Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are So Hot! [BL]-Chapter 225: A Gathering of Hearts

Reflecting on their excessive behavior, Damien realized that Sebas, despite his sternness, had let them off the hook a bit. He didn’t intervene during the moment of passion and only initiated his endless lecture session afterward. That likely meant today was a relatively free day, without pressing matters to attend to.

If there had been something urgent, Sebas would have walked in no matter what. Both Damien and Theo knew that for a fact.

Still, it was time to get themselves together.

"Let’s get cleaned up," Damien said with determination.

They needed to wash off the lingering evidence of their morning escapade and shift into a more responsible mindset.

The bath was the first step toward reclaiming a semblance of composure.

Damien took Theo’s hand and headed toward the bathroom.

Knock, knock, knock.

There was a knock at the door again.

"Yes?" Damien called out.

What could it be?

The door opened just a crack, and Sebas’s voice filtered through.

"For today, please use the bath one at a time."

"...Understood," Damien and Theo both answered in unison.

...

After his bath, Damien sat at the table in the lounge, waiting for lunch to be prepared. That’s when a thought struck him.

This was the first time he’d taken a bath alone since arriving in this world.

What kind of life have I been living up until now...?

The realization brought a swirl of emotions—joy, embarrassment, and a touch of nostalgia.

As he waited for lunch, he cradled his head in his hands, reflecting on his recent past with a complicated mix of feelings.

Theo had returned to his room momentarily but was due to come back soon for lunch. He had mentioned needing to take care of some urgent correspondence and minor tasks before joining Damien.

Knock, knock, knock.

Lost in thought, Damien was startled by another knock. This time, it was Arba’a who entered the room.

"Master Damien, Master Theo and Sebas have arrived. Shall I let them in?"

"Thank you, Arba’a. Yes, please do." 𝓯𝓻𝒆𝙚𝒘𝓮𝙗𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝒍.𝙘𝓸𝙢

"Understood."

As Arba’a left, Theo and Sebas entered and took seats next to Damien.

"Welcome back, Theo," Damien said, offering a warm smile.

"I’m back, Damien," Theo replied with a gentle smile of his own.

"Was there anything urgent?" Damien asked.

"No, nothing particularly pressing. If there’s something you’d like to discuss, I’m all ears," Theo replied.

As expected of Theo—he’d already sensed Damien had something on his mind.

"Well, actually..." Damien began, just as Ithnan and the others entered the room, having finished their morning training.

Almost as if on cue—or perhaps it truly was planned—Zima announced that the food was ready, and lunch was brought out for everyone.

Today’s main dish was some kind of steak, possibly from a type of meat Damien didn’t quite recognize.

There was also a vegetable salad and a soup with bread.

He still didn’t have a great understanding of the ingredients, but since everything tasted good, it wasn’t much of a problem. He’d have to start learning about them eventually, though.

"Let’s eat."

"Let’s eat!!"

Everyone echoed Damien’s words in unison.

For some reason, it had become a habit that Damien would always say the grace before meals.

He didn’t understand the customs here very well, but since Sebas and the others didn’t say anything, he assumed it was fine.

He took a bite of the salad.

It was fresh, and the vegetables had a crisp crunch to them.

Next, he took a bite of the bread.

It was warm and delicious, freshly baked.

A little while ago, Lupusregina had started baking the bread for them.

Of course, it couldn’t compare to someone who had been a chef for decades, but it was still very good.

Personally, Damien preferred Lupusregina’s bread—but perhaps that was just a bias because he knew her.

Well, good food was good food, so there was no problem.

After filling his stomach with delicious food, he felt content and turned his attention back to Theo.

"So, the thing I wanted to talk about is about the future..."

He was about to continue when Theo suddenly shoved some bread into his mouth.

"If you’re going to talk about that, let’s wait until after we’ve finished eating," Theo said, smiling brightly.

"Huh?"

Damien chewed on the bread in confusion.

After lunch, everyone gathered in the lounge, and Sebas made tea for them all.

It was a real "everyone."

Theo, Leonide and the others, of course, as well as Ithnan and the rest, including Arba’a, who was on door duty today.

Elyon had also come out from the forest in the backyard, and the only one missing was Elyric, who was apparently still at the distant Elf village, which was hard to get to.

"Damien~♡"

Then, to Damien’s surprise, Elyon had brought Elyric with him.

Elyric, who hadn’t been able to meet up with Damien for a while, immediately jumped onto Damien’s lap and became clingy.

Since there were many people he hadn’t met before, Damien introduced them, but everyone just smiled awkwardly since Elyric didn’t introduce himself and immediately jumped into Damien’s lap.

...The only one looking envious was Tis’a, so Damien decided to let him sit on his lap later.

So, suddenly, all of Damien’s lovers were gathered.

What was going to happen now?

At the long table where everyone had seated, the birthday seats were occupied by Theo, Damien—who still didn’t quite understand the situation—and Elyric, who was sitting on Damien’s lap.

Once everyone had their tea and snacks, Theo stood up from the seat next to Damien.

"I apologize for calling you all here today."

Ah, so Theo was the one who gathered everyone.

What could this be about?

Given the people present, was it something about Damien’s mansion?

"The reason I gathered everyone here is simple. Damien has something he wants to discuss with all of you."

It was about Damien, after all.

What? What was going on? He didn’t have anything to discuss with everyone.

"Now, Damien, please go ahead and talk about what you were going to bring up during lunch."