Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 160

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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 to be far from easy to handle. Glen, and even Luke—who had been captivated by Prince Marius—had joined forces to get her aboard the aircraft, yet the Queen remained stubbornly reluctant to agree to review the manual. Mere words of persuasion were clearly insufficient.
After the banquet, I found myself nursing a champagne flute at the modest party venue, brooding. But negotiating over protocol manuals hardly seemed worth the effort. I would have preferred to settle this with a few choice words and be done with it.
“Are you here, Duke’s Daughter?”
Gasp! Prince Marius from behind!
The moment I heard the voice, I sensed it was Prince Marius, so I mustered my most graceful expression and turned around elegantly. I quickly set down my glass on the table behind me, lowered my eyes demurely, and prepared to open my mouth with a delicate exclamation—
“Pfft! Pffahahaha!”
It was not Prince Marius.
“Hahaha! Ugh, *snort* hehehehe.”
This man laughed well, but later he always seemed to cry. Since Lucilucil covered his mouth and made whimpering sounds, I couldn’t leave his side and picked up the champagne flute I’d pushed onto the table, taking a sip.
If I left now, it would look as though I’d made Lucilucil cry and abandoned him.
“Have you finished laughing now?”
“Wait. My ribs hurt—don’t talk to me.”
How much had he laughed for his ribs to hurt like this? I asked a passing servant for water and fed it to Lucilucil slowly. The man gulped it down readily, then took a deep breath and cursed at me.
“How could you possibly mistake me for my brother? You’re as foolish as Rosalite.”
“You deliberately mimicked Prince Marius’s voice, so why are you blaming me?”
“You should have recognized it anyway. That’s basic courtesy.”
“It’s quite surprising to hear Your Highness lecture me about courtesy.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“How could I possibly say aloud that Your Highness has terrible manners?”
Now’s the moment. He’s going to grab my ears. Defense. Full defense!
I quickly grasped Lucilucil’s hand and wrestled with him, but strangely, my trusted guards didn’t budge. I’d expected Jack and Aster to intervene if Lucilucil attacked me, but instead, here I was about to get another ear massage.
“You fools, can’t you see Lucilucil attacking me? Are you refusing to work?”
“We’re not entirely sure, but it seems the Young Lady must have done something wrong again.”
“You told us not to bite just anyone. Besides, we don’t sense any hostile intent.”
I didn’t do anything wrong! And how is this the attitude of someone without hostile intent! He’s clearly trying to grab and twist my ears!
“Your son is the same way—how is it that Rosalite’s family does nothing but adorable things?”
“Did you think I raised them to please you?!”
Aaahhh! My ears are being grabbed again! It hurts! It’s going to hurt! Kyaaahhh!
“Rosalite! Let go!”
Huh? If I let go, won’t my ears get grabbed?
But Glen’s voice carried such certainty that I decided to trust him and released Lucilucil’s hand. My body was suddenly pulled to the side, and Lucilucil stumbled forward.
“Older Brother!”
He fell into Glen’s arms, who had managed to maintain his balance, and when Prince Marius rushed to Lucilucil’s aid, he caught the man’s waist and held him.
Gasp! So envious! Completely envious! That cushioned feeling against his back! I want that too! How unfair!
“Coward! You’re a coward, Lucilucil!”
I’d landed on this sheer cliff face, while he alone got to rest against something softer and more voluminous than a down pillow! I’m envious. Jealousy wells up—the jealousy of a mother’s heart. Lucilucil is so annoying!
I alternated my gaze between where Lucilucil’s back pressed against that cushioned surface and where I was leaning. Without thinking, I began tapping the vertical form beside me repeatedly.
How can the same person be so different? Unevenness? What does that even mean? Isn’t it supposed to be there? Or not? Is this normal? No. But still, did it really need to be this perfectly level? I could practically use it as a spirit level.
“Rosalite…”
“Oh!”
No, I didn’t do that on purpose. I didn’t mean anything by it. I just happened to touch it.
“Dust! There was dust here, that’s why! Oh, that wretched dust! Cursed dust!”
I made up an excuse hastily, but it didn’t seem convincing at all. Glen was already on the verge of tears. This is worse than the Crown Prince’s smile—if he starts crying, I won’t know what to do with myself.
‘Damn it, let go of that!’
While I was trying to figure out 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 discomfort—it bordered on revulsion. Even when he fought with the Fourth Prince, it wasn’t this bad.
‘My apologies, Older Brother. I was in a hurry.’
Lucilucil brushed himself off frantically, clicking his tongue in agitation. Glen was on the verge of tears, Lucilucil was seething with disgust. I felt my head might split trying to figure out what to address first, when Prince Marius threw a molotov cocktail into the burning house.
The man, apparently trying to soothe Lucius’s feelings, charged into our household and stirred up the hornet’s nest.
‘I apologize for displaying such an unsightly appearance. I have heard rumors that your husband sings quite beautifully. Would it be too much to ask for a song, given this opportune moment?’
‘…’
‘…’
No, wait—he’s the heir to a Duke, and this fool is asking him to sing at a banquet? Is my husband a court jester?!
Even dealing with Prince Marius, this crossed a line. I prepared a whole arsenal of curses to repay the insult Glen had received tenfold.
All right, 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 temperament, comes from a pure noble house and is now ennobled as a Countess.
Compared to the children of Empress Aidemoc, who was drafted as a court lady from a house of no standing, Glen was a member of a family with tradition and dignity.
‘Well, well, Prince Marius’s mother…’
‘Wait.’
I was about to inquire after his mother’s health when Lucilucil, who had been brushing himself off frantically just moments before, cut me off. The man gestured for me to calm down, then grabbed a handful of flowers from the vase on the table and struck Prince Marius on the back of the head with them.
‘My apologies. I apologize on behalf of my younger brother. This fool grew up relying only on his mother and has no sense of propriety.’
‘Regardless of how carelessly he was raised, isn’t he being far too disrespectful to your husband?’
Oh, flower petals were cascading down from Prince Marius’s head, and it was quite a sight. Not that it was beautiful, but the scattered petals settling on his upper chest and refusing to fall—what kind of volume and cushioning would allow petals to rest there like that? Extraordinary. Truly extraordinary. A marvel of human anatomy. Prince Marius’s body was nothing short of a miracle of mankind.
‘As an apology, I shall perform a song in place of Lucilucil’s husband.’
Huh? You’re going to sing? I really have no desire to hear it whatsoever.
Well, since he treated someone else’s husband like a court jester, having the older brother become the jester in his stead would be a clean apology that wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings. It was a wise response that showed why the Imperial Court had survived this long—not by mere luck. But honestly, Lucilucil’s singing held about as much interest for me as a speck of dust…
Besides, Glen has a pleasant voice to begin with. I’d heard enough sincerity, and I didn’t want to witness anything embarrassing, so I tried to stop Lucilucil. But the man strode forward and sat down at the grand piano in the banquet hall.
Oh, oh—did he mean he’d perform a piece, not sing?
Lucilucil limbered up his hands familiarly and began playing the keys, adjusting the sound with his palms before launching into the piece. I’m not well-versed in Largol music, but from what I remembered of piano compositions, it resembled Chopin’s Ballade No. 4.
It was simply remarkable. Whether he had memorized the score or not, the man’s fingers danced across the keys with extraordinary grace, and his pedal work was masterful. The notes rang where they should ring, leaped where they should leap—he played the piece with complete command. This wasn’t the skill of someone who’d been playing piano for just a year or two.
And how should I describe it—the expressiveness moved everyone who heard it. How was he playing it to make me feel so moved?
My jaw dropped as I watched Lucilucil, and when the performance ended, I found myself clapping without thinking.
He looked 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. Even a lowly worm has its talents, as they say. I was truly astounded. You were truly magnificent.’
‘Lucilucil, isn’t that an insult?’
‘No? I said you were magnificent.’
‘No, I think that really was an insult.’
‘How many years have you been playing? You seem to have studied for a very long time. When your fingers flowed like sea anemones just now, I could practically see a halo around you.’
‘Don’t change the subject. What? A worm rolling?’
Tsk. Such a persistent man.
I gave up and offered one ear to him, letting out a piercing shriek. Damn stubborn fool. Since I was already being massaged, I let out one more cry like a mole cricket, then clung to the truth as tenaciously as Lucilucil himself.
“So, when did you begin learning piano?”
“In my childhood, I studied the pieces my mother loved so dearly. Though it was a futile effort.”
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 at birth—a mother with whom he shared no real bond—the story practically wrote itself.
“Why are you doing this?”
“Just because.”
“Your wheat germ is trembling.”
“It’s not what Lucilucil is thinking. Just prepare yourself mentally.”
Glen approached my side, feigning the fearful demeanor of a Thomson’s gazelle, then joined me in awkwardly holding and patting Lucilucil. The young lord had suffered greatly in his own childhood due to an unstable mother and younger sibling, so he likely wished to offer comfort out of genuine empathy.
Moreover, the revised emergency response protocol for Rocksburg Duke’s Estate included the addition of offering warm embraces to those in unstable mental states. I had witnessed its calming effects firsthand with the chaotic Asterion, so I had personally added it.
“I thought you were perfectly sound, but you truly are of Rocksburg.”
“I-I’m not a wheat germ.”
“This wheat germ is quite adorable. Now I understand why you chose him as your husband.”
I’ll admit he’s adorable, but he’s not a wheat germ. The man is so full of substance. I grew petulant and gave him a full course of ear massage before ending the embrace. Lucilucil let out a squeak, grabbed his ears, and writhed 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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