The Way to Protect the Female Lead's Older Brother

❤Chapter 13

Chapter 13 - Short Goodbye

Roxana passed Charlotte, who was still sitting back on the floor, stunned. Her little sister’s cheek was caked with blood and her foot was still throbbing from Roxana’s attack.

Roxana had already forgotten about her siblings, even as Jeremy’s shadow moved alongside her for a brief moment as he closed in on Charlotte.

Her feet wandered deeper into the castle, down towards the dungeons.

Cassis POV

His head, which had been drooping over his chest, snapped to attention as soon as he heard the light steps echoing from the corridor. 

The door to his cell opened slowly to dull the loud creak coming from the rusty hinges. 

He eyed Roxana critically from the floor again. 

“You smell like blood,” Cassis said. 

His wrists were now shackled to the prison walls as if he were about to be crucified like Jesus Christ. His legs were bent uncomfortably to accommodate a short chain binding his ankles together and to the ground. It was the most docile pose you could imagine. Cassis could not kick, grab, or knee anyone who came close to him. Pink rope burns curved around his mouth, giving him a permanent, grotesque smile. He had been gagged the last time he had been beaten.  

Roxana looked down. Her dress and shoes were stained with blood, as if she had passed someone bleeding on the floor.

He saw the shadow of her nose wrinkle slightly in confusion. His comment seemed strange to her. She must not have realized that there was evidence on her.

She gazed at him, holding her wrist with one hand. “There isn’t much. You don’t really care, anyway.” Her words, which were usually polite and well-versed, were now stumbling from her lips. It was the same tone as when she had told him that she didn’t want him to die. She sounded honest and vulnerable.

Cassis frowned at her remark but didn’t argue. 

Roxana sounded annoyed at him and slightly distracted from her previous meeting. She didn’t seem to be injured. The blood seemed to have come from her opponent. It was unclear if she was the victim or the perpetrator….

“I should have cleaned up and changed beforehand. I didn’t think you would notice,” she looked away. She seemed mad at herself for being careless again. “I can’t come back for a while.”

His eyes narrowed.

At this point, the two of them had met quite often in the dungeons. His vision wasn’t perfect. Roxana was too far away for him to see clearly, but he took in the curve of her body and the colour of blood standing out starkly against her pale outfit.

“I won’t be long, just for a few days,” she continued.

What did she mean by a few days? Had he guessed wrong? Was she actually injured?

Cassis was not in a good relationship with her and did not have the means to help her anyway, but the thought of those dark stains on her dress as Roxana’s own blood…It made him feel uneasy for some reason. The dank putrid smell reminded him of the rotting fish in the fisherman’s wharf. His eyes had skimmed over hordes of dead fish with cold, glazed eyes.

Frustrated, he tried to look at her face again. It was hard to read her when he couldn’t see her expression clearly. 

“Stay good. You should be fine until I see you again,” her tone had reverted back to a sweet and refined noblewoman. She was speaking to him as if she were a hostess talking to him at a party. “I’m only a little worried that I won’t be here to assist you if needed.”

Cassis hoped that the next time they met, he would be able to see her face.