Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are Are So Dangerous! [BL]-Chapter 250: No Eating, No Exceptions

He was going to get eaten.

The same fear he had felt when nearly getting devoured by a beast before resurfaced, and his eyes welled up with tears.

Instinctively, he blurted out a desperate plea for his life.

"U-Ugh! I don’t wanna get hurt...! P-Please don’t eat meeee!!"

"Gh—! H-How can you just say things like that so casually...?!"

Hearing Rocco wail dramatically, Laxus clutched his face with both hands, his entire head turning an even deeper shade of red.

He looked like he was physically writhing in agony.

He seemed to be trying to soothe Rocco, but Rocco who is completely trapped in his own panic, couldn’t register any of his words.

The terrifying image of himself getting chomped by Laxus wouldn’t leave his mind.

In a desperate attempt to calm himself, he buried his face into Laxus’s neck—his usual go-to spot for comfort.

Laxus always smelled nice.

He inhaled deeply, rubbing his nose against Laxus’s skin, staying there for a few seconds as he let the familiar scent soothe him.

Finally, after regaining some composure, he let out a deep breath and lifted his face, flashing Laxus a sheepish, goofy grin.

"Ehehe, sorry for freaking out a little... Wait, Laxus?!"

Something was wrong.

While Rocco had been busy snuggling and inhaling Laxus’s scent, something had happened.

When he looking up, he found Laxus standing there with a dazed expression, both nostrils streaming blood.

It was an eerily peaceful expression—one that reminded Rocco of Sylas’s "departed soul" look from the other day.

It was a scene he had seen before.

Déjà vu.

Panicking, Rocco quickly grabbed a tissue and started wiping the nosebleed away.

At the same time, he lightly smacked Laxus’s cheeks to bring him back.

After a few repeated pat-pats to the face, Laxus suddenly jolted back to life.

"—Ah! That was close. I nearly defiled Rocco’s innocence right here in broad daylight..." freewebnøvel.com

"Hmm? What? Did you say something?"

"...Everything you just said was completely wrong, and it’s adorable. Rocco, you’re so pure, right down to your bones."

Rocco puffed out his cheeks in protest. "I feel like you talking about something else."

Laxus mumbled something, while he tilting his head in confusion.

Rocco hadn’t caught most of what he said—his voice had been too quiet, and he spoke so quickly that the words blurred together.

Oh well, whatever.

Laxus looked satisfied, smiling in that relaxed way of his.

If he was happy, then it probably wasn’t anything too important.

"Yeah, yeah, you’re right," Laxus said while nodded his head as if coming to a realization. "That just woke me up completely. It’s still too soon to eat you, Rocco. I should teach you a few more things first—otherwise, this whole thing would seem way too criminal."

"Hmm?"

"Basically, I’ll take it step by step, so don’t worry. If I work on the body first, even someone as oblivious as you might start to catch on eventually."

"...What?"

Rocco had no idea what Laxus was talking about.

Not a clue.

But just to be safe, he pouted and stated firmly, "No eating. I don’t taste good."

Laxus just chuckled, nodding absentmindedly.

His expression was far too carefree, making Rocco suspicious.

Did he actually understand, or was he just humoring him?

Well, whatever.

At least Laxus had stopped his weird obsessive ranting.

His smile still looked a little unsettling, but Rocco decided to pretend he didn’t see it.

Yep. He saw nothing.

...

Ever since overhearing that conversation in the office, Rocco had started reading the newspaper.

Before, he hadn’t been allowed to access outside information freely.

However, after relentless pleading and negotiating, he had finally won the privilege.

Why had he been restricted in the first place?

Apparently, it was because of his tendency to "cause trouble"—or, to be more precise, his unusually high likelihood of getting caught up in dangerous situations and his reckless curiosity.

When it was put like that, he couldn’t really argue.

But still!

He was twelve now.

He wasn’t a little kid anymore.

He wouldn’t do childish things.

...Probably.

Anyway!

He had finally gotten his hands on a newspaper.

Recently, he had been reading it diligently, making sure he didn’t fall behind on the original story’s developments.

And that was when he realized something awful.

He was years behind.

The current king’s approval rating had plummeted to a historic low, while the crown prince’s popularity was skyrocketing.

Even though news about the rebellion wasn’t officially reported, rumors were spreading among the people.

And then there was the so-called "messy love drama" between the two major families and the royal court.

Sure, there was some romantic tension, but messy?

It wasn’t that bad... was it?

While reading through yet another grim, yet predictable, news report, Rocco’s eyes suddenly stopped on a particular headline.

His hand, mid-reach for a cookie, froze in place.

—"The Heirs of the Two Great Families: Who Will Be Their Future Brides? A Thorough Investigation!"

"Huh? What the heck is this?"

Underneath the bold, attention-grabbing title were large portraits of Laxus and Sylas.

From what Rocco could gather, the article was a shallow, speculative piece trying to predict who would become the wives of the two heirs.

It was clearly too ridiculous to be considered serious journalism, but it was exactly the kind of gossip that would attract readers.

Still...

So, it had come to this.

Laxus and Sylas had reached the age where people were already discussing their future marriages.

Eighteen.

The prime of youth.

The perfect age for these kinds of rumors to spread like wildfire.

In the original story, by this point, the two had already sworn their love to each other, and society was buzzing about their grand romance.

But the plot had changed.

So, of course, the newspaper headlines had changed too.

Accepting this as an obvious fact, Rocco kept reading.

"Hmm, ’The most likely candidates for their brides will be noblewomen of matching status.’ Well, duh."

What kind of fluff piece was this?

In a world with such rigid class divisions, nobles married nobles, and commoners married commoners.