By Zephyria 
On the weekend of the party, the sky was thick with dark clouds. Though he had grown quite accustomed to the perpetually gloomy British weather, seeing the occasional bolts of dry lightning flashing between the clouds gave Bliss an ominous feeling.
Gulp.
As Bliss stood there, swallowing hard and looking up at the sky with worry, Penelope noticed him and spoke with a smile.
“Oh, honestly, it’s nothing. You don’t have to look so worried.”
For Penelope, who had lived her entire life in England and had never once traveled abroad, this kind of weather was likely nothing, but…
“Oh, yes. I’ve just never seen anything like that before.”
When Bliss replied with an awkward smile, Penelope let out a little giggle.
“You’ll get used to it in time, Bliss. Things like that just become a part of daily life.”
The day I sit on the balcony with the Count and admire those clouds won’t be far off.
At the thought, Bliss’s mouth drifted open. Penelope chuckled again, her shoulders shaking, but Bliss, unaware of her inner thoughts, simply tilted his head in confusion. Seeing that expression, Penelope cleared her throat with a “hem,” played innocent, and quickly changed the subject.
“Let’s hurry up and finish getting ready. Today’s party is very important. It’s your first debut in British society as the Count’s partner!”
“Yes, that’s right.”
Inwardly, Bliss was incredibly nervous. He had attended parties often as a child, but after ‘that incident,’ Ashley had thoroughly hidden Bliss’s existence from the public. Because of this, an event of this scale was a rarity—no, it was practically his first time. Seeing how nervous he was, Penelope took both of his hands in hers to give him strength.
“Don’t worry, the Count is with you, isn’t he? Why else would the Count bother bringing Bliss to a party like this? Obviously, it’s because he intends to introduce someone precious to him. So don’t worry and just stick close to the Count. He will protect you!”
Is that so? Bliss looked down at Penelope, half-doubting. Of course, he believed that Cassian had fallen for him at first sight, but appearing with him at an official function was a completely different story.
Papa or Daddy won’t find out, right?
Currently, it was understood that he was leisurely traveling around various parts of England. Fortunately, it seemed Ashley had become busy with something, as he hadn’t called him separately, though messages continued to arrive steadily.
Koi, in particular, sent long messages every time, to which Bliss always replied with a simple, ‘Yeah, I got it. I love you!’ Koi was likely disappointed, but Bliss had nothing else to say. He was spending his days busily in this ancient castle.
I can’t exactly tell them the truth about how I’m spending my time right now.
Feeling a twinge of guilt, Bliss apologized to Koi in his mind. I’m sorry, Daddy. But this is for the honor of all of us. I’ll tell you everything later!
“Now, try this on. Hehe.”
With a meaningful smile, Penelope brought out an outfit. After dressing him in a refined white shirt and neatly tying a long ribbon bowtie, Penelope nodded with a satisfied look. The ribbon had a cute polka-dot pattern, which further highlighted Bliss’s loveliness. Looking at Bliss, who stood there after putting on the trousers as instructed, she let out a sigh.
How can his legs be so long and elegant?
Blood truly cannot be deceived, she nodded to herself. No one but Bliss Miller could possibly be the Count’s partner. Absolutely.
“Wear these shoes, and these cufflinks.”
The way she efficiently brought out the supplies was truly that of a skilled butler. The only minor issue was that she had arbitrarily taken the Count’s belongings to adorn Bliss’s body.
“Good. Perfect.”
Penelope dampened her palm with saliva to neatly press down Bliss’s hair and nodded with satisfaction. No one would stand out more than Bliss at today’s party. The Count is going to have a hard time.
Penelope covered her mouth with one hand and chuckled. With this, the Count will have to be a bit nervous from now on.
“Wait here. I’ll go check if the Count is finished preparing.”
Leaving Bliss in the hallway, Penelope hurried toward Cassian’s room, but suddenly turned around and ran back to him.
“Bliss, just in case, you must absolutely not drink alcohol. Make sure to drink only water or fruit juice. Got it? No, wait, fruit juice can contain alcohol, so just drink water. Promise!”
After giving him a stern warning, she turned around and dashed off again. Whew, Bliss took a deep breath and stood staring at the closed door. He had heard that today’s party was a simple social gathering. However, since everyone attending was a titled noble, in a sense, it was no different from debuting in British society.
“Phew.”
No one will recognize me.
I just have to avoid alcohol and stay quietly by Cassian’s side. How easy is that?
So, there’s no need to worry.
Just as he nodded to encourage himself, the door suddenly swung open. Cassian, stepping out into the hallway, spotted Bliss and came to a dead stop. As he stared at Bliss without a word, Penelope, standing behind him, gave a pleased smile and secretly made a circle with her finger.
As expected, the Count can’t take his eyes off Bliss.
As if understanding her words, Bliss blushed and shyly scratched the back of his head.
Geez, he falls for me every single moment.
While the two capybaras were lost in their happy imaginations, Cassian recalled with a pale face:
Damn it, I should have anticipated that they would prepare matching ties.
He wanted to turn around right this instant and throw away that damn polka-dot tie, but it was already too late. If he spent time picking a new tie that matched his current suit, he would certainly be late. Gritting his teeth inwardly, he decided to just let it go. Today is the last time anyway, he comforted himself.
However, unable to suppress the surging irritation, Cassian strode past Bliss with large steps and marched quickly down the stairs. Watching his back as he hurried away almost at a run, Penelope whispered as if she had expected it.
“The Count is so smitten with Bliss’s appearance that he doesn’t know what to do with himself. I didn’t expect the reaction to be this good.”
Hehehe. Seeing Penelope laugh, Bliss also gained confidence.
“I’ll do my best.”
To his renewed determination, Penelope nodded and gave him a wink.
“You’ll do great even if you don’t try, Bliss.”
“Of course!”
Winking back as if to say not to worry, Bliss hurriedly ran after Cassian. Honestly, he’s so shy.
“Huff, puff.”
By the time he reached the car, breathless, Cassian was already sitting in the backseat, staring out the window with a serious expression. To Bliss, this look only served as confirmation: He’s chosen not to look at me at all to resist my irresistible charm.
“It would be so much betteeeer if he just admittttted ittt.”
As he hummed softly, Cassian immediately glared at him, as if asking what on earth he was talking about. Bliss just smiled nonchalantly.
“The weather is lovely, isn’t it, Count?”
Right on cue, lightning flashed between the clouds, followed by a rumble of thunder. Through the gap where only a light hum lingered, Penelope closed the car door, and the driver started the car.
Penelope stood there, watching the car drive away.
“Hmph, the weather is absolute rubbish.”
At the sudden mutter from Sam, who had appeared out of nowhere, she immediately glared at him and warned him.
“What’s wrong with the weather? This kind of weather happens all the time.”
“All the time, my foot. Look at that halo around the moon; something terrible always happens on days like this.”
Sam continued, shaking his head.
“Someone is bound to bleed. It’s an ill omen, a total ill omen…”
As Sam continued to mutter while walking away, Penelope put her hands on her hips and unleashed a string of curses.
“Damn old geezer! Where does he get off spouting such unlucky nonsense?”
She hurriedly tapped the wooden decorations of the castle and shook her fist in the direction Sam had disappeared. Something good will definitely happen today. Definitely!
Once again, lightning flashed between the clouds, followed by the sound of thunder.