Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are So Hot! [BL]-Chapter 167: Confessions and Obsessions

See? He said things like that with such an unbothered expression.

"...Um, do you... maybe hate me now?" Damien blurted out without thinking.

Theo’s golden eyes widened slightly.

"S-sorry. I know it’s ridiculous to ask after everything I’ve done, but... if you do hate me, just say it. I’ll give back the territory, and I’ll work to repay all the money you’ve spent on me, even if it takes time—"

"Damien," Theo cut him off gently.

Leaning in, Theo silenced Damien with a soft kiss.

"Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel insecure," Theo said softly.

"No... it’s my fault," Damien muttered, only to be silenced again with another kiss.

How unfair. Theo always knew exactly what to do to leave him speechless.

After pulling back, Theo took a deep breath, his expression growing serious.

"I hate you," Theo said.

Damien froze, his heart seemingly stopping.

In the next instant, however, Theo’s face was obscured by a thick, dark mist. It was the telltale sign of a lie, created by magic that exposed falsehoods.

Damien exhaled shakily, realizing he’d just narrowly avoided a heart attack.

"Ugh. Even saying that as a lie feels disgusting," Theo remarked, frowning. "See? The spell works perfectly. The stronger the lie, the darker the mist. So, now you know I don’t hate you, right?"

The mist faded, revealing Theo’s face once more, now wearing a sheepish smile.

"Y-yeah... I get it," Damien replied.

And he also realized that if Theo ever did hate him, he’d probably die on the spot.

"Sorry if I made you uneasy. I’ve been so busy lately that we haven’t spent as much time together," Theo said.

"No, I’m the one who should apologize for asking something so stupid," Damien replied quickly.

Theo bowed slightly, but Damien felt he was the one at fault for letting his insecurities get the better of him.

"Let me make this perfectly clear while we’re at it," Theo said, closing his eyes and taking another deep breath.

Uh-oh. Damien braced himself, wondering if he was about to hear something else heart-stopping.

"I love you," Theo said.

Damien felt like his soul had left his body.

Delivered with Theo’s trademark sincerity and striking looks, those words hit like a fatal blow.

His heart was racing so loudly it was almost deafening.

Just as Damien was thinking that, another wave of confession hit him.

"I love you."

"Hah!"

"I’ve liked you since the first time I saw you."

"Haa!"

"I’m falling more and more in love with you."

"I can’t see anyone else but you, Damien."

...

...

...

"I’ll never let you go."

"As long as you’re with me, nothing else matters."

"I want to lock you away in the estate, Damien."

"Huh?"

"I want to make it so that you can’t live without me."

Wait... the tone of this confession is starting to shift.

"I even want to be eaten by you, to become one with you."

"Uh, Theo? Maybe we should calm down for a second?"

Damien was taken aback by Theo’s intensity, but when he saw the mist lingering around him, his unease grew. There had been no hint of fog when Theo spoke earlier, and it was unsettling.

"I-I’m sorry," Theo stammered. "I just let my true feelings slip out a little."

Theo looked embarrassed, but Damien realized that "just a little" might not have been entirely true.

Part of Damien was... oddly pleased by it, though it was a bit frightening.

"So, anyway, does it make sense now that I love you, Damien?"

"Y-yeah..."

Damien could feel his face burning, still reeling from the intense confession. His cheeks were hot, and his heart was racing.

"But, as I said earlier, no matter how much I love you, it’s not like I can always be with you," Theo continued, his tone now a bit heavier.

Hm? That sounded a bit different from what he said before.

"On lonely nights, when you’re feeling down, it’s natural to crave some warmth."

"That’s why you should make sure you have many people to turn to."

"But..."

"Especially since you’re far more lonely than you realize, Damien. You can’t work properly if there’s no one by your side."

Damien could sense that Theo wasn’t lying.

He didn’t need to worry about Damien this much.

"And, of course, there will be times when I won’t be around."

Theo gave a wry smile, and Damien’s mind wandered for a moment.

That’s right—one day, Theo would get married to someone else.

It was his duty as a noble, something he had explained to Damien before.

Damien had resigned himself to it, but it still hurt.

"To be honest," Theo added, "if I were to indulge myself, I’d want you to make a lot of lovers. I’d worry that you’d focus too much on me, but if you had several, you’d be busy enough to not worry about it."

Damien was already struggling with keeping up with Theo and the other six lovers.

It was a terrible situation, but at this point, he couldn’t even say who was the most important to him.

"I’d prefer a situation where you’re too busy keeping all your lovers happy, and I’m the one comforting you."

Was Theo a saint or a devil?

Damien sometimes felt like Theo was trying to ruin him.

"If, and I mean if, you wanted to be with someone other than me, what would you do?" Damien asked, his voice slightly trembling.

Theo’s face immediately clouded over with a dark mist.

Damien flinched.

Of course, Theo would say something like that—it seemed like a perfectly natural response from someone who was a little self-deprecating. But the darkness around him made it clear that Theo wasn’t exactly telling the truth.

Damien had to quickly try to backpedal.

"Oh, um, that’s never going to happen, so let’s pretend I didn’t ask that!"

He shouldn’t have asked such a reckless question.

"Well, anyway, go ahead and make as many lovers as you want, Damien. I’ll allow it."

Theo smoothly shifted the conversation away from the earlier question.

It felt like Damien had just gotten a brief glimpse into Theo’s deeper, more dangerous side.

And yet, Damien still felt warm inside, knowing how much Theo truly cared for him. It made him feel strangely giddy.

Maybe they were just a couple of fools in love?