Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 107

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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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That beautiful Asterion would trample over my face and walk past without a second glance, yet now he treats me with such tenderness. What in the world was happening?
Leon had pulled out the chair beside him and tapped it insistently to summon me. I half-expected to find a thumbtack lodged in the seat, so I cautiously ran my hand across it—but to my surprise, there was nothing. Bewildered, I sat beside him, and the man even unfolded a napkin and draped it across my lap.
“There’s no need to stand on ceremony, nephew. This is a family meal, after all.”
Please don’t. You’re frightening me. I’d rather you strike me.
Desperate to create distance, I shifted my body sideways, only to find Rosalite settling into the seat directly beside me. And immediately next to her sat Glen, who had entered holding her hand.
I felt as though I might lose my mind.
“Then, let us raise our glasses to celebrate the arrival of my grandson.”
As the Duke offered his toast, everyone cheered and drained their glasses before beginning the meal. Grandson? Had the Rocksburg Duke already granted his approval?
“My boy, you have no appetite?”
“No, it’s just… must you keep calling me ‘son’?”
“What else would I call my son but ‘son’?”
I should have kept quiet. Once this man gets going, he’ll drone on about “son” all day long.
I deliberately averted my gaze from Rosalite and picked at my food, but it wasn’t long before the Brown Couple seated across from me began to whisper to each other.
The young master eats so little. The food must not suit his palate. He must have grown accustomed to expensive cuisine from Chatel and finds nothing here satisfactory.
The couple exchanged whispers loud enough for me to hear, then rose from their seats and approached the Duke, murmuring something in his ear. After listening and nodding for some time, the Duke turned to me and opened his mouth.
“We shall soon employ a chef from Largol. Until then, make do with what we have.”
“No, there’s truly no need to go to such trouble…”
“Shall we switch to a cream sauce instead? Our son does enjoy milk, after all. The dairy products supplied to Rocksburg Territory are something even Chatel cannot procure, you know.”
Rosalite spoke with such confidence that everyone nodded in agreement and paused their meal. The Duke commanded the servants to select the freshest dairy products from those recently arrived from Nimerunia Duchy and prepare an exquisite dish at once, sending the household staff into a flurry of activity.
Because my plate had been cleared, everyone else had stopped eating and simply stared at me, asking whether life here was inconvenient and what my usual hobbies were. My honest desire was to flee.
I would rather go to the Countess in the Mining District and play the role of a pretty doll.
I wanted to beg to void the contract even now, but knowing Rosalite’s nature all too well, I could only keep my mouth shut.
She never releases what she has claimed. Once she considers someone hers, she will chase them to the ends of the earth, humming contentedly as she drags them back by their hair. Just look at Glen—he made such a fuss about leaving home, yet he’s been trapped here for over five years now.
Barely restraining my urge to flee, I answered their questions with all my might, and then the special dish prepared for me finally arrived.
It was an omelet topped with cream sauce and shrimp prepared with béchamel sauce. When I spooned into the omelet, I found it filled with finely minced vegetables.
“…”
I narrowed my eyes and glared at the dish. Unable to resist the gazes around me, I reluctantly began eating. Desperate to finish and leave, I swallowed without chewing, emptied my plate, and was greeted with applause and praise.
“Splendid, young master.”
“Indeed. One must eat plenty of vegetables.”
“You see? I told you he loves milk.”
I wanted to weep. Of all the humiliations I had endured in my life, this was the most shameful. I wanted to go home. Though this place would now be my home, all I could think was that I wanted to leave.
I lost track of time during the meal. After we finished, I felt as though I had indigestion. As Rosalite guided me back to my room, I asked if I might obtain some digestive medicine, and she suddenly let out a shriek.
When Rosalite cried out that Luke had indigestion, those who had been about to disperse gathered around, the servants rushed over, and the Duke’s physician came running.
Aster Brown hoisted me onto his back and ran, crying that the young master must not die. My room was packed with people until my indigestion subsided.
I longed for the indifference of Chatel.

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Days passed, yet I couldn’t grow accustomed to Rocksburg in the slightest.
Everyone was far too kind. The servants were kind, the knights were kind, the Duke was kind, and everyone else was kind as well—a world of nothing but gentleness unfolded before me, and I found myself gripped by the anxiety that I might lose my mind at this rate.
I would have preferred to be ignored. Cursed at. Whispered about behind my back. Send assassins! Poison my food! Why? Why wasn’t anything terrible happening?
Overwhelmed by this suffocating feeling, I sought out Rosalite’s office, where she provided me with pastries and milk, instructing me to play on the sofa. Since Rocksburg Duke’s Estate was a busy place, I asked if there was anything I could help with, but Rosalite smiled and told me that all the hands they needed were already there, so I should rest comfortably for now.
Thank goodness. She must not trust me, which is why she won’t assign me any work. I felt relieved. Though Rosalite said she was taking me in as her adopted son, she couldn’t fully believe in me. And no wonder—I was Luke Chatel, after all. Thank goodness. Truly, thank goodness.
With the burden lifted from my shoulders, I slept soundly that night.
And the next day, Rosalite brought me to where Chatel Department once stood. It was the site where Chatel Department had been, and the building still remained, but it was no longer Chatel’s.
There was another, much larger building constructed beside it, which Rosalite called the Rocksburg Department Store and the Rocksburg Cultural Center.
“…What on earth is this?”
“We brought out all the Chatel employees and reopened it anew. Diana did remarkable work.”
“The reason I came here was…surely not…”
“Of course you’ll be taking charge of it.”
No, wait. No matter how much of a Duke’s successor I was, there were limits to the funds one could operate with. The secret funds of Rosalite that I’d grasped before stepping back from the front lines—those funds, precisely…
“Rosalite.”
“You should call me Mother, my son.”
“Mother. Where did the money come from?”
Perhaps because I called her Mother, Rosalite seemed overjoyed. No, she was literally bouncing up and down.
Rosalite offered me a dance in celebration, but I swatted away the hand she extended toward me. And I asked once more.
“Where did the money come from?”
“I’m a pauper now.”
“…”
“…”
I see. Rosalite’s secret funds—from what I knew—couldn’t possibly cover her own ransom, constructing a new building, and rehiring all the employees. Well, I suppose that would be the case.
“Rosalite.”
“You should call me Mother.”
“Mother. Do you have any paper bags?”
“Of course. Did you think I wouldn’t prepare them in case you got carriage sickness?”
Rosalite went back into the carriage we’d arrived in and returned with a bundle of paper bags. I took just one, opened its mouth, and pressed it against my nose and mouth, breathing deeply.
The shock threatened to make me collapse again.

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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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