I Will Protect My Brother - Chapter 92

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

Chapter 92
Several days had passed since Luize’s sudden confession.
“Rosy.”
Early morning. As I stepped into the Reception Room, Kalian—who had been sipping tea—gestured toward me.
“Did you sleep well after abandoning me?”
His smile was tender, but his tone carried barbs. He was pouting over the nights we’d spent apart.
“Yeah, well. No different than usual. Good morning.”
Yet I lacked the leisure to indulge Kalian’s sullenness. A grave matter had been consuming my thoughts these past days.
“Are you feeling well, Rosy?”
“Well? What reason would there be for me to feel unwell? I’m fine.”
“I see….”
Kalian drew out his words with subtle intent. I approached as he beckoned and lowered my head.
“Treatment” proved unnecessarily stimulating today as well.
Only after thoroughly savoring me did Kalian’s intensity subside. He whispered softly.
“Have you finished the book?”
“No. I barely read yesterday either. Actually, I had a conversation with Luize last night.”
“Luize?”
As I withdrew from Kalian and settled into the opposite seat, he poured freshly brewed tea into my cup. It was the black tea he particularly favored.
“Luize… and at night, no less. Just the two of you?”
“Yes.”
Kalian’s eyebrows arched sharply.
“Did you have an enjoyable time?”
“Rather than enjoyable, I’d say it was intriguing.”
“Intriguing?”
“Yes. He said something quite meaningful.”
I sipped my tea and retraced the conversations I’d had with Luize over these past days.
“Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me. Give me an answer, elder sister.”
When Luize first confessed, I had naturally intended to act as though I hadn’t heard.
But Luize proved more persistent than I’d anticipated.
“It’s not a bad proposal, is it?”
“What do you mean it’s not a bad proposal? By your logic, you’re asking me to hand over my leash to you. Or do you perhaps want to kiss me too?”
No matter how fortunate I was with men, I had no desire to shuttle between the two of them doing such things. Did that make sense?
But Luize corrected me firmly.
“Don’t misinterpret it like that. I don’t want that kind of relationship with you.”
“Then what?”
“An inductive Elixir. Someone whose mere presence brings psychological stability.”
“….”
“I’m not some beast desperate to touch you like someone else. I’d be content simply being a place where you can rest comfortably.”
Who that “someone” was who desperately wanted to touch me was painfully obvious.
I gazed at Kalian across from me, my chin resting obliquely against the back of my hand.
‘A beast, certainly. That much is undeniable.’
I had been so certain he was herbivorous, only to discover he was carnivorous instead.
Kalian tilted his head at my prolonged, weary gaze, as if he couldn’t fathom my meaning.
“Why are you suddenly looking at me like that, in the middle of speaking?”
“It’s nothing.”
As I mulled over Luize’s words, I realized his argument wasn’t entirely unreasonable.
I certainly didn’t want to form a mutual Elixir Contract with Kalian.
Not because I disliked him, or because he lacked masculine appeal, or because he failed to provide me any sense of security. If anything, it was quite the opposite.
But I didn’t want to cross that line with Kalian.
I was afraid of ceasing to be myself.
I cherished my current position of dominance over Kalian Wynack. The initiative lay with me.
Whether I offered him my presence or my kisses, it was all something I was ‘giving’ to him.
He was the one beseeching and clinging; I was the one bestowing.
The hierarchy was clear, and therefore perfect.
But a mutual Elixir would change that, wouldn’t it? What if I found myself desperately wanting Kalian?
‘What if I clung to him like that? What if I ached to be closer, unable to bear even the smallest distance?’
Would I behave as though I’d die without him? Me? This Lozietti Kirges?
To become so dependent on another person?
Revulsion swelled within me.
I didn’t want to know such a thing.
Not because of physical danger, but because it was an emotion I didn’t understand. Every time I became aware of myself being instinctively drawn to him, my heart would plummet.
The conclusion, then, was clear.
I didn’t want to ‘love’ Kalian as a man.
I steeled my resolve once more.
‘I can’t let this dam break. What we have now is exactly right.’
If that were the case, I would need to find my own Elixir, and if mana suppressants and the Planetarium proved insufficient?
Then perhaps an induced Elixir wouldn’t be so terrible? Whether Luize or something else entirely.
‘It’s like an emergency measure, in a sense. A last resort.’
“Rosy. You’re lost in thought while I’m right in front of you.”
Kalian’s petulant voice, dripping with displeasure, cut through my reverie.
I snapped back to attention to find him frowning.
“Why did you stop speaking? Was your conversation with Luize so enjoyable? What were you discussing?”
“Oh, nothing important. We were just exchanging pleasantries we hadn’t finished, and we talked briefly about Elixirs….”
“Elixirs? Elixirs, you say. So Luize doesn’t have an Elixir either?”
“No, he does have one. I meant my Elixir. Luize asked what he thought of being my Elixir.”
“I see…?”
Kalian’s tone shifted subtly upward. Strangely, he seemed pleased.
With a faint smirk directed at Luize, he murmured:
“A direct confrontation, then.”
“What?”
I was momentarily bewildered, but understanding soon followed. The two had never been compatible.
Luize despised Kalian, while Kalian showed little interest in Luize.
“No, that’s not it. So what did Rosy answer?”
Even now, Kalian remained composed. I observed him intently before letting my shoulders droop.
“She said if there’s no other option, she’d consider it.”
“…?”
Kalian, who had been lifting his teacup with elegant grace, froze mid-motion.
I didn’t immediately notice him turning rigid as stone because I was busy dropping a sugar cube into my own cup.
“Since Luize is a good person, if it’s possible, she’d like to do it. Based on a noble friendship….”
Before I could finish speaking, a sharp, violent sound erupted.
Crash—!
“What, what is it?!”
I startled violently. Kalian’s teacup lay shattered across the floor in fragments.
The spilled tea soaked the carpet thoroughly.
“Just now… what did you say, Rosy?”
Kalian asked as if he couldn’t believe his ears.
“She’d… like to do it?”
“Let me see your hand. Are you hurt?”
I leaped to my feet and seized his hand. Kalian’s palm was drenched in blood.
Good heavens—he hadn’t dropped the cup; he’d crushed it in his grip!
Without hesitation, I picked up the sharp fragments scattered across the floor.
“Thank goodness. With just a few drops of my blood, this should heal quickly….”
“Rosien, that’s not what matters!”
Kalian snapped angrily, seizing my wrist.
“What did you tell Luize Whezel? That if there’s no alternative, you’d do it? You’d do it? An Elixir Imprinting? With him?”
“No, that’s… well, I was just considering the possibility.”
“You, you would never, absolutely never with me….”
“Never what?”
“Rosien. Are you unfaithful?”
I was utterly dumbfounded. But before I could ask what he meant… Kalian’s expression was far from normal. Sparks of fury danced in his crimson eyes.
“You want to do what you do with me, with Whezel as well? Surely you’re not telling me seriously that you mean this?”
Only then did I realize he had gravely misunderstood.
“No, Kalian. I’m not saying I’d do that with Luize. In the first place, something like that, with anyone….”
With anyone but you? Embarrassed, I let my words trail off, and Kalian pressed me urgently.
“Then what is it? What do you want to do?”
“Wouldn’t a guided Elixir Contract based on noble and altruistic intentions be acceptable?”
But it was clearly not a good excuse. Instead of shock, indignation began to boil across Kalian’s face.
“You kiss me and do everything else only with me. And you say love is for that?”
“No, not love—friendship.”
“Friendship?”
Kalian let out a short, incredulous laugh.
“He feels the same way?”
Kalian shot up from his seat and leaned over me where I sat, his upper body bending forward.
As he gripped the chair’s backrest with both hands, his shadow fell across me like a veil.
“He only sees you as a good friend, doesn’t he, Rosy?”
“That’s….”
“That can’t be right. He….”
Kalian began to say something more, then suddenly stopped.
He scrutinized my reaction carefully, then released a short, hollow breath.
“You already know.”
“….”
“You know how Whezel sees you, don’t you, Rosy?”
There was no way out. I had no choice but to admit it.
“Honestly, I’m not oblivious. I’ve been receiving confessions for days now. Every time we meet….”
“He said he loves you?”
“He said he likes me. It didn’t sound like a lie. Luize has always been concerned about me.”
“So you wavered?”
“I wouldn’t put it that strongly. It didn’t mean I was going to make Luize my Elixir. Calm down. I was simply thinking that such an option existed too.”
“There is no option for you but me.”
Kalian bit his lip hard, his voice stifled with barely contained fury. I widened my eyes immediately.
“Wait, what were you trying to say? What option are you talking about?”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————