Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 5

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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 dropped five sugar cubes into the freshly poured coffee and stirred vigorously. Hmm. The report looks complete now.
“I know this is difficult to accept, but I’m a busy person, Lion. Today I’ll deal with Dylan and demand your improved treatment from the Duke. When you return, familiarize yourself with your room and the servants’ faces.”
“Wait, Young Mistress, this is too sudden….”
“Starting tomorrow, you’ll shadow me and learn how the household operates. I’m giving you a week. Once you’ve adapted, I’ll assign you a tutor.”
Lion had so much to learn. Etiquette, self-defense, foundational education—but most urgently, horsemanship and dancing. I needed to secure him a spot at a Royal Palace banquet as soon as possible to introduce him to society. Otherwise, every opportunistic scoundrel would cling to him, and nothing worked better than a social debut to swat away such nuisances.
What mattered most was making it known that Asterion was protected by the entire Ducal House with absolute, unwavering, spine-chilling devotion. Anyone foolish enough to lay a finger on Lion—even in jest—would face annihilation from me, Father, and the entire Ducal House. Only then could I guarantee Lion’s minimum safety. This was the lesson I’d learned from living this life.
Though admittedly, only that Trash Heap Number Three and that Mercedes Man remained unmoved by the Duke’s authority.
“Tch.”
I scrunched my face and clicked my tongue, then gulped down the coffee. Especially that Trash Heap Number Three—the mere thought of him soured my mood. Ugh. What an insufferable man.
“Young Mistress, might you be misunderstanding something? Or perhaps you’re teasing me, someone who grew up here without a mother….”
Watching Asterion flounder while I recalled that Trash Heap Number Three’s slick grin lifted my spirits considerably. I felt the urge to tease Lion again—the way he rambled incoherently, half-crying that he could never be my brother.
It was unbelievable that this adorable creature would one day become that tall, inscrutable, silver-haired handsome man, Asterion.
“Did I call you here to lie? Do I look that bored to you?”
“No, Young Mistress! I would never…!”
“Then call me Sister.”
I fixed Lion with a stare. He looked at me, then at Aster, then back at me, his lips trembling before he spoke.
“…Sister.”
“Well done.”
I smiled with satisfaction, drained the last of my coffee, and stood. It was nearly four o’clock. Now Father and I needed to meet.
“Aster, gather the report and the appointment letter. Lion, follow three paces behind. Lily, Violet, I’m stepping out.”
“Safe travels, Young Mistress.”
I opened the door and headed toward Father’s office. Aster gathered her things and followed at my heels, while Lion diligently measured out three paces and trailed after me.
How adorable.

◇ ◆ ◇

“Why did you summon me? Direct descendant of the family.”
I met Dylan in front of Father’s office and, without a word, gave him the middle finger before informing Father that I was entering.
Dylan’s brow furrowed at my gesture, and it deepened further when he spotted Lion behind me, but he couldn’t leave this place of his own accord. A guest-relative was someone who came when the master called and left when dismissed.
I opened the door and dragged everyone inside, approaching Father, who sat at his desk without sparing me a glance, and offered my words.
“I hope you are well today, one of the four pillars of the Kingdom and the most radiant star of the Rocksburg Ducal House.”
“Skip the preamble. I’m busy, Rosalite.”
“The reason I sought an audience with you today is—”
“The conclusion.”
Ah, he wouldn’t let me finish a sentence.
I abandoned my plan to curtsy prettily while gathering my skirts and straightened my posture instead. And while I was at it, I decided to impart some wisdom to Lion.
“Listen well, Lion. One of the most common habits among our household members is saying ‘I’m busy.’ And on truly busy days, they’re so overworked they can’t even say they’re busy—they end up clutching the toilet with stress-induced stomach cramps, which is why their complexion looks so haggard. So that statement actually means he has some leeway at the moment.”
“Rosalite. State your business.”
Looking at Father with dark circles under his eyes like a panda’s, I felt a chill run down my spine—a glimpse of my future self. Though I’m currently a rosy-cheeked beauty without a trace of dark circles, a few years of rolling around in the Ducal House would reduce me to that state.
This is precisely why I’m desperate to get to the Magic Tower. The Magic Tower was a place where people actually lived.
“First, please look at this.”
I gestured to Aster, who presented the report. Father set down his pen, accepted the document, and rapidly scanned it, flipping through the pages I’d labored over with inhuman speed. Truly, that’s my father. His reading speed was beyond mortal comprehension.
“I request that, by your authority as Duke, you grant Asterion entry into the family registry and eliminate Dylan without leaving a speck of dust in this world.”
“What…!”
At my words, Dylan bristled and shouted, ranting that I’d finally lost my mind and spouting nonsense, seeking out his uncle. But the Duke, Dylan’s uncle, didn’t respond—he merely continued turning pages. After finishing, he raised a hand to silence Dylan, then tossed the report onto his desk.
Fatigued from reading, Father rubbed the bridge of his nose and sighed, then had Aster retrieve the report before answering me.
“I will proceed with Asterion’s entry into the family registry by my authority. However, Dylan’s disposition requires Louis’s consent.”
“Uncle!”
“Until I obtain his consent, Dylan will be confined by my authority as Duke of Rocksburg. You have one day.”
The moment Father granted his permission, I offered my thanks and decided to impart another lesson to Lion. If he was going to keep living here, he needed to understand this.
“Did you see that, Lion? The Rocksburg Ducal House is a family of mad bureaucrats—without their own authority, they can’t even properly set down a spoon. You must become an adult capable of taking responsibility for your actions.”
“Rosalite. You don’t have time for idle chatter.”
That’s true. I’d anticipated this, but I never expected he’d give me only one day.
“Aster, prepare the carriage.”
I wanted to move quickly, but Dylan seemed to have other ideas. He lunged at me, apparently venting his frustration, but of course, Aster intercepted him. Did he think I brought my knight-protector just for show?
“Duke, I request authorization to break Dylan’s right leg to prevent his escape.”
“Granted.”
With Father’s permission and a nod from me, Aster mercilessly shattered Dylan’s leg. His agonized screams echoed through the room. Father, apparently annoyed by the noise, summoned someone and ordered them to remove Dylan quickly.
“Oh, one more thing.”
As a parting gesture, I handed Father an appointment document naming Aster Brown as my knight-protector. Father sighed once more. Watching him—so weary of the Brown Family—I couldn’t help but let out a quiet laugh.
This is bad. I just remembered being called “Young Master” again—I mustn’t burst out laughing.
“…Huh?”
As Father’s dismissal order sent me toward the door, I said my farewells and headed out, but Lion was trembling. His complexion had turned pale, and when I approached, he flinched and retreated, his eyes filled with fear as he looked at me.
I’d brought him along to feel satisfied watching Dylan’s disposal, but surely he wasn’t terrified of being near me?
Hmm… come to think of it, I hadn’t really considered the victim’s perspective.
I suppose I owe him an apology.
I held Lion close and patted his back, doing everything I could to calm him down. It’s alright, it’s alright. No one will dare stand against you now. You’re safe, safe.
“I… young master…?”
“Yes, sister.”
As I continued stroking his back, Lion whispered the word “sister” in a small voice.
Once the trembling stopped, warmth flooded through his body—he’d finally let go of his tension. How adorable Lion was.
“Go back to the Annex Building. You’re safe now.”
Reluctant to let him go, I patted Lion’s back two more times before telling him I was heading to my uncle’s house and saying goodbye.
I’d take the report with me and put it to good use. No matter how much my uncle loved Dylan, once he saw the exact transcript of every word Dylan had used to mock Lion, complete with the witness list, he’d want to kill his own son out of sheer shame.
Still, I couldn’t just show up unannounced asking him to kill his own child. Before boarding the carriage, I’d already sent a carrier pigeon to my uncle’s house. By now, the letter reading “I apologize for the late visit (etc.) Rosalite Rocksburg” should have arrived.
So I might as well get some work done in the meantime.
“What are you doing, miss? Your handwriting gets all messy if you write in the carriage.”
I knew that already.
I answered Aster, who was sitting across from me leisurely munching on an apple. Even if she was from the Brown Family, wasn’t she being a bit too carefree? Did William act like this in front of his father too? Would I still be hearing “miss” from Aster when I was a grandmother? I really hoped that day would come.
“It’s just a rough draft.”
“A rough draft of what?”
“A love letter.”
Aster let out a dismissive “heh,” completely uninterested. There was no fun in teasing her. How boring.
“So what is it really?”
“Your Highness the Crown Prince! Please get married! Preferably to someone from our family!”
“Ah, the Duke sends those all the time too.”
Of course he does—that bastard number three has been past marriageable age for who knows how long. For someone of the Crown Prince’s status, it was common sense to select an appropriate Crown Princess by eighteen, considering domestic power balance and international circumstances.
Once the position of Inner Court Director was decided, the rest would be filled either with people the Crown Prince actually liked, or nobles would send candidates to push their own family interests.
“I really do want the Crown Princess to be someone he truly loves. But he’s just playing around, picking up bad habits from who knows where.”
“Why not? There’s romance in that. How cute.”
“It’s not cute. He’s just testing the waters.”
The man who confidently claimed third place in the “Who’s the Biggest Idiot” contest that I personally organized. Bastard number three, Theodore with his smiling face. This fool simply found it entertaining when the four Ducal Houses fought amongst themselves.
In the process, he could loosen the bonds between the Ducal Houses, and if he was unlucky enough to create a rift between the only four Ducal Houses in the nation, he could watch noble factions splinter and scatter while the royal family quietly absorbed the minor nobles. It was like getting pheasant and eggs without lifting a finger.
Houses like ours, which understood these circumstances, and Edanelli in the south didn’t seriously compete for the Crown Princess position, but the stubborn knights of the north and the age-of-exploration types from the east who’d be nothing without their pride were literally tearing each other’s hair out.
Come to think of it, he’d been stirring up fights like this for nearly ten years, and there was actually a time when our family’s daughter became Crown Princess. I thought we were done for then. If Edanelli hadn’t supported us financially, a civil war would have actually broken out.
“Sigh… it really needs to be decided soon.”
“True, things have been getting pretty tense between the east and north lately.”
Tense doesn’t even begin to cover it. Later, the family heads themselves start grabbing each other by the collar and fighting. And was it the first round or the second round…? It was probably original story content, so it was likely the first. That’s when someone spouted nonsense about making Lion the Crown Princess, and all hell broke loose.

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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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