"You're not a Miller."
At the boy’s firm words, Bliss immediately raised both eyes viciously.
"What did you just say, you idiot. If I’m not a Miller, then what am I?"
He shoved his face forward as if about to lunge at the much bigger boy in front of him, but instead of shrinking back, the boy snorted and repeated himself once more.
"You're not a Miller."
"You little—!"
This wouldn’t do. When someone spouts nonsense, the best answer is a beating. There was no need for further conversation. Just as Bliss was about to swing his tightly clenched fist, someone from the group standing behind the boy suddenly shouted.
"All Millers have purple eyes!"
For a moment, Bliss faltered. Seeing his fist freeze midair, the boy seemed to gain confidence and shouted loudly.
"Yeah, you don’t have purple eyes. You must be a kid they picked up somewhere."
Then the others began shouting all at once.
"Don’t act like a Miller when you’re just a fake!"
"You’re not even a Miller!"
"You’re fake, a liar, a fraud!"
These bastards.
Rage surged through Bliss, but there were too many of them. Five or six boys surrounded him, yelling, and even for "Bliss Miller," it wasn’t easy to strike them all down at once. More than anything, the words"All Millers have purple eyes" seemed to keep gripping his fist.
It was true. It had been bothering him for a while now.
But to point it out like that was cowardly. Dirty bastards. Despicable trash.
"I am a Miller!"
At his full-force shout, the boys surrounding him hesitated for a brief moment. Not missing that opening, Bliss shouted again.
"I don’t have purple eyes? Fine. Watch closely, you idiots!"
Soon, Bliss rolled his eyes wide and raised his clenched fist.
"I’ll make them purple right now!"
Before anyone could react, Bliss’s fist flew toward a place none of them expected.
Thud.
At the sound, the boys gasped in shock.
"Ahhh! W-What the hell is wrong with you?!"
The boy in front turned pale and screamed, but Bliss ignored him and continued to strike his own eye over and over.
Thud. Thud.
The boys, watching the scene, went white with fear, not knowing what to do before they started screaming.
"Y-You crazy bastard!"
"He’s insane!"
"Move, get out of the way! Mom!"
"Waaah! I’m scared, Mom, Mom!"
They scattered in all directions, screaming as they ran. Seeing that, Bliss immediately chased after them at full speed.
"You cowardly bastards! Stop right there! All of you, stop!"
As he weaved between the adults at the party, chasing after them, he kept hitting his own eye.
"Hey, look! Look at it! Isn’t it purple now? Isn’t it? Isn’t it?!"
"Aaaah! Aaaah!"
"Look at it, you bastard! Look! I said look!"
"Waaah! Don’t come closer, don’t come!"
As he chased the crying children like a mad dog, someone suddenly stepped in front of him.
"Hey—!"
Still hitting his eye as he ran, Bliss slammed his face into the man’s leg and tumbled backward. He almost hit his head on the ground, but at the last moment, the man grabbed the back of his head and stopped him.
"Hey now, are you okay?"
At the calm voice above him, Bliss froze for a moment. The impact had left his mind hazy, and it took him a while to understand what had just happened.
The man, kneeling on one knee and cradling Bliss’s head with a large hand, spoke in a worried tone.
"You’re not hurt anywhere, right? Does anything hurt?"
"Uh… yeah."
Only then did Bliss recall what had just happened. He quickly straightened up and looked around. The boys were already gone.
Realizing he had lost them right in front of him, frustration rose in his chest.
"Tch…."
If it weren’t for this man, he wouldn’t have let those bastards get away.
Thinking that, Bliss turned his head sharply—then froze when his eyes met the man’s.
Thick dark brown hair was neatly combed back, revealing a smooth forehead beneath. The man wore glasses, which rested on a well-shaped nose, making his appearance look even more intellectual.
Bliss stared blankly at the man’s deep, almost black eyes. The man gave a faint smile and asked,
"Did you lose them because of me?"
His gentle voice sounded, in a way, almost teasing. Bliss answered with a straight face.
"No. They made fun of me, so I was chasing them to teach them a lesson."
"Really? What could they have said to tease someone as cute as you?"
The man smiled again as he spoke. He even tapped Bliss’s cheek lightly with his finger.
Bliss felt anger rising at this man’s behavior, but the man, unaware, added,
"Maybe they just wanted to get close to you because you’re cute."
At that, instead of answering, Bliss struck his eye again.
Thud.
As if telling him to try saying that nonsense one more time.
"...Oh."
For the first time, the man seemed startled, letting out a quiet exclamation. Only then did he seem to realize the seriousness of the situation. Still smiling, he apologized.
"Alright, I’m sorry. How about you stop hitting your eye? It’d be a waste of such a cute face."
"Hmph."
Instead of answering, Bliss hit his eye hard once more.
The man’s lips were still smiling, but his eyes were not. Stroking his chin with one hand, he spoke in the same calm voice.
"Then I’ll be on my way now. Goodbye. I hope you enjoy your evening."
The man lightly ruffled Bliss’s hair before standing up. As he rose, he seemed endlessly tall—like Papa or his eldest brother, Nasaniel.
Bliss swallowed.
Soon, the man turned and disappeared into the crowd.
"Huff… huff…."
At some point, everything had grown quiet. When Bliss came to his senses, he was alone.
Even with one eye bruised deep blue, he was still seething, his shoulders rising and falling as he breathed heavily. He clenched both fists tightly.
"Who do they think they are, talking back to me? I’m Bliss Miller!"
There was no one around anymore.
Wiping his nose with his sleeve, Bliss lifted his chin proudly and looked around. Only unfamiliar adults stood in small groups, chatting.
Neither Papa nor Daddy was anywhere to be seen. None of his siblings either.
Cowardly bastards.
Of course. They saw him alone and thought it was their chance to pick a fight. But Bliss Miller wasn’t someone who would lose to such petty tricks.
They didn’t even know their place, daring to come at him.
You think I’d lose just because I’m alone? That was enough of a lesson, right?
"It’d be a waste of such a cute face."
Suddenly, the man from earlier came to mind.
Now that he thought about it, his pronunciation had been strange. It was English he had never heard before.
Why did he speak like that?
Just as he tilted his head in confusion—
"Bliss, there you are."
A voice suddenly called out from behind him.
Bliss whipped his head around, and his expression instantly brightened.
"Papa! Daddy!"
He ran over and leapt straight into Papa’s arms, who had crouched down with open arms waiting for him.
Daddy, who had also been waiting with open arms, looked deeply disappointed and muttered,
"Bliss, I was the one who called you…."
Clearly upset that his youngest son hadn’t run into his arms, Daddy pouted slightly as he looked at Bliss.
But Bliss didn’t even get a chance to respond.
The moment Daddy saw his face, he froze in shock and shouted.