As expected, the surroundings were completely quiet. There was not a single sign of anyone.
Good.
He slipped out of the room and immediately began running in a hurry. Straight toward the snack bar where the treats were kept.
Chocolate chip cookies, caramel, jelly, candy, ice cream, pudding… All kinds of snacks fluttered through his mind. I’ll eat them all!
He was happily crossing the hallway when a door suddenly flew open and Ashley stepped out.
"Bliss, there you are."
Seeing Bliss charging straight at him, he immediately bent down and lifted the child with one arm.
"Uh…!"
Startled by the unexpected situation, Bliss froze as Ashley continued,
"You might have to greet them too, so it’s better to get you ready just in case."
Whaaat?
Bliss’s face went pale, but it was already too late.
"N no, don’t, no—"
He struggled in protest, but it was useless. His feet, which had been racing toward the snacks, were seized by Papa and dragged back into the room.
"Thank you for inviting us."
At the Duke of Strickland’s words, Ashley replied politely.
"The honor is ours. This is my partner, Connor Niles."
Following Ashley’s introduction, Koi smoothly introduced himself.
"Hello. I continue to use my maiden name. It’s a pleasure to meet you."
After shaking hands with the duke and duchess in turn, Koi naturally came face to face with their son standing at the end—and paused for a brief moment.
…Didn’t he say they were betas?
Most people with exceptional looks are typed, meaning they are alphas or omegas. Of course, there are rare cases of betas like that as well, but they are extremely uncommon. If Ashley had not told him beforehand, Koi would have assumed this man was an alpha.
The young man was as tall as Nasaniel, and his long, narrow eyes behind his glasses somehow made others tense. Though his overall impression was tall and lean, the sharp jawline and straight shoulders gave the impression of a firm, unyielding wall.
He looks unbelievably stubborn…!
Just as that thought crossed his mind, Cassian extended a hand and greeted him.
"Good afternoon. I am Cassian Strickland. Thank you for the invitation."
Yet despite Koi’s earlier assumption, the gesture of the handshake and the tone of his greeting were calm and impeccably elegant. Koi felt embarrassed by his own thoughts and, at the same time, realized for the first time, So this is what they mean by nobility.
"Koi."
"Ah—yes."
At the low voice, he snapped out of it and saw Ashley looking down at him. There was a smile at the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were not smiling at all. Koi hurriedly collected himself and searched for something to say.
"Ah, um. I heard you’re attending university?"
He spoke the first thing that came to mind, and Cassian corrected him with a composed smile.
"I’ve only received my acceptance. I have not officially enrolled yet."
"He’s still in high school."
The duchess added with a soft laugh, and Koi nodded.
"Ah… I see."
So around seventeen? Eighteen? Koi calculated roughly in his head, comparing him to the children. Younger than Nasaniel, older than Grayson and Stacy.
As he reached that thought, the duchess smiled brightly and spoke.
"My son is a little different from the typical beta, isn’t he? He’s often misunderstood."
Her face, bright with laughter, was filled with pride and affection for her child. Koi smiled back, inwardly relieved. Some people take offense when their type is mistaken, but fortunately the Duchess of Strickland did not seem to be that kind.
"Please, have a seat this way."
After the brief greetings, they moved to the drawing room and began drinking tea, exchanging everyday pleasantries. Before moving into serious matters, Ashley brought up light conversation first.
"How much longer will you be staying in the United States? It’s been about two weeks since you arrived, hasn’t it?"
At Ashley’s question, the duke replied with a leisurely smile.
"Yes. In fact, we are scheduled to return the day after tomorrow. I am pleased we could visit before then. Thanks to you, Mr. Miller…"
As the meaningless small talk continued, the duke and duchess’s only son, Cassian Strickland, sat quietly, sipping his tea. Koi stole a glance at him, watching the perfectly restrained motion as he brought the cup to his lips.
His first impression had not been wrong. Cassian Strickland sat upright, shoulders and back straight, drinking his tea. Though he must surely be bored, he showed no sign of it. Yet neither did he exaggerate interest or behave obsequiously. He simply sat there calmly, as if present and yet not. Watching him stirred a strange feeling in Koi. He must have been trained like that from childhood. Is it because he comes from a noble family…?
Compared to him, my children…
Just as he sighed, recalling his youngest son whose eye had turned dark blue from punching himself the day before—
"Your son is very composed and well mannered."
Ashley’s sudden remark snapped Koi back to attention. Looking up, he saw the duchess smiling brightly, her cheeks flushed.
"Yes, thankfully he has grown well."
Seeing that, Koi added to Ashley’s words, half sincerely,
"He probably wasn’t very mischievous as a child either. He must have been very obedient, right?"
"Yes, thankfully."
The duchess repeated the same words, then added,
"I wish we could have had more children. Of course, Cassian has grown wonderfully. I heard the Miller family has six children? Oh, now that I think about it, isn’t the youngest still quite young? I don’t see him."
At the duchess’s evident interest, Koi glanced at Ashley as if asking, What should we do? Ashley spoke first.
"He is still very young and does not fully understand etiquette. We told him to remain in his room in case he might make a mistake."
"Oh my, children grow by making mistakes."
The duchess smiled kindly.
"But that is part of the process. If it’s not too much trouble, may we be introduced? I would very much like to greet your child."
Without meaning to, Koi looked at Ashley again. The situation was unexpected, but there was no pretense in the duchess’s words. She seemed genuinely eager to meet Bliss. As Koi hesitated, the duke spoke this time.
"As we have only one child, we always find families with many children enviable and delightful to see. In fact, there have been many rumors that the youngest of the Miller family is very cute and lovable. My wife has been greatly looking forward to it."
"Bliss?"
Koi immediately brightened, his eyes sparkling. Anyone would be pleased to hear their child called lovable. He did not think himself particularly unusual for that. He had nearly twitched his ears in delight before barely stopping himself.
But no matter how much he wanted to immediately bring Bliss out and say, Look at our adorable youngest, he had to suppress that urge.
"Well, actually… there was a bit of an incident yesterday."
Carefully beginning, Koi chose his words so as not to alarm them.
"He overdid it a little at the party yesterday… um, he hurt his eye."
"His eye? How did that happen?"
The duchess’s eyes widened in shock. Though he knew the reaction was natural, Koi still felt awkward as he explained.
"Well… it seems he had a small quarrel with some other children. As you know, all of our children share the same type, but Bliss has not manifested yet, so his eye color is different. Perhaps he was teased for that…"
He paused briefly, then added sheepishly,
"Bliss punched his own eye with his fist."
At those words, the duke and duchess’s son, who had been drinking tea, momentarily stilled. It was such a slight movement that no one noticed, and the conversation continued.