Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 208

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

Growing up in the Imperial Palace had twisted his nature something fierce—a real problem. If I’d harbored even the slightest personal affection for him, I wouldn’t have filled my letters with mundane updates about my life when we corresponded. I would have kept things strictly cordial, exchanging nothing but pleasantries.
I wouldn’t have bothered remembering his birthday, wouldn’t have demanded gifts when I married, and despite having date vouchers, I certainly wouldn’t have painstakingly crafted elaborate date plans tailored to Lucilucil’s interests or fretted over his injuries.
What truly stung was Lucilucil’s attitude. The man didn’t care for me in the slightest? I’d been showered with affection my entire life, making me acutely sensitive to others’ regard.
So even when Jack nitpicked constantly, I knew he adored me. Glen obviously cherished me deeply. Aster, Janet, Mother, Father, Papa and his sons—I felt their genuine love. Leon was… peculiar, but he cared for me nonetheless.
I understood their affection, but from Lucilucil? I detected no warmth, no respect, no admiration whatsoever.
It infuriated me. So when I complained to the Emperor, he did something bizarre—he pressed his forehead against mine and muttered something strange.
“You and my son… what exactly is the problem between you two?”
“I see no problem, Your Majesty. Your son is simply twisted.”
“Oh dear. Oh my heart. Oh, I’m suffocating!”
What’s wrong? Why? Are you indigestion? Should I fetch medicine?
This room hadn’t been used in ages, but I offered to bring digestive medicine anyway. When I suggested fetching some from a nearby building, the Emperor convulsed dramatically.
This… this looked serious. If it was acute indigestion, shouldn’t we lance something? I was searching for a needle when the door burst open and Lucilucil rushed in.
“Rosalite! Are you safe!”
Wow… look at him, ready to die searching for me. And far faster than the thirty minutes the Emperor had predicted. His Majesty checked his pocket watch, confirmed only fifteen minutes had passed, and convulsed even more violently.
“This is dire, Lucilucil! His Majesty appears to have acute indigestion!”
“…What?”
“Enough. Silence. Please, not another word, you damned brats.”
Wait, where are you going! If you have indigestion, you need medicine!
As I persisted about the digestive medicine, His Majesty grabbed my head and issued a bizarre imperial decree.
“I grant you temporary supreme authority over the Internal Affairs Bureau. While Lucius handles northern military strategy, you reorganize the entire court. I’ll provide all the records on nobles and clergy you need. Your disposition will be determined based on your performance.”
“Your Majesty! I believe prison life truly suits me!”
“Shut up and work, Rocksburg.”
Ugh! Why must I work after coming all this way!
As I collapsed onto the bed wailing, His Majesty, exasperated, departed for the Imperial Concubine’s Quarters. Simultaneously, Leon and Jack entered to check on my welfare.
“Sister, are you alright! Are you injured!”
“Well, you got hit for doing something wrong, but let’s see! Bruises take days to fade!”
I only got hit on the head! There’s nothing on my body, you idiots!
As I thrashed about, desperate to avoid work, Jack Brown examined my limbs for bruises, let out an adorable shriek, and fainted. Lucilucil, who’d been observing silently, finally managed to speak.
“What… is happening here?”
Right. This whole mess stemmed from my accepting the Crown Princess position under asylum and coming to Largol. If I returned to my original place, wouldn’t everything be fine? I’d served my purpose as a distraction, bought enough time, and if the Celine Subjugation Team had contacted the Pope, they would have done so already.
Since no chaos erupted, things seemed to be progressing smoothly. I’d completed my role, so couldn’t I return to the Heresy Inquisition Office? I came here for comfort, not to work. If I must labor here too, prison is far superior. I can threaten the guards there into letting me take model prisoner walks.
“Lucilucil. Listen carefully. I’ll swallow the asylum, the Crown Princess position, everything. Let me stay at the Heresy Inquisition Office until the war ends.”
“…”
“I think, truly, prison is my calling.”
Right, time flew when we played games there too. Prison is the best. I want to go back.
“Rosalite. Listen to me.”
“Yes.”
“As the head of the Internal Affairs Bureau, you cannot leave the Imperial Palace without the Emperor’s command.”
“Father complex!”
“Who has a father complex!”
“If you spend your whole life unable to defy your father, what else would you call it!”
“Isn’t he the Emperor before he’s my father!”
I don’t care—I’ve lived my whole life defying the Duke’s orders whenever I felt bored, you father-complex fool!
As I continued cursing and whining, the man wore an expression of perfect serenity before hoisting me onto his shoulder and returning to the First Prince’s Palace. Lucilucil tossed me onto the guest room bed—I was covering my face because I was so tired of working—and offered to show Leon and Jack to their rooms with impeccable manners, but they politely declined and asked for extra blankets instead.
“Young Master, please let us know that we’ll be sleeping here.”
“We’ll be staying here, so please excuse yourself. And prepare two blankets each for us, Lucilucil.”
“…You’re all going to sleep together in Rosalite’s bedroom?”
What’s wrong with that? Of course—this is what kind of place, and I’m supposed to stretch out and sleep alone? What if something happens in the middle of the night?
As I insisted on sleeping with the children while recounting the terrifying ghost stories I’d heard from across the sea about the Largol Imperial Palace, Leon nodded as if it were only natural, and Jack, apparently disturbed by the ghost tales among the stories, shuddered in agreement.
Fortunately, Lucilucil respected our opinion and had the maidservants lay out two blankets beside my bed before leaving.
Jack, Leon, and I washed up quickly, brushed our teeth, giggled for a while seeing each other in our pajamas, had a brief pillow fight, and then decided it was time to sleep.
“Sister, if you feel lonely, please let me know. I’ll climb right into bed.”
“Stop talking nonsense and go to sleep.”
“Sister! That’s no way to speak!”
“Don’t be annoying, Young Master. Just sleep.”
“You should’ve talked like that from the start!”
Leon… I really don’t understand your values anymore.
He wasn’t like this before—where did things go wrong? I pondered it briefly, but could only conclude it wasn’t my fault. I bid the children goodnight and turned off the light.
I’d moved around a lot today and was tired, so sleep came easily, but the spot beside me sank, and someone crawled under the blanket. This rascal Leon—he’d been fussing about the space next to him, and now he’d actually climbed in.
I gave up and held the child, patting his chest gently as I drifted off to sleep. Somehow, his chest felt fuller and softer than usual.

◇ ◆ ◇

It seemed to be early morning, yet I couldn’t breathe. Everything felt suffocating and heavy. Something was holding me in an incredibly tight embrace. I struggled and managed to slip free from those arms, and as my vision cleared, Jack Brown came into focus. He had a towel draped around his neck as if he’d already washed up, and upon seeing me, he let out a deep sigh before muttering a curse.
“Damn it….”
Hey, is that how you speak to your master? Ever since yesterday, you’ve been like this with Leon and me both—no filter whatsoever!
I rose from bed, irritated by his morning rudeness, and the arm that had been holding me so tightly slipped away to the side.
The color of that arm…—it clearly wasn’t Leon’s. Hmm…, even in my drowsy state, I could tell this skin tone was darker than what Edanelli people typically had. It was the kind of complexion common among Largol people….
“I’m going to tell Glen everything.”
Hey, tell him what! There’s nothing shameful here for me to feel wronged about! It’s obvious we just used each other as pillows and held each other while sleeping in the middle of the night—as I explained this, Jack twisted his mouth strangely and pointed his finger at my neck and collarbone.
What’s that? My neck and collarbone? Wait, are you talking about me?
With a sinking feeling, I touched my neck. The bite marks Lucilucil had left yesterday were still there. This time, I yanked my nightclothes open to look inside. Various patches of discoloration covered my skin.
Oh no…, this bastard. Did he secretly change professions into an allergen or something? Anyone who sees this will think I have allergic dermatitis. Now that I’m thinking about it, it itches.
“When we return, freedom of speech.”
No! No, you madman!
At the thought that this absolutely could not happen, I scrambled out of bed and clung to Jack. This man would destroy someone else’s household if given the chance—there’s a limit to audacity. Why would you tell the Prince? The Prince! Glen is already so delicate!
“Jack Brown, you heard yesterday as well, didn’t you? I’ve temporarily obtained the highest position in the Internal Affairs Bureau.”
“Yes, you did.”
“And having the highest position in the Internal Affairs Bureau means I also have the authority to punish Imperial Palace staff, doesn’t it?”
“…Is that so?”
“So here’s the thing. You’re my closest confidant, and as far as I know, the finest torture specialist and executioner I’ve ever met—isn’t that you?”
“….”
“….”
I calmly extended my hand to Jack, and he quietly grasped it and shook it. First, we should investigate the maidservants who were so insolent to me yesterday and crush them from the bottom up, shouldn’t we?
When I voiced my opinion, the man smiled with satisfaction and shook my hand more enthusiastically.
“Since Lucilucil is annoying anyway, let’s put Leon in my place and go.”
“You’re truly a genius at tormenting others.”
To wake these heavy sleepers, we formed an alliance, and after confirming that Lucilucil and Asterion were holding each other tightly, Jack and I held hands and hummed cheerfully as we entered another room to prepare to leave.
After I finished grooming and Jack gathered all his tools, I thought I heard the screams of two adult men echoing from somewhere, but we suppressed our aching hearts and summoned the attendants and maidservants of the First Prince’s Palace.
To summon all the attendants and maidservants, we needed to go through many procedures. First, when I asked where the head attendant and head maidservant were, no one would tell me, so Jack had to “persuade” them for a moment.
Then, leading those persuaded individuals to the head attendant, I ordered all the attendants and maidservants to gather. They all claimed they had their own duties and that I wasn’t in a position to give them orders, so Jack had to “persuade” them again for a moment.
After we circled the First Prince’s Palace with several maidservants and the head attendant dripping blood from both hands, everyone from the bedding organizers to the stable keepers gathered in the garden before the entrance hall of the First Prince’s Palace.
They were terrified before Jack’s violence, but their eyes also carried resentment. I too would have preferred to conduct such matters slowly and carefully, but due to the Emperor’s orders, I was pressed for results, and to verify where each attendant and maidservant came from, it was most efficient to gather them in one place and organize them by number first.
『Rosalite! What on earth were you doing while I slept…!』
You started the pranks first, so why are you blaming me? I was about to retort, but as the attendants and maidservants stirred, I couldn’t continue my conversation with Lucilucil.

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