“Thank you, Cassian. I’ll treasure it.”
He spoke sincerely, but it still felt insufficient. His overflowing heart made his breathing quicken again. Hugging the book with one arm, Bliss suddenly leaned forward toward Cassian and pressed his face close.
“Huh?”
At the soft sensation against his cheek, Cassian blinked in confusion. For a moment, he did not understand what had just happened and simply stared at Bliss. The boy, cheeks flushed red, smiled shyly and said,
“Thank you. You really are my sweetie. My Daddy number three.”
Only then did Cassian grasp what had just occurred, and his mind went blank. It was absurd enough that he had been kissed by a kid like this, but hearing such outrageous nonsense from someone the size of a peanut was even more ridiculous.
“What do you mean, Daddy number three?”
He could guess where “sweetie” had come from, but “Daddy number three” made no sense at all. Frowning, he asked. Bliss answered as if it were obvious.
“Daddy number one and two are Daddy and Papa in America, of course. So you’re number three.”
“Ah….”
Only then did Cassian understand. Right. This brat had fathers.
Realizing a beat too late that his thoughts had wandered somewhere inappropriate, he cleared his throat hurriedly.
“Get in. We need to go.”
“Okay.”
Obediently climbing into the passenger seat, Bliss turned back to him before fastening his seatbelt.
“Let’s come see birds again tomorrow. I want to see that bald bird again.”
“No.”
Bliss’s bright face turned pale in an instant. As if the world had just collapsed, he looked utterly stricken. Deliberately avoiding that expression, Cassian continued flatly,
“I have work, so I can’t play with you. Instead, how about drawing the birds we saw today?”
“What? We can’t play together? Why?”
His voice was full of disappointment and sadness. Cassian caught sight of the drooping brows and trembling large eyes and suddenly felt uneasy.
Damn, I didn’t expect him to be that disappointed.
But that was not the end.
“I, I came all the way here to play with you… I thought we’d be together every day….”
Seeing the child trail off miserably, Cassian’s resolve weakened dangerously. For a split second, he even felt the urge to cancel his schedule.
That’s ridiculous.
He immediately crushed the thought. This was his only chance to spend a night in the forest with his friends and do the kind of foolish things he had never done before. He could not give that up. Instead, he chose to make the child give up.
“I’m sorry, Bliss. But when you’re an adult, you can’t play every day like you do. You have responsibilities.”
He tried to soothe him gently, but Bliss’s expression did not change.
“But… then….”
Then what am I supposed to do?
Bliss looked up at him again, but Cassian did not waver.
“I’m sorry, Bliss.”
At the repeated apology, Bliss finally understood. It really would not work. He was terribly disappointed, but he could not throw a tantrum. Before coming here, Papa and Daddy had reminded him several times.
“Be polite and don’t cause trouble. Don’t be stubborn and insist on your way.”
In other words, if someone said “No,” he had to give up immediately. And this was that moment.
“…Okay.”
In the end, Bliss muttered in a small voice. Cassian said, “Good,” and patted his head.
“When I finish my work, we’ll spend the whole day together. I promise.”
“Okay.”
Bliss nodded, then looked up again.
“When will your work be done?”
Cassian stroked his chin as if calculating.
“Well, about a week?”
“A whole week?”
Bliss cried out, going pale. Unable to suppress his guilt any longer, Cassian quickly added,
“It can’t be helped. But I’ll finish as quickly as possible.”
“…Mm.”
Bliss nodded gloomily. Cassian straightened up.
“Fasten your seatbelt and sit tight. I’ll finish packing quickly.”
Then he added with a smile,
“When we get back, let’s wash up and have a snack. There are videos about birds. It’ll be fun to watch them together.”
“Okay. I like that.”
Bliss nodded again and sat properly. After fastening his seatbelt, Cassian closed the passenger door and hurried to gather the equipment. Since he had decided to spend the whole day with Bliss, he intended to do it properly.
This is about as much as I can do.
And true to his word, he played with Bliss until dinnertime.
“Yaaawn.”
Bliss stretched, letting out a long yawn. He wiped the tears gathered at the corners of his eyes with a finger and looked back down at the book, but drowsiness returned almost immediately.
This is boring.
Frowning, he flipped through the pages roughly. It was already the second day of playing alone. When he had first received the gift from Cassian, he had been overjoyed. But actually reading it seriously was unbearably dull. Why list scientific names and classifications? Wouldn’t it be enough to say canary, oriole, canaries like candy, orioles like jam? Why did he need to know the weight, the lifespan, and these difficult names scribbled beside them? And worst of all, there were too many words he did not understand.
“This is boring!”
Finally he shouted and flopped backward onto the bed. Even looking at the drawings had quickly lost its appeal. Lying there staring at the ceiling, he blinked.
What should I do?
The castle was far too quiet. The servants did not appear unless they had tasks to do, and there was not a single person inside the castle who could play with him. He had barely survived one day, but by the second he felt like he might die of boredom.
“I wish I could at least watch a drama….”
He muttered and sighed again when he heard a knock. Shortly after, a servant entered.
“Hello, Young Master Bliss. The Duchess is asking if you might spare a moment. She would like to have tea together, if that pleases you.”
“I’ll go!”
Before the servant had even finished speaking, Bliss shouted. Finally, something to do! He rolled off the bed and dashed across the room. The servant hurried after him.
“Young Master Bliss, wait a moment. I’ll guide you. Please wait!”
The servant rushed ahead and began walking. Bliss tried to contain his excitement as he followed quickly.
“Bliss! Come in.”
Sitting in the tea room, bathed in sunlight streaming through the window, the Duchess smiled warmly when she saw the child enter behind the servant.
“Good afternoon, Duchess.”
Placing one hand over his chest, Bliss greeted her politely and climbed onto the chair the servant had pulled out. Once the servant poured tea for him and left, the Duchess pushed a plate of sweets toward him.
“Thank you for coming. It’s terribly dull to drink tea alone. Thanks to you, I can enjoy my tea time today.”
Bliss picked up a cookie and answered,
“Please call me anytime. I’m bored too.”
Then he let out a small sigh.
“Cassian is busy, so I have to play alone. I came all this way to play with him, and I’m so pitiful.”
“Oh dear, is that so?”
The Duchess spoke sympathetically, though she already knew. She knew that her only son had left a precious guest behind and gone out.
That ungrateful boy. He could endure it for just one month.
To ignore such an adorable child—especially a guest who had come all this way to see him—was truly rude and heartless.