Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 67

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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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Jean Brown had become so fixated on Asterion that he treated Leon as if he would tear out his own liver and gallbladder for him. Like prey caught in a trap, Jean was fated to be drained of every last drop of sweetness until Leon’s death.
Leon was a kind and adorable child, but his demeanor toward Jean Brown was peculiarly harsh—when I assigned Jean as his escort in the fourth iteration, Jean’s body was never without fresh wounds.
At the time, I had sent Leon to a boarding school outside the Capital for his studies, and I sent Jean along to serve him. When the two returned during their holiday break, Jean always had something broken on his body. Then, after Leon entered the Royal Knights—famous for selecting members based on handsomeness and beauty—Jean began to waste away. He died before Leon did.
Even after that, whenever I placed Jean and Leon together, something went wrong for Jean. I’ve made it a habit to keep them separated. There has never been a single good outcome from them meeting face-to-face.
“Aster. Make sure Jean doesn’t even glance back, even in jest.”
Fearing he might take my words lightly, I added Aster as an additional safeguard. The moment I heard Leon had arrived, I opened the door first and cupped his face in my hands.
This boy has grown taller again. I had to stand on my tiptoes just to reach his face.
“Look only at me, Leon. There’s nothing in that corner.”
“Yes. There’s nothing in the corner.”
You really do listen well.
With my hands still cradling Leon’s face, I met his gaze and stated my business. Leon stared at me just as intently as I stared at him, then leaned his face so close it seemed he might fall into my eyes before pulling out a single sheet of paper and thrusting it before me.
“You’ve been having requests like this frequently lately, so I prepared a contract.”
“A contract?”
“Yes. One where you’re happy, I’m happy, and everyone is happy.”
Where in this world does such a thing exist?
Though I harbored doubts, I decided to examine it first. I took the paper Leon offered and continued to remind him of what mattered.
“Leon. Look only at me.”
“Thank you.”
Thank you? For what?
I couldn’t understand why he said such a thing, but since he kept his eyes fixed on me and didn’t even glance at the corner where Jean Brown stood, that was good enough. Now I should take this opportunity to examine the contract he brought.
The contract’s contents were remarkably simple.
In exchange for continuing to take my place, once the regular study period ends, appoint Asterion Rocksburg as Rosalite Rocksburg’s official assistant. And grant him the authority to stand beside me as my partner in official capacities, even if it’s after Glen Hofen’s turn. Finally, provide affectionate physical contact every single day. Do so even on days we fight. If duties like external work cause delays, make up for all the missed contact in one session.
The final condition certainly had many supplementary notes attached.
“What exactly do you mean by this affectionate physical contact?”
“From embraces to kisses.”
“Understood.”
Leon, you really do love warm embraces, don’t you?
Since it was nothing of great consequence, I decided to accept the terms. I signed the contract, stamped it with the Rocksburg seal, and returned it to Leon.
“If you ever come to dislike your sister fussing over you, you can void this contract anytime.”
“That will never happen.”
No, it will—you’re just not in puberty yet. When you get older, even looking at me will become unbearable, I’m telling you.
Of course, Asterion had never shown such a reaction, likely due to his sister complex, but there was no telling how that might change as he aged.
This child has never lived past his late twenties.
Once you reach that age, I’m certain I’ll become repulsive to you, and your sister complex will shatter to pieces.
“Return by tomorrow at the latest. I’m counting on you to handle the remaining matters.”
“Yes. I heard there was a rockslide accident in the Diamond Territory due to the recent rain. Please investigate while you’re there.”
“Very well. I shall.”
….
…What? Did I say I was going to Uncle’s Residence?
Well, I must have gotten an explanation from Violet on the way here.
I decided to hurry and resolve matters quickly. I drafted two copies of a certain consent form to be submitted to the Duke and Uncle Louis—sending one ahead via messenger pigeon, and personally visiting Father to have him stamp the other.
This level of preparation was necessary if I was to retrieve Glen.
I told Jean, who was still being dragged around by Aster with his eyes covered, that he could finally open them and look around. Then I immediately headed to the Stables and called for Elizabeth.
If there had been rockslides from the rain, the roads would naturally be treacherous. Taking a carriage would clearly make us late, so riding was my only option.
Even with considerable obstacles in the way, my beloved Elizabeth could easily leap over them.
Our Elizabeth is, after all, the finest horse!
To explain just how excellent Elizabeth’s bloodline is, I would need to start with tales of her ancestors serving as military horses in the northernmost nation of the Cerepia Federation—a story I haven’t yet had the chance to tell anyone.
Aster probably wouldn’t care about such things, but I should definitely discuss it with Jack sometime.
Gripping the reins firmly, I confirmed that Aster was following in full armor, then headed toward Uncle’s Residence, a thirty-minute journey by carriage. If things didn’t go smoothly, I might need to ask Aster to use his strength.

◇ ◆ ◇

Riding deeper into the forest from the most populated village in the Diamond Territory, a mansion covered in ivy came into view.
No matter how many times I saw it, it was always majestic and gloomy—as if it perfectly expressed Uncle’s personality. That man’s expression, his eyes, everything was so lifeless that I could never tell what he was thinking.
Compared to him, Father could almost be described as lively. Even though his life’s motto was to keep business brief. And when he goes dancing, he actually becomes aggressively cheerful.
After handing Elizabeth over to the Marquis’s servants, I encountered a familiar face on my way to Uncle’s Office.
The man recognized me as well and greeted me with apparent pleasure.
“Welcome, Young Master. You arrived faster than expected.”
“If I’d known I’d be rushing over like this, you could have given me a heads-up.”
“Your hands and feet work so efficiently, Young Master. Why would I need to?”
The man, older than me but always maintaining perfect courtesy toward me, was my cousin and the future Marquis Louis—Benjamin Diamante.
Those lifeless eyes of his were still unsettling to look at. Why did everyone in this family have dead eyes except for Dylan?
“You’re seeing Father first, not the Marquise?”
“Why? Do you have a problem with that?”
“How could I possibly harbor displeasure toward you, Young Master? I’m merely curious.”
Right. You’ve always been a curious child. So curious about everything that you once put a poisonous carrot on Dylan’s table to see if it would kill him?
What made this man truly wicked was that there had been no malice in that act. In the previous cycle, he hadn’t intended to kill Dylan—he was genuinely curious about the carrot’s effects. When Dylan ate it and died, he simply thought, “Oh? He really died?” and treated Dylan as if he’d never existed from the start. That was what terrified me most.
So Glen must have felt threatened after losing Dylan as his apprentice and protector. After all, Dylan had been protecting the family from Benjamin’s whims.
“You’ve been following me around since earlier out of curiosity, haven’t you?”
“As expected, you know me well.”
No, I don’t know you. Not at all. I don’t understand you one bit.
Avoiding his gaze as much as possible, I shook my head and found Uncle’s Office, announcing my arrival and waiting for the door to open.
As I ignored Benjamin’s tedious jokes, the door finally opened, and a middle-aged man appeared—resembling Father but with the same lifeless eyes as Benjamin.
Uncle Louis, whose eyes were as dead as ever and whose under-eyes were darkened as if from recent hard labor, read the consent form I’d sent ahead via messenger pigeon, then tore the paper to shreds right before my eyes.
“I’m afraid I cannot consent to this.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s not entertaining in the slightest.”
That blasted amusement!
This is the fastest way to reclaim Glen, so why doesn’t Uncle understand?
The consent form that Father had already approved contained a clause requesting permission to demolish part of Uncle’s Mansion in order to retrieve Glen. I had carelessly assumed that busy people would naturally grant such a request.
I never imagined that reclaiming Glen would be connected to Uncle’s idea of amusement.
“Benjamin.”
“Yes.”
“You know something, don’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Will you tell me?”
“The young lord who runs about on foot will surely be magnificent.”
These fools who stake their lives on amusement.
Anger surged through me in that instant, but I forced myself to remember how Father and I both go mad for dancing, trying to account for their perspective.
Yes. When you work yourself to exhaustion every single day, there comes a time when you want to tease yourself and find amusement in it.
“Jean Brown.”
“Y-yes?”
“Where is Glen?”
“…The Tower!”
The Tower? What is that? There was such a structure in the Marquis’s Mansion?
Since it was something I had never heard of or seen in all my years living, I hurried to the window of Uncle’s Office, opened it, and leaned out to look around.
Because I had extended myself as far as possible to examine things in detail, Aster grabbed my waist out of concern for my safety, which paradoxically allowed me to relax and survey the surroundings more carefully, and after finally discovering it, I gasped in horror.
It really exists. A Tower.
“Such a structure existed in this place?”
“I built it.”
Marquis Louis with those lifeless eyes approached my side and gazed at the Tower with a satisfied expression.
Judging by how one cannot fathom what he thinks about in his daily life, it is certainly something Uncle did, but why on earth would he build such a thing? And Glen is up there? Glen the Princess? A princess trapped in a tower?
“Allow me to explain.”
Benjamin, you’re excited too?
The silver-haired, golden-eyed curiosity seeker closed his eyes briefly as if recalling the distant past, then recounted the old story to me. Watching this so-called heir to the Marquis speak such nonsense with such gravity made me acutely aware of how bleak Diamante’s future appeared.
“The genesis was the Marchioness’s proposal to test whether the young lord was worthy of becoming Glen Hofen’s wife.”
“And then?”
“We built it.”
“That’s all?”
“Yes.”
This is precisely why Grandfather said he had nothing to leave to that bastard Louis, cast him out of the house empty-handed, confined him to the Marquis Territory, and forbade him from ever leaving for the rest of his life.

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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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