I Am the Hero’s Immature Younger Brother 38

The Castle with ‘Lacus’

“――nim.”

“Coco――.”

“Princess……”

“……!”

Coco grabbed Hugh’s forearm.

They’re here! The saviors are here!

Coco staggered and stood up abruptly. Her legs were numb from sitting for so long and she stumbled, but that wasn’t a problem.

Princess Coco quickly ran toward the cliff of the cavity and waved her hand toward the distant height above.

She didn’t do anything rash like shout, but Coco’s heart was filled with screams.

It’s a miracle! It can only be called a miracle! This fast, this quickly…!

Hugh, with his fractured body, managed to stand and held Coco’s hand so she wouldn’t fall. Temarr dutifully shouldered the physician, holding Del Belkerman’s head in one hand and Del Belkerman’s sword in the other.

Coco turned around, then turned her head back with a pale face.

“Here…… It’s here……! Hurry up!”

It was a reproachful voice, but one couldn’t help but notice the joy and sadness buried within it.

Looking at the gray hair disheveled in the moonlight, Coco and Hugh’s faces momentarily darkened.

Not all lives could be saved.

Because Princess Coco’s life was the priority.

That’s why the faces of the two who had to bid farewell to the lost life couldn’t help but darken.

The face of the knight who sacrificed his life, which they had forgotten in their terror, came to mind.

Coco struggled to hold back the tears that surged up.

“Princess. I apologize for keeping you waiting.”

The man who appeared before them, leaving a flickering dark shadow, prostrated himself toward the Princess. Two mages in robes came to his side, squeezed between the group, and held hands.

Coco and Hugh froze at the unexpected face.

“……”

The mage who flinched at seeing Temarr grabbed his shoulder.

“I’m sorry. Shon…”

“Let’s go.”

Coco, trying to say what needed to be said rather than how he was here.

The gray-haired man who surveyed the group shook his head as if that wasn’t necessary.

His gaze lingered long on Hugh, who had hair of the same color. They had similar faces.

When the man called Captain gestured, the mages chanted a spell and golden patterns were drawn above and below them. As the patterns rotated, the group disappeared as if being sucked into light.

The gray-haired man who covered the Princess’s mouth, the Captain of the First Knight Order, was named Seton. He was the older brother of the youngest, Shon, who had died protecting Hugh and Princess Coco.

From the Princess’s contorted mouth, sobs finally burst out.

***

“Princess!”

“Princess…… *sob sob*. Where are you injured… Oh heavens, your hand!”

“Princess! I’m so glad you’re safe!”

“Who are those people?”

“Who are they!”

“You’ve arrived! Captain!”

“Shon…”

“He’ll be back soon.”

“What about them?!”

“If you mean them…!”

The mages brought the group to the first floor of the castle.

“This is…… Why here?”

Didn’t we definitely go to the mansion in the capital?

As if they had been waiting for them, the head butler, maids, and knights densely surrounded the corridor. Coco hid her bewilderment and walked through them, stroking the wailing maids with one hand and pushing them away with the other.

“Kyaaaak!”

“Kyaaaaaa―!”

The maids who had been pushed away by Coco were startled when they saw the burly Temarr, their eyes widening― then they discovered the dripping bloody head and sword in his hands and screamed. The physician slung over one shoulder looked like he could be mistaken for a corpse.

The maids who stumbled backward in a rush bumped into the knights’ bodies.

The castle was clean but felt chaotic. Glass that seemed recently replaced caught Coco’s eye. That was definitely a trace of intrusion. Del Belkerman…… Coco bit her lips. His words that all of Duke Ganien’s people would have gone to the capital because of the obituary were wrong. There were those who struggled to find Coco. The smell of blood lingering inside the castle would be proof of that too.

“Everyone be quiet!”

“Kkeuk. Kkeup!”

“*Sob*……”

What would women working in the Duke’s castle have to see such terrible sights? At most, insects. Tears flowed over the faces of the startled maids.

Temarr pressed his lips tightly shut in awkwardness. Then his eyes met with one maid.

“Are you alright?”

The voice that came from his mouth was quite warm, unlike his appearance.

It was Temarr’s gentleness, refined when mediating between villagers and Ren and helping others, working this time too.

Like a precisely inputted value.

It was appropriate warmth.

His dark brown eyes and thick eyelashes played a part too.

“Yes! Yes…!”

The maid who had stopped crying abruptly now blushed in a different sense.

Is that really the same person who collapsed earlier?

The Princess, who looked at that sight somewhat pathetically and bewilderedly, hardened her face.

“What about Ren? Guide me to those who arrived here.”

“That won’t do. First, you must see the physician.”

Shut up!

Coco barely swallowed the curse that burst out for a moment and glared.

“I decide the priorities. Since when did you give me orders?”

“……”

“Guide me.”

“Yes.”

“Hugh. Go to the physician.”

“Yes……”

“When treatment is finished, tell me the corpse’s location.”

It was a voice small enough that others couldn’t hear.

“Yes. I’m sorr…”

“Enough.”

When Seton moved his steps, the soldiers made way.

“Please entrust this one to the physician as well.”

Temarr politely held out the young man he had been carrying on his shoulder. When Seton, who turned around, gestured, a nearby soldier carried the physician on his back.

After passing through a corridor full of expensive decorations and arriving on the third floor, commotion could be felt from a room on the outer side.

When Princess Coco headed toward that room, Seton, who was ahead, opened the thick oak door for her.

The moment the smell of blood hit them.

It was what they had smelled all day today.

Temarr’s expression was calm and Coco’s face turned deathly pale.

“How about putting the head in another place?”

“Yes. May I put it on the floor?”

“Please do.”

At Seton’s words, Temarr put down Del Belkerman’s head in the corner by the door.

However, the gleaming sword was still gripped in his hand.

The soldiers were wary of Temarr, and their hands rested on the hilts, ready to draw their swords at any moment.

Temarr didn’t care about the vigilance that seemed to stab his back.

As if forgetting that he had called for Ren earlier, Temarr stood still as if waiting for orders. He calmly drank the water a maid brought him and didn’t even search for Ren and Ruman.

Only Coco was trembling.

“Princess.”

“……”

Even at Seton’s call, Coco stood frozen in that spot without budging.

Surely he’s not dead.

The priest’s profile was serious. A young man in pure white clothes who had been ceaselessly saying something discovered Coco and ran over.

“Coco-nim!”

As always, a bright face.

Coco didn’t even look at the priest who ran to her and glared behind his back.

She couldn’t bring herself to tell him to move aside.

On the floor, messy bloodstains and red-stained cloths that hadn’t been cleared away were rolling around.

It was an amount that was hard to believe came from one person’s body.

But since a high priest had treated him, he would naturally be alive.

However, she felt suffocated.

“Uh-hello? Coco-nim?”

The high priest waved his hand in front of her eyes.

She wanted to confirm but didn’t want to confirm.

The anxiety that could only be resolved by seeing with her own eyes seemed to choke her throat.

She couldn’t understand how Temarr could be so calm like that.

Is that really the same person who was crying out earlier?

The moment her heart felt like it would burst, the young priest looked where Coco’s gaze was directed and grinned.

“How can you not trust my excellent skills? Coco-nim!”

“*Cough cough*. Coco…? Hyung? Did hyung come too……?!”

And behind them, Ren’s small voice, growing brighter, could be heard.

His face was full of joy that couldn’t be hidden.

Unlike just before when the light of life seemed to be going out, his pale but cleared face was cleaner than ever. Seeing Ren’s face where not even a trace of sickness could be found, Coco’s face filled with joy.

“Ren!!”

“Coco!”

Coco, who ran in one bound, grabbed Ren’s thin wrist tightly. As if confirming that he was really alive! Though Ren’s arm hurt from being gripped so hard, he didn’t show it and smiled gently. Thanks to the minor pains disappearing, even Ren’s sensitivity was hidden! Seeing that smile, Coco, embarrassed, smacked his hand away and suddenly turned around.

“……”

“……”

The sudden affectionate display didn’t suit the two of them! Coco hid her embarrassment and calmed her stirring heart, wrapping her trembling fingertips.

Though she had thought he would be alive, thoughts of ‘what if’ and ‘just in case’ had stirred in her mind.

Ren was equally embarrassed by the honest joy. Ren awkwardly stiffened his face.

He decided to leave Coco, who had turned around, alone and looked at Temarr standing blankly at the doorway.

“Hyung!!”

‘Hyung! Come quickly!’

When Ren gestured repeatedly, only then did Temarr’s feet move.

Perhaps because of his large build, though he hadn’t walked much, Temarr quickly filled Ren’s entire field of vision.

Before an awkward silence could settle, High Priest Kirki, sighing deeply, came between them.

“Ahem!! Not even a word of thanks to the benefactor who saved your life!!”

“Shut up. Can’t you read the mood?!”

Watching Kirki interrupt the brothers’ reunion, Coco scolded him with an exasperated expression.

However, as if he hadn’t been treated roughly just once or twice, Kirki laughed “Pahaha” and firmly crossed his arms, then busied himself explaining how critical the situation was earlier and how amazing the divine power he had displayed was.

As for how sincere he was in praising his own merits, he was holding and waving in both hands the white cloths stained blood-red that were piled high on the floor. Only after Coco dry-heaved at the fishy smell of blood did Kirki stop his atrocity.

Seton’s murderous gaze played a part too.

“Kirki. Please attend to the Princess.”

“I’m fine! More importantly, are you really okay?”

Coco, who strongly waved her hand toward Seton, asked seriously.

Though Ren had such a fine face now, one never knew what might happen.

Because this child isn’t honest. It felt like she could only be relieved after hearing a definite answer.

However, at Coco’s question, Kirki’s complexion, who should give a definite answer, darkened immediately.