Touch My Brother and You Die - Chapter 84

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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 heard recently that the contractor himself was a fire-attribute mage, which made it easy for him to refine materials and create original alloys. Yet where he sourced those materials remained an utter mystery.Of course, it wasn’t surprising that fire-attribute mages typically worked in that field. Most of the time, the attribute manifested because someone’s family ran a smithy or they’d been working at a furnace when—oops—they suddenly developed fire resistance and the attribute in tandem.
Of course, it wasn’t surprising since fire attribute mages typically worked in that field anyway. But in the first place, most cases of attribute manifestation came about when someone’s house was a blacksmith shop or they were working in a furnace and suddenly realized they had developed fire resistance and the fire attribute together.
It was rare, but fire-attribute magic could manifest in a chef. And that rare individual served as the head chef of the Aleine Royal Palace. Our nation’s reputation for seafood cuisine owed much to his efforts. The dishes he personally prepared using his power to revitalize dried seafood possessed such succulence and depth of flavor.
“….”
This was bad. I was starving. On top of the intense exercise I’d been doing, my stamina was depleting rapidly.
I bent my body to the left and knocked on the maid’s rest room, ordering them to prepare some snacks.
My remodeled office no longer had anything as crude as a small maid’s room. There was now a dedicated rest room exclusively for Violet and Lily!
The rest room, now three times wider than before, had a separate sleeping area, simple cooking equipment, a sofa and table, and I’d stuffed it with sweets so they could snack whenever bored.
If the goal was merely to fill one’s stomach, there was no need to go all the way to the dining hall—one could make simple toast right there.
No matter how many times I restocked the rest room with sweets, they’d all vanish on days when Aster came to work. But that was a burden I had to bear. When the other party was Aster, there was nothing to be done. I couldn’t tell him to starve, so I simply had to replenish the inventory.
Since I needed to fill my stomach first, I took Luke’s hand and headed toward the guest sofa. The moment I returned, Leon and Glen—who hadn’t even greeted me—suddenly shot to their feet.
How did those two manage such perfect synchronization when the partition prevented them from even seeing each other?
“Rosalite.”
“Hmm?”
Moreover, the two seemed fascinated by Luke’s visit and stared so intently that Luke appeared uncomfortable.
The man spoke to me, then gently pulled the hand he’d been holding toward himself.
“You should release my hand, I think.”
“Why?”
The moment I finished speaking, Leon drove his fountain pen straight into his desk with a sharp crack.
If only Leon had done that, I might have thought the boy had grown up and was becoming the strange-natured Asterion. But the truly shocking thing was that Glen drew his cane and extracted the hidden blade within, then drove it into the floor with a decisive thud.
Leon certainly surpassed him in raw strength and combat technique, but I found Glen far more terrifying. Why was that fellow hiding a blade in his cane so menacingly?
“I’d prefer not to die young.”
“I respect your opinion.”
Right. I didn’t fully understand it either, but backing off seemed like the wisest course of action now.
I quickly released Luke’s hand, transferred the documents that only needed a seal stamp to the guest table, and called for Jack Brown.
He’d been happily tinkering with toys in the Guard Break Room, and at my summons, he sprang out immediately, asking in his usual teasing manner what I needed.
“Come here and hold Luke’s hand for me instead.”
“Why?”
“The weather’s been bad, and it’s making him anxious.”
The moment I finished speaking, thunder rumbled outside, and as lightning flickered through the interior, Jack readily accepted and switched places with me.
Luke, now gripping Jack Brown’s hand instead of mine, stamped the seal in its designated spot and asked the man beside him a question.
“Does everyone who grows up in the Duke’s House end up like this?”
“Like what, sir?”
“Well…, somewhat…. Strange, I mean.”
“Ah, that. More or less, yeah. Everyone has to adapt to the Duke’s standards to survive.”
“Is the Duke really that unusual?”
“A genuine boss through and through, sir. According to Father, the previous generation was even worse. People these days say he’s actually quite reasonable and has an excellent temperament.”
“…Seriously?”
Perhaps because they were children, once I had them hold hands, they warmed up to each other remarkably fast.
As Jack flipped through the documents with a flourish and Luke stamped them with vigor, I watched with satisfaction before settling into my desk chair with chocolate jam toast in hand. The design was far too postmodern for my taste, and it occasionally unsettled me, but I appreciated the abundance of storage. The drawers glided so smoothly too. It had been ages since I’d had drawers with proper rails.
Still, I’d come straight from dancing—I hoped I didn’t reek. I lifted my arm to sniff for sweat and fluttered my clothes.
“….”
Never mind. It wasn’t as though I’d be standing beside anyone for long anyway. If the children came close, I could simply tell them to hold their noses.
As I retrieved a stack of documents from the locked drawer to resume the work I’d been doing before dancing, I noticed Asterion approaching me—nearly grown now.
Compared to last year, he’d grown terrifyingly tall, his head a full measure taller, his shoulders broad and sturdy, yet with just a trace of his childhood features remaining in his handsome face, he spoke to me with an almost childish whine.
“Sister, if you don’t mind, might I receive tomorrow’s portion in advance?”
“Tomorrow’s portion? …You don’t mean that warm embrace thing, do you?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m covered in sweat right now.”
“In our profession, that’s considered a bonus.”
“….”
How irritating.
“….”
No, no, no. I mustn’t think like this. Bad thoughts! Bad thoughts! What a bad Rosalite, thinking such things!
I shook my head vigorously to dispel the thought and decided to have a serious talk with Asterion. Until now, it had only been family, so I’d let him do as he pleased, but requesting warm embraces even when we had guests was becoming problematic.
Asterion was grown now; it was time to put an end to this.
“Asterion.”
“Why are you being so formal, Sister?”
“That thing…, can’t you stop doing it now?”
“Pardon?”
Asterion looked genuinely shocked, then reproached me for breaking our contract and the promise we’d made to do this for life.
Well, that is, Asterion’s point is certainly valid, but the thing is.
“You’ll be twenty in just over a year. You’re grown now. Both mentally and physically. We’re both adults now, and this embracing and clinging together—it looks rather…to others.”
“What does it matter what others think? I’m fine with it.”
“But even if you’re fine with it.”
The contract we’d made back then was compensation for bringing a child who was still studying and seating him in my position, so it would be inappropriate to continue the contract with Asterion now that he worked formally in my office.
Despite laying out various reasons, Asterion remained unconvinced, and I steeled my resolve.
I needed to be honest. This was a matter that demanded honesty.
It had been fine before, but lately Asterion’s warm embrace had become burdensome. More than anything, as he’d grown larger, when he hugged me, it felt like a wild boar charging into me, and I couldn’t help but grunt.
It was difficult. He still seemed to think he was petite in size, so Asterion would barrel into me with full force—something I’d been meaning to warn him about.
I hadn’t said anything for fear of hurting the boy’s feelings, but if not now, it seemed I wouldn’t have another chance for some time.
“Asterion, listen well.”
“Yes, Sister.”
“That thing….”
I took a deep breath and looked directly into Asterion’s eyes. I could do this. I could convey my true feelings!
“It’s revolting.”
I said it!
I closed my eyes, but I spoke!
I was delighted to finally voice words I had been holding back for days, but Asterion’s expression twisted in an instant.
Because I had spoken that repulsive word with my eyes tightly shut, Asterion’s complexion turned pale and his lips trembled, so I tried to propose a different reward, but Jack Brown let out a shriek that prevented me from speaking.
The man who had been watching us converse in hushed tones suddenly burst into laughter like a seizure, slapping the table and rolling across the sofa.
“Hahahaha! Ahahaha! Hehehehe! Hic! Hehehe! Ahahaha! Repulsive… Puhehe! Ahahahahaha!”
Jack, laughing like a madman, suddenly clutched his chest, saying his ribs had seized up, and continued laughing even as tears streamed down his face from the pain.
“Aha, my ribs, they’re going to break, hic, hehehe, ahahaha! I’m going to throw up, blech!”
At this rate, shouldn’t we call a doctor?
As I watched Jack with concern, Luke, still holding his hand beside him, patted Jack’s back. Luke seemed quite flustered by Jack’s outburst, but since Jack appeared to be in pain, he was trying to calm him down. What a good boy.
“Did you really mean repulsive, Sister?”
“I apologize, but there is not a shred of falsehood in my words.”
“Tsk!”
Since these were words I had been holding back all this time, I answered without hesitation, and Leon made his usual sound before turning around and leaving the office.
He left without even finishing his work, but understanding his shocked state, I decided to leave him be. I took the tasks Asterion had left unfinished and went to Glen.
“Were you laughing too?”
“…My apologies.”
It was refreshing to see Glen stifling his laughter, but if the reason was Asterion’s misfortune, it was hardly praiseworthy behavior.
I told him to maintain his dignity, and scolded him for carelessly driving his sword into the ground anywhere he pleased, then returned to my seat.
I would need to visit Asterion after finishing today’s work.
“When the weather clears, Luke, you will escort Jack Brown to the gate.”
Jack continued laughing as if his lungs were filled with air at my instruction and nodded, while Luke, whom I had known for several years now, complained to me that I still didn’t trust him.
It’s not that I don’t trust you, but if Father finds out you keep sneaking into the house, I’ll be the one who gets scolded.
Having spoken honestly, I continued working with Glen. Progress was slow with Leon gone. I would need to coax him back soon.

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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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