Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 27

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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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I am a frail invalid. I am a delicate lady. I occasionally suffer from dizziness due to anemia.
Fine. That’s enough. Let’s go now!
“Oh my goodness.”
Before Prince Marius could even sit down, I swayed dramatically and collapsed toward him. The Prince caught me with a startled expression, and I leaned against him, placing my left hand on his chest and my right hand on his thigh.
“Are you alright?!”
“Ah, I’ve been awake for four days straight, and now the anemia is hitting me.”
“Oh no! This is serious!”
Yes, quite serious indeed. Something very serious has just happened to me.
Hehe. Ehehehe. Ehehehehe.
Grasping the modest chest and buttocks that barely filled my palm, I moved my fingers ever so slightly, and the soft, supple sensation between my fingers made me bite my lips hard. My lower lip tasted of iron—blood rushing to the surface—but I couldn’t help it if I wanted to suppress the laughter threatening to escape.
If I’m laughing while supposedly dizzy from anemia and collapsed, wouldn’t that just make me look mad?
With all my might, I kept my mouth firmly shut, nestled in the Prince’s embrace for a moment, then pretended to recover slightly before carefully gathering strength in my legs to rise.
“I apologize for showing you such an unseemly display, Prince Marius. I’m fine now.”
“I’m relieved to hear it. It’s concerning that someone destined to lead the Kingdom ahead should have such a frail constitution.”
Indeed, quite concerning, hehehehe.
After offering my gratitude for catching me and allowing me to lean on him, the Prince dismissed it as nothing and continued to fuss over my wellbeing. Truly, this one has a kind body, a kind face, and kind words to match.
Now that I’ve done everything I set out to do, I thought I might as well enjoy the meal, accepting Luke’s escort, when Theodore, wearing that perpetual smile, suddenly announced he needed to step away and left the room.
As the Crown Prince hurried out past me, who was trying to return to my seat,
Not long after, I heard a scream tinged with something dreadful,
Followed by the sound of something shattering in the Palace Corridor—perhaps a vase—with a tremendous crash,
Then silence, until the Banquet Hall door creaked open and Theodore returned with that same smiling face.
“My apologies. I just witnessed something quite unpleasant.”
For the Crown Prince to be so startled—had a large rat appeared in the Palace Corridor?
Once Theodore’s alarm over whatever this supposedly large rat was had subsided, the banquet proceeded as scheduled.
The meal came out in rhythm with the conversation—the Third Prince spoke of recent developments in the Empire while I showed interest with apparent curiosity, the Crown Prince discussed Kingdom matters while the Third Prince and Luke marveled at his insights, His Highness needled the Prince while I intervened to stop it, and Luke mediated when the Prince challenged the Crown Prince back, and we enjoyed our dinner pleasantly.
Given that the three neighboring nations weren’t on the best of terms, I’d expected some tension, but it was surprising that the Prince kept bringing up the First Princess.
I listened quietly, wondering if he was trying to get under the Crown Prince’s skin, but it didn’t seem to be that. Yet if I listened without suspicion, it appeared the Prince might actually have some interest in the Princess.
He even said he should visit the ailing Princess after dinner. Did they have something to discuss?
There seemed to be some scheme at play, but it wasn’t my place to meddle. As long as Theodore was around, any troubles arising in the Royal Family would be handled.
So I decided to just feast my eyes on Prince Marius.
Smiling mischievously, I speared meat with my fork and brought it to my mouth, my eyes fixed on the Prince’s form as I chewed the meat slowly, rolling it with my tongue inside my mouth, savoring the juices, and swallowing contentedly.
“I must say, I was surprised.”
Oh, you startled me!
I’d been so absorbed in looking that our eyes met and my heart nearly stopped.
After calming my startled heart, I responded to the Prince’s sudden address. Why is he suddenly taking an interest in me?
“The heir of Rocksburg House has chosen Luke Chatel, a person from our Empire, as his second consort.”
Oh my… Why is he suddenly focusing on my betrothed, who’s been quietly sitting here?
Under the Kingdom’s current laws, whether one practiced polygamy or polyandry, as long as one had the means, it was possible to take up to three spouses. However, when it came to marriages between nobles, the rules changed entirely.
Since both families bore the honor of their houses, if the husband took a new wife or the wife appeared with a new husband, it was essentially a declaration of war—and if things went poorly, it could spark actual conflict between the families.
For instance, if a husband’s wife’s family fell into financial ruin and he deemed them easy prey, he might take a second wife. But what wife would tolerate such humiliation and continue the marriage? She would simply divorce him and return to her family estate. For this reason, most nobles were forced to maintain monogamy with one another.
The King and Crown Prince were exempt from such constraints due to succession concerns, but the current Queen came from the direct bloodline of House Edanelli, whose backing was so formidable that the King hadn’t even dreamed of taking a concubine in over thirty years. Taking one would mean facing House Edanelli head-on—no sane man would risk it.
In that context, the Third Prince’s remark was nothing short of an insult to Glen. He clearly assumed Glen’s background was so insignificant that he could take additional wives without consequence.
Everyone at the table seemed to understand this implication. The Crown Prince looked at me with an amused smile and sipped his wine, while Luke, flustered, tried to deflect—claiming that taking multiple concubines was standard practice for the Empire’s powerful, and that the Third Prince meant no such thing.
I couldn’t embarrass the Third Prince with his impressive physique, nor could I let Glen be humiliated. What was I to do?
After a moment’s thought, I decided to brush it off as a joke, paying tribute to the Third Prince’s admirable assets.
“My fiancé is quite skilled at nighttime activities, so there’s no need for a second wife. Luke Chatel simply asked to accompany me to meet you, Prince Marius.”
A cough erupted. The Crown Prince, who had been drinking, choked so violently I thought he might cough up a lung.
Good heavens… there’s plenty of wine to go around. Why drink in such a hurry?
“Ah, certainly Glen is quite capable at nighttime activities, isn’t he?”
“…Is he really that exceptional?”
The Third Prince, who had shown little reaction to my comment, suddenly perked up with interest when Luke added his own remark. After coughing for a while and expelling the wine that had gone down the wrong pipe, the Crown Prince—breathing heavily—asked how Luke knew such details. Luke simply confessed the truth.
“I was there at the time.”
“Ah, I see. You were all together then.”
That time two years ago when Leon, Aster, Glen, I, and Luke had met?
As I nodded, the Empire’s Third Prince looked between Luke and me in confusion, while the Crown Prince tapped the table insistently, urging the Maidservants to bring dessert.
As the main courses were cleared and black tea and light desserts were served, the Crown Prince tried to change the subject. The Third Prince, in response, began criticizing the black tea, claiming it tasted exactly like the leaves used in the Imperial Palace.
Well, that made sense—the Largol Empire had stolen tea leaves from its colonies and transported them via merchant ships to the Imperial Capital. But Duke Bienar, a noble who lived in the neighborhood across from our mansion, had taken up privateering as a hobby, captured the Empire’s merchant vessels with his pirate fleet, and presented the stolen goods to the Royal Family.
Whether the Crown Prince knew this or not, he laughed and remarked on what a curious coincidence it was. The Third Prince, seemingly intent on probing further, took another sip of tea and changed his tone.
“I believe I was mistaken. Now that I taste it again, I detect a hint of the sea.”
“Haha. Well, since the tea leaves were picked up from the sea, naturally they would smell of it.”
From the way he spoke, the Crown Prince clearly knew as well.
Children grow through their quarrels, so I pretended not to understand and simply laughed, finished my dessert, and prepared to leave.
After the banquet, I considered staying close to the Third Prince to get another look or perhaps touch him, but Prince Marius, worried about the Princess who was too ill to attend the evening gathering, politely excused himself to visit the First Princess.
Without him, I had no reason to stay. The Crown Prince on my right, Luke on my left—squeezed between these two towering men, I felt my chest tighten. I tried to stand and excuse myself, but the Crown Prince’s grumbling kept me rooted to my seat.
“You’re staying the night again anyway, aren’t you?”
N-no?
He’s always telling me to go home, so why is he suddenly like this? Did he take medicine?
I shook my head firmly, and the Crown Prince looked taken aback. I felt guilty about leaving Glen with work, and I needed to get home early tonight.
“No, Your Highness. I must return early. I know you’ll find the night lonely without me, but please bear with it tonight.”
“How strange. Wasn’t it you who, every time you came to the Royal Palace, would cling to me saying you didn’t want to go home and begged to stay just one more night?”
“Clingy men are unpopular, Your Highness.”
That’s probably why he still hasn’t married.
After parting ways with the Crown Prince on friendly terms as usual, I had Luke escort me home. On the way, I had the back entrance of the Department Store opened and instructed him to take whatever looked good, with the bill sent to the Duke’s House.
Glen had worked hard in my place, so tonight I’d come home early and shower him with gifts.
I carried paper bags filled with spring coats and jewelry for Glen in both hands, gave Aster—who was well-fed and content—a gift box containing several hats, and returned to the Duke’s Mansion. Fortunately, Glen’s Room had its light on, suggesting he was still awake.

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I knocked on Glen’s door, and hearing his voice from within, I turned the doorknob and stepped inside without waiting for a formal invitation.
As I entered with quick strides, eager to hand over the gift and exchange a few words, I spotted Glen standing before a mirror positioned precisely three meters ahead at a forty-five-degree angle to my left.
“Glen, yesterday must have been quite exhausting because of me…”
But…
Wait…
That’s…
“…*hiccup*.”
Startled by my sudden appearance, Glen began hiccupping.
Unable to comprehend what I was witnessing, I looked him over carefully from head to toe, only to discover that the man was stuffing what appeared to be cotton padding into his chest.
The cotton seemed to have been torn from a pillow—a ruptured pillow lay scattered beside Glen—and the way he’d arranged the stuffing in his chest created an impression that was, well, remarkably voluminous.
“I… that is… I was merely… preparing a gift…”
Chest muscles certainly couldn’t be represented by cotton padding, and I’d clearly chosen the worst possible moment to enter. Glen’s complexion had drained of all color, and I doubted he could even feel his own blood anymore. Could I possibly pretend I’d seen nothing?
I calmly took a step backward, blocked Aster from entering the room, set the gift box and paper bag down inside Glen’s room, and reached for the doorknob.
“I saw nothing.”
I closed my eyes, quietly shut the door, and stepped away from Glen’s room.

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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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