Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 261

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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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How many suns had set and how many moons had risen since then? I rolled up a straw mat, tucked it under my arm, clocked out, and positioned myself on my knees in a full prostration at the entrance of Lucilucil Palace.
“Your Majesty! Please grant me your mercy!”
I’d even set out lukewarm water in case his throat grew parched, but Leon came to my side, laid out his own mat, and let down his hair.
“Please grant us your mercy!”
That good-hearted boy Leon—unable to bear watching me suffer alone, this little one faithfully came to my side after work each day and joined me in beseeching Lucilucil’s forgiveness.
“Grant us Lucius and Marius, Your Majesty!”
“Please grant us your mercy!”
Violet and Lily, who’d tried to talk me out of this on the first day, no longer did so. Even my mother, who’d shouted at me not to kneel, claiming I’d done nothing wrong, had heard the circumstances and now believed I was at fault—she’d visited Lucilucil Palace to see the twins.
When I cried out that I missed the children too, Lucilucil answered that he would lift the ban on my entry if I let him name the children himself. But I couldn’t back down even a step, so I could only beg for his forgiveness. Lucilucil turned away coldly.
Lucius and Marius are perfectly fine names! Lucius the Second, Marius the Second—they’re twins, it’s perfect! The heavens themselves must have ordained these names!
“What’s wrong with Lucius and Marius! You’re being petty, Your Majesty!”
“You’re being petty, Your Majesty!”
This man truly wouldn’t grant me forgiveness. Though earlier than usual, I decided to call it a day and lifted Leon to his feet, placing him on the Segway.
“There’s no help for it. I’ll have to resort to my final measure. If Lucilucil insists on being so petty, then I’ll be petty too.”
“Sister, what do you mean by a final measure?”
Such things exist. You needn’t know about matters between spouses. I dropped Leon off in front of the Annex Building and, straw mat still slung across my back, made my way to Luke. I intended to obtain a theater ticket for the play that would be performed to commemorate my inauguration as Duke.

The next day, I invited Glen and Lucilucil to the VIP seating at the Rocksburg Department Store Cultural Center. With three premium chairs arranged in that space, I took the middle seat, Glen naturally sat to my right and grasped my hand, while Lucilucil—barred from entering the palace—stood grumbling about what scheme I was concocting by summoning him outside.
“Why, it’s simply a cultural outing with my husbands, is it not?”
“Don’t talk nonsense. You wouldn’t go out for leisure without reason.”
“Please, do sit. Surely Rosalite is simply seeking reconciliation with us.”
Glen, you truly… After all these years of living together, you still don’t understand my nature at all. Feeling somewhat guilty, I merely sipped the wine the Cultural Center had prepared.
“In any case, it’s been ages since I’ve been here. Was it after that time searching for Mother across mountains and valleys?”
“I too haven’t visited a theater in quite some time. When the Cultural Center first opened, I used to come here frequently with Rosalite for promotional purposes.”
“What’s the performance today?”
“Well… that is to say…”
In my haste to practically abduct Glen and Lucilucil and shove them into the carriage, neither had managed to confirm the title of the play being performed. Glen unfolded a pamphlet from the materials nearby and read aloud the title of the opera I’d personally reviewed to commemorate my inauguration as Duke.
“The Rocksburg Duke and the Handsome Man Sleeping in the Tower of Trials, it says.”
“Always pushing propaganda, aren’t you? Is this another historical beautification of Rocksburg?”
Beautification? We’re simply staging the facts as they occurred. Besides, when we staged Mother’s story as a play, we had to reduce the number of combatants due to stage constraints. Thirty against one—what’s that? Mother could easily handle a thousand against one.
“It’s beginning. The setting doesn’t appear to be modern times. Something called the Demon King of Corn is supposed to appear, it says.”
“…Corn?”
Lucilucil had already caught on and was pulling out his handkerchief, but Glen seemed completely oblivious. Simply delighted to be on an outing with me, he held my hand tightly and smiled. Even when the villagers sang fearfully of the Demon King of Corn, Glen merely chuckled.
Glen’s demeanor changed the moment the two Demon Kings of Corn appeared on stage. The demon king, threatening to devour all the villagers unless they offered him a handsome man, bore a monstrous form but possessed a silver mane and gleaming amber eyes.
“Surely not… Surely not. That can’t be, can it? Rosalite?”
Glen, my beloved husband. Let this be a lesson to you—suspicion always catches its prey.
“We shall offer the village’s most handsome man! Please, Demon King, withdraw your wrath and depart!”
A duet song declaring that if no sacrifice was offered, all the villagers would be slain echoed through the theater. Because of this, the village’s most handsome man fell into the hands of the Corn Demon King. Unable to bear this, the righteous Rocksburg Duke led his army to assault the Demon King’s castle for the sake of the village’s peace and the handsome man’s safety.
The Corn Demon King was no pushover. He constructed a bizarre edifice called the Tower of Trials and tested the Rocksburg Duke, declaring that only the truly courageous could save the handsome man.
At the first gate, the Demon Kings tested the Rocksburg Duke’s martial prowess, and he passed by wielding his innate strength and wisdom. At the second gate, they tested his love for the handsome man, and the Duke, who had long harbored affection for him, sang a passionate serenade.
“Sob, sniff, whimper.”
Lucilucil muffled his mouth with a handkerchief and wept. Though it wasn’t yet the climactic moment, the man shed tears profusely, complaining of abdominal pain as though his abdominal muscles might rupture.
After navigating through countless gates, the Rocksburg Duke rescued the handsome man atop the Tower of Trials and whispered his love, swearing to share eternity together. Against a backdrop of swirling feathers and glittering paper, two figures in a gondola shared passionate love, expressed as performance art. Glen screamed and fled from the VIP box.
“Sob, sniff, Rocksburg is the best. You’re truly the pinnacle of humanity when it comes to being out of your mind.”
“Lucilucil. I apologize for interrupting while you’re so thoroughly enjoying yourself.”
Once Glen had also made his exit, I could finally reveal the reason I’d dragged Lucilucil all the way here. I watched the opera’s climax with utmost seriousness and opened my mouth gravely.
“The Rocksburg Duke and the Handsome Man Sleeping in the Tower of Trials is the first opera commemorating the inauguration of the new Rocksburg Duke.”
“….”
“Then what will the second installment be?”
The first performance was a love story with Glen, my first husband. So what would be the content of the second performance? It was a question whose answer became obvious with just a moment’s thought. If the first subject was my first husband, then the second would naturally be my second husband.
“…What are you getting at?”
“I remember every word of the conversation we had that day without a single mistake.”
“You despicable Rocksburg!”
Lucilucil shot to his feet and cried out, causing the audience to glance toward the VIP box, so we hurriedly slipped out of the theater. Walking through the empty corridor as the play was still ongoing, Lucilucil confronted me in an angry voice.
“Is this really how far you’ll go just to name the children as you please?”
“Yes. I cherish Lucilucil and am doing my very best for him in every way I can. I’ve kept the promise from that day as well.”
“What promise?”
“No matter what happens, I will never leave Lucilucil behind. That’s what I promised, isn’t it?”
I’d never intended to leave him behind anyway. I was planning to take Lucilucil with me to Aleine. Speaking with such confidence, the man made an exasperated face and grew angry.
“You! That’s playing dirty!”
“When has Rocksburg ever cared about the means?”
“Damn Rocksburg!”
“Don’t say such inauspicious things. Even if Aleine falls, Rocksburg will not!”
Lucilucil let out a deep sigh, looked at me, then sighed while gazing at the ceiling, then looked at me again and sighed once more, before pressing his forehead with his hand and gritting his teeth.
“I’ll give a little ground. You give a little too.”
“I can’t make any guarantees, but let me at least hear what you have to say.”
“Lucius won’t do. I’ll allow Marius.”
“Hmm….”
So he was telling me to give up on matching names. To wish for the children’s future prosperity, getting at least Marius would be the next best thing….
“Don’t forget. In this matter, your only ally was your brother-in-law.”
I couldn’t ignore public opinion either. If this dragged on, the people of the Duke’s Household who sided with Lucilucil might stage a protest demanding he be given naming rights. If the fight prolonged, it would be my loss. It was better to compromise here.
“Understood. Then let’s make the first one Marius.”
“Good. For the second, I already have a name in mind. Let’s call him Remus.”
“A lovely name. We can call them Mari and Riri.”
“Much less burdensome than calling him Marius, and I like it. Let’s compromise on Mari and Riri.”
Finally, I could go see Mari and Riri!
I left the Cultural Center and immediately headed to Lucilucil Palace, dragging Glen and Lucilucil along. Entering the room where the twins were, they happened to open their bright eyes and were playing while watching the mobile.
I wept as I cradled this miraculous new life, pressing my cheek against theirs with eager kisses, until Park—the nanny Lucilucil had personally hired—stopped me. She was smaller in stature than Eri and Udi’s nanny, her frame compact despite the corded muscle beneath her skin, and I found myself deeply curious about where exactly Park came from, but my mind was entirely consumed by the twins, so I postponed my questions.
They were genuinely, breathtakingly beautiful. If Eri possessed an ethereal beauty befitting a fairy, then Maria and Lili radiated a sanctity so profound they deserved religious veneration.
Given how diligently I’d observed prenatal care, these two would surely grow into strapping men who could rival Marius himself. Though their father was Lucilucil and had no connection to the Imperial Court, human desire occasionally summoned miracles into being. Wish for it, and all would come to pass. The power of longing was formidable, and if things didn’t work out, I could always blame Lucilucil and interrogate my husband about it later.
“They’re so beautiful, so beautiful! If they become this sacred already, what if they end up as Pope? I need them to be Emperor instead.”
“You’re quite the doting parent, more than appearances suggest.”
“I was surprised too. At first he seemed distant, but to think he’d come to adore Eri so much….”
Humans are creatures of adaptation. Besides, these are children I carried and bore myself. Of course they’re beautiful. Though this isn’t to say Luke isn’t equally beautiful and adorable. He may not be my biological child, but how should I put it—he’s a child born from my heart!
After my penance was complete and I’d met Maria and Lili, I decided to spend the night sleeping on a blanket beside their bed. When I mentioned I’d be resting there, Lucilucil naturally followed with his own blanket, and Glen also obtained permission from the Palace maidservants to bring extra bedding and made his place beside us.
I spent the late hours discussing the children’s futures with my husbands. How would Eri, Maria, and Lili grow to become? What people would they meet, and with whom would they spend their lives? Thinking of their wedding ceremonies, tears welled up unbidden, and I let out a loud cry, prompting Lucilucil and Glen to laugh at how far ahead I was getting, gently comforting me.

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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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