Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 55

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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’d been the one to bring Father here, yet Luke was the one receiving all his attention while I was left in the shadows. The unfairness of it gnawed at me, so I wedged myself between Father and Luke, snatching the papers from his hands.
The documents outlined investment details for the Spaland resort to be built here.
“Well, well, our Luke Chatel certainly is remarkable, isn’t he? How does every venture you touch turn to gold? Even dig up the ground and hot spring water erupts.”
“Perhaps my virtuous conduct in daily life has been rewarded, Rosalite.”
“If merely living decently earned such rewards, I’d deserve ten times over.”
“I doubt you speak in earnest.”
“I’m perfectly serious.”
“That’s troubling. I shall summon a doctor.”
I jabbed the man’s ribs as he reached to call for the doctor he’d apparently kept on standby, then spun around to face the others and pulled Luke’s ear close, whispering urgently.
“Tell me honestly—did you regress? You can be truthful with me.”
“…Regress? What do you mean?”
He’d pinpointed the hot spring location with such precision that I’d wondered, but it seemed that wasn’t the case after all.
I told Luke to forget it since he didn’t understand, and embarrassed by my own baseless suspicion, I trudged into the building ahead of everyone else.
If it wasn’t regression, then Luke’s business acumen, his uncanny ability to see through my schemes, and all the accomplishments he’d built up to now were purely his own talent—and honestly, it was so impressive and made me so envious that I wanted to deny it.
But how could someone with such excellent abilities also possess such excellent luck?
I hadn’t known hot springs existed here either, so I’d sold the land at a pittance. Moreover, unlike when I’d established the Chatel Department, this transaction had been an outright sale rather than a lease, which meant my judgment had simply been shallow.
My stomach ached. Yes, to be honest, my stomach hurt so badly I felt like dying. Thinking of the fortune Luke would make from Spaland, my insides twisted so violently that I wanted to throw myself on the ground and thrash about, demanding we rewrite the contract. The pain was unbearable.
A luxury resort near the Capital? That was prime real estate, absolutely insane. The Bienar Territory had a tourist port with maritime routes to foreign nations, and the Edanelli Territory housed both the homes of the country’s top one percent and the world’s largest casino complex, so money flowed there like water.
Once Spaland opened here, it would attract hordes of foreign tourists, and the wealthy of Edanelli would spend their fortunes freely.
How much profit does one piece of land generate anyway?
Feeling wronged, frustrated, tearful, and stomach-sick, I looked around, confirmed no one was nearby, then pounded my fists against the wall repeatedly. I kicked a few times, threw myself on the ground and thrashed about, rolled around—and after all that, I felt slightly better.
“Phew, I’ll have to torment Luke with all my power using my position and authority later.”
For now, I’d use the excuse that we’re on the border between the Marquessate and Duchy to double the taxes.
If I coordinated with Uncle Louis and applied pressure from both sides, Luke wouldn’t want to cause unnecessary trouble, so he’d pay additional taxes to Father and Uncle Louis separately. After that, I’d conduct surprise inspections at random, nitpick the building construction, levy fines for illegal construction, and Luke would surely come forward with a solution first.
A share of the net profits would be nice, or having the Rocksburg House push its brands for store placement—either way works for me, Luke. I’m welcoming to both options.
Now in much better spirits, I hummed cheerfully as I stripped off my clothes in the changing room and slipped into the bath.
I soaped up at the shower station built in one corner, splashed water over myself to rinse clean, twisted my hair up in a towel, and settled into the hot spring, leaning my body against a nearby rock.
“Ahhhhh—so refreshing.”
My shoulders had been tense lately, and this felt like being brought back to life. It would be perfect if there were air bubble massage functions, but I couldn’t ask for that much.
I splashed hot spring water on my face and looked around—the Spaland building was still under construction, but the bath itself was beautifully designed with an open-air feel.
The source inlet was finished cleanly out of sight, the floor was slightly angled for proper drainage, and the rocks and vegetation, wherever they’d come from, were arranged with such elegance that they were pleasant to admire.
“Ahhhhh—this is what happiness feels like.”
I let out another blissful groan and sprawled out, leaning my shoulders and arms against the rock.
Peaceful.
The area was unpopulated, so it was quiet, the air was clean, the night sky was visible—this was truly wonderful.
Once it officially opens, it won’t feel quite like this, so I’ll have to visit whenever I have time. It’s not that far from home anyway.
I’ll tell Luke to build accommodations, then come here at night for a hot spring bath and a nap, and head home at dawn—that would be perfect.
My fatigue melted away and my spirits lifted, so I found myself humming the latest tune from Rocksburg Territory as I did the frog stroke in the steaming waters. No one was watching anyway, so a little splashing and swimming alone seemed harmless enough.
The bath was so expansive that I wondered what grew at the far end, and when I swam to the edge, I was astonished to discover several banana trees thriving there.
Perhaps the geothermal heat allowed them to grow despite the cold air. Who on earth designed this place? I’d have to call Luke later to find out, then invite them to our estate as well.
But when would those two arrive? Was Aster taking longer because of her injured leg?
I was splashing about with my hands on the edge rock when finally I heard the door creak open. The sound of water suggested Aster’s group had arrived at last.
Still, they’d gotten away relatively early. With Father in the men’s group, Luke probably hadn’t finished his business presentation yet, so they’d still be occupied.
Swimming leisurely back toward the entrance to greet Aster, I spotted Glen and his personal secretary Philip, both soaking wet, about to enter the open-air bath.
The moment the two men noticed me, their brows furrowed as if they’d witnessed something forbidden, and then their eyes went wide as they began shrieking.
“Ugh, uuuaaahhh!”
“Aaaahhh!”
“Kyaaahhh?!”
Good heavens, why were they screaming? They startled me!
Startled by their cries, I shrieked in turn, then blamed them for my fright and demanded to know why they were acting as if they’d seen a ghost.
Glen, despite not having been in the bath long, turned completely red and sank down into the hot spring water up to his neck.
“W-why is Rosalite here?!”
“If you’ve come to the hot spring, you enter the water. Where else did you think I’d be?”
“Is this the women’s bath?!”
Well… probably?
I’d rushed in without thinking, so I didn’t remember clearly, but given that the entrance was bright red, it was likely the women’s bath.
When I nodded confidently, Glen and Philip went pale, continuously apologizing and saying they’d leave right away.
“I’ll bring extra towels and fetch Jack Brown! Please wait here, Glen!”
“No need to hurry. Take your time—you might slip if you run.”
“The only one who isn’t in a hurry here is Rosalite!”
Why was he so angry?
Feeling hurt by Philip’s outburst, I decided to swim over to Glen to discuss how he’d been drinking water from another territory and seemed to be treating me rather harshly.
Glen immediately squeaked and wrapped his arms around his upper body, curling up further.
“W-why are you getting closer?! Stay back! Don’t come near me!”
“It’s hard to talk from far away.”
“Men and women must maintain propriety!”
“There’s nothing particularly worth seeing anyway, so there’s no need to worry…”
When I offered this self-deprecating remark to the rather rigid Glen, he suddenly frowned and shouted with an even sharper tone than before.
“I apologize for being so unsightly!”
Why did both Philip and he keep getting angry for no reason?
Was being a lord of Beloche Territory really that exhausting? Whenever I felt inexplicably irritable, the best cure was eating something sweet and getting proper rest.
I worried that Luke might not have prepared enough delicious food, so I glanced toward the lobby I’d passed earlier, and the door opened again as Philip re-entered the bath.
This time, the man wore a towel around his waist that hadn’t been visible before, and he called out urgently to me.
“This is the men’s bath!”
“Oh…”
So that was it.
I never would have guessed the red door marked the men’s bath. Though I suppose some places do paint them that way.
Realizing my mistake, I felt embarrassed and was about to rise from the water with an awkward laugh when Philip and Glen shrieked again.
Did the drinking water of Bienar Territory have some miraculous effect on the voice? Why were these two screaming at such ear-splitting volumes?
“Sit down! Please sit! What are you doing!”
“I’ll bring a towel, so please stay there! Don’t move from that spot!”
“No, I can just get out quickly—”
“Aaaahhh!”
“Eeeeeek!”
Would they please stop screaming!
Their combined chorus echoed off the mountain across the way, and the sound reverberating back felt like it would split my eardrums. I covered my ears and obediently sank back into the water as they demanded.
Finally, it grew quiet.
I’d always known Glen had a powerful voice, but Philip’s was surprisingly impressive too.
“Well, there are towels here already, so why fetch more?”
For reasons I couldn’t fathom, Philip had been desperately searching for a towel, so I unwound the cloth I’d twisted my hair up in and handed it to Glen.
When Philip arrived, I caught his eye to signal it was for him, but the moment our gazes met, he plunged his head underwater and began diving with bubbling sounds.
I mean, diving in hot spring water was fun and all, but my arms were getting tired—I wished he’d just take the towel already.
I considered diving myself, but the thought of opening my eyes in scalding hot water made it obvious my eyeballs would cook, so I abandoned the idea and turned my head toward the noisy entrance of the bath.
Philip was frantically stopping Father and his group from entering.
Finally, someone who could reason with them had arrived. I should tell them I’d wandered into the men’s bath by mistake and would leave right away.
“Duke—”
As I raised my hand to call out to Father, my body suddenly plunged underwater.
It turned out Glen had grabbed me and pulled me under.
“Ugh! Blub blub!”
I can’t breathe! Water up my nose! I’m dying! I’m actually dying, you mad child!
“Glub! Grrgh!”
This won’t do. I hadn’t wanted to resort to this method, but if I was about to die, I had no choice but to exploit his weakness.
Flailing underwater, I deliberately ignored the squishy sensation that suddenly filled my hand and instead wrapped my arms around Glen’s knees, throwing him over.

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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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