By Zephyria 
Eina took her eyes off them and turned her attention back to Cassian, asking,
“So what happened? Has the doctor not come out yet?”
Cassian nodded and spoke.
“I heard there’s still treatment left to do. I’m waiting.”
“I see…”
Slumping her shoulders and muttering, Eina flopped down beside Cassian as if the strength had left her body.
“The Duke came, right? Did you get in a lot of trouble?”
Eina stole a glance at Cassian’s face, then soon grimaced, letting out an unpleasant “Ugh.”
“Wow, it’s a mess. It’ll be quite a sight tomorrow.”
“It’s just two slaps on the cheek, what of it.”
At Cassian’s indifferent response, Eina stared at him with a suspicious expression, as if doubting her own ears. However, Cassian simply shut his mouth without further comment. Feeling suddenly awkward, Eina brushed her hair behind her shoulder and let her gaze wander aimlessly.
“Come to think of it, where did Jeffrey go?”
When she brought up a random topic, Cassian continued to stare at the floor and muttered,
“I don’t know, probably cleaning up after some drunkard.”
“I guess so.”
Readily agreeing, Eina fell silent again. A bitter silence returned. After a while, Eina let out a sigh and murmured.
“I’m worried. I hope nothing serious happened.”
As Eina looked down, appearing distressed, Cassian spoke.
“I’m sorry for taking my anger out on you.”
Startled by the quiet voice, Eina blinked at him, and upon realizing the meaning, she shook her head.
“No, it’s okay. It was an emergency… and it was partly my fault too.”
Fidgeting with her fingers aimlessly, she murmured,
“Actually, I wanted to try and get along with you again. But then Bliss appeared and all my plans were ruined. So, I guess I was just being spiteful toward the kid… Honestly, imagine me badmouthing a six-year-old. How ridiculous.”
“He’s seven.”
When Cassian corrected her in a quiet voice, she paused and then nodded.
“Alright, seven.”
Eina then whispered softly,
“Not that it really matters.”
Eina was right. Cassian agreed, so he didn’t add anything more. It wasn’t just Eina’s problem. Cassian was the same. Even though he had said it was the last time, he had been secretly looking forward to this night. That was why he had been so disappointed and enraged the moment he saw Bliss.
What was so unfair about being stopped from just drinking and acting like a dog?
He couldn’t forget the child’s swollen face. The uneasy silence continued. Why was the waiting time so cruel? Unable to bear it, Cassian buried his face in his hands. Seeing him let out a pained groan, Eina hurried to comfort him.
“It’ll be okay, Cassian. They said the detoxification went well, right? He’ll get better soon. Bliss is a Miller. He hasn’t had his manifestation yet, but he must be a special child, so surely nothing will happen. I’m sure of it.”
She repeated it, but it didn’t reach Cassian’s heart. His mind was filled only with the image of Bliss struggling.
Such a small child.
Suffering so much.
Just as another painful groan escaped, the doctor suddenly rushed out. Startled, Cassian stood up, and Eina stood up with him, but the doctor immediately looked away from them and searched for someone else.
“I heard the Duke has arrived; where is he?”
“Ah, yes. I will guide you. B-but what is happening? Is his condition very poor?”
As the director’s secretary, who had been waiting, hurriedly stepped forward to ask, the doctor spoke rapidly.
“I will report directly to the Duke. Please guide me quickly, quickly!”
“Ah, yes, yes. This way, please.”
The doctor moved busily, following the secretary who was practically running ahead.
“Wha-what? What’s going on?”
Eina, left behind, asked in confusion, but Cassian had no way of knowing the answer either. Soon, the door to the treatment room opened and another doctor stepped out; Cassian urgently blocked his path.
“Wait, what happened? Is there a problem with Bliss?”
“Move aside, you can hear the explanation later.”
The doctor pushed Cassian aside and waved his arm, signaling them to hurry. Shortly after, a mobile bed emerged from the treatment room, and Cassian, turning reflexively, froze in place.
Because Bliss was unconscious, his face still flushed red, breathing in shallow wheezes.
“Bliss…!”
Cassian’s face turned as white as a sheet of paper. As the medical staff attempted to leave him behind and depart, Cassian snapped back to his senses and frantically chased after them.
“Wait, stop! What happened to Bliss? Is he okay? Nothing’s wrong, right? Yes? Please, tell me how he is, please!”
He shouted wildly in anxiety, and the doctor leading the way looked back and yelled,
“He’s passed the critical stage for now. You can hear the details later!”
Contrary to his words, however, Bliss was still panting as if in agony. Following the mobile bed as it was moved toward the ward, Cassian demanded urgently,
“He’s still struggling, so what happened? Is he really okay? Aren’t you going to do anything else? Damn it, tell me what happened!”
“Someone get this man away from here!”
Finally, the medical staff shouted in irritation. Immediately, other nearby staff scrambled to grab Cassian and pull him away. In the end, Cassian could only watch as the mobile bed quickly receded into the distance.
Bliss…!
Cassian stood there, pale and devastated. His heart pounded, and he felt dizzy as if he might collapse at any moment. But there was nothing he could do.
Ultimately, he had to wait until the Duke returned to tell him. And after more time of agonizing patience had passed, the story Cassian heard was utterly hollow.
18.
“The child isn’t waking up, and you’re saying you can’t find the cause?”
Left alone with the Duke in the hospital’s reception room, Cassian shouted violently in a voice higher than usual the moment he heard his father’s words. The detoxification was successful, yet the child remained unconscious.
“Lower your voice, Cassian.”
The Duke reprimanded his son sternly before continuing.
“For now, we are just going to watch him. I told you, there are no apparent problems.”
It was nonsense. If that were the case, why wasn’t he regaining consciousness?
Moreover, the last time he saw Bliss’s face, it was similar to, or perhaps even worse than, when he first reacted poorly after eating the mushrooms. So what exactly had been resolved?
Suppressing his frustration, Cassian spat out harshly,
“Then what do you intend to do now?”
“Since the hospital says there is nothing more they can do, we must return to the castle.”
The Duke gave an immediate answer, as if the conversation was already over.
“The family physician will be on standby, so we can respond immediately if a problem arises. Let us return for now. There are too many eyes here.”
It was clear that his father wanted to wrap this matter up as quietly as possible. However, there was a problem that could not be overlooked.
“When are you going to tell the Miller family?”
Given the commotion, even if they hid it as much as possible, it would take three days at most. At Cassian’s point, the Duke shut his mouth with a bitter expression and let out a short sigh.
“I’ll have to tell them soon… after monitoring the progress for about a day.”
The Duke, pressing his forehead with one hand as if he had a headache, belatedly scolded Cassian.
“You brat, whose idea was it to spend the night drinking and causing a scene? And why did you go along with it? Rolling around drunk on the street and sleeping there without a shred of dignity—is your dream to become a homeless person? Just how much did you drink that I can still smell alcohol on you? And you drove while drunk? No matter how urgent it was. It’s a relief you made it here safely, but what would have happened if there had been an accident!”
There was no ground for Cassian to argue against the Duke’s words. As the reprimand grew louder in fury, Cassian simply kept his head bowed and murmured softly, “I’m sorry.”