Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are So Hot! [BL]-Chapter 173: Clinging Hearts

Even with so many people in the mansion, Master Damien still carried an air of solitude.

It was said he had a complicated, painful history, like a wanderer who had lost his way.

Sometimes, Tis’a heard from his brothers that Master Damien would quietly cry in hidden corners where no one could find him.

Thalatha, one of Tis’a’s older brothers, once stumbled upon such a moment and shared it with him. Why Thalatha was lurking in such a spot, Tis’a chose not to ask.

Thalatha, for all his stoicism, couldn’t express his loneliness easily. Yet another time, Tis’a witnessed Thalatha himself crying in a secluded spot—only to be found and embraced by Master Damien, who stroked his head gently.

For days after that, Thalatha had been in an unusually good mood.

...

Back to the point, Tis’a had realized Master Damien was lonelier than expected, so he made it a habit to hug him whenever he saw his hands free.

...Okay, maybe that was just Tis’a’s excuse to be held.

Being hugged by Master Damien was very intoxicating. He smelled good, made Tis’a’s heart race, and filled him with a warmth he couldn’t explain.

If he didn’t get regular hugs, Tis’a felt he wouldn’t survive. He had become addicted to Master Damien.

And this addiction wasn’t a joke—it was frighteningly real.

When Tis’a felt his emotions becoming too overwhelming during a hug, he would step back. But his older brother, Sitta, didn’t stop at all.

Sitta, who always claimed to love Master Damien’s scent, gradually extended the time he spent clinging to him.

Now, he refused to let go until someone interrupted. Worse, Sitta deliberately chose secluded spots where others were unlikely to appear.

To mitigate this, Tis’a often made a point of "accidentally" passing by to keep things reasonable.

Recently, though, Sitta had started giving Tis’a unsettling looks.

Tis’a decided he’d try to get on Sitta’s good side by fetching some of Master Damiens freshly laundered clothes—something Sitta found too embarrassing to do himself.

Arba’a, Tis’a’s older brother, also liked to hug, but after a particularly embarrassing incident when a human from the mansion caught him doing so, he became extremely self-conscious.

Tis’a wasn’t quite sure of the details, but Arba’a’s reaction had been so mortifying that he swore off hugging in public ever since.

Instead, Arba’a began sneaking into Master Damien’s bed at night. Sometimes, he would sleep there until morning, and though all the brothers tried to stop him with everything they had, they had never succeeded.

Whenever Arba’a wanted to sneak in, he would first ask if Master Damien was alone, and then announce his intention to sneak into the bed. Not once had they managed to stop him.

Just the other day, the four brothers had kept watch together, but by morning, Arba’a was once again in Master Damien’s bed.

They had checked every possible entry—doors, windows, even the attic—and even asked Sebas for help to investigate the secret passageways, but it was all for nothing.

Master Damien didn’t mind, though, so despite their frustration, the brothers had given up trying to stop him.

Ithnan, another of Tis’a’s older brothers, observed the situation with a sense of resignation, but Tis’a knew that Ithnan was the most clingy of them all.

Ithnan used to be the strongest, most dependable, and charismatic brother, but now, he seemed to have changed.

Though he still possessed those qualities, now Ithnan was always preoccupied with thoughts of Master Damien.

Whenever Master Damien passed by, Ithnan’s gaze would follow, and no matter how far away, he could always hear Master Damien’s voice.

Every conversation he had seemed to revolve around either "Master Damien the other day" or "I wonder what Master Damien is doing now."

Tis’a thought that if Ithnan liked Master Damien so much, he should just ask for a hug, but Ithnan didn’t seem to do that. Instead, he’d get overjoyed even if his arm just brushed against Master Damien’s.

Tis’a commented to Thalatha, "What do you think he’s doing?" and Thalatha responded, "Adults have it tough."

Tis’a thought to himself that if becoming like that meant growing up, then he wasn’t sure he wanted that.

Somehow, the conversation had veered off track, and now Tis’a found himself revealing all the embarrassing things about his brothers.

But anyway, Tis’a—and probably all his brothers—were constantly thinking about how to help Master Damien, who always seemed so lonely.

Tis’a thought it was best to stay by his side as much as possible, but recently, he had come up with a new idea.

The loneliness Tis’a felt started when his father, mother, and the rest of his family were gone.

Master Damien didn’t have a father or mother either.

Well, it wasn’t that they weren’t around at all—it seemed that meeting them was incredibly difficult.

Tis’a couldn’t be Master Damien’s father or mother, but what if he and Master Damien became each other’s parents? What if Tis’a could lay lots of eggs for Master Damien? That way, they could have a big family.

Tis’a thought that if they had a family, Master Damien wouldn’t feel lonely anymore.

Wasn’t this a good idea?

The only problem was that Tis’a didn’t know how to lay eggs, so he planned to ask Master Damien about it next time.

He was looking forward to it.

...

In the dead of night, when the entire mansion seemed to be asleep—

—or so one might think.

Recently, the mansion had been bustling day and night with work related to embezzlement.

Even now, someone somewhere was likely awake, buried in their tasks.

Within this ever-busy mansion, Damien was about to commit the first crime of his life.

This wasn’t some passive, unintended crime, like what had happened with Zima. No, this was deliberate.

To be precise, it was an assault.

While he couldn’t help but wonder how it had come to this, it was too late to turn back now.

Sitting on the bed in the bedroom, Damien waited for his accomplice to arrive.