Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 60

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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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“There is no wicked person among those who love needlework!”
Hmm….
What on earth was she talking about?
I observed their every action and word, yet understood nothing, so I calmly looked toward Jack for guidance. But even Jack—whom I trusted—seemed equally bewildered by Violet’s meaning, leaving me utterly adrift on how to respond.
However, among those gathered, one person seemed to comprehend Violet’s words. Asterion’s face flushed with emotion, and he bowed deeply to her.
He spoke of how Master had taught him all these years, but Violet demurred, insisting she could no longer be called Master by someone like him. Leon countered that a teacher remains a teacher forever, his words stirring something profound, while I remained completely lost.
“Well…, both perspectives seem equally valid….”
Could we not simply knock through another wall and expand Father’s office instead?
I offered what seemed like a reasonable compromise, but it appeared only Jack was actually listening to me.
Since the other party showed no sign of yielding, Jack suggested we proceed with the construction. I nodded in agreement, drafted the construction plans, and wrote a letter to the Princess requesting her visit to the Duke’s Residence.
To achieve my objective, I needed the assistance of the dark mage who accompanied the Princess.

◇ ◆ ◇

I sent a letter expressing my hope that the Princess and her cherished dark mage would grace the Duke’s Residence with their presence, only to receive a reply questioning what nonsense I was spouting.
In response, I wrote back that if she did not come, I would inform the Queen of all the mysterious tales surrounding the curse totem that had been in the Crown Prince’s Palace. Her reply arrived promptly: she would visit soon, and I should prepare myself.
Even a Princess fears her mother’s nagging. How amusing.
For this reason, today brought news that the Princess had finally decided to visit, prompting me to arrange a modest tea party.
I was helping Lily and Violet set out the dishes on a table arranged in the Indoor Garden near Father’s office, when one of the people I had summoned entered the garden.
“Papa!”
“Rosalite!”
I stopped helping the two women and laughed brightly as I rushed toward Sage Oswald, who laughed heartily in return, lifted me effortlessly into the air, spun me around, and set me back down.
“The way you’re grinning so mischievously tells me you want something from me!”
“Only you notice these things so quickly—you truly are a genius!”
“Ha ha ha! I am rather brilliant, aren’t I!”
“Rather? You’re extraordinarily brilliant!”
Sage Oswald laughed with unbridled delight at my complete agreement, then proceeded to pinch and distort my face as he asked what I wanted from him.
Since Sage Oswald’s casual familiarity with me was hardly offensive, I answered with my lips pursed like a fish, but he grumbled that he couldn’t hear me properly that way.
“You could simply let go of my face.”
“But it’s amusing—let me enjoy this a moment longer.”
This old rascal really ought to age more gracefully instead of being so mischievous.
I obliged him with a few more moments of my fish-faced expression before finally escaping his grasp and showing him to his seat.
“More guests will be arriving soon. I’ll explain everything then.”
“You’ve surely arranged things well, but if it’s Magic Tower officials or the master of this house coming, I’ll take my leave.”
“That’s impossible. When have you ever seen me do something you dislike?”
“Hee hee hee. You’re quite the schemer, aren’t you?”
I pulled out a chair for Sage Oswald and poured him some freshly brewed tea. The man with lightning scars across half his body became utterly delighted and asked me how I had been.
Appeasing an old man was child’s play. The most entertaining thing that had happened recently was the episode where the Crown Prince had skin contact with me and then vomited, so when I mentioned it, Papa laughed so hard the Garden nearly flew away, and asked if that fellow had germaphobia.
Ah, now that you mention it, that does seem right. Every time I met him, he was always wearing white gloves. Could it be that wasn’t actually part of his formal attire set, but rather because he didn’t want to touch people?
“You old fogey! You absolute fossil!”
She had finally arrived.
I had even tried to bring pastries suited to Sage Oswald’s taste, but a voice like tearing silk came from the Garden entrance.
The woman approached me with strides that didn’t match her small frame, and without hesitation, threw an uppercut straight at my solar plexus.
“Gasp!”
So why does this pint-sized girl try to hit me every single time we meet!
“Do you think I’m a joke?! That’s why you keep ordering me around! So I almost sold out the kingdom because I fell head over heels for some man’s chest and buttocks! Why are you so pleased that I went directly to the Pope and got a certificate confirming he can’t fix my eyes?!”
“Wait, please! It hurts! Your Highness, I’m in pain! Spare my shins, I beg you!”
“Mother is our mother, but whenever it’s your word, she wakes up excited and tells me to do whatever you say! What did you do to our mother! My alcohol supply got cut off and I’m under house arrest, confined to the Royal Palace, and the first permission I got to go outside was to your estate—does that even make sense?!”
“That’s not something you should blame me for!”
“Wahhhhh! You terrible bastard! You terrible Rocksburg bastard! So both mother and daughter have such excellent judgment, how wonderful for you!”
Since the Princess was beating me with all four limbs, I could only curl up and protect my vital points. It was starting to genuinely hurt, but my escort just stood there watching what the Princess was doing, then casually struck up a conversation with John Brown, who had come along as her escort.
“You should be grateful I’m here. If it were Aster, he would have been dead the moment the Princess laid hands on the Young Lady.”
“You think I’d just take it lying down?”
“Haven’t you heard? Aster’s been an Aura Blade user for quite some time now, and you’re not even a snack for him. Ah, should I say the old man is just at the beginning of Swordmaster level for you to understand?”
Wait. Is “Swordmaster” a term only old people use?
Come to think of it, every time I mentioned Swordmaster, Aster would correct me saying Aura user. Anyway, Jack Brown—when does he ever fight with Aster, but now he’s really hyping him up. I can’t tell if they’re on good terms or bad terms.
“I don’t think I’d lose to a beginner who can’t even properly handle Aura.”
“Oh. Then shall I arrange a match for you next time? A deathmatch, shall we say?”
Ah, so this bastard was setting up a match hoping one of them would die.
As I was clicking my tongue at how cunning Jack Brown was, John Brown finally stepped in to stop the Princess.
John lifted the pint-sized Princess up, told her that was enough, soothed the girl, and sat her down in a chair at the tea table.
As the Princess wiped her whimpering face with her dress sleeve and sniffled, Sage Oswald, though he didn’t know the full story, handed her a pastry and told her to eat up.
The Princess accepted it gladly.
“By the way, where is the Dark Mage you’re always with?”
“What?! A Dark Mage is coming here?!”
As Jack and I brushed the dirt off my clothes, Sage Oswald’s eyes lit up as he asked where the Dark Mage was.
Dark Mages were rare even in our Kingdom, which had an overwhelmingly larger number of mages compared to other nations, but I never expected him to be this excited.
It was fortunate that I hadn’t mentioned that Ram Bart was a Dark Mage. Considering her current condition, she might have spilled all the family secrets to Sage Oswald and been whisked away to be dissected without anyone knowing.
From what I’d heard from Ram, the methods of becoming a Dark Mage and how to use Dark Magic were passed down as family secrets and were secrets that must never be told to outsiders, so it seemed best for me to keep my mouth shut.
Given that no research on Dark Mages had been conducted so far and no documents about their nature remained, there must be some reason for it. Generally, it was best not to do things you were told not to do. I didn’t want to end up like the extra who dies first in a horror movie after poking a hornet’s nest.
“She won’t come. She hates going outside.”
“But I have some matters I would like to consult with that Dark Mage about.”
“I understand what she can do and have knowledge of magic, so I can answer you sufficiently, you fool. Don’t treat people like fools, you fool.”
Yes, sir. It’s easy to forget, but you truly are a clever person. Since you don’t appear to be drunk today or hungover, I’ll trust you and speak.
I ordered Lily to bring the prepared item, and from the box, I took out a Rosalite Rocksburg doll with articulated joints and placed it neatly on the table.
The Princess’s expression crumpled in an instant.
“What is this? Last time you were selling bread with your picture on it, now you’re selling dolls? Do you really think that will sell? Are you insane?”
“This is a gift for the Crown Prince.”
“Explain that in detail.”
Goodness, you really do despise Theodore. The Princess’s tears dried up in an instant at the thought of the Crown Prince’s suffering, and a faint smile played at her lips as she examined the doll. It seemed the prospect of his torment had delighted her.
I had no idea where it was custom-made, but hearing that it resembled Theodore disturbingly well filled me with overflowing joy. I sincerely hoped the Crown Prince would think the same.
“The reason I sought out Sage Oswald, an authority on cerebral magic and magical devices, and a certain dark mage whom I believe has considerable expertise in curse magic, was none other than this.”
I explained the brilliant idea that had struck me that day in meticulous detail to everyone gathered.
I intended to gift this doll to the Crown Prince, and if he were to discard it, I wanted to activate the mechanism in the dead of night so that it would return to wherever the Crown Prince was peacefully sleeping of its own accord.
This doll would move even if torn to shreds, would continue moving even if burned to ash, and if it became unrecognizable, I wanted to keep manufacturing and replacing it.
Since there were several people from the Duke’s House in the Crown Prince’s Palace, replacing the doll or unlocking the windows leading to the Crown Prince’s bedchamber would be child’s play.
When I calmly explained this, Jack and John stared at me with expressions of horror, Sage Oswald wore a troubled face, and the four-span Princess looked shocked as she crunched on the pastries I had prepared.
“You really are a genius at tormenting people, aren’t you?”
“Ha, well, I suppose I am.”
“That’s a curse, you know.”
“I’m aware.”
“Your personality is truly rotten.”
Not words I wanted to hear from someone who uses curse totems to torment their younger brother.
Come to think of it, the curse that dark mage had used was merely something that inflicted fatigue on people. I wanted to request a rather advanced spell that would embed the Crown Prince’s location information into the doll so it could return automatically, and the question was whether he could actually accomplish such a thing.
Based on Ram Bart’s case, it seemed that just because a dark mage uses curses doesn’t mean they’re proficient in all types of curses.
“Among the magic that person is capable of, there’s a tracking spell that uses the target’s hair or fingernails, so it should be possible. And the reason that totem curse was so petty back then…”
The woman didn’t like that I was underestimating the Princess’s subordinate, so she added that the dark mage could perform other remarkable magic besides inflicting fatigue, and told me the story from back then.

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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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