”
“Hmm….”
I recalled the letter I’d received from Luize Whezel just before departure. It was so packed with nagging that the envelope had swelled to bursting.
‘If I return to Abuero, Luize will probably be standing there waiting for me.’
The thought of being cornered by that nagging jaguar made my heart sink.
Kalian made a subtle suggestion.
“If you don’t want to go back, Rosy. Would you like to go to the Demilitarized Zone around here instead?”
“The Demilitarized Zone?”
“Yes. There’s an island where the Transcendent Family Heads used to stay after the International Court sessions ended. Since they stopped using Riltear, that island has probably been abandoned for a long time. No one should be there.”
“An uninhabited island is a bit much…. There won’t be anything to eat.”
“I’ll take responsibility for feeding you.”
“Are you planning to hunt? Can you even do that?”
“I won’t need to. The Transcendent Family Heads would have kept supply stores preserved so they could stay whenever they visited…. But Rosy, you’ve never had any faith in me since you were small, have you?”
“That’s all your fault.”
I giggled and enlarged the Planetarium. A massive compass rose appeared above the orbits of celestial bodies spinning round and round.
“So, which direction should the wind blow for us to reach that uninhabited island?”
* * *
“Wow….”
I gazed around at the island rising from the middle of the sea with wonder-filled eyes.
A massive villa stood in the center of the island, elegantly covered with palm trees. Its outer walls gleamed entirely in brilliant gold.
“Judging by all that gold plating, it looks like Raylo built this?”
Raylo was the wealthiest among the Transcendent Families. Naturally, patients lined up to see the most renowned physician on the Continent, and naturally, those patients came bearing deep pockets.
“Correct. That villa was built by Raylo. The island itself belongs to Wynack.”
“I see, and Kirges handles the food supply and storage?”
“Entertainment facilities were Whezel’s responsibility, as far as I know.”
“Then Yeljewa just freeloads?”
“Those bastards always do.”
“…?”
“Everything they do is disgusting. Loathsome creatures.”
I was startled by the curses that naturally spilled from Kalian’s lips.
“My rabbit… your language habits aren’t so pure after all….”
“Ah.”
I thought you never even uttered such words….”
Kalian averted his gaze from my eyes. I immediately grabbed both his cheeks in my hands.
“Wash your mouth! Don’t say such things. I’m asking you to protect the innocent rabbit inside me… mmph.”
Kalian silenced my complaints with his own lips. He pressed a kiss longer than a mere peck, then grinned with a slight grimace.
“Cleaned, see?”
“….”
“Purification!”
“…Could you stop being so annoyingly bright?”
Kalian chuckled softly and took my hand again.
I followed where he led, stepping out from the white sand beach and into the forest. The narrow path toward the villa was well-trodden.
I found myself absently touching my lips.
‘For days now, kissing without rhyme or reason, yet why does it never feel familiar….’
It didn’t grow familiar, nor did it bore me. That cunning fox had initially been consumed only with satisfying his own desires, but as days passed, he gradually began studying my reactions.
The way my eyes grew unfocused, the sounds I couldn’t help but let slip, the moments I flinched and drew my body inward—he observed it all.
With that knowledge as his foundation, he pursued me with calculated precision, making it impossible for the sensation not to be intoxicating. He made me forget the essential purpose of healing and constantly indulge in him instead.
Look at him now—the moment he sensed my longing, he flashed that meaningful smile with his eyes.
“Want to rinse your mouth once more, Rosy?”
“…That’s enough!”
He’d definitely done it on purpose. I ground my teeth inwardly.
‘I need to establish rules going forward. Set a limit on the number of treatments or something like that.’
On the uninhabited island isolated in the middle of the sea, naturally, not a single shadow of another person was visible.
When I’d been trapped in the dark depths of the abyss, the veil of water had concealed both my embarrassment and my hesitation.
That place, untouched even by the eyes of the Stars, had been a space for only Kalian and me.
But now that we’d emerged onto land, everything was far too bright.
The tropical sun was so intense it made my eyes sting. I shaded my eyes with my hand and looked up at the brilliant blue sky.
‘The only beings who could see us here are….’
Only the Stars.
Only the Guardian Stars beyond that sky.
Yet my assumption was wrong from the start. We were not alone in this place.
“Huh?”
It was just as Kalian and I entered the villa’s lobby. Someone was perched on the indoor fountain in the center of the lobby. A young man with black curly hair and bronze skin.
I doubted my own eyes.
“Luize?”
At my call, he lifted the eyelids he’d been keeping lowered. The golden irises that emerged gleamed with a brilliant light.
“Hello.”
Luize smiled brightly and waved his right hand.
“Long time no see, Big Sister.”

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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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