Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are Are So Dangerous! [BL]
Chapter 58: A Family Visit and a Mafia Trap

Chapter 58: A Family Visit and a Mafia Trap

His cheeks flushed pink, and an unbidden, soft smile curled his lips.

Sylas, who was watching this unfold at close range, widened his eyes in surprise and audibly took a deep breath.

With a sudden jerk, Sylas lowered his head abruptly, hiding his expression from view.

Rocco tilted his head, puzzled by his brother’s strange reaction.

When it became clear Sylas wasn’t going to explain himself, Rocco gave up trying to peek at his face and began to step back—until a memory suddenly struck him.

"W-wait!" Rocco exclaimed, grabbing Sylas’s shoulder in a moment of panic.

"Brother, are you hurt? You went into the lake to save me...!"

The image of amethyst-colored eyes piercing through the haze just before he lost consciousness in the lake flashed through Rocco’s mind like a vivid replay.

Frantically, he darted around Sylas, scanning his body for any signs of injury.

At first glance, there didn’t seem to be any visible wounds, but Rocco couldn’t shake his concern.

Had Sylas overexerted himself while saving him?

Despite his efforts to change the course of events, Rocco ultimately failed to alter the outcome.

Sylas still ended up diving into the lake, and things arguably turned out worse than in the original story.

After all, Rocco, who wasn’t supposed to be drenched at all, was now soaking wet as well.

"...Why are you worried about me? You’re the one who fell," Sylas said, flicking Rocco’s forehead with a ping.

"Pya!" Rocco yelped, letting out an odd sound before rubbing his slightly reddened forehead with his fingers.

Despite his initial dejected expression, he couldn’t help but let it melt into a soft smile.

"I only wanted to protect you, Brother, so don’t worry about me!" he declared.

Sylas’s usually impassive face shifted into an uncharacteristic expression of surprise.

Seeing that he had managed to elicit such a reaction from Sylas filled Rocco with newfound confidence.

He grinned smugly and continued, his voice brimming with sincerity.

"I’m just so glad you’re not hurt!"

For the briefest moment, there was a softness in Sylas’s expression—a flicker of something that felt almost like affection.

"──...What an idiot you are," Sylas muttered under his breath.

But Rocco dismissed the notion as a mere illusion—something his mind must have conjured up to comfort itself.

He told himself it was nothing, ignoring the warm glow spreading in his chest.

After seeing Sylas off properly and returning to the mansion, Rocco found himself half-forced back to bed by the ever-worried Ragar and Georgio.

As Ragar fed him slices of apple with an insistent "ahh," Rocco frowned deeply, lost in thought.

"Mmm... munch, munch. Something’s off. Munch, munch. Definitely strange... munch, gulp."

Between bites of the neatly cut apple slices, he muttered his suspicions.

Ragar who is draping a blanket over Rocco’s shoulders, tilted his head in confusion as he continued slicing more apples.

"What seems strange, Young Master?"

Rocco perked up at the question, puffing out his chest proudly. "Ahem. You heard me say that my brother and father came to visit, right?"

"Yes, but... what’s strange about that?"

"It’s super strange! Those two people hated me. Why would they bother coming to visit me? They must be plotting something!"

The idea that they might genuinely be concerned about him was so improbable it didn’t even cross his mind.

He dismissed it outright as an impossible premise.

That left only one explanation.

It was a trap.

Clearly, they had concocted some kind of scheme to drag him down.

They were joining forces for some nefarious purpose.

What kind of trap could they possibly set at a sickbed visit?

Rocco had no idea.

But that didn’t matter.

His genius-level intellect couldn’t always be expected to detect such simple plots.

Obviously.

As he sighed heavily, pondering his predicament, Ragar, who had been quietly listening while feeding him, looked troubled.

He hesitated before finally lowering his eyebrows and speaking.

"...Forgive me for my misunderstanding, Young Master, but I just can’t seem to understand. Why are you so convinced that your family dislikes you?"

"Huh? Convinced...?"

Ragar’s face was filled with genuine puzzlement, as if the very idea was incomprehensible to him.

Upon hearing the words "misunderstanding" and "convinced," Rocco paused for a few seconds, and then nodded his in realization.

Ah, of course.

Only he, the only one, who knew the story of the original novel, so it wasn’t surprising that Ragar might misunderstand.

It seemed that the pure-hearted Ragar genuinely believed Rocco’s father and brother had come to visit out of simple concern for him.

Oh, no, no, no.

That wasn’t the case at all.

This wasn’t just any noble family—it was the world of the mafia.

Tough mafia men don’t go visiting someone out of the goodness of their hearts.

"Ragar, you’re such a good guy. I really love how pure and kind you are!"

"...Pure? Kind? Oh, you must mean yourself, Young Master. Yes, I deeply admire your innocent and noble heart."

Huh? Something seemed a little off about the conversation, but... oh well!

Rocco decided not to overthink it.

Misunderstandings happen, after all.

He nodded and smiled brightly.

Patting Ragar’s head gently, he praised him for being so pure and kind.

Ragar purred like a contented cat and smiled in return.

"Anyway, it’s fine! I’ve got you and Georgio, so I don’t need anyone else. My real family is right here. So, there’s no problems at all!"

Rocco tossed the blanket aside and wrapped his arms around Ragar in a tight hug.

Startled, Ragar quickly placed the plate of apple slices on the bedside table, then hugged Rocco back just as tightly.

Warm and cozy—it was perfect.

Burying his face in Ragar’s fluffy ears, Rocco rubbed and nuzzled them to his heart’s content, utterly enjoying the blissful moment.

But suddenly, he felt someone else quietly hug him from behind.

Startled, he jumped up in alarm.

"Wh-who goes there?!"

Cold sweat ran down his back as he whipped around to see who it was.

Upon recognizing the figure, the tension drained from his body, leaving him slumped and relieved.