By Zephyria 
On top of that, it was Cassian who had been exposed naked, yet facing his Mother, who scolded him for showing a child such an unsightly sight, his barely holding patience finally snapped. Unable to endure any longer, Cassian poured out his words harshly, glaring at his Mother with fierce eyes. She flinched in surprise, but quickly regained her composure.
“Cassian, you have been far too rude for some time now. Lower your voice.”
At her stern reprimand, Cassian managed to reclaim a fragment of his reason. Seeing her son bite his lower lip and suppress his temper, the Duchess continued in a calm, soothing tone.
“He must have done that because he was so happy to see you. Has it not been a year? To think he didn’t forget you and waited all this time—what a commendable child. Bliss kept his promise, so isn’t it your turn to keep yours?”
Cassian was dumbfounded, but he couldn’t find a single flaw in his Mother’s logic. If one looked at the root of the problem, it was entirely Cassian’s fault. After all, it was Cassian himself who had created this situation by mentioning something like ‘one year later.’
But who could have imagined that a mere six-year-old would remember that and appear exactly one year later like this?
Cassian buried his face in one hand, his expression twisted, and let out a deep sigh for the nth time. The Duchess merely stole cautious glances at her son, sensing his deep anguish. Quite some time passed while the two of them sat alone in the living room connected to the Duchess’s bedroom, but the situation remained unchanged.
“…Why.”
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
“Why did you bring that brat into the house? No, at the very least, couldn’t you have given me a heads-up?”
Faced with the returning resentment, the Duchess answered with a troubled expression.
“I told you, Bliss said he wanted to surprise you….”
“Even so, you should have told me. Shouldn’t I have naturally known?”
As her son questioned her harshly, the Duchess finally frowned and told him the truth.
“If I had, you wouldn’t have come home.”
“Of course I wouldn’t!”
Cassian eventually spat out the words, unable to contain the surging anger. But this time, the Duchess did not let it slide.
“Cassian, remember what I said earlier. That child is a Miller. You promised to treat him kindly for the sake of the relationship between our two families, didn’t you?”
Seeing his Mother point this out in a strict tone, he had no choice. Exhausted from lamenting his fate, Cassian finally surrendered.
“Fine. But I’m letting this go only this once. From now on, if that brat is coming, you must tell me first.”
“Yes, I understand. I shall certainly do so.”
The Duchess nodded with a smile, looking relieved. Having finally crossed a major hurdle, she reached out to bring her teacup to her lips, but soon frowned. The tea had gone cold in the meantime. Just as she was about to call the butler to bring fresh tea—
Knock, knock. At the sound of the knocking, Cassian and the Duchess turned their gaze toward the door simultaneously. A moment later, the door opened slightly, and the culprit of all this chaos peeked his head in.
“Bliss!”
The Duchess called his name with a bright smile. Bliss bowed in greeting to her, then covered his eyes with his hand before speaking.
“Um, is Cassian wearing clothes now…?”
For a moment, the Duchess almost burst into an undignified laugh. She quickly bit her lip to avoid the crisis, and Cassian answered in her stead.
“Yes, I’m fully dressed. I’ve hidden that ‘hideous thing’ now, so there’s no need to cover your eyes.”
The Duchess glared at her son for sarcastically echoing the expression she had used. However, his tone was so indifferent that it was hard to tell if he was truly being sarcastic or had simply given up. Bliss slowly parted the fingers covering his eyes, and only after confirming Cassian’s presence through the gaps did he giggle and ask the Duchess.
“My Lady, may I come in?”
“Oh, of course, Bliss. Come right in.”
As the Duchess spoke with a tender smile, Bliss’s entire face lit up with joy. Then, his eyes locked onto his target.
“Cassiaaan!”
With a loud shout, Bliss dashed across the room toward Cassian. His cheeks were flushed red, his arms were wide open, and his short legs were running with all their might, though he wasn’t gaining much speed.
What on earth has this brat been doing for a year?
Cassian thought to himself, watching with pathetic eyes as the boy did his absolute best to sprint toward him. Currently nearing 2 meters in height, Cassian had grown another 5cm in a year and was still growing. In contrast, Bliss had hardly changed from a year ago. He was still small, small, and small.
“Cassian, Cassiaaan! I missed you!”
Having successfully reached his destination, Bliss clung tightly to the legs of Cassian, who was sitting on the sofa, calling his name repeatedly. Bliss, who was haphazardly wiping saliva and tears on Cassian’s trousers, looked up at him.
“It’s me, your friend Bliss! I came all this way to see you. I’ve waited so long for this day!”
Cassian looked down silently at the shrimp clinging to his leg. The child tilted his head back as far as possible, struggling to see his face, and shouted earnestly.
“It was so hard waiting for a whole year. Let’s play a lot now, everything we couldn’t play during that time!”
And then, he shouted with great excitement.
“Now we’re really going to get married and play together every single day!”
Ah.
Looking at the round face laughing with excitement, Cassian suddenly felt as if he had glimpsed his bleak future, and he became abruptly depressed.
The atmosphere in the drawing room was truly harmonious. The Duchess wore a gratified smile as she looked at Bliss, who was sitting pressed tightly against her son’s side.
“Bliss, try some of this too. These are cookies made specially for you.”
“Wow! Thank you!”
Delighted, Bliss picked up a cookie filled with plenty of cheese. On the cookie, which was as round as his own face, Bliss’s image was drawn. Letting out a gasp of admiration, he opened his mouth wide and took a big bite of the cookie. The Duchess, who had been watching the child munching away, spoke up.
“How is it? Do you like the taste?”
“Yes, it’s very delicious. Thank you!”
Not forgetting his final thanks, Bliss smiled broadly, munching with a mouth full of cookies. Thanks to this, cookie crumbs fell not only on the carpet but all over the sofa, but the Duchess merely watched on with a fond expression. Cassian, who had been watching her in silence, let out a scoffing laugh as if it were absurd.
“Mother, don’t you think your attitude toward me, your son, and this brat is far too different?”
With a smile plastered on his face, he looked as if he were mocking her. The Duchess gave her son a gentle glare.
“My dear, you’re all grown up.”
Then, she scanned her son once more and added.
“You’ve grown too much.”
Her voice sounded almost like a complaint. Then, the Duchess’s gaze shifted to Bliss sitting beside him. Her expression softened instantly, and she added in a much gentler tone.
“Bliss is small and cute; truly, there couldn’t be a more lovely child. This is the first time I’ve ever been envious of the Miller family.”
The Duchess, who handed another cookie to Bliss—who had finished his and was now opening his empty mouth with a ‘haa’—smiled contentedly. Seeing this, Cassian said nonchalantly.
“You’ve always liked children, Mother.”
He tried to emphasize that he was no longer a child, but his Mother’s response was lukewarm.
“Even when you were little, you weren’t exactly… you were blunt, and you’d grow 10 centimeters every time you woke up from a nap.”
Cassian merely stared at his Mother with cold eyes in silence. Unbothered by her son’s reaction, she continued to devote all her attention to Bliss with a smile. This atmosphere continued until the Duke, who returned home late, joined them and they all finished dinner together.
“So this was the way to my room.”
Bliss said as they walked down the long hallway after dinner. Cassian nodded with a smile.
“Yeah, don’t get confused this time.”