Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 131
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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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We laughed and giggled the entire carriage ride, and by the time we finished talking about the guns that my sister liked, we had already arrived at the Crown Prince’s Palace.
Aster and I quickly went down first to escort the princess, and the attendants helped by putting us ahead and getting us to the meeting hall.
The largest reception room in the Crown Prince’s Palace was decorated more splendidly than before. And waiting there were the Crown Prince and the Queen, their faces shining more brightly than usual.
The princess, taking in John’s deteriorated appearance, suddenly gasped and caught her breath, then gripped my hand tightly and muttered “Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, oh my god” in a voice so quiet only I could hear.
Of course, it seems his face passes the test. In all my years living in this neighborhood, I’ve never seen anyone more handsome than our Crown Prince, and that kind of appearance would definitely strike right at the heart.
Even if I melted gold thread strand by strand with my hair, it couldn’t shine brighter than me. My nose bridge is so straight and sharp you could ride a sled down it, and my eyes are as deep and blue as the infamous Yellow Mountain lake where people die if they fall in. My lips are so rosy because my skin is naturally thin, and I had a face that was absolutely perfect for captivating people.
“Take a deep breath. The Crown Prince has seen a woman faint and cry just from looking at his face before, so he has seizures when he meets people with over-the-top reactions.”
“Got it. Let me calm down. Phew, ha, phew…”
Yes, you’re doing well.
I led the princess, who was pretending to be well-behaved while her cheeks were flushed red, to our neighborhood’s royal family.
His Highness didn’t even glance at me and maintained his Crown Prince smile, as if asking whether I was fully prepared for today, and the Queen simply had us exchange brief greetings before leading me out of the Reception Room.
We’ve done all we can do now. The rest was a match that the two young people would have to carry on their shoulders and make happen.
“I have a very good feeling about this time. What do you think, Lady Duke?”
I quickly left the Crown Prince’s Palace when the Queen started getting excited. Well, I could understand her excitement—the atmosphere had been the best it’d ever been. The two of them standing side by side looked remarkably well-matched.
“Is it a premonition? Your Highness is already thirty. Whether it turns out well or not, you must marry soon. In the Empire, there have been no reports of women around Theodore, so rumors of impotence are circulating. I learned this through Prince Lucius, so it’s reliable information.”
“That is, quite humiliating, but… Still, as a parent, I want to see my child end up with someone they love…”
“Once you marry and spend time face to face, you naturally grow fond of each other. Look at me. Despite some unsavory incidents, am I not living well with Glen now?”
“That’s true enough, but… Confucius is such a fine man with such a good heart. What woman wouldn’t develop feelings for him?”
“Hmm… that’s also a fair point. Lately, I’ve been worried that Confucius might be turning a blind eye to things.”
“My goodness. Tell me more about that. Is it a crisis? Are you facing a crisis in your marriage?”
“My, my. That’s not the case, Your Majesty. You’re being mischievous.”
“Hehe, now that I’m getting older, I need something fun to enjoy. Theodore there hasn’t given me a single grandchild even as he’s turning thirty.”
“If only Marius weren’t a charlatan, there would be five children in the Royal Family by now.”
“Sigh… you’re right. I was hoping to see a son-in-law who would kill me too.”
I see, so even someone with curves as excellent as the Queen’s… seems to enjoy that. How did someone like you end up marrying the King, who only has a handsome face?
When I asked out of curiosity, the Crown Prince lost focus and gazed into the distance, then opened his mouth with a sigh.
“Seeing Father every day while he was alive, I had forgotten to be grateful for it…”
Ah… that’s right, the Queen is from Edanelli. So it’s possible he could have grown tired of curvy figures and been captivated by a slender beauty.
Still, slender figures have their own charm, don’t they? There’s something about that delicate, pitiful quality that stirs the heart. As I brought up Glen while saying this, the Queen nodded in agreement and smiled contentedly.
“Well, I’m already broke, so if my husband is broke too, what fun would that be?”
“Are you making fun of us as a couple? Both my husband and I are lacking in so many ways, so we envy you greatly.”
“Hehe, that wasn’t my intention at all.”
The Queen seems to be in much better spirits.
The Crown Prince comforted me with a chuckle and handed me a piece of paper he had prepared. Hmm, with this, I could confidently stay at the Princess’s place for the day.
“Well then, I’m busy, so I’ll be going. Duke, please enjoy yourself and have a good time.”
“Thank you for your consideration. I will hold hands with the Crown Prince’s precious daughter and have a lovely time together.”
I said goodbye to the Queen at the crossroads between the Main Palace and the Princess Palace, then boarded the Segway I’d been dragging around. As I headed straight toward the Princess’s home with a whooshing sound, Aster hopped and bounded along right behind me.
No matter how many times I saw it, the Princess Palace was breathtakingly beautiful. With boxwood trees scattered throughout, it retained its verdant green even in the depths of winter, and the delicate snowflakes that drifted down made it all the more picturesque. The artificial lake lay frozen solid, and the glass greenhouse in the distance, laden with blooming flowers and ripening fruit, evoked an almost mystical wonder.
It truly deserved its reputation as the most lavishly constructed palace among all the buildings in the Aleine Royal Palace. The landscaping and arrangement of the garden trees were exquisitely executed, and the design of the glass greenhouse was magnificent. Positioned on a gentle slope so it could be seen from anywhere within the palace, it carried profound symbolic meaning.
That such a stunningly beautiful residence housed a reclusive, solitary alcoholic was truly lamentable. My heart ached for her, so what must her parents be thinking? No wonder the Queen herself had sent me here with a search warrant.
The moment I stepped into the Princess Palace, I bellowed a cheerful greeting that startled the attendants, then kicked the entrance door wide open. As I strode purposefully through the hall, wondering where to begin my search, the Four-span Princess came rushing down from beyond the exquisitely crafted marble staircase, looking absolutely disheveled.
The woman appeared to have been drinking again—her face was contorted in displeasure, dark circles shadowed her eyes, and though the sun had long since risen, she had only just awakened, throwing on a nightgown over her pajamas as she shrieked.
“Hey! Do you have a death wish?! What do you think you’re doing in this place?!”
What a pitiful creature. Just look at her—her own voice gave her such a headache that she was tearing at her own hair.
As the woman staggered, complaining of her throbbing head, John Brown, her devoted servant, rushed out to support the Four-span Princess.
I’d been wondering why he hadn’t appeared yet, always as he was glued to Grace’s side.
“Miss Rosalite, this woman is the one and only Princess of the realm. No matter how renowned House Rocksburg may be, surely you understand that such reckless conduct could be construed as treason against the Crown.”
“Listen, let’s be clear about this. Do I look like a fool who wouldn’t understand that?”
“…No, ma’am.”
That’s right. You know well enough, don’t you? You of all people know I don’t act carelessly on a whim.
I ascended the white staircase with Aster at my side, my heels clicking sharply against the stone. I could barely contain my laughter. All those ten days of grueling work as acting Duke—it had all been leading to this moment.
I got a vacation, I came to the Royal Palace, I arranged a meeting for Theodore, and now I can officially torment the Four-span Princess. Today, fortune truly smiles upon me.
“Here, take this!”
I hurled the search warrant the Queen had given me directly at the Princess’s face. It contained authorization, with the consent of the King and Queen, for Rosalite Rocksburg to search the Princess Palace and destroy all hidden alcohol without exception.
“Aster! Find the alcohol, all of it! Every last drop of alcohol in this building—even a single drop of cooking wine—will be obliterated today!”
“Yes, Miss!”
“No! No, no, no! You wretched beast! How can you even call yourself human?!”
Tch, this woman fails to appreciate my devotion to the Crown. There are quite a few people who would be delighted if she simply quit drinking. Not only the King and Queen, but if she were to regain her senses and govern the realm properly, my Father would leap with joy, the Crown Prince would be overjoyed, and he might even renounce his claim to the throne.
I approached the Four-span Princess, who knelt in despair, and bent forward. Grasping her chin, I tilted her face upward with a smirk.
“Don’t forget. Before I am human, I am of House Rocksburg.”
“You wretched creature…! You heartless monster…!”
Tears streamed down the Four-span Princess’s cheeks. She wrenched her head away, escaping my grasp, and collapsed to the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.
Surely she doesn’t think this minor setback warrants such a display. This is only the beginning. After I’ve destroyed all her hidden alcohol, I intend to sever her supply routes entirely.
The Queen had consulted with her natal family, House Edanelli, and commissioned me for a substantial fee. This much is naturally my duty to fulfill.
I laughed heartily and sent Aster ahead to locate and demolish every bottle of alcohol hidden throughout the Princess Palace. The reason I deliberately brought Aster instead of Jack, who would have conducted himself with propriety and pleasant words during my visit to the Royal Palace, lay precisely here.
With his sense of smell alone, Aster could excavate the earth to find buried cases of alcohol and smash them to pieces. And whether the bottles were locked away in a secure storage room or buried deep within an underground bunker, he could still—
“Die, William Brown!”
—unleash his aura in explosive bursts and tear everything apart.
In Aster’s wake lay only ruins. That energetic boy was something else. Despite expending his aura so freely, he still bounded about with undiminished vigor.
Asterion may have surpassed him in control and technical skill, but in terms of absolute aura reserves and destructive power, Aster held the advantage—or rather, this wasn’t even a matter of degrees. It was a difference in dimension entirely.
Everything that boy consumes converts to aura; how does he manage to expend it so lavishly yet have it replenish endlessly?
In any case, we spent half a day completely ransacking the Princess Palace. Once Aster had destroyed everything and could no longer detect even a trace of alcohol, he ceased his rampage and demanded food, claiming hunger. I promptly summoned the attendants and ordered them to provide Aster with provisions.
It was quite possible that by tonight, there would be no food left for the Princess and myself either. Anticipating this, I sent someone to fetch additional provisions from the Main Palace and sought out the Princess’s chamber.
I knocked on the Princess’s door and waited for permission to enter, but this stubborn Four-span Princess refused to grant me entry no matter how long I waited.
I had been crouching outside the Princess’s chamber for a full thirty minutes now, waiting for her summons. My legs had begun to tingle from the prolonged position, so I simply stretched out on the floor—and that was when the door creaked open and John poked his head through.
Upon hearing that I was permitted to enter, I scrambled to my feet and brushed the dust from my black clothes, muttering complaints under my breath.
Really, if she was going to call me in anyway, why not do it sooner? I’m hardly a person of leisure, after all.
Once I finished breaking the bottles, I planned to inform the Princess of the future that awaited her and then take my rest. I had envisioned placing a sun bed in the warm Glass Greenhouse and savoring fresh fruit juice while basking in the winter sunlight.
I entered with the intention of revealing the plan that Will Brown had investigated and I had reviewed—to completely sever all of the Princess’s alcohol supply routes.
The thought of her complexion draining with each hidden route laid bare filled me with such satisfaction that I found myself doing a little shoulder dance despite my earlier reluctance.
“Four-span Princess. Have you calmed yourself?”
“Do I look calm to you?”
“No.”
“Get out, you Rocksburg!”
Had she truly just used Rocksburg as a curse word? Was the abstinence already taking effect? Had she become a linguistic magician?
I approached the Four-span Princess, who lay face-down on the bed weeping, feeling quite satisfied with my work. I sat beside her and produced the handkerchief I had brought, reaching out to wipe away her tears—but she let out a shriek, seized the handkerchief, and tore it to shreds before screaming at me to leave.
Goodness, look at the handkerchief in tatters—for something so small, she certainly possessed remarkable strength.
“If you’re done, get out! Why aren’t you going home! You’re not planning to move into my palace permanently, are you?”
Was that truly such a dreadful prospect? Her face had gone as pale as a blank sheet of paper.
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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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