Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 260

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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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Lucilucil was discovered at the VIP Casino in Edanelli Territory. The man had arrived with heavy sighs, fallen for a few scams, and after being guided to a high-stakes secret gambling den, he made no attempt to hide his cheating—rapidly assembling royal straight flushes until the staff literally knelt and begged him to leave.
Since this casino was directly operated by the Duke’s Mansion of Edanelli, Dorothy called me personally in tears, asking me to take the Duke away. Though the money he’d already won couldn’t be recovered, at least what he owed to Edanelli had to be returned. I went to the jeweler, had them hand over everything from here to there, then smacked Lucilucil’s back as he lay sprawled on the ground. Grabbing that damned husband by his hair, I dragged him back to Rocksburg.
The Mansion was in chaos, and my Office had filled with everyone involved. Mother, Father, Glen, Luke, Leon, Chris, the Security Chief, Sage, and even the entire Brown Family. Like jurors in a courtroom, they arranged themselves in a line, placing a thinking chair in the center of the Office and suggesting Lucilucil sit.
“Duke Rocksburg. Let’s begin at once.”
I waited for Father to speak, but he reminded me that I held the authority and urged me to proceed. Right, I was the Duke, so I was the head of this household. After decades of living with Father as the leader, I still couldn’t quite adapt to this.
“Lucilucil. So… first, why did you run away?”
“If things went wrong, I thought I should atone with my life.”
“You madman!”
This lunatic was saying something I never could have imagined! I wasn’t the only one shocked—Glen drew in a sharp breath, and Mother, tears glistening in her eyes, scolded her son-in-law, asking why he would speak of death when he now had a child.
“No, it’s just… if it came to light… it would cause great trouble for Rosalite…”
“Lucilucil. Listen carefully. Rocksburg is entirely on your side.”
“…”
“No matter what happens. If you’ve committed a crime, we can cover it up as if nothing occurred. If there’s an issue with your birth, we’ll deceive the entire world for you.”
“I’m not worthy of such protection.”
“That’s for me to decide. I brought you here because you were you, Lucilucil. Whether you were a Crown Prince, an Emperor, a High Priest, a cult leader, or a slave—your position didn’t matter. Wherever you stood, I would have dragged you down to my level or lifted you up to it, and claimed you.”
Mother, Father, Luke, and Glen all nodded in complete agreement. And Jack Brown trembled all the way to his shoulders, his skin crawling.
“Tell us. We need to devise a plan.”
“That is…”
Lucilucil looked around at everyone gathered from Rocksburg and Brown, then released a deep sigh. And he revealed a shocking truth. The way he prefaced it—that he’d intended to take this to his grave—made it clear that Lucilucil had made a momentous decision.
Lucilucil was not actually descended from the previous Emperor. His mother was indeed Empress Aidemoc, but that woman bore him through an affair with her personal guard. When Lucilucil was born with eyes identical to his biological father’s, she destroyed the evidence by gouging out his right eye, leaving only the blue eyes that matched the Emperor’s.
As Lucilucil grew and began to resemble that guard, Empress Aidemoc eliminated his biological father as well. Ah, so that rumor about her destroying the child’s eye due to stress from childbirth—was this the actual truth?
“How could such a woman exist! Where is this Aidemoc or whatever! Is she in Largol?! Lucilucil, stay put! I’ll go kill her myself!”
“I’ve already eliminated her with my own hands.”
“Good! She was no mother!”
Haha, if the Predecessor, who had nearly died dozens of times at Maria’s hands, had heard that, how absurd would he have found it? Mother, raging on Lucilucil’s behalf as if angry in his stead, said that thinking of such a woman only upset her, so from now on he should only look at beautiful and good things. She patted Lucilucil’s shoulders firmly.
“To summarize the results: we could find no one with heterochromatic eyes in our family records, nor in the imperial genealogy publicly announced by Largol.”
“…I see.”
“Then there’s no choice. From today on, Maria’s father had heterochromatic eyes—one blue, one gold.”
“Well, that works then.”
“Then it’s settled. You truly are remarkable, Predecessor.”
Right? Mother’s parents have no official records anyway, so we can just forge them. Besides, Mother seems to possess the strongest genes in the world, and since she gave birth to me—a spitting image of Father—we can easily claim it’s recessive heredity.
“…Wait, can such a problem really be solved so easily?”
“This matter is resolved. Thank you all for exerting yourselves on something unnecessary.”
“No. This must have been a heavy burden on Lucilucil’s heart. It’s only natural we step in.”
“Don’t worry. Lucilucil will grow accustomed to these people in time. Even I, who was sold off to the sixth house, have adapted somewhat.”
“My son, sold off? I paid a fair price.”
“That’s what being sold off means.”
My son, you have a way of saying the same thing in such a hurtful manner.
After finding a solution to Lucilucil’s small worry, we each returned to our posts to focus on fabricating evidence, then disbanded. Everyone gave Lucilucil an encouraging embrace before leaving, and as he was finally released from Anna Brown’s embrace, Lucilucil approached me with a bewildered expression and made a strange request.
“Is that really all we’re going to do—just exchange hugs and call it a day?”
“What else would you like? Should I call everyone back and replace the hugs with kisses instead?”
“Wait, could you slap my cheek for me?”
Where on earth would I slap you? I firmly refused, but Leon, who was heading back to his desk, suddenly sprang up and delivered a sharp slap across Lucilucil’s face.
“Hey, you fool! What if I actually hurt you?!”
“But Sister, didn’t Lord Lucilucil specifically ask to be struck?”
That’s just what he said—he didn’t actually mean it! How am I supposed to work with a child who can’t read between the lines like this?
Lucilucil’s cheek must have hurt terribly, as tears began to well up in his eyes. I gently rubbed his back, asking if he was alright, while the man curled up in his chair, cradling his face in his hands.
“Is that really the end of it?”
“What more could there be? You know how understated our household is.”
“No, that’s not what I meant.”
“Never mind that—let’s go see the babies. The children haven’t even met their father yet with all this commotion. They’re twin sons.”
At my words, everyone in the office who hadn’t yet seen the infants jumped to their feet and hurried along, saying they would come too.
“But Rosalite, you’ve only just given birth. Are you sure you’re well enough to move about without rest?”
“I’m fine. It’s Joraab who’s lying in the sickbed instead of me.”
When I explained that I’d drained all the sacred power and was feeling perfectly energetic while the High Priest was bedridden, Glen finally let out a relieved sigh, and Lucilucil, looking just as bewildered as I had been at my first childbirth, headed toward the room where the children were.
After thoroughly disinfecting our hands, feet, and clothes, we quietly gazed upon the sleeping infants. When those eyes fluttered open, we would see beautiful golden eyes and blue eyes.
I myself had been too flustered listening to the Doctor’s words to properly confirm this, so I was greatly anticipating the moment I would meet their gaze.
“It’s remarkable. These children resemble Lord Lucilucil quite a bit.”
“Though Lucilucil wasn’t of direct imperial descent, it seems his parents’ bloodline was exceptionally strong.”
“Sister, couldn’t we have the babies open their eyes just a little? Heterochromia is so fascinating, isn’t it?”
No, no—they’ll open them in their own time soon enough. These aren’t toys, so don’t fiddle with them and just be still.
Yet with twins bearing heterochromia, no matter how I thought about it, they seemed like impossibly mystical beings, and I understood everyone’s reluctance to leave this place. How beautiful they would be when they opened their eyes.
“Speaking of which, Lucilucil, you haven’t even held the children yet, have you? Go ahead and hold them.”
“That’s right. You weren’t able to hold them when you ran away.”
Perhaps the children would open their eyes and smile in their father’s arms. Encouraged by this thought, Lucilucil took one infant in each arm, and though the twins didn’t open their eyes, they nestled their heads against him with slightly more peaceful expressions.
“Well, you see….”
Lucilucil’s mouth twisted strangely, and he turned toward me with an expression that was neither quite laughing nor quite crying. His shoulders had gone completely slack—he looked like someone finally allowing himself to feel safe for the first time.
“Have you decided on names for the children?”
What perfect timing for that question! Of course! Absolutely! I had entrusted Eri’s name to Papa and Father, but for the children born between Lucilucil and me, there was a name I’d been longing to give them.
Especially since these little ones were sons and twins at that. There could be no other choice. I had no choice but to name them this way. It was nothing short of destiny.
I nodded firmly, cleared my throat with a dignified cough, and opened my mouth solemnly.
“I have names I’ve been thinking of for some time now.”
“Is that so?”
“The firstborn is Lucius, and the second is Marius.”
“….”
Suddenly the atmosphere grew heavy. In the profound silence where even the babies’ breathing could barely be heard, Lucilucil abruptly broke into the Crown Prince’s smile.
Oh, oh my—I haven’t seen that expression in so long. Except for my first visit to Largol, he rarely smiled like that.
“Gazelle, lend me a hand, would you?”
“Yes, Lucilucil.”
What? Why? What is this? Why is everyone acting so strange? I hadn’t done anything wrong, yet everyone’s gazes felt peculiar, and I could only watch nervously as Lucilucil, shoulders tensed, wrapped the children in cloth and carried them on his back and in his arms, then declared he would raise the little ones in his palace and issued a ban on Rosalite Rocksburg’s entry into Lucilucil Palace.
“Young Lady, you made a mistake.”
“Mother, you were wrong about this.”
“Sister, that was too much.”
“Rosalite, I… you made a mistake.”
What did I do now?!
Could it be because of the names? Why would the names matter? Lucius and Marius are perfectly fine! If they weren’t good names, would the Largol Imperial Family have given them to the First Prince and Third Prince?! What’s wrong with them?!
I shrieked in protest, but Lucilucil didn’t even glance back—he simply gathered the children and left.

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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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