Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 181

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

After that, I played with Maria with tremendous enthusiasm. From the perspective of my entire existence, it was merely a fleeting moment. If I didn’t savor it, I would only lose. However, unlike me who could have continued playing far longer, Maria grew increasingly exhausted.
She wanted to give up chasing me. I couldn’t even bear to imagine a life without Maria. A life without her was unbearable. It was meaningless. If I could, I wanted to enjoy this moment eternally. There was a way. But I couldn’t execute it. To activate this magic, I had to sacrifice what was precious to me. That is the contract of the Dark Mage.
“Will you give up, Maria? If you abandon everything and give me all your remaining life, I won’t torment that man Eddie or your daughter—I’ll let them live out their natural spans.”
Even if I couldn’t spend eternity with you, if you gave me all your life, I could endure it. That magic requires both your precious things and mine to be sacrificed. It is something I also do not desire.
“No, you ugly woman. I’m going to live with Eddie and Rosie.”
But Maria threw a tantrum. To live happily, one of us had to be sacrificed. She didn’t understand me. Maria had always been willful. Of course, I loved that about her. My Maria. Willful, with a terrible temperament and quick to violence—my beautiful Maria.
But calling me ugly was too much.
“Hey! What’s wrong with me?!”
“You’re ugly!”
“That’s why I’m wearing a mask!”
“Your personality is rotten too! You’re human garbage! A vicious criminal! And you’re ancient! Do you have any conscience, you thief?!”
“You brat! If I’ve been throwing myself at you for over half a century! At least pretend you can’t resist and give in! Please!”
“I’d rather kill myself!”
“Waaah! You wretched woman!”
This is too much! Maria, you’re too much! Because of you, I have to eat while wearing this mask, so inconveniently! Do you know how uncomfortable it is to drink water and eat rice beneath the mask?! And on top of that, I have to dodge your sword strikes trying to kill me! How much have I sacrificed for you normally?!
You, Maria, you—my angel—don’t even understand that…!
“I’m going to destroy your life.”
I made my decision. Let us abandon our precious child and spend eternity together. It was a choice that brought me to tears of blood, but there was no other way. It was all a situation Maria had caused.

With my resolve hardened, I sought out the person most precious to me in this life after Maria. Needless to say, that was Rosalite. I haven’t forgotten those past ten-odd years of feeding her, putting her to sleep, changing her diapers, playing with her, and caring for her when she fell ill. I’ll never forget. So die for Maria and me!
“Rosalite!”
I manipulated the memories of the Rocksburg guards, erasing myself from their sight, and calmly made my way to Rosalite’s chamber.
How much time had Maria and I spent together? That tiny child had grown tremendously. She’d long since surpassed adulthood, but I could tell. She was that Rosalite. It was natural to recognize her at a glance. I’d raised her for ten years, after all.
“Rosalite! You’ve grown so much!”
“How noisy. It’s the middle of the night.”
Whew! Rosalite’s so cool! Her words had such a sharp edge—so impressive!
The little one, now grown into an adult, sharpened her gaze and snapped shut the book she’d been reading. I felt a chill run through me at the cold beauty emanating from her. If Maria hadn’t existed in this world, I surely would have fallen for Rosalite.
I stood there entranced, staring blankly at Rosalite, when the little one, seeming tired, rubbed her eyes and leaned back in her chair, speaking languidly.
“State your business. I’m busy.”
Before I died, couldn’t I try just once? Desire surged up my throat, but Rosalite rebuked me with a contemptuous gaze. Honestly, I liked that about her. It drew me in even more.
“This is absurd. I raised you with my own hands for ten years, and now you harbor such desires?”
“Yes.”
“Speak respectfully. Despite appearances, I am the Young Duke.”
“Yes. I would like to.”
“You’re mad.”
“I hear that often.”
Rosalite held her head in her hands. So cute. The little one was so adorable that I laughed, and Rosalite let out a deep sigh before resting her chin on her palm.
“Hurry and state your business. We’re both busy, aren’t we?”
“Even if you disappear once this business is concluded?”
“Ah….”
Rosalite stared at me intently, then pinched the bridge of her nose as if fatigued, massaging it. Her expression of exasperation seemed to suggest she already knew what I was about to do.
“I understand. So this is how it ends for me.”
“What? How did you do that? What did you figure out? Did you read my mind or something?!”
“It’s a transcendent intellect bordering on precognition. It manifested because of you all.”
What? I’d never heard of such a thing. Bewildered, I asked, and Rosalite, who had grown into a thoughtful adult, explained it to me in detail.
Mana and magic were fields where not even the framework for research had been established outside the Homeland Island, but the little one had reasoned through it on her own from scratch. She theorized that people who use aura were cases where mana failed to find compatible attributes and instead channeled into physical development….
Whew! She figured that out all by herself?! Isn’t she a genius?!
“What! You’re a genius?!”
“That’s what I said—I possess a transcendent intellect bordering on precognition. Listen to what people say properly.”
Ah, right. I think you did mention something like that earlier. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for being so slow.
“Without a trained body, my mana with nowhere to go flowed to my head instead. After the fever subsided, I could comprehend anything instantly. Understanding follows afterward.”
So she grasps the answer first and understanding catches up later? The little one had grown into an adult with such remarkable abilities….
“The reason I wasn’t surprised to see you in the middle of the night was because of that. I had a premonition.”
“You knew I would come?”
“Speak respectfully.”
“You knew I would come, didn’t you?”
“More or less. Though I didn’t want to know.”
Rosalite sighed again, then asked me to perform my magic in a place that would cause the least disturbance to the Duke’s Household, and we moved outside. There, she meticulously questioned me about the operating principles of the magic I was about to unleash and the reason I intended to activate it.
Since these were questions from Rosalite herself, I answered with utmost sincerity.
“I want to play with Maria forever!”
“Understood. How?”
“By replaying the Planet’s memories! Maria seems exhausted lately, so if I erase all those tired memories, she can start fresh and enjoy playing with a clean slate, right?”
“Understood. What’s the mechanism?”
“Ah, well, Dark Magic has two cases—either you can only cast spells within a territory you’ve claimed as your domain, or the spell’s power becomes exponentially stronger within it.”
I happen to be the former type. That’s why I’ve spent my entire existence expanding my territory. Everything was for the sake of eliminating Serena.
Rosalite had understood immediately until now, but this time she fell silent for a long while before uttering a single word.
“You really are… someone I’d rather not understand.”
“I hear that often.”
“Speak respectfully.”
“I hear that often, ma’am.”
Satisfied, Rosalite nodded and led me into the basement of some building. Between the musty smell and dust, I was coughing for a while before Rosalite snapped her fingers with a command.
“Clean it.”
“Why should I?”
“Isn’t it filthy?”
“That’s exactly why I’m asking why I have to do it!”
“Then. Should I, the Duke, do it myself?”
Rosalite looked down at me with such arrogance that… well, when you look at me like that, I just feel so…
“I’ll clean diligently, ma’am.”
“Good.”
An urge to obey her commands washed over me.
I swept the basement thoroughly with a broom and scrubbed the table vigorously with a cloth. Once the basement became presentable, Rosalite sat in a chair with a dissatisfied expression.
“There’s still a smell, but I’ll tolerate it for now.”
“Thank you so much!”
Delighted—my sweeping was acknowledged! I quickly put the broom away and was granted permission to sit with Rosalite. Seated across from her, I opened the grimoire I’d written myself and picked up a pencil.
“Here, there’s a spell that designates a specific time, sets that point as the origin, and reverses memories according to conditions. For this to work on a world scale, the sacrifice of someone precious is required. Since it demands the target’s consent and completely drains their soul, the mechanism is quite complex. This was specified from the moment I made a contract with Tick-Tock, so there’s nothing I can do about it on my own.”
“What is Tick-Tock?”
“Dark Mages typically must contract with otherworldly entities—beings from other dimensions or realms—to use magic.”
“Understood. Continue your explanation.”
What… you understood before I even finished speaking? You’ve really grown into a remarkable adult, Rosalite. Without Maria, I would have devoted my entire existence to you.
But as long as Maria exists in this world, such hypotheticals are nothing but wasted effort. I’ve already known Maria. In my life, there is only one being of significance—Maria alone. That’s why I will lose you.
“Become my battery for Maria’s and my happy future.”
“Understood.”
You… aren’t you being too composed?
Rosalite, whose expression hadn’t changed at all, added that she understood everything.
“But I have a condition.”
“You think you have a choice?”
“Of course I do. I’ve grasped the structure—your consent is necessary to activate that spell. It would be possible to force consent through your specialty in mental manipulation. But would Maria really approve of such methods?”
“How would Maria know if you disappear?”
“No. There are no secrets in this world. You already know what the greatest risk is, don’t you? Your mouth. You will eventually tell Maria the truth yourself. That’s your nature.”
“I can’t exactly deny that….”
“Besides, you harbor feelings for me. It’s not a bad arrangement for you either, so at least hear me out.”
You certainly grasp things quickly. How did you know I’ve come to care for Rosalite in the meantime?
Wanting to at least listen to what he had to say, I asked for his terms, and Rosalite set down the book she’d been holding onto the table with a soft thud before speaking.
“My condition is. That you grant Leon’s wish.”
“Leon? Don’t tell me you mean Asterion?! That’s right! There was someone like that! How is he doing these days! I even played his mother for a while!”
“He died last year.”
“….”
How did that happen—that child died at such a young age.
“….”

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————