Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 30

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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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The sound of the Rocksburg Duke—one of only four dukes in the Alein Kingdom bearing the royal seal—striding lightly across the grand door marked with the royal insignia echoed through the chamber.
My father had demolished everything blocking his path from the Main Palace entrance to the Audience Chamber, arriving before His Majesty and greeting him warmly.
“Seven years and nine months, Laios. Still wearing that vacant expression, I see.”
“Edward Rocksburg! What in blazes are you doing here?!”
The moment His Majesty spotted my father, his complexion shifted, and he approached us with his shoulders trembling violently. He looked ready to strike, but my father paid no mind, instead focusing only on the dust swirling from the fallen door. He withdrew a handkerchief and pressed it to his nose.
“Napping again, are we? Your face is covered in pillow creases. The kingdom’s future looks promising indeed.”
“Didn’t we agree never to lay eyes on each other again?”
“Having to exchange words with breathing garbage is deeply lamentable. More importantly, if your incompetence rubs off on the Crown Prince and my daughter, it would be catastrophic. Do not come any closer. Rosalite, step away from that beast wearing human skin at once.”
What? This is frightening…
I’d never seen my father speak so unguardedly in my entire life, which genuinely unnerved me. But given his command to distance myself from garbage, I seized the Crown Prince and hid behind William, trembling slightly.
Theodore seemed equally bewildered, for he didn’t resist my touch and followed along obediently, which only deepened His Majesty’s crimson flush.
“Must you speak so vulgarly in front of the children? Do you have no sense of propriety?”
“If we’re counting by age, I have more years than you. Are you suggesting I should bow to you? How presumptuous.”
“How long will you milk being born three months earlier?”
…Are they actually on good terms?
Unable to grasp the situation, I clutched William’s sleeve and observed carefully. My father then withdrew a pocket watch, declared he had no time, and cut the conversation short. His Majesty looked ready to shout something in exasperation, but the Rocksburg Duke’s proposal made him grit his teeth instead.
“Let’s make a wager. If you win, I won’t nag you for the rest of my life, nor will I criticize your every immature remark, your useless political proposals, and all your nonsensical drivel.”
“Tch, speaking like you always do!”
Though he was growling, His Majesty seemed intrigued by the proposal itself, asking what my father wanted if he won. My father replied that since I had asked him to come this far, he would take the Veloche Territory, which puzzled His Majesty.
“What? You came all this way just for a single territory?”
“It’s important to my daughter and to me.”
His Majesty turned his head sharply to stare at me, then broke into a sinister smile.
Ugh.
How unpleasant.
“Fine. What’s the wager?”
“Something simple enough that even a dim-witted king like Your Majesty can manage. Whoever enters this Audience Chamber first after this moment—guess their gender, male or female.”
“…Male.”
Wait. That answer came far too quickly. Does he already have someone arranged? His Majesty seemed confident, but my father paid no heed and staked everything on the first person to cross the Audience Chamber threshold being female. He called out sharply toward the door.
“Doctor Veronica! His Majesty is in critical condition!”
“You cunning bastard!”
My father truly has no shame.
The moment my father pulled off his underhanded trick, a female doctor came rushing through the door in a panic. She was in the middle of treating the people whom William and Jack Brown had demolished on their way here, still holding bandages and splints in both hands.
“Laios. You were honestly thinking only of the Finance Minister who would come to report after the subsequent meeting concluded, weren’t you? Did you think I wouldn’t know your schedule? I should have realized it when I pointed out that you’d been napping.”
The Rocksburg Duke was being shaken by His Majesty’s grip on his collar, yet he laughed heartily, mocking the king’s stupidity. My father explained how he’d anticipated the Finance Minister being named and had called the doctors ahead of time on the way here, laying his trap. With a split grin and the gentlest of voices, he addressed King Laios.
“A king must be honest and sincere above all else. That’s why I placed you on the throne. Stupidity is hardly a flaw.”
His Majesty finally threw a punch, so William quietly separated me from him and stepped in front of my father. With William’s mediation urging restraint, His Majesty released my father’s collar, but my father continued needling him, adding that the Veloche Territory deed should be delivered beautifully wrapped.
Fearing he might provoke His Majesty into ordering the royal guards to draw their swords, I grabbed my father and hastily fled, managing only to wish His Majesty peace before stepping outside.
The Duke of Rocksburg pulled out his pocket watch once more, remarked that it was time, and announced his departure.
“I have matters to attend to, so I shall take my leave. Rosalite, since you’re already here, do accept lunch from His Highness before you go.”
Looking at this spectacle, I could barely swallow my food.
Watching Father depart with the same light, graceful steps as when he arrived, I couldn’t help but sigh. The tension had finally broken, I suppose.
“…Shall I have lunch brought here?”
And His Highness, having witnessed the chaos from moments before, seemed to have come to some realization, for he invited me to dine with him. I too had learned something from observing Father and the King, so I nodded my acceptance to His Highness.
“…I would be delighted to accept.”
I mustn’t let things escalate to that degree.
I deliberately ignored the sound of something shattering that echoed from the Audience Chamber and followed the Crown Prince.

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I enjoyed lunch with Theodore, who never lost his smile throughout the meal, and was savoring the tea and scones served for dessert when His Highness struck first, remarking that the Duke’s temperament must have driven the Duchess to flee, to which I countered that he must be so exhausted from working himself to the point of collapse that there’s been no word from him since the third child—we nearly came to blows, Jack risked his life mediating between us, and we returned home in a subdued manner.
When I returned to the Duke’s Mansion, a carriage bound for Veloche Territory was waiting at the entrance, carrying Glen Hofen still unconscious and wrapped in blankets, along with Philip, Glen’s personal attendant, holding the beautifully sealed letter of lordship appointment. I swallowed my tears, gathered the gifts I had purchased beforehand, loaded them all into the carriage, and bid them farewell.
That evening, Father summoned me privately, and thinking he must feel lonely with Glen away, I went to his chambers. In the center of Father’s spacious room lay a desk, two chairs, a stack of papers, and a pen.
Realizing that this incident had brought the time for me to learn as well, Father began teaching me one-on-one how to write a proper apology letter from that day onward.
As someone who had spent nearly twenty years writing apology letters, each sentence carried an emotion that was distinctly his own. They looked genuinely remorseful and pitifully sorrowful.
Following Father’s advice that since the matter had only recently occurred, it would be best to send an apology letter daily for some time, I wrote and sent letters each day reflecting on opening the door without receiving a clear answer and hastily appointing him to the position of lord.

◇ ◆ ◇

It had been five days since I began sending one-way letters with no reply.
Today, as I was about to go about my duties with vigor, I suddenly felt unwell—a sharp abdominal cramp twisted my insides and my lower back felt as though it might break. Though it was only the second day of my cycle, I could usually manage with painkillers, but lately with so much stress, this period pain was particularly vicious.
Given the advancement of pharmaceutical science in our kingdom, once I took the painkiller for menstrual cramps, I felt wonderfully better, which made me suspect there might be dangerous ingredients, but since our kingdom had antibiotics like penicillin circulating about and I had confirmed with the Duke’s personal physician that there was no opium in it, I closed my eyes tight, swallowed five painkillers, crawled back to bed, and drafted a menstrual leave request to send to Father.
After sending the leave request through Lily with the message “I’ll rest today and tomorrow, so please manage without me and call Leon to run errands,” Aster soon arrived with news that the Duke had approved the request and brought fruit, settling beside my bed.
“Would you like an apple, Miss?”
“Yes, please.”
“I’ll carve it into a rabbit shape for you.”
Aster, who had learned the technique from the kitchen staff when he went to fetch a late-night snack, enthusiastically carved the apple, speared one piece with a fork and handed it to me, then popped the rest into his own mouth and chewed it down before carving another apple.
This boy doesn’t care about apple cores or seeds—he chews and swallows everything. Well, at his age, he could probably chew through steel.
“Hey! Little one! Rosalite! Rosalite, Rosalite, Rosalite!”
Oh dear, Sage. I wondered where you’d gone this morning, and now you finally appear.
The middle-aged mage burst into my room without knocking, looking rather frightened, and plopped down onto my bed.
“Strange people keep following me around—what should I do! More importantly, where are you hurt?!”
“I’m fine. It’s just menstrual cramps.”
“Oh, I should have brought some sweets.”
You’ve forgotten everything from the past, yet you still remember what menstrual cramps are. How admirable.
I declined, saying the medicine had already helped, but the strangers Sage had mentioned entered my room. While it’s fine if Sage comes and goes from my room as he pleases, these people are meeting me for the first time today—where did they learn such manners?
“It seems the Magic Tower doesn’t teach courtesy.”
The Magic Tower certainly isn’t an institution that teaches manners, but I deliberately voiced this criticism. The two people wearing red shawls embroidered with the Magic Tower’s symbol had once been senior colleagues working on papers with me, but that meant nothing now. Even if it did, once outside the Magic Tower, such distinctions should be forgotten.
“My apologies. I rushed after Master in haste and couldn’t help myself.”
“Our Master has caused considerable trouble. Are you Rosalite Rocksburg, the one who sent the letter?”
With Aster’s support, I rose to my feet and confirmed their question. The two men approached and bowed respectfully. As expected, their faces matched my recollection perfectly.
“Forgive my intrusion, but are you unwell?”
“Menstrual cramps.”
“Oh dear. We should have purchased some sweets on the way here.”
“Indeed. There were so many confectioneries along the road.”
I shared their sentiment—mages from the Magic Tower certainly did love their sweets. When I joked that Sage had just said the same thing moments ago, the two laughed mechanically like employees humoring their employer, exchanged pleasantries, and then broached the main topic.
It seemed these two were rather uncomfortable with Sage remaining here.
“The Magic Tower has granted permission for Master to continue his research while staying at the Rocksburg Ducal House, but those of us closest to him are concerned about him becoming bound to a single location.”
“Moreover, according to the letter, Master has lost his memories. We worry that returning to the Magic Tower might aid his recovery better than remaining here.”
I desperately wished the same. But what could I do when Sage refused to leave?

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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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