By Zephyria 
As the sun began to set and the sky grew dim, the car retraced the path it had taken that morning. Sitting in the backseat as always, Cassian was rubbing the bridge of his nose, his face twisted in a grimace.
Damned migraines.
All day, it felt as if his eyeballs were about to pop out. He wanted nothing more than to simply pass out, but even that wasn’t easy. He couldn’t recall for the life of him how he had spent the day. He was only aware of the fact that night was falling.
…I’m exhausted.
Letting out a deep sigh, he suddenly realized the car was slowing down. He had finally returned. To his castle. …Where that crazy peanut was.
At that moment, a part of his mind woke up. Cassian paused and blinked. Slowly removing his hand from his brow and shifting his gaze, the familiar sight of the castle came into view. Along with it was the figure of the butler, waiting for him in front of the entrance as always.
“Welcome back, Count… Oh my.”
Penelope, who had opened the car door with a habitual smile, suddenly widened her eyes in surprise. It was because Cassian stumbled violently the moment he stepped out of the car. As a pale Penelope rushed to support him, he held up a hand to signal that he was fine and remained silent for a moment with his eyes closed. Penelope watched her master tensely, but fortunately, Cassian soon regained his composure and strode into the castle with his usual pace.
Penelope hurriedly ran up the stairs after him. Hearing the urgent footsteps behind him, the Count stopped abruptly once more and looked back. Startled by the Count’s sudden reaction, Penelope froze in her tracks, and Cassian spoke, his face still scowled.
“Where’s the pea… no, Bli, Blair?”
A low voice flowed from his lips after he shook his head vigorously once. Caught off guard by the unexpected question, Penelope blinked a few times before answering a beat late.
“Oh, he said he was tired today, so I put him to bed early.”
Where?
Cassian wanted to ask, but the words wouldn’t come out. Seeing the Count looking down at her with a silently frowning face, Penelope grew inwardly nervous and asked again.
“Do you have something for him to do? Shall I call him now?”
Cassian didn’t answer this time either. He simply stared at Penelope in silence before shortly spitting out, “Forget it,” and then practically ran up the stairs at three times his previous speed.
As expected, the bedroom was empty. It was a situation he had anticipated, but he had never felt so disappointed that his prediction was correct. Cassian let out a sigh and took off his suit jacket, handing it to Penelope. Attending to him while carefully reading his mood, Penelope poured him some wine before speaking.
“Is there anything else you need?”
Instead of answering the polite question, Cassian waved his hand, signaling her to leave. Closing the door quietly and stepping into the hallway, Penelope looked back at the door with a worried expression.
No matter how I look at it, the Count is not in a good state.
The hollows under his eyes and his sharp gaze reminded her of how he was before Bliss arrived. It must be because he didn’t get proper sleep last night. It would be best if he called for Bliss right now.
When will the Count finally admit his feelings? It would be better for his health if he just accepted it quickly. Thinking this, she walked down the hallway.
Penelope shook her head with a sigh and closed her own bedroom door. Exactly ten minutes after she lay down in bed, her phone rang.
—Bring that peanut crumb here. Now.
Penelope immediately understood Cassian’s command, which had been spat out through gritted teeth.
“Hwaaaaam.”
Bliss, who had been pulled away abruptly from a deep sleep, let out a loud, blatant yawn. His hair was standing up in every direction, his eyes were half-closed, and his legs were wobbling.
Looking at Bliss, whose entire body was screaming, ‘I was sleeping so well until just now,’ Cassian felt a surge of irritation. Why on earth? I can’t sleep a wink without that brat, so why does this peanut bastard sleep so well? Why?
“Now, now, Bliss. Come this way.”
“Mmm.”
Following Penelope’s guidance, Bliss walked obediently. “Lie down here, that’s it,” Penelope said, safely luring him to the bed and patting his chest to put him back to sleep. Of course, that wasn’t a difficult task. Within ten seconds of lying down, Bliss began to snore softly.
“Phew, that’s done.”
Penelope turned toward her master, pretending to wipe sweat from her forehead as if she had just finished a grueling task. Cassian, who had been sitting on the sofa drinking wine until then, let out a resigned sigh and thought: Finally, I can sleep.
It was a fact he wasn’t particularly happy about, but he could feel his nerves, which had been so sensitively on edge, instantly relax the moment Bliss appeared in the bedroom. It might just be self-hypnosis, but as long as he could sleep, he didn’t care.
“Right, you’ve worked hard, so you may—”
“Count.”
Just as Cassian was about to tell her to leave, he stopped and turned his head at the sound of her calling him. The butler, standing with her hands clasped at her waist, was staring at Cassian with a serious expression.
“There is something I wish to tell you. Do you have a moment?”
Cassian was puzzled by the sight of his elderly employee looking almost nervous. What on earth does she want to say? He felt an uneasy sensation inwardly, but he couldn’t say he didn’t have time. Penelope wouldn’t say something trivial in this kind of atmosphere. Eventually, Cassian had no choice but to gesture toward the seat opposite him on the sofa.
“Thank you.”
Quickly bowing and sitting down, Penelope took a short breath in and out while looking directly into her master’s eyes. She looked as if she were about to make a bombshell announcement, but Cassian didn’t have the luxury of giving her much time. The only thing in his head was the desire to sleep deeply in that comfortable bed as soon as possible.
“Penelope, if you don’t finish this in three minutes—”
“We need to prepare a countermeasure, Count.”
The moment he spoke irritably, Penelope poured the words out. Seeing Cassian pause at the unexpected topic, she continued quickly.
“If Bli, Blair—no, Bliss—declares that he won’t help you sleep like he did yesterday, we’ll be helpless. Therefore, we must prepare a countermeasure for that.”
On the surface, it was a reasonable point. However, there was a part Cassian couldn’t accept.
“Didn’t that pea—no, Bliss—say he came all this way because he likes me? Then why is he refusing to sleep with me?”
Right, he should have thought it was strange the day before. But he had been so blinded by rage at the peanut’s sudden rebellion that he hadn’t thought it through.
I really do lose my cool whenever I get tangled up with that brat.
It wasn’t too late. Cassian, who until a moment ago had only been thinking about kicking Penelope out so he could sleep, cleared his mind and focused seriously on the topic she raised. If the same situation repeated itself, he was the one who would suffer the most.
After confirming the Count’s reaction as he stared at her with a grave expression, Penelope cleared her throat with a cough and spoke with a face more serious than ever.
“He is upset by your attitude, Count.”
“He’s sulking at me?”
Penelope had used a fairly mature expression, but Cassian immediately changed the wording to match Bliss’s level. The butler, momentarily flustered, gave an awkward smile and nodded reluctantly.
“Yes, so to speak. His feelings are a bit hurt by the Count…”
“What did I even do?”
Cassian cut Penelope off abruptly. If anyone’s feelings should be hurt, it should be his; what on earth could the boy be sulking about?
“Shh, shhh!”
As Cassian flared up, Penelope urgently gestured to him and quickly checked behind him. After confirming that Bliss was still snoring away, she breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Cassian.
“What if Bliss wakes up? Please lower your voice.”
Cassian had no choice but to shut his mouth, but his anger remained. How dare that peanut be angry at me? If I can’t understand the reason, I’ll kick him out immediately.
However, Penelope’s answer was even more absurd.
“You didn’t do anything.”
Cassian was so stunned that his mind momentarily stopped.
“…What?”