Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 156

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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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This woman was proving far more difficult than I’d anticipated. Glen, Luke—who had been so enamored with Prince Marius—even they had conspired to get her aboard the aircraft, yet the Queen remained stubbornly unwilling to so much as glance at the protocol manual. Mere words, it seemed, would not suffice.
After the banquet, I found myself nursing a champagne flute in the modest party venue that followed, brooding quietly. Negotiating over a protocol manual hardly seemed worth the effort. I would have preferred to settle this with nothing more than a few well-chosen words.
“Ah, there you are, Duke’s Daughter.”
My heart leapt—Prince Marius from behind!
The moment I heard that voice, I sensed it was Prince Marius, so I mustered my most graceful expression and turned around with elegant poise. I quickly set down my glass on a nearby table, lowered my eyes demurely, and was just preparing to feign surprise when—
“Pfft! Pffahahaha!”
It was not Prince Marius.
“Hahaha! Ugh, *snort-snort-snort*.”
This man laughed well enough, but soon descended into what sounded like weeping. Since Lucilucil was covering his mouth while making those pitiful sounds, I couldn’t simply abandon him—so I retrieved the champagne flute I’d abandoned and took another sip.
If I left now, it would look as though I’d made Lucilucil cry and fled.
“Have you finished laughing now?”
“Wait. My ribs hurt—don’t talk to me.”
How much had he laughed to injure his ribs? I summoned a passing servant for water and fed it to Lucilucil slowly. He drank it down eagerly, then took a deep breath and cursed me.
“How could you possibly confuse me with my younger brother? You’re as dim-witted as Rosalite.”
“You deliberately mimicked Prince Marius’s voice, so why are you blaming me?”
“You should have recognized it anyway. That’s called courtesy.”
“It’s quite surprising to hear courtesy from you, Lucilucil.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“How could I possibly say aloud that His Majesty has been fed manners with his rice?”
This was it. He was going to grab my ears. Defense. Full defensive stance!
I quickly grasped Lucilucil’s hand and we grappled, but strangely, my trusted guards didn’t budge an inch. I’d assumed Jack and Aster would intervene if Lucilucil tried to attack me, but instead I found myself facing another ear massage session.
“You fools! Don’t you see Lucilucil attacking me? Are you refusing to work?”
“We’re not entirely certain, but it seems the Young Lady has done something wrong again.”
“You instructed us not to bite just anyone. We sense no malice.”
I haven’t done anything wrong! And how is this the attitude of someone without malice?! He’s clearly intent on tearing me apart!
“Your family certainly has a talent for adorable mischief—your son included.”
“Did you think I raised them to be cute for your benefit?!”
Ahhhhh! There go my ears again! It hurts! It’s going to hurt! Kyaaaaaah!
“Rosalite! Let go!”
Huh? If I let go, won’t he grab my ears?
But Glen’s voice carried such certainty that I decided to trust him and released Lucilucil’s hand. My body was suddenly pulled sideways, and Lucilucil stumbled forward.
“Older Brother!”
He fell into Glen’s arms, and as Lucilucil teetered on the edge of disaster, Prince Marius rushed over and caught him around the waist, steadying him.
Gasp! Envious! Completely envious! That cushioned sensation I felt against my back! I want that too! So jealous!
“Coward! You’re a coward, Lucilucil!”
Here I was, pressed against this sheer cliff face, while he alone got to rest against something softer and more voluminous than a down pillow! I’m envious. Jealousy blooms. A mother’s heart is jealousy. Lucilucil is so annoying!
I alternated my gaze between where Lucilucil’s back was pressed and where I was leaning, then without thinking, I began patting the vertical form beside me.
How can the same person be so different? What is this unevenness? Isn’t that supposed to be there? Or isn’t it? Is this normal? No. But still, does it really need to be this level? I could use it as a ruler, couldn’t I?
“Rosalite…”
“Gasp!”
No, I didn’t do this on purpose. That wasn’t my intention at all. I just happened to touch it.
“Dust! There was dust here, that’s why! Oh, that wretched dust! Cursed dust!”
I made a hasty excuse, but it didn’t seem convincing at all. Glen already had tears in his eyes. If he cries like this, I won’t know what to do with myself.
‘Damn it, let go of that!’
While I was wondering how to console Glen, Lucilucil cried out in a voice dripping with disgust. Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen Lucius show his displeasure so openly. It wasn’t just annoyance—it bordered on revulsion. Even when he fought with the Fourth Prince, it wasn’t this bad.
‘I apologize, Older Brother. I was in a hurry.’
Lucilucil stepped away from Prince Marius, brushing off his clothes and clicking his tongue in agitation. Glen was on the verge of tears, and Lucilucil was furious. Just when I didn’t know where to start fixing this mess, Prince Marius threw a Molotov cocktail into the burning house.
The man seemed intent on soothing Lucius’s feelings, so he charged into our household and stirred up the hornet’s nest.
‘I apologize for showing you such an unsightly appearance. I have heard rumors that your husband sings remarkably well. Since this is a good opportunity, might I request a song?’
‘…’
‘…’
No, wait—he’s the heir to the Duke, and this fool is asking him to sing a song at a banquet? Is my husband a jester?!
Even dealing with Prince Marius, this crossed a line, so I prepared a barrage of curses to repay the insult Glen received tenfold.
Good, where should I start? Should I attack his bloodline? Glen doesn’t usually boast about it, but his late father was a nobleman with territory and held a baronial title, and his mother, despite her personality, is a pure-blooded noblewoman now ennobled as a Countess.
He was from a family with tradition and propriety—incomparable to the children of Empress Aidemoc, who was drafted as a palace maid from a family of no standing.
‘Well, well, Prince Marius’s mother…’
‘Wait.’
I was about to inquire after his mother’s health, but Lucilucil, who had been brushing himself off frantically just moments before, stopped me. The man gestured for me to calm down, then grabbed a handful of flowers from the vase on the table and smacked Prince Marius on the back of the head with them.
‘My apologies. I apologize on behalf of my younger brother. The fool grew up relying only on his mother and has no sense of propriety.’
‘Regardless of how carelessly he was raised, isn’t this far too disrespectful to your husband?’
Oh, flower petals were cascading down from Prince Marius’s head, and it made quite a picture. It wasn’t just beautiful—the scattered petals settled on his upper chest in a way that defied explanation. What kind of volume and cushioning would be required for petals to rest there like that? Extraordinary. Truly extraordinary. The mystery of the human form. Prince Marius’s body was nothing short of a miracle of mankind.
‘As an apology, I shall perform a song in place of Rosalite’s husband.’
Eh? You’re going to sing? Honestly, I have absolutely no desire to hear it.
Well, since he treated someone else’s husband like a jester, having the older brother become the jester in his stead would be a fair apology that wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings. It was a clever response befitting someone who had survived this long in the Imperial Court through more than mere luck. But still, Lucilucil’s singing held about as much interest for me as a speck of dust…
Besides, Glen has a pleasant voice to begin with. Since propriety had been satisfied, I didn’t want to witness something unpleasant, so I tried to stop Lucilucil, but the man strode forward and sat down directly at the grand piano in the banquet hall.
Oh, oh—so “performing a song” didn’t mean singing, but playing an instrument?
Lucilucil limbered up his hands familiarly and began playing the keys, adjusting the sound with his palm before starting the piece. I’m not well-versed in Largol music, but among the piano pieces I remember, it resembled Chopin’s Ballade No. 4.
It was simply remarkable. Whether he had memorized the sheet music or not, the man’s fingers moved across the keys with extraordinary lightness, and his pedal work was far from ordinary. The notes rang where they should ring, bounced where they should bounce—he was truly playing with the piece. This wasn’t the kind of skill that came from playing piano for just a year or two.
Moreover, how should I describe it? It was an expressiveness that moved everyone who heard it to tears. How was he playing it to make me feel this way?
My jaw dropped as I stared at Lucilucil, and when the performance ended, I found myself clapping without thinking.
He’s handsome. This is the first time Lucilucil has looked handsome to me. The power of the piano is great. A man playing piano can look handsome even wearing an eye patch.
‘I was moved, Lucilucil. Well, even a snail has its talents, as they say. I was truly surprised. You were truly magnificent.’
‘Rosalite, isn’t that an insult?’
‘No? I said you were magnificent?’
‘No, I think it really is an insult?’
‘How many years have you been playing? You seem to have studied for a very long time. When your fingers flowed like anemones earlier, I could practically see the halo around you.’
‘Don’t change the subject. What? A snail rolling?’
Tsk. What a persistent man.
I gave up and offered one ear to him, letting out a shrill cry. Damn stubborn slug. Since I was already being massaged, I squealed like a slug one more time, then clung to the truth as persistently as Lucilucil himself.
“So, when did you start learning piano?”
“In my childhood, I studied the pieces my mother loved so dearly. Though it was all for nothing.”
What? Why do you have that vacant expression? Was it a wound? Did I just pick at your scar again?
Unable to find words of comfort, I awkwardly embraced Lucilucil as he sat at the piano bench. When a child had made such efforts for a mother who gouged out his eyes the moment he was born—a mother he wasn’t even close to—the story practically wrote itself.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Just because.”
“Your wheat grain is trembling.”
“It’s not what Lucilucil is thinking. Just prepare yourself mentally.”
Glen approached my side, playing the frightened Thomson’s gazelle, then soon joined me in awkwardly embracing and patting Lucilucil. The young lord must have wanted to offer comfort, having suffered much in his own childhood from an unstable mother and younger sibling.
Besides, the revised emergency response protocol for Rocksburg Duke’s Estate now included offering warm embraces to those in unstable mental states. I’d seen such comfort work wonders on the chaotic Asterion, so I’d added it myself.
“I thought you wheat grain was fine, but you really are from Rocksburg.”
“I-I’m not a wheat grain.”
“This wheat grain is quite adorable. Now I understand why you chose him as your husband.”
I’ll admit he’s cute, but he’s not a wheat grain. He’s so full of substance. I grew stubborn and gave him a full-course ear massage before ending the embrace. Lucilucil made a yelping sound, clutching his ears and writhing his entire body.

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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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