By Zephyria 
Bliss was completely won over by Larien’s idea. It was a good idea. A really good idea, but…!
“He’s a Beta, though?”
Bliss pointed out a critical issue.
“Cassian Strickland is a Beta, Larien. Besides, I haven’t even had a heat cycle. I’m practically a Beta myself. So how am I supposed to make that man fall for me?”
It wasn’t that there were no people who liked the same sex even if they weren’t trait bearers. However, it was very rare, and most were treated as oddities.
There was no way the sole heir of the Strickland family would do such a thing!
Just as Bliss was casting a doubtful glance, wondering if Larien was actually as useless as he was, Larien unexpectedly wagged her index finger from side to side and answered confidently.
“Bliss, you really are a fool. Love usually burns hotter when there are obstacles.”
“Obstacles?”
“Yes.”
As Bliss looked bewildered by the unexpected word, Larien crossed her arms, tilted her chin up, and asked.
“There are plenty of them in the dramas you watch—couples who can’t be together. But look, in the end, they all end up happy, right?”
“Uh, yeah.”
It was true. When Bliss nodded, Larien continued.
“How would reality be any different? The world runs on love. Love here, love there. We are all one through love.”
“I-I guess so.”
“And among all of them, the hottest is a love that cannot be.”
“…I’m not really following.”
To Bliss, who still didn’t understand, Larien hummed, crossed her arms again, and changed her approach.
“Think about it, Bliss. Papa is scary, right?”
“U-Uh-huh. Of course! Larien, you’re scared of him too!”
The moment Ashley was mentioned, Bliss reacted with high alert, causing Larien to flinch and shrink her shoulders for a moment, seemingly stung for the first time. How did she even make it this far? While Bliss was inwardly admiring Larien’s nerve, Larien cleared her throat and spoke again.
“That’s not what’s important right now. Listen, but even that scary Papa listens to everything Daddy says, doesn’t he?”
“…That is true.”
Larien wasn’t wrong. Come to think of it, Ashley never got angry at Koi, no matter the circumstances. Since Koi often lied and took the blame for the children’s mistakes while they were growing up to protect them, Bliss nodded readily. Seeing that reaction, Larien declared with a haughty tilt of her chin.
“That’s what love is. Even a scary Papa can’t help but be weak for Daddy.”
“I see!”
Bliss was instantly swept away by Larien’s words. He sprang up from his seat and shouted in a heightened voice.
“So all I have to do is make that bastard Cassian fall for me, right?”
“Right. If you make that happen, I’ll do whatever you want….”
As Larien nodded and spoke, Bliss immediately cut her off.
“Make him apologize and beg on his knees!”
Seeing her youngest brother shouting with excitement, Larien gave a satisfied smile and reached out to pat his round head.
“Exactly. You’re finally starting to use your brain.”
Bliss, who had giggled at Larien’s praise, asked busily, his cheeks flushed with excitement.
“Got it, so what do we do? How do I make him fall head over heels for me? What should I do?”
Despite the barrage of questions, Larien just went, “Hmm,” and kept her mouth shut. Bliss waited, but she remained lost in thought and didn’t speak for a while. Unlike before, the lack of an immediate answer started to make Bliss anxious. Don’t tell me Larien is a blockhead like me?
Just as that thought crossed his mind, Larien took out her phone and began searching for something rapidly. After shaking one leg busily for a moment as if it had a motor attached, her expression suddenly softened, and she spoke in a voice as sweet as honey.
“Hello, Nora. My lovely canary. Oh, hearing your sexy voice makes me want to fly to you right now. Well, as for what I want to see most on you….”
While speaking, Larien caught Bliss’s gaze—which was filled with disgust—and promptly looked away, pretending not to notice.
“…So, Nora. There’s something I want you to look into. Oh, it’s nothing much. Just some information needed for business. Then, of course. Yes. Count Herringer, the eldest son of the House of Strickland. Right, that man. Is there any new news about him recently? I’ve looked into him generally, but I wondered if there’s something hidden. Even the smallest thing is fine. It would be even better if there’s information about the people around him. Yes, thank you. I love you.”
After making a kissing sound with her lips, Larien lightly pressed the end-call button and beamed at Bliss.
“Now we just have to wait.”
“Thanks. How long will it take?”
When Bliss asked with a skeptical expression, Larien tilted her head to one side and shrugged.
“I don’t know, an hour? Two?”
“That fast?”
To the surprised Bliss, Larien gave a meaningful smile and sucked up her lemonade in one go with a loud slurp through the straw.
“Here.”
Seeing her hold out the empty glass as if to show off, Bliss hurried up and ran to the mini-bar. When he returned, he was holding a glass pot full of lemonade in both hands. As he poured the lemonade with ice into the glass, Larien drank it all in one go again.
By the time she emptied her fourth glass, the phone suddenly rang. Checking the caller ID, Larien smiled confidently and pressed the call button. Surprisingly, it was the very call she had been waiting for.
It really took an hour?
While Bliss watched in admiration, Larien exchanged a few words and wore a wide smile.
“As expected, my cute canary. I want to hug you so tight I could crush you right now… I’ll come visit you soon. Oh, of course. How could I live without you?”
It didn’t end there. In front of a horrified Bliss, Larien poured out all sorts of sweet and shameless words before hanging up. For the most part, she was just responding to the other person or asking short questions, but she seemed to have obtained all the necessary information, as Larien’s face was full of satisfaction as she turned to Bliss.
“There is some decent information.”
“Really? What is it? What did they say?”
As Bliss asked urgently, his heart pounding, Larien spoke while popping a fig into her mouth.
“I heard the Count Herringer’s estate is looking for new employees. It seems they’re short on people to do the chores. The butler is quite picky, so they aren’t hiring publicly; they’re looking for people through word-of-mouth.”
“I see. So?”
Larien remained silent for a moment, looking at Bliss’s blank expression, then spoke in a slower tone than usual.
“If you get a job there, you can see the Count up close, Bliss.”
“…Huh?”
Bliss still didn’t understand and only tilted his head. An awkward silence hung between them for a moment. Bliss, who had been staring at Larien while simply blinking, suddenly snapped to his senses after a few seconds of stillness.
“Ah, I can volunteer!”
Larien paused for a moment. She had meant for him to buy his way in. However, imagining Bliss in a maid’s outfit, she soon broke into a wide grin.
“Yes, Bliss. Exactly.”
But Bliss soon tilted his head again.
“But why do I have to work there?”
“Then how were you planning to approach that bastard?”
Unable to bear the frustration any longer, Larien asked back, and Bliss hesitated, saying, “Well, that is…”. Larien, no longer expecting an answer from Bliss, poured out her words rapidly.
“Let’s say you tell that bastard from the start that you’re Bliss Miller. Wouldn’t he be on guard? It’s hard and a headache to start by breaking down someone’s defenses, so you have to make him let his guard down.”
“Ah! So that’s why!”
“Right.”
Larien nodded at Bliss’s reaction as his eyes widened, finally realizing the plan.