By Zephyria 
Cassian stood by the bathtub with his arms crossed, waiting for Bliss. Gulp. Bliss swallowed hard once again.
Is this… one of those situations?
He remembered seeing similar scenes in dramas. Quite a few times, actually.
The master who humiliates the employee hired to work for them always orders them to come in while they’re bathing.
‘Come here, I bought you!’
‘You can’t do this! You fraud, you piece of trash!’
A few scenes flashing through his mind sent a chill down his spine. He had stepped inside after steeling his resolve, but seeing Cassian standing there, watching him, made his heart drop. As I thought, it’s that kind of thing…!
Bliss put his few remaining brain cells to work. Is it really necessary to go this far? Come to think of it, I don’t necessarily have to make that bastard fall in love with me. I could just hit him hard and run away.
Unfortunately, however, ‘it’ wasn’t here. Bliss quickly scanned the bathroom with his eyes and soon accepted the desperate reality. In that case…
Bliss changed his mind. He hadn’t prepared himself for this, but perhaps this was something he had to accept if the situation came to this. Maybe that bastard was just doing this to scare him.
If that’s the case, I have to show him that I’m not afraid.
With that thought, Bliss braced himself and looked up at Cassian. Go ahead, do your worst! Then, Bliss grabbed the collar of his shirt.
What is that bastard doing?
Cassian frowned, staring at Bliss, who had stopped awkwardly in his tracks. Seeing him darting his eyes around with a face full of anxiety brought back a stale memory. Since he was a brat who burst into tears at the slightest provocation, he would likely give up and cry if treated harshly. The problem was that this brat hadn’t listened despite being clearly warned to leave. In that case, he had no choice…
“What are you doing?”
Cassian finally blurted it out. Bliss had suddenly started unbuttoning his shirt. Without realizing it, Cassian lunged forward, urgently grabbing Bliss’s clothes to pull them shut as he shouted.
“What is it? Why on earth are you taking it off?”
“Huh?”
Bliss, who had already undone three buttons, replied with wide, blinking eyes.
“Isn’t this why you called me here?”
“No!”
As if dumbfounded, Cassian looked up at the ceiling and let out a deep sigh. Between that sigh, which sounded like he was venting some boiling frustration, he spoke.
“Why on earth did you think I would do such a thing to you?”
Cassian’s face, as he looked at Bliss in utter confusion, was still pale. It was as if he hadn’t yet recovered from the shock of seeing something he shouldn’t have just moments ago. Feeling inexplicably embarrassed by that expression, Bliss scratched his cheek and answered.
“Usually, the reason masters call their servants while bathing is for that kind of thing. You know, touching them and then getting hit and fainting…”
“…Hah.”
Another hollow sigh escaped Cassian’s lips. So, he thought I was going to do something like that to him.
“Why would I do such a thing to you?”
Bliss answered confidently.
“Because that’s the law of dramas!”
This time, Cassian couldn’t even manage a sigh. So this damn brat imagined that I would do ‘that’ to him just because of some scenes he saw in a damn drama.
“You damn…”
He bit his lip, barely managing to hold back a curse. He must not lose his dignity any further. He had already been dragged into this brat’s pace enough. Get a grip, stay calm. The thing in front of you is a child. Just a child. Just a slightly insane child.
“…Listen.”
Cassian managed to regain his composure and spoke in his usual low voice.
“Things like that only happen in dramas. In reality, if you did that, you’d be sued for sexual harassment. I don’t know when the dramas you watched were set, but this is the 21st century. If it became known that I harassed a servant, it would be an enormous disgrace. Why would I do such a thing?”
At those words, Bliss’s eyes grew round. Offended.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
He spoke with patience, fastening Bliss’s buttons one by one from the bottom up.
“I don’t give that kind of attention to servants. So stop those ridiculous delusions.”
Finally, after fastening the top button, Cassian tilted his head, looked into Bliss’s eyes, and murmured in a low voice.
“Especially to someone like you—a green, young brat.”
Adding that as a warning, he let go. Straightening his back, Cassian gave a smirk.
“What on earth are you fantasizing about? Do you not know the phrase ‘know your place’? Who would do such a thing with a milk-scented kid like you?”
Milk-scented!
Bliss felt a surge of anger. I’m almost an adult, how dare this bastard say that?
“You never know with people. Is it possible that there’s absolutely no one who likes me?”
At that, Cassian scanned Bliss once and let out a clear sneer.
“Well, I don’t care who you sleep with, but it won’t be me. I don’t have a hobby of sleeping with children who don’t even have chests.”
“Of course I don’t, because I’m a man!”
Bliss retorted again, but Cassian only mocked him. Ugh, I really want to hit him. Should I just throw a punch?
It was just as Bliss clenched his fist. Cassian, erasing his sneer, pointed to the bathtub with an expressionless face.
“Fill the water.”
“What?”
As Bliss blinked, hesitating with his punch mid-air, Cassian frowned and snapped.
“I said fill the water, so I can wash.”
Then, he added a sarcastic jab without fail.
“Surely you don’t not know how to draw water? I’m sure you’ve learned at least that much.”
This bastard, really. Bliss glared at him with wide eyes.
“Of course I do! Who couldn’t do something like this?”
He turned the faucet on ostentatiously and looked back, but Cassian only looked at him indifferently. As if it weren’t a big deal.
Of course it wasn’t. Anyone could turn a faucet and adjust the water temperature. The problem was the fact that Cassian Strickland treated Bliss like a snot-nosed brat who couldn’t even do that properly.
I definitely have to see that bastard beg.
Bliss thought to himself as he stirred the water with his arm in the tub to mix the cold and hot water. To see him beg, I’ll have to hit him, right?
Just as he decided he needed to find some kind of tool tomorrow, he suddenly felt a breath on the nape of his neck.
“…What.”
Startled, he turned his head and immediately locked eyes with the man’s silver-grey pupils. It was then that Bliss realized the man had pressed his nose against his neck and exhaled.
“W-what are you doing?”
Flustered, he instinctively covered his neck with his hand and shouted, to which Cassian replied with a frown.
“Don’t overreact. I just smelled you for a bit.”
“Then why?!”
Bliss asked in a grumpy voice.
“What do you want with the smell of a kid like me?”
Cassian didn’t answer immediately. For some reason, he stared at Bliss in silence and then suddenly chuckled. To the bewildered Bliss, Cassian spoke, a strange smile still lingering on his lips.
“Just, I wanted to check.”
“Check what?”
You think you can just let this slide by smiling slyly? When Bliss questioned him again, Cassian shrugged one shoulder. Just as Bliss wondered what that meant, he spoke slowly.
“As I thought, it seems you haven’t stopped drinking formula yet.”
At first, he didn’t understand the meaning immediately. Bliss, who had just been blinking blankly, realized the implication a moment later, and his anger shot through the roof.
This bastard keeps treating me like a child!
However, this arrogant man failed to realize one thing. Bliss’s hand was still inside the bathtub.
I’ll just splash him…
Thinking about scooping up water and pouring it all over him, he subtly stirred the hot water. I’ll just spray it right on that smug face…
He wanted to, but Bliss didn’t. A true adult must know how to be patient. Jumping around in anger here would only prove that he was a child, and not only would he be kicked out, but he would also cause trouble for Penelope.
Yes, thinking about things like that is what makes one an adult.