By Zephyria 
No matter how important friends are, this was too much. What kind of appointment could he possibly have made during the school break? The cheeky brat. He thinks I don’t know it’s all just an excuse.
She wondered if her discipline had been flawed, but since he had grown too large to be scolded with a spanking on the backside, she could only feel frustrated.
Look at him, completely crestfallen.
The Duchess pretended to brush away some snack crumbs from Bliss’s lips, using the opportunity to pat his soft cheek. After satisfying her own selfish desires, she spoke with a contented smile.
“Then shall you play with me today? I happened to be bored myself.”
“With you, Duchess?”
At the unexpected proposal, Bliss stopped eating his snack and looked at her. As those large, round eyes turned toward her, the Duchess felt her expression soften involuntarily and nodded.
“Yes. Hmm, we could talk like this, or take a stroll through the garden…”
As she spoke, she stole a glance at the boy’s reaction. As expected, Bliss’s face was filled with boredom. The Duchess hurriedly posed a question.
“Th-then, what would Bliss like to do?”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
The Duchess nodded thoughtfully.
“Let’s do whatever you want. What would be fun?”
At the Duchess’s question, Bliss blinked and seemed to think for a moment, before suddenly looking at her with a bright face.
“Duchess, can I watch a drama?”
“A drama?”
The Duchess could only look at the child, bewildered. Bliss took the opportunity to persuade her more aggressively.
“There’s a drama I’ve been watching. You’ll find it really interesting if you watch it with me. I guarantee it! I really mean it.”
Seeing the child chatter so enthusiastically, the Duchess’s expression naturally softened. She smiled and nodded.
“Alright, let’s do that. Shall we move then? To the room with the TV.”
“Yay!”
Excited, Bliss jumped down from his chair and hopped along beside the Duchess. Looking down at the boy, she asked with a lingering smile.
“So, what is the name of this drama?”
At that, Bliss answered with a beaming smile.
“It’s called 「The Seducing Wife is the Queen of Revenge」!”
“…What?”
The Duchess asked back, flustered by the title, the contents of which were utterly incomprehensible. Having assumed it would be a drama where children talk about friendship, family, or some trivial adventure, it was only natural that she found it hard to accept.
Bliss, completely unaware of the Duchess’s thoughts, continued to chatter.
“I’ve watched that drama more than ten times! But it’s still fun. You’ll be completely hooked, Duchess. I really mean it.”
“Is that so? I look forward to it.”
Despite having no idea what to expect, the Duchess played along with the child’s words. Strangely, she had a bad feeling about it, but she ignored it.
—You son of a bitch. I’ll boil your bones, brew them into a tea, extract every drop, and crush them to pieces. I will never forgive you. You piece of s***, XXXXX, XXX, XXXX…!
“Oh my!”
On the large screen, an actress was screaming in a fit of rage. The Duchess, startled by the coarse profanity she had never heard in her life, covered her mouth with one hand.
“Good heavens, how could she use such foul language. Oh, Lord, forgive her. Lord.”
Beside the Duchess, who had urgently clasped her hands in prayer, Bliss seriously explained the situation.
“That woman’s husband seduced her into marriage, but then he had an affair with her friend. Now he’s trying to kill the protagonist because she refuses to give him a divorce.”
“Oh my, goodness. To do such a wicked thing.”
As the Duchess placed a hand on her chest and let out an exclamation, Bliss immediately continued the explanation.
“So that woman is pretending to be dead and vowing to get revenge. Now she’s paying back her husband and her friend.”
“I see. Yes, she should.”
Nodding repeatedly, the Duchess fixed her eyes on the screen and asked.
“So what happens? Does the revenge succeed? How does she get her revenge?”
“I can’t tell you! It’s no fun if I spoil it.”
The Duchess clung desperately to the child who firmly refused to give spoilers.
“Bliss, don’t be like that. Couldn’t you tell me just one thing? I’m so curious about what happens next. Please? Pretty please.”
At the Duchess’s repeated pleas, Bliss’s heart quickly softened. In truth, his mouth had been itching to pour out the entire plot he knew. After a moment of hesitation, Bliss’s eyes sparkled as he unlocked the seal on his lips.
“She puts a mole under her nose to pretend to be someone else. And then she goes to see her husband.”
However, the Duchess did not immediately believe the high-level intelligence Bliss provided.
“A mole under her nose? No, people actually fall for that?”
While surprised, the Duchess cast a suspicious gaze, prompting Bliss to speak impatiently.
“Geez, that’s why I’m telling you to watch it. You’ll understand once you see it.”
“Alright, alright. I get it. Let’s keep watching.”
The Duchess laughed and waved a hand as if admitting defeat, and soon she and Bliss were immersed in the drama again. In the end, the two of them sat side by side on the sofa for several hours, even having a meal there, as they watched the long drama.
When a tall man opened the door to the club and stepped inside, the people at the entrance instinctively turned their heads, only to have their eyes widen. Some took photos and others stared blankly, but the man simply scanned the interior with indifference, searching for a familiar face.
“Cassian, over here!”
Amidst the loudly echoing music, a man called out to him cheerfully, waving his arm. The man, who had been looking around at the entrance, soon located the source of the sound and relaxed his furrowed brow.
“Jeffrey.”
As he walked toward him, calling his name simply, gazes poured in from every direction. As if such things were commonplace, Cassian reached the bar, remaining entirely uninterested. Jeffrey, watching him order a beer, spoke up.
“So, how is it? Is your plan for a glamorous escape going well?”
“Sigh.”
Instead of an answer, Cassian let out a sigh first. It was because he had so much to say that he didn’t even know where or how to begin.
“What’s wrong? Your reaction is kind of weird.”
Jeffrey asked, puzzled. He wondered what great thing could have possibly happened in just a few days, but unexpectedly, his friend’s expression looked as if a great deal had occurred. Cassian downed the bottled beer, set the bottle—now half empty in one go—down on the bar table, and spoke.
“It’s a complete mess.”
“What, sounds like it’s going according to plan then.”
Just as Jeffrey said with a laugh, a woman happened to stand beside Cassian. Whether he was ignoring her glancing gaze or truly unaware of it, he answered indifferently.
“This isn’t the kind of mess I wanted.”
The contact from his friend had been a most welcome opportunity for escape. Without a second thought, he had left the castle and come straight to the club Jeffrey mentioned. And now, he would drink heavily and enjoy himself recklessly. Yes, that was exactly the kind of mess he had wanted.
“Tell me exactly what happened. The atmosphere is quite ominous.”
Jeffrey continued to press him, but this wasn’t the kind of story to be told in detail in a place like this. This was a place to drink, get wasted, and roll around with anyone; above all, if he confessed that despite fleeing for a vacation, he ended up just babysitting, it would surely end in ridicule. Therefore, Cassian subtly shifted the conversation.
“About that camp I mentioned before, are you thinking of coming? If so, I’ll include you.”
“Huh, what? Wasn’t it obvious that I’m going too?”
As Jeffrey spoke with a frown, another woman, likely a companion, approached the woman who had been eyeing Cassian. Two of them, nice, Jeffrey thought, just as Cassian replied.