He’s My Real Brother, Duke Chapter 135

“Not really.”

 

Cassian smiled brightly. It was a polite ‘flower of the capital’ smile, and it was stern in tone, but surprisingly so, as if he hadn’t been impressed by her beauty at all. 

 

Julie stiffened and immediately withdrew her extended hand.

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“You’re not my type.”

 

Cassian glanced at her dumbfounded expression and nodded.

 

“I will ask you.”

 

“Ask what…?”

 

“Don’t you have a sense of duty as a healer in a demon war?”

 

The healer crossed her arms tightly in front of her chest, feigning displeasure. The woman’s gaze narrowed as she stared into Cassian’s green eyes.

 

“What an insult to a lady, Lord Gray.”

 

“Lady, yes, you are a Lady, but.”

 

Cassian smirked at that, raising an eyebrow.

 

“We’re at war, you’re not trying to…”

 

Cassian’s expression, which had been smirking the entire time, hardened in an instant. He grabbed her by the chin and asked her sharply.

 

“Do you have an interest in something other than the war?”

 

Her breath caught in her throat. She had been trained as a spy, but Cassian was a knight who had made a name for himself in the Empire.

 

The swordsman’s sudden strength was too much for her to handle, and she gritted her teeth inwardly as she shuddered at the suddenness of it.

 

“That’s…”

 

Cassian studied her expression, changing his tone once more and smirking in his usual sneer.

 

“Why are you acting like a damsel in distress?”

 

The woman, frightened for her life, managed to keep her voice calm. For now, she was playing the part of someone who liked Cassian.

 

In other words…

 

“…Yes, I was taken in by your reputation as the capital’s flower, and I apologize for not recognizing it as such.”

 

“Oh, so you’re actually interested in me, in a sensible way.”

 

One corner of Cassian’s lips quirked up mockingly. It was a dismissive, knowing look, as if he’d read her mind, which he hadn’t.

 

“Shut up and do your job.”

 

It was then that Astel, the healer, grunted in the distance, fetching water from the well. Cassian tossed the tip of her chin into the air.

 

“Since you’re not doing the work, it looks like one of us is doing all the work, doesn’t it?”

 

He must have been referring to Astel. 

 

The woman’s expression twisted into something frightening. 

 

She was the center of attention whenever she stood still, and she was so insignificant that without orders from higher-ups, she’d be tempted to do something herself.

 

‘First, we must kill Cassian Gray.’

 

Today’s incident would never be forgotten.

 

She gritted her teeth as she considered how to deliver the lethal dose to Cassian Gray.

 

💫

 

Julie’s opportunity for revenge on Cassian came quickly.

 

The next morning, she received a tip that the beast had been poisoned on the shore to provoke its rage.

 

Not long afterward, in the middle of the afternoon, the knights were enjoying themselves.

 

The griffin, a giant beast, began to hover over the frozen sea, circling incessantly.

 

The griffin made a loud noise, as if it were mad.

 

“Screech!”

 

“Crrr, screech!”

 

A griffin!

 

Even the mermaid, Siren, who was hiding asleep on an icy island in the middle of the ocean, began to sing loudly.

 

“Aah!”

 

“Kyaaah!”

 

Siren’s near-screaming singing was a major source of discouragement and dejection for all the knights.

 

Fortunately, they didn’t panic too much.

 

As they had prepared, they mounted their well-trained horses and stood at the command to march.

 

At last, Sir Retro, on the Duke’s right, raised his voice and shouted.

 

“All troops, march!”

 

With a loud shout, the knights drew their swords.

 

“Waaah—!”

 

The vanguard knights raced to the very edge of the frozen sea where the beasts were hiding.

 

They cut down the griffin, the siren, and the tentacle-like baby kraken.

 

Of course, all hell broke loose, including the helm being snatched away by an excited griffin…

 

“Get him!”

 

Wham! 

 

Wham—!

 

Cassian and Retro stood on either side of the Duke, their claws swiftly striking out and clipping the griffin’s wings.

 

The Duke of Anais took on the largest griffin with ease.

 

It was as if he were playing with it.

 

His sword movements were as smooth as a sword dance, as he drove the large griffin back with his sword!

 

Retro watched the Duke mesmerized for a moment, then quickly looked around and shouted.

 

“March! Don’t leave a single one alive!”

 

The knights had been fighting all sorts of fiends, and the battle was going well for them.

 

Just then, less than a dozen meters away from where they were fighting, a group of healers arrived.

 

The healers who had arrived with the knights were setting up make-shift barracks.

 

Standing near a makeshift barracks filled with heavily armed junior knights, Julie bit her lip as she observed the situation.

 

‘Damn it, we’re winning… do we need to get the beast hyped up again?’

 

As she shifted unsteadily, a clear voice rang in her ears.

 

“You seem pretty anxious, don’t you?”

 

The voice was none other than Astel.

 

Julie, who was prone to being poked and prodded, tried to look unaffected.

 

“No, I’m not.”

 

She mumbled, leaning back against a tree perch beside the barracks.

 

“I guess…… it’s just that it’s my first time seeing hand-to-hand combat like this.”

 

“Oh, you said you were a healer from the capital?”

 

Astel leaned against the tree beside her.

 

‘If only I could smear or feed this woman the poison in my pocket right now.’ thought Julie, inwardly cursing at Astel.

 

The look of innocence on her beautiful face would be devastating.

 

Julie was quite troubled, but there were many knights beside her, including Sir Meyer, the famously bear-like knight.

 

‘We can’t kill her here and now. Besides, Lord Cornwall said he’d kill her himself…’

 

Quickly doing the math in her head, Julie couldn’t help but agree with Astel.

 

“…Yes, I’m a healer from the capital.”

 

Astel smiled broadly and pointed her index finger at the shore.

 

“Don’t be so anxious. Our knights have won!”

 

Astel was right. Indeed, the griffins, sirens, and baby kraken had all fled.

 

The cheers of the knights echoed loudly in their ears.

 

“Woo-hoo!”

 

Julie forced a smile and said,  “I’m so happy for them.”

 

Astel clapped her hands and smiled brightly.

 

“I know, right? There they are, the knights!”

 

Astel was right. Some knights were returning to the barracks after their momentous victory.

 

Among them, Duke Anais, Lord Retro, and Lord Cassian were the fastest.

 

With a quick nod to Julie, Astel trotted toward the barracks.

 

They were all laughing merrily, as if they were confident that they could tear through the monsters in no time.

 

‘If this operation doesn’t teach them a lesson, we’ll dispose of them.’

 

Cornwall’s chilling warning echoed in my ears.

 

‘If this is how it goes… Cassian Gray will have to be killed first.’

 

Biting her lip, Julie turned away from the battle and stared determinedly at Cassian as he approached.

 

Cassian glared at the Duke of Anais, who immediately clung to Astel.

 

“Astel, are you alright!”

 

“Astel.”

 

“…Why did you come out here!”

 

Cassian chewed his lip as he stared at Astel, unable to get any closer to her.

 

‘Now’s my chance.’

 

Gritting her teeth, Julie slipped a pair of special, non-absorbent gloves over her hands.

 

She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small vial of poison, then squeezed it into the glove.

 

‘At this rate, even Cassian Gray needs to be dealt with quickly.’

 

With a quick glance around her, she pushed herself up from her perch in the tree and approached Cassian.

 

“Lord Cassian.”

 

He turned his wistful gaze from Astel to her in one swift movement and tilted his head.

 

“What?”

 

His expression was a combination of annoyance and scowl.

 

Julie held out her hand toward him, trying to look natural.

 

“I’ve told you over and over again that you’re not my type.”

 

“At least let me hold your hand one last time.”

 

Julie’s gloved hand quickly brushed against Cassian’s bare skin. She took Cassian’s hand and shyly lowered her gaze.

 

“You’re ridiculous.”

 

He immediately pushed her hand away roughly, but his cold demeanor was not immediately noticeable.

 

The poisoned glove, and Cassian’s bare hand!

 

‘I never thought I’d reach you so easily!’

 

She bit her lip hard with her front teeth to keep from laughing.

 

‘Though there is something fishy about it.’

 

Sure enough, Cassian’s bare hands were smeared with poison.

 

The poison, which was said to kill with a mere 0.1 second, had soaked into Cassian Gray’s left hand perfectly, leaving a purplish spot.

 

‘As Cornwall said, it’s the sign of someone poisoned.’

 

Unless something happened, it would have already been absorbed by his system.

 

Cassian frowned, unaware that he’d absorbed the poison.

 

“How disgusting.”

 

His stern expression, devoid of his usual smirk, was almost fear-inducing.

 

‘Never mind, the poison will kick in five minutes.’

 

It’s not the kind of contact that happens within the mouth, but flesh-to-flesh contact is enough to kill. His cheeks would turn ice-cold, his body would quiver, and his vision would soon become blurred.

 

But Cassian Gray remained stiff and said to her.

 

“If you’ve done your business, get lost.”

 

The distorted look on Cassian’s face was more amused than offended. The spiky knight’s momentum would soon be broken.

 

“Well, goodbye, then. Don’t regret this later, will you?”

 

A handsome man, but that was all he was, and she stifled the urge to laugh out loud as she strode into the barracks.