“Oh my, heavens. The child must have been very upset.”
The duchess concealed her surprise and revealed sincere sympathy for the child. Koi hurried to add,
“No, he’s fine now. He ate plenty of his favorite ice cream and fell asleep in a good mood.”
He did cry again in the morning, though.
Recalling what had happened earlier, Koi carefully added,
“Bliss is a very good and gentle child. As long as the subject of traits doesn’t come up, I believe he will behave politely…”
He had heard that Bliss had been prepared just in case, but even so, it was difficult to predict the child’s sudden behavior. It would be best not to provoke him today. As Koi trailed off with that thought, the duchess readily nodded.
“Then it can’t be helped. The child’s stability is most important. You think so as well, don’t you?”
She turned to her husband as if seeking agreement. The duke nodded and added,
“Indeed. It’s quite all right. There will be another opportunity.”
“Thank you for your understanding.”
Relieved, Koi offered his thanks to them in turn. The warm atmosphere was about to continue when someone who had been silent until then spoke up.
“If it would not inconvenience you, may I look around the estate?”
At the sudden voice, Koi turned his head. The duchess and duke’s son was looking at him. The conversation cut off, and the surroundings grew quiet. Flustered for a moment, Koi hesitated before answering, and Ashley spoke instead.
“Of course. If you need anything, feel free to say so.”
“Thank you for your kindness.”
After offering a polite greeting, he readily left the drawing room. Those remaining resumed their conversation, but Koi found his thoughts elsewhere.
How could someone remain so calm and elegant even while saying something so trivial?
I thought I would die of boredom.
The moment he stepped into the corridor and found himself alone, Cassian frowned deeply and let out a long yawn. His father had insisted they make this visit, which was how he had ended up here, but it was an unbearably dull engagement. If he had not made an excuse to step out, he likely would have collapsed and fallen asleep.
At least the estate is fairly decent.
Walking leisurely down the corridor, he thought that if he wandered around the house for a while, enough time would pass, and then they would return soon enough.
He had heard that the three story mansion had been built personally by Ashley Miller before his marriage. Among estates that were large but lacked tradition or history, this one seemed reasonably well made. It struck him as perhaps a little small for raising six children, but that was only when compared to the castle where Cassian lived.
The Strickland family castle, whose construction had begun in the twelfth century and continued until relatively recently, had housed the head of the family and direct relatives for generations. At present, Cassian and the duke and duchess resided in the main castle, while other buildings were opened to tourists or leased in special cases and used in various ways. Being such an old structure, it often proved difficult to equip it with modern facilities, and because of that, Cassian typically lived at a separate residence in the city or stayed in a dormitory.
In that sense, perhaps this arrangement was more reasonable.
Rumors that Ashley Miller cherished his family dearly had already spread far and wide. Like many Americans, he maintained a distinctly family oriented image, but perhaps there were other intentions behind it.
For instance, an interest in politics.
If that were the case, a relationship with the Millers would become quite important. If Cassian intended to enter British politics, it would be wise to leave a favorable impression in advance, but in truth he had no particular thoughts about what he should do in the future.
Wasn’t the future practically decided anyway? As the sole heir of the Strickland family, he would inherit all of his father’s titles and wealth intact. He would meet and marry a suitable partner of matching status, have children, and spend the rest of his life using money that increased endlessly even if he did nothing but breathe.
…Boring.
He had just reached that thought when he suddenly heard a sound from somewhere. Turning his head absentmindedly, he slowly stopped walking and listened.
…Clack, clack.
This time he was certain. Very cautious, yet repeated, it was unmistakably the sound of tableware striking against each other. Cassian tilted his head and began walking toward the source of the noise. With each step he took, the sound grew closer.
Strange.
If a servant were carrying out assigned duties, they would not be moving so quietly and cautiously. Someone was clearly doing something they should not be caught doing.
Either a thief had broken in, or one of the servants was engaged in something forbidden, or else—
…I am imagining things.
At last, standing before the snack bar, Cassian furrowed his brow. A small child was standing on a chair, grunting as he tried to reach a snack placed on a shelf. Even stretching to the limit, he could only brush the glass jar containing the treats, yet he flailed his short arms with all his might. There was no sign of him giving up.
Is it a servant’s child stealing snacks?
Cassian stared at the back of the child’s head with a serious expression, lost in thought. It was entirely possible. While he did not know about the Millers, the Strickland castle had quite a number of servants who lived as families. Many had begun working for the ducal household at a young age and continued even after marriage, so perhaps it was the same here. If so, there was no need for him to interfere and create a disturbance. If the child continued behaving like that, he would be caught eventually, and whatever happened afterward would be the Miller family’s concern.
But the child’s clothes looked rather fine for that. They were clearly high quality luxury garments, not something he would assume a servant had purchased for their own child. As Cassian tilted his head in confusion, an unpleasant feeling suddenly crept over him.
Wait.
Blinking, he tried to confirm what he had just seen when a memory suddenly crossed his mind. That back of the head looked familiar. Where had he seen it before? Still standing there with his brow furrowed, he watched as the child suddenly rose onto his toes.
“Ugh, nnng.”
Letting out a strained sound, the child stretched both arms with all his strength. In that instant, the glass jar slipped. The image of it spinning widely seemed to pierce his vision as if in slow motion. The child, unaware of what was about to happen to him, held his arms out. Or perhaps he was imagining something—judging by the happily parted lips, he seemed to be dreaming of a future entirely detached from reality.
“Wait…!”
His body moved before his thoughts. In just two large steps he reached the chair where the child stood and stretched out his arm with force, snatching the glass jar that was about to fall directly above the child’s head.
“Huh?”
The child still had both arms extended into the air and made a vacant sound. He seemed completely unaware of what had nearly occurred. Tsk. Cassian clicked his tongue softly and looked down at him. The child finally turned his head, and the moment their eyes met and he saw the child’s face, Cassian remembered why he had found him familiar.
“Oh.”
It was the same for the child. After blinking a couple of times, as if something had suddenly come to mind, he let out an exclamation and opened his mouth wide.
“Why are you here?”
After a few seconds of silence, the child asked with a deeply suspicious expression. His eyes were narrowed sideways like a flatfish, and Cassian barely managed to hold back laughter. The child clearly had no idea what had nearly happened to him moments ago. Faced with a reaction one would hardly expect toward someone who had just saved his life, Cassian could not quite stop a smile from spreading across his face and instead cleared his throat.
“Ahem, I received an invitation from Mr. Miller.”
Then he added in a gentle voice,
“You must be Bliss Miller.”
At those words, Bliss’s eyes widened in surprise.
“How did you know?”
The answer was simple.
“By looking at your eye.”
The eye Bliss had struck repeatedly the day before was still badly swollen, stained purple.