Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 75

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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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Perhaps the deceased had been acquainted with the killer and was deliberately lured to this place. After all, this room hadn’t been assigned to anyone in particular, nor was it scheduled for use today. Moreover, with such a large fireplace and a generously sized chimney, the smell would dissipate easily—it would have been nearly impossible for anyone but Aster to notice.
In any case, this was a murder with purpose. Whatever the circumstances, it wasn’t my concern, and it didn’t seem like some pleasure killer had wandered in. I would simply remain obedient to the Crown Prince and return home.
Just to be safe, I secured the windows firmly, gathered Aster, and with an armful of game pieces and blankets, made my way to the Crown Prince’s chambers.
Tonight, even if he ordered me to leave, I intended to stay with him. Of course, Jack and Aster would be there as well.
“Your Highness! Your darling Rosalite Rocksburg has arrived!”
I should greet him normally so as not to startle the child.
Upon reaching the Crown Prince’s door, worried he might be trembling at the news of a death, I announced myself in a playful tone and received permission to enter.
Since a maidservant dispatched from the Royal Palace opened the door for me, I was able to enter despite my arms being full of luggage. I spread out my blankets and pillow near Theodore’s bed, then arranged them on the floor.
“What on earth are you doing?”
He asked rather quickly.
As I finished laying out the blankets and asked the maidservant for an additional quilt, then began fluffing my pillow in preparation for sleep, the Crown Prince finally demanded an explanation.
“I’m spreading out bedding.”
“Why?”
“To sleep here.”
“Why?”
“I thought you might lose sleep, being alone in a house where someone has died.”
“Leave.”
“I refuse.”
The Crown Prince seemed about to retch at my audacity, but upon noticing Lucius’s presence, he regained his composure.
Lucius appeared quite bewildered by the sight of the Crown Prince spreading blankets on the floor to follow my example.
“Lucius, what are you doing?”
“I intend to sleep here as well.”
“…May I ask your reasoning…?”
“I’m frightened of sleeping alone.”
Even Lucius was still human, after all. Outside, thunder and lightning were now crackling, and somewhere within the villa prowled someone who had murdered a person by shoving them into a fireplace. It was entirely reasonable to be afraid.
I myself couldn’t sleep alone in such circumstances. I would hold hands tightly with Aster and Jack and sleep together.
As I nodded in agreement, Theodore began putting on the gloves and overcoat he had removed, as if preparing to leave.
“Where are you going?”
“I’ll vacate the room so the two of you can rest together.”
“Now, now—propriety between a man and woman!”
“Are the Rocksburg Young Lady and I not a man and woman?”
“How could we be? When we work together, such distinctions are meaningless.”
My words seemed to strike a chord, for this time Lucius nodded thoughtfully. Perhaps he too found something resonant in them. Indeed, what does gender matter between colleagues?
“Leave.”
“This is all for Your Highness’s safety. Please bear with it for one night.”
“Are you saying you’d die in my place?”
“If necessary, I would.”
If I’m going to lose the Crown Prince on my watch and gain an international incident to boot, I might as well take one more gamble with sixteen-year-old Rosalite.
When I spoke with genuine conviction and flopped back onto the bed, Theodore fell silent for a long moment before uttering something entirely unexpected.
“Do you… really like me that much?”
What was that, some elementary school nonsense?
His remark conjured images of children teasing each other—”You actually like me, don’t you?”—spinning through my mind. But I judged that showing displeasure would only invite further pestering, so I answered with composure.
“Yes, I like you tremendously. Now go to sleep. You won’t grow if you stay awake at night.”
Good, he finally seemed to have nothing more to say.
The man appeared thoroughly flustered by my response, then quietly removed his gloves and outer coat before returning to bed. Since we were all gathering here anyway, I asked if Jack and Aster could sleep here too, and Theodore shot back that I always did as I pleased, so why not just decide for myself?
I had a nagging feeling I’d heard that from someone else before… Had I really been acting so arbitrarily?
Well, it hardly mattered now.
Taking advantage of his permission, I had Aster’s bedding spread beside me, and when Jack finished his duties and came to report, I grabbed him and had him lay a blanket down next to Aster before settling him there.
Now we were perfectly safe. According to Jack’s report, he’d instructed the attendants to secure the windows and doors more thoroughly, and ordered them to move about only in groups of two or more—so their anxiety should have eased somewhat.
Once this rain stopped, I’d wake everyone in the dead of night and return to Bienar Tourist Port. As for Lucius and Imperial Princess Irene, I’d have them return to land first, see to their preparations, and arrange their departure back to the Empire—it seemed best if we all moved together.
The luggage could be retrieved later by sending someone. There would be plenty to do once I returned home. I’d need to reschedule my meeting with the Imperial Princess, and I’d have to give those Diplomatic Administration fools a piece of my mind for letting Lucius in as a porter without verifying his identity…
I had someone dim the lights and settled in to sleep, my mind churning with various concerns before I drifted off quickly.

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Tap.
Tap, tap.
And someone shaking me awake jolted me from sleep.
“Young Lady, wake up. Young Lady.”
What was this? Had something happened? Had the disaster I’d been dreading finally struck?
A disaster… a…
“What’s happened!”
The memory of the corpse in the fireplace sent me lurching upright, but Jack clamped his hand over my mouth, urging me to be quiet since everyone was sleeping. The man’s face was pale with fear as he pointed toward the window.
“There’s a strange sound, miss.”
“A strange sound?”
Tap, tap, tap.
There was certainly an odd sound.
“Isn’t it just the rain?”
“No, it isn’t.”
“You seem confident.”
“It absolutely isn’t.”
If it wasn’t rain, it must be the wind.
I yawned as I spoke, but Jack wasn’t convinced. He thrust his hand under my armpit and hauled me to my feet, then kept pestering me to go check it out right away.
“Look, you’re just being paranoid.”
“Just go check, please!”
He was making quite a fuss in the middle of the night.
I scratched my back through my nightclothes, and unable to resist Jack’s urging, I crept toward the window.
Of course, since we were on the second floor, I couldn’t spot anything unusual beyond the window.
Tap. Tap.
“There’s nothing out there.”
“But the sound keeps coming.”
“That’s true, but…”
I felt a tremor emanating from Jack, who had now linked his arm through mine. What was this? Was his hand actually shaking?
“Jack.”
“Yes?”
“Are you frightened?”
“Do I really seem that unafraid to you right now?”
Well, I’d assumed someone who’d killed enough people to die a hundred times over wouldn’t fear anything in this world.
When I asked what he was so terrified of, Jack answered with surprising composure, naming the very thing that frightened him.
“Ghosts.”
“Ghosts?”
“Ghosts.”
“…I see.”
In a world where magic and curses existed, countless executioners had tortured and killed using every method imaginable—and while Jack looked like the sort who’d happily slaughter alongside a ghost in a horror film, I supposed even he could fear the supernatural.
I did my best to empathize with Jack’s anxiety and carefully opened the window, leaning my head out.
Listening intently to determine where the strange sound originated, I realized it was coming from near the entrance hall below.
“I’ll go check it out.”
“What? Where are you going?”
“The entrance hall.”
Since it was cold at night, I threw on a robe and stepped out of the room. Jack immediately scurried after me, grabbed my arm again, and refused to let go.
“I’m coming with you. You’re not going alone.”
“I’ll be fine on my own.”
“I won’t be fine.”
He could have just stayed in bed snoring away like Aster, but the boy was far too sensitive—this was becoming a problem.
I reassured Jack that it was nothing and descended the stairs carrying only a small lamp. The tapping grew louder as we approached the door.
Tap, tap!
“Be careful, Young Lady, be careful! Really, really be careful! I can’t be left behind and die!”
“My ears are ringing.”
Jack had shouted while gripping my arm so tightly that my ears throbbed, and the ringing made my head spin. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them, reaching for the entrance door.
Bang!
The wind was absolutely ferocious.
Outside, a tempest raged as if the world were ending, lightning flickered across the sky, and thunder rumbled with a deafening crack. The wind howled so wildly that the moment I turned the handle, the door tore from my grasp and swung open with such force it nearly shattered against the wall, and rain poured down on me like it was being dumped from buckets.
Drenched by the downpour, I searched for the source of the tapping sound that had Jack so anxious, but all I could see were garden trees bending as if they might snap.
“Ugh, ahhh! Ahhh! Kyaaaaa!”
Startled!
I was about to tell him there was nothing and to go back to bed when another sound nearly burst my eardrums. Wait—did Jack just scream?
“Did you see it, Young Lady?! Just now, that dark thing! It went whoosh! Whoosh! Wheeeee!”
“There’s nothing there.”
“There is, I’m telling you!”
Stop this—my arm is going to fall off.
Jack seized my arm and shook it while hopping up and down, and I feared it might actually dislocate. Yet I lacked the strength to push him away. I simply swayed along with his frantic movements, desperately searching for whatever dark object he claimed to see, but my eyes perceived nothing at all.
“I’m sorry. I wish I could be more helpful.”
“Ugh….”
You’re going to cry at this rate. Empathy truly matters in moments like these.

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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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