Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 258

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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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“Leon, fetch the business plan from the safe.”
“Yes, Sister.”
“Everyone except Aster, you’re dismissed.”
“We hear and obey, Young Master.”
So I’d ended up becoming co-representative with the Security Chief. My mouth tasted bitter, so I dumped sugar into my apple tea—plop, plop, plop—and gulped it down. Count Crowley examined the business plan Leon brought, then made no effort to hide his chuckling laughter.
“This impudent little brat kept going on about money, money, money. No wonder you’d want to monopolize something like this.”
“Just sign already. You’re putting me in a foul mood.”
“Ha ha, ha ha ha. You have every right to be in a foul mood. But wait a moment—I don’t read as quickly as Eddie does.”
Grandfather pulled his glasses from his jacket pocket, put them on with a snap, and picked up the pen he’d used for the will.
“Why are you modifying a perfectly good contract!”
“Shut your mouth, you little brat! If I grant co-representative director rights limited only to Rocksburg Communication Company, the rest is obvious! You’ll go spawning subsidiaries left and right!”
“This is why the branch families are impossible!”
“This is why the main line is unbearable!”
After that, I spent a full hour bickering with Count Crowley over the contract modifications. Since both sides were equally dissatisfied, we decided to stop for the day, had Ram Bart make copies for each of us, wrote down all our respective demands, and agreed to reconcile our positions again later.
I’d spent the entire workday scheming over how to hide favorable terms, and the exhaustion hit me twice as hard as usual. The moment the clock struck quitting time, I grabbed my organized papers and headed to Lucilucil’s place.
This wasn’t a problem I could solve alone. I needed to borrow Lucilucil’s mind too, so I hopped on my Segway and zoomed over—but Lucilucil had apparently escaped before work hours ended and was lounging in the Lucilucil Palace Garden.
“Lucilucil!”
I waved at him, and he brightened before his expression suddenly darkened. I glanced around to see what was wrong, and there was Glen returning on horseback, having borrowed a mount from William’s stable.
Hmm… I’d told him to act discreetly, but surely Glen hadn’t caught on? That Prince was getting better and better at noticing surveillance. There was even that time recently when I’d nearly been discovered tailing him.
“Rosalite!”
Glen dismounted with the happiest expression imaginable and grabbed me. He seemed to have business with me, but—excuse me, Your Highness, I actually have something to discuss with Lucilucil right now…
“You may come to me from now on.”
Hmm… what do you mean?
A bad premonition made me flutter the papers in my hand nervously, but Glen, utterly indifferent to Lucilucil’s menacing glare, continued with a radiant smile.
“I’ve had it tied.”
“…Pardon?”
“I’ve had it tied.”
Hmm… yes, tied means… that is…
“I went to Paracelsus and had it surgically tied. You can take your time with Lucilucil.”
Ah… that is… such a deep… meaning…
All the moisture seemed to drain from my body, but Lucilucil, who’d been in a good mood until moments ago, approached and embraced me.
“If it’s been surgically tied, it’ll take quite a while to heal. Go rest.”
“If you summoned the High Priest, it would be a wound healed in thirty seconds.”
“I’m not lending him.”
“You’re quite petty.”
“I know.”
That’s right. Lucilucil knows himself very well. I found myself nodding in complete agreement, and above my head, the two men continued their argument.
“I distinctly told you to reflect on your actions. Release Rosalite. And go back to the palace to contemplate your mistakes in solitude.”
“I’ve been submitting reflection essays on schedule. Leave my personal time alone. I can barely breathe with this newcomer throwing his weight around.”
“You’re the one living most comfortably in this mansion, and you’re complaining?”
“That varies from person to person. The deposed Crown Prince of Great Largol never had to watch his step, so you’re struggling too much. Without Rosalite, I can’t even sleep—hurry up and leave.”
“I have a solution for that. You simply won’t sleep, will you? The deposed Crown Prince of Great Largol is certainly capable of that.”
These two were remarkably eloquent. While Lucilucil was one thing, I found it amusing and oddly heartwarming that Glen wasn’t backing down either. I cleared my throat with a soft cough and intervened between them.
“If you value your lives, both of you will keep quiet.”
“….”
“….”
Ah, the world fell silent.
Glen had just undergone major surgery and couldn’t overexert himself, and I had no time for a sleepless night given today’s work. Besides, if I’m rewriting the contracts anyway, having one more head to think things through would be beneficial for me.
“Since you both care for me so deeply, I’m truly grateful. So tonight, the three of us will work together until dawn.”
“…What?”
“…Work?”
“I’m going to be co-representative of the Rocksburg Communications Corporation with Count Crowley, and I’ll inherit the ducal title in six months.”
Ha ha ha ha ha—what terrifying thing did I say that made them both go so pale? I quickly grabbed Glen and Lucilucil, who were trying to edge away from me, and sped off on my segway toward the Reception Room of Lucilucil Palace.
Since it’s come to this, let’s all gather and work hard together, husbands.
I had the servants move the entire safe containing the communications company’s assets, and set up an impromptu office. Because Jack had transferred all his wealth to me, I needed to rewrite the ledgers. Glen let out a scream at the mountain of documents piled before us, while Lucilucil, upon seeing the contract listing Count Crowley’s demands, buried his head in the carpet hanging on the wall and muttered about missing his homeland.
Foolish Lucilucil. Now that he’s gotten homesick, there’s nothing I can do for him. Lucilucil won’t set foot on Largol soil again until I become Empress Dowager. Such is the fate of an exiled imperial family member.

◇ ◆ ◇

Work piled up like mountains while time flowed like a river, and six months passed in a flash. Eri had become capable of crawling with remarkable skill. During this time, the newly established Rocksburg Communications Corporation began service centered around the royal family and noble houses, with the goal of expanding to ordinary households.
The communication device developed by Sage operates by registering the unique wavelengths emitted by each magic stone and connecting voice between machines, so it required routing through an exchange to request connections to other homes.
Of course, public institutions requiring security, high-ranking nobles, and the royal family could communicate directly through improved wireless devices. To commemorate the establishment of the communications corporation, the first place in Rocksburg to request communication service was the King’s bedroom. Since we deliberately called during his afternoon nap, His Majesty expressed every ounce of irritation he could muster and told us to disconnect the call so he could sleep.
We transcribed that entire conversation and inserted it on the very first page of the Rocksburg Communications Corporation’s company history. The corporation’s first official service was conducted between the Alein Royal Family and the Rocksburg Ducal House, and His Majesty told us to disconnect so he could sleep. The time was approximately 1:30 PM.
This will be included in the manual’s preface, engraved on the monument, and eventually published in textbooks. When word of this spread, the royal family sent several revision requests and protest letters, but Rocksburg refused to accept them. Who told him to take a nap at that hour? If he’d been awake, there would be no problem. Why are they making a fuss with us?
This could be said to be the last footprint left by Edward Rocksburg, Duke, in his capacity as a duke.

In the twenty-ninth spring of Laios’s reign over Alein, Edward Rocksburg stepped down from his position as Duke. The day had come when Rocksburg Duchy would have a new master.
The title had changed and the succession was complete, but Father decided to continue using his original office. Only the nameplate would change. Instead of “Duke’s Office,” the door now bore a plaque reading “Former Duke’s Office,” while my office received its new designation: “Duke’s Office.”
The Territory was alive with festive celebration, yet the Duke’s Mansion remained relatively quiet and sparse. Only the minimum number of well-wishers had gathered, and the ceremony itself was as simple as it could possibly be. Compared to that distant day when Sister Dorothy assumed the ducal position, it was absurdly austere.
But that was only natural—we were busy. The moment this ended, we’d have to return to work. Inviting guests meant more work. We’d need to prepare guest rooms, arrange food, check attendance lists. There was no time to celebrate at an event like this, so calling people together would only burden us.
Because of this, the inauguration ceremony held in the Annex Building was filled with family members, the Brown Family, Rocksburg’s permanent staff, private military unit executives and their partners. Since we’d invited John Brown, Four Spans came as part of the package—I just hoped she’d behave herself until the ceremony ended.
“Rosalite Rocksburg. The next Duke, come forward.”
My heart was racing now that I was actually becoming Duke. The procedure was so simple that we hadn’t even done a rehearsal, jumping straight into the ceremony itself, which made me even more nervous.
I stepped through the grand doors of the Annex Building and approached Father, wearing the Duke’s coat that Violet had specially made for me.
Janet, seated among the private military unit members, watched me with sparkling eyes. Sage wept like it was my wedding day, and for some reason, Four Spans’s large eyes glistened as she stared fixedly at the ceiling.
Count Crowley, who’d quarreled with me over business matters whenever the opportunity arose, seemed unusually cheerful today, and Leon was no exception.
Glen and Lucilucil, beaming broadly, offered words of blessing, and Eri, who’d mistakenly looked for Father, laughed brightly from Lucilucil’s arms.
I stood before Edward Rocksburg and bowed deeply.
“As you know, the Duke of Rocksburg is busy, has much work, and carries great responsibility. From now on, you must bear all of it.”
I truly hated it. I really, truly hated it, but there was no one else who could do this. Even if I wanted to pass it on, there wasn’t another suitable person in the world besides me.
Even if I wanted to escape someday, I’d have no way to do so. Father’s message came through loud and clear.
“Without Rocksburg, there is no Alein. Remember that above all.”
Four Spans looked like she’d just bared her fangs, but since nothing more came out, John must have effectively silenced her.
Father slipped the ring symbolizing the Ducal House—which he’d been wearing—onto my finger and presented me with the key to the hereditary secret vault. He’d emptied his portion, so from now on I was to fill it with my own. Of course, he added that he had absolutely nothing left to pass down to me. Eddie really was going to be a Rocksburg Duke right to the very end.
Finally, Father opened a book on the podium and asked me to write my name beneath his. It was a genealogy that had been passed down from the first Duke of Rocksburg. Next to each name, written in their own hand, was the age at the time of inauguration, and each had displayed a distinctly unique signature.
I wrote my name beautifully, signed it, and habitually blew on it to dry the ink faster. Apparently this was quite an undignified gesture, because Eddie pinched my belly when no one was looking, and I barely managed to suppress a yelp.
“Thus, I proclaim that Rosalite Rocksburg has become the seventeenth Duke of Rocksburg.”
As I turned toward the assembled crowd, my white coat billowing, applause and cheers erupted throughout the hall.

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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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