Help, I'm in Another World and All the Men Are Are So Dangerous! [BL]-Chapter 98: A Mother’s Fury

It wasn’t just their absence—there wasn’t even any sign that they’d ever been there.

Rocco forced his trembling legs forward, stepping past the lobby and further into the building.

He looked around, his wide eyes darting this way and that, but there were no sounds, no movements—nothing.

"Why...? Where did everyone go...?"

He knew Ragar and Georgio were safe, at least, so that was some relief.

However, what about everyone else?

And what about the state of the annex itself?

This wasn’t how it was supposed to look.

It felt desolate, almost as if it were a place no one intended to return to.

But this was his home—his cherished, irreplaceable sanctuary.

Why was it like this?

Rocco had only moved into the main house yesterday.

In his mind, it was never meant to be a long stay.

He had planned to return home as soon as things settled down.

But to think that, in just one day, his home could be gone.

"Is anyone... anyone there?" Rocco called out, his voice trembling.

Who could have ordered something so cruel?

Was it his father?

Or Sylas?

Rocco still didn’t understand why he had been summoned to the main house in the first place.

Had it all been a trap?

To do something like this to his home couldn’t have been an act of care—it had to be calculated, deliberate.

Even though he instinctively knew there was no one left, Rocco refused to give up and ran upstairs.

He scoured the kitchen, the grand hall, and the rooms where everyone used to gather.

He searched every corner, every place that might hold a trace of life.

But no matter where he looked, the result was the same.

No one was there.

The truth was undeniable now: there was no one left.

This wasn’t his home anymore.

It was just an abandoned building, empty and lifeless.

Realizing this hit him like a wave of despair. Grief welled up inside him, threatening to overflow.

The pain of having no place to belong was unbearable.

The annex had been his sanctuary, the one place that allowed him to survive.

How was someone like him supposed to endure life in the main house, a place full of true maniacs?

Tears streamed down his face as he walked aimlessly, sniffling and letting out quiet sobs.

The sorrow and helplessness weighed heavily on his chest.

Then, suddenly, a sharp noise broke through his thoughts.

Crash!

It sounded like something falling nearby.

"...Is someone there?" Rocco whispered, his voice barely audible as his heart leapt in his chest.

Rocco turned toward the direction of the noise.

It had come from the hall where his room was located.

Could it be one of the servants cleaning his room?

Ignoring the dim, gloomy atmosphere that enveloped the mansion, Rocco’s eyes lit up with hope as he took off running.

As he approached his familiar bedroom, he noticed the door was slightly ajar.

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

Someone was there, after all!

Feeling a thrill of relief, Rocco burst into the room with a wide grin.

"I’m back! ──... Wait, huh?"

Rocco had thrown open the door and strode in triumphantly, ready to announce his return.

But the sight that greeted him made him freeze in his tracks.

It wasn’t one of the burly servants of the household, nor was it Ragar or Georgio.

Standing unsteadily in the middle of the room was a woman.

Her once-lustrous hair was now dull and messy, and her dress, far removed from its usual elegance, was tattered and stained.

"...Mother?"

Rocco’s voice wavered as he spoke, drawing her attention.

She turned her head to face him, her eyes blazing with an unsettling mix of anger and hatred.

As her gaze locked onto him, the fury in her expression only grew more intense.

Slowly, she raised her right hand, revealing a glinting object—a knife.

"Rocco... I’ve been looking for you," she said, a thin smile spreading across her face.

The warmth in her expression unsettled Rocco more than anything else.

He couldn’t even muster a polite smile in return.

Instead, he took a step back, his mind reeling.

This was his mother, the woman who always preferred extravagant attire, now in a filthy dress with disheveled hair.

What had happened to her?

More importantly, what was she doing with that knife?

"What are you doing, Mother?" Rocco asked, his voice barely above a whisper, still in shock.

The moment the words left his mouth, her smile vanished.

In its place was a twisted mask of rage.

Her eyes narrowed, and she raised the knife with a steady hand, pointing it directly at him.

"Because of you... It’s all because of YOU!" she screamed, her voice shaking with fury. "Do you have any idea how much humiliation I’ve endured because of you?!"

With a mad shriek, she lunged at him, the knife gleaming in her hand.

The suddenness of her attack froze Rocco in place.

He couldn’t even scream.

His legs refused to move as his eyes tracked her erratic movements.

"I should never have given birth to you in the first place!"

Her words hit him harder than the sight of the knife.

The pain of those words lodged itself deep in his chest, sharper than any blade.

It was that pain—more than fear—that paralyzed him completely.

He felt his strength drain away, his body refusing to respond.

Time seemed to slow as he watched the blade descend toward him, the gleaming edge cutting through the air like a predator closing in on its prey.

In his previous life, Rocco had been frail, unable to go out often.

But still, he had been an ordinary boy.

He had a family he adored, a family that loved one another deeply, and his parents had, of course, loved him unconditionally.

That love never wavered, even in the end.

His parents had gone out of their way to buy the latest volume of his favorite novel, Whispers of Steel and Starlight, and through their tears, they placed the book in his hands.