Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are So Hot! [BL]-Chapter 75: The Weight of Authority

Being seen naked in the bath? Well, that was fine. After all, baths were meant for getting naked, so there was no helping that.

But having someone wash his back, even with a towel between them, was another level of embarrassment. Having someone else touch his bare skin was a different kind of discomfort.

It was embarrassing, but it was common enough in stories and manga for friends to wash each other’s backs at hot springs, so maybe he was overthinking it.

...Hopefully.

"Alright. Then, please assist me with my bath," Damien said.

He gave a slight nod to the four attendants, who had now returned to their formal, composed expressions, their eyes downcast in what seemed like a trained stance of servitude. It was the polar opposite of their earlier energy, and Damien realized this must be how they were instructed to behave while waiting.

He made a mental note to learn how to properly give requests and commands during such moments. There really was so much he needed to learn.

Despite his inexperience as a master, Damien resolved to avoid embarrassing behavior and try his best.

...

"No way! Absolutely not! If I have to go through with that, then I don’t need servants! I’ll quit being their master!"

Damien was practically throwing a tantrum at this point. Any motivation he had earlier was completely gone, blown away by the shock of what just happened.

Embarrassing behavior as a master? Who cared about that now?

"Damien, every noble goes through this at least once," Theo tried to soothe him, but no matter how much Theo said, Damien wasn’t having it.

"I’m not a noble! And that’s something they do when they’re kids, right? I don’t care what you say, I’m not letting anyone dress me!"

When Damien had asked for help with his bath, Leonide and the others had immediately started moving toward him. He had wondered what they were going to do, and then they began to undress him.

When Damien resisted out of sheer surprise, they backed off quickly, but for a moment, all four of them had surrounded him, trying to take off his clothes. It wasn’t just embarrassing—it was terrifying.

Looking at the four attendants, who were now awkwardly standing around after his outburst, Damien turned around to Sebas for an explanation. As usual, Sebas’s expression was unreadable as he calmly stated, "Assisting with your bath includes helping you change as well."

Being dressed by someone else? Absolutely not.

It would be one thing to have help getting dressed in regular clothes. That, Damien could tolerate.

But this was the bath. Helping him change in this context meant getting completely naked—stark naked.

To be stripped entirely, with everything on full display... including his private parts.

And his attendants, while youthful in appearance, were all undeniably good-looking. It was like being undressed by a group of idols back on Earth.

Damien felt a strange rush of excitement.

No, not that.

It wasn’t that, but because it wasn’t that, it was even more unbearably embarrassing.

Impossible. Absolutely impossible.

"I’m not a baby!" Damien protested loudly.

Sure, there had been times when Theo had helped him change his underwear, but that was only because Damien didn’t know how at the time. And it had been Theo, after all, which made it somewhat bearable.

But thinking of these young attendants doing the same thing...

"No way! I’m quitting as their master!"

Damien, now on the verge of panic, saw Theo sigh quietly and move closer to embrace him.

"Damien, once a noble has spoken a word, it cannot be taken back. That is the resolve and dignity required of someone who stands above others. While you may not be a noble, as my partner, I want you to possess that same resolve and dignity."

Theo’s gentle hug began to calm Damien down, his warmth easing some of the tension.

"But..." Damien still couldn’t fully accept it, wanting to resist further. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Theo leaned in and whispered softly into his ear.

"Damien... they’re frightened."

Surprised by this, Damien looked toward the attendants. Their faces were pale, and they trembled slightly as they looked at him, their expressions filled with fear.

"What? Why...?" he asked, confused.

"They believe they’ve displeased you, that you’ve rejected them," Theo explained. "And once their master rejects them, they will be sent back to their families. They would have no choice. And if they are dismissed from the Dalehaven household, their futures will likely be grim."

It finally dawned on Damien what was happening.

It reminded him of who he used to be before he met Theo, before he developed any real confidence. He had lived in constant fear, desperate to please, worried that one wrong step would result in being cast aside. He had done everything he could to avoid angering the people who had power over his fate.

And now, he had done the same to these children—essentially telling them, "I don’t need you."

But these attendants weren’t even as old as he had been. They were much younger, though their composed demeanor and the work they performed made it easy to forget. If this were on Earth, they’d still be at home, playing without a care in the world.

Damien suddenly felt cold.

What had he been doing?

How could he, a grown man, lose control like this in front of kids who were younger than him?

Peering over Theo’s shoulder, Damien looked at the four attendants again—his attendants. Gone was any trace of the composed, capable servants they had seemed to be. Their faces were drained of color, their bodies curled in on themselves as they trembled, staring at him with pleading eyes.

Leonide even had tears welling up in his eyes.

Damien thought back to how he had felt in his own past. What had he wanted back then? What would have reassured him when he felt powerless? What had made him feel safe around Theo? What kind of attitude had he wanted from someone in a position of power over him?