Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are So Hot! [BL]-Chapter 155: Unexpected Complications

Leonide, however, kept pestering Damien to swap beds with the "illegitimate son." But Damien wasn’t comfortable sharing with three strangers he barely knew, so the arrangement stayed. Being the odd one out in a group of friends would be tough, Damien reasoned.

Though he felt guilty for making the "illegitimate son" share with him, there wasn’t another option. If it came to it, Damien resolved to sleep on the sofa. Going to Theo’s room? Not during this busy season—definitely not.

After giving water to the still-sleeping lizardmen, Damien had a quiet dinner at the table in his room with the reserved "illegitimate son." It was early, but Damien decided to call it a night.

Damien was more tired than he thought, even after sleeping in the carriage. Still feeling drowsy, he decided to put off introductions with the lizardmen and the "illegitimate son" until the next day, as neither of them showed signs of waking or speaking. Crawling into bed, he wished himself goodnight.

...

Damien woke to someone shaking him gently.

"Good morning, Lysander," he mumbled, half-asleep, as the boy who woke him pressed a finger to his lips, signaling silence.

Looking over, Damien saw the "illegitimate son" sprawled out in a hilariously wild sleeping position. Impressive, he thought with amusement, and quietly left the servants’ quarters with Lysander to have breakfast at the bedroom table.

The lizardmen still showed no signs of waking up, but their peaceful faces and healthy complexion reassured Damien they were fine. It was a solitary breakfast today; Theo and Elyon seemed to be absent.

"Do you know today’s schedule?" Damien asked.

"Yes," Lysander replied. "First, Lord Dalehaven is still occupied, so today’s experiment has been canceled."

So Theo was still busy. Damien, having recently learned some numbers, thought he might ask if he could help later.

"Additionally, the four of us will be on standby after our morning duties until the afternoon."

"Really? Why? Did something happen?"

Standby felt like a partial day off, which was unusual.

"Lord Rostov has advised us to accompany you for an interview with the new servant."

Ah, that made sense. Meeting the new hire as their senior staff was important.

"In our place, Lord Dalehaven’s Teacher will handle today’s duties."

"Wait, Elyon is helping with Theo’s work?" Damien asked, surprised.

Lysander nodded. Damien was stunned. Elyon pitching in was rare, and Damien couldn’t be more grateful. He decided to repay Elyon somehow.

"Master, there’s still a bit of time before Leonide and the others finish their morning work," Lysander said, glancing up shyly at Damien after breakfast.

It had been a while since Lysander had received any attention, with everyone busy lately. Though Damien felt a little guilty about taking a break when others were working hard, he decided to reward Lysander for his efforts.

"Only a kiss, though—the beds are full," Damien teased.

Blushing, Lysander nodded and closed his eyes. Damien leaned in, careful not to wake up the lizardmen.

...

Once Leonide and the others finished their morning tasks, Damien’s four servants—no, vassals—gathered in the lounge. Since new servants were joining, Damien decided to officially promote them to vassals.

Though their duties and benefits wouldn’t change yet, they were clearly thrilled.

Meanwhile, Leonide and the others were glaring at Lysander, who was glowing with happiness. They poked and prodded him in envy, but Lysander seemed unfazed, smiling in an invincible mood.

Damien found his vassals adorable. Not wanting any tension among them, he beckoned each one over individually and gave them a kiss.

Although it was technically against the rules to indulge during work hours, Damien made an exception for today. It had been a while for everyone, and truthfully, he felt a bit lonely himself. What was supposed to be a light kiss with each of his vassals turned into something much more passionate than he intended.

Just as he was sharing a kiss with Lorenzo, the door to the servants’ quarters creaked open. Startled, Damien turned to see the "illegitimate son" standing there, locking eyes with him.

Panicking, he tried to pull away from Lorenzo, but the boy held his head firmly in place, refusing to let go.

"Mmph! Mmph! Let me go!" Damien muffled, struggling.

The "illegitimate son" quietly closed the door and retreated back inside without a word.

"Haaah... L-Lorenzo!" Damien gasped once he was finally released. He turned to question him, flustered. "What were you thinking?! You knew we were being watched!"

"Sorry, Master," Lorenzo said with an unsettlingly excited glint in his eyes. "I got... excited thinking someone might see us..."

Damien froze. This Lorenzo was dangerous. At that moment, he and the other three vassals—Leonide and the rest—shared a silent understanding: they all agreed. Lorenzo was trouble.

...

After calming down, Damien refocused on the upcoming interview with the "illegitimate son."

In the lounge, Damien sat at the center of the table, flanked by Leonide and the others. The "illegitimate son" sat directly across, glancing between Damien and Lorenzo, his face red. Damien wished desperately that he would forget what he saw.

Lorenzo, equally embarrassed, hung his head in shame. If he felt that embarrassed, Damien thought, he shouldn’t have done such a thing in the first place.

Clearing his throat, Damien began anew. "Uh, so, let’s start with your name and age?"

After introducing themselves, Damien waited for the "illegitimate son" to do the same. It felt oddly like a part-time job interview. However, the "illegitimate son" opened and closed his mouth repeatedly, unable to get any words out.

"...Um, your name and age?" Damien asked again.

The "illegitimate son" hesitated, flustered, while Leonide tugged on Damien’s sleeve and leaned in to whisper.

"Master, could it be that he can’t speak?"

Damien froze.

"Wait, you can’t speak?" Damien asked aloud without thinking.

The "illegitimate son" nodded eagerly, looking relieved to be understood.

Seriously? Damien thought. The slave trader hadn’t mentioned this at all. Then again, it was probably part of the buyer’s responsibility to assess such things. It wasn’t fair to blame the trader.