Deflower 1

Prologue

“You’re not a Miller.”

At the child’s firm words, Bliss immediately narrowed his eyes sharply.

“What are you talking about, you shit-for-brains idiot. If I’m not a Miller, then what am I?”

He thrust his face forward as if to challenge the much larger boy, but instead of backing down, the boy snorted and repeated the same words once more.

“You’re not a Miller.”

“You little punk!”

This won’t do. When it comes to spouting stupid nonsense, nothing beats a good beating. This will serve as a substitute for any further conversation. Just as Bliss was about to swing his tightly clenched fist, one of the boys standing behind the kid urgently shouted.

“All Millers have purple eyes!”

Bliss froze for a moment. Seeing Bliss’s fist stop mid-air, the boy seemed to gain confidence and shouted loudly.

“Yeah, you don’t have purple eyes. You must be a foundling.”

Then, the other boys began to shout in unison.

“Don’t act like a Miller when you’re a fake!”

“You’re not even a Miller!”

“You’re a fake, a liar, a fraud!”

These little brats.

Bliss was boiling with anger, but there were too many of them. With five or six boys surrounding him and making a racket, even ‘Bliss Miller’ couldn’t easily punish them on the spot. Above all, the words ‘all Millers have purple eyes’ seemed to hold back his fist. It was true that he himself had been bothered by that for a long time. But to point it out like that was cowardly. Bad kids, mean bastards.

“I am a Miller!”

At the shout he poured all his strength into, the boys surrounding Bliss hesitated for a moment. Seizing the opportunity, Bliss continued to yell.

“Not purple eyes? Fine. Look closely, you morons!”

Immediately after, Bliss, his eyes flashing, raised his tightly clenched fist high.

“I’ll make them purple right now!”

Before the boys could even react, Bliss’s fist shot towards an unexpected place. Following a thwack sound, the startled boys gasped, Hiiik.

“Ahhh! Wh-what is this kid doing!”

The boy standing at the front turned pale and screamed, but Bliss paid no heed and continued to pummel one of his own eyes, making thwack, thwack sounds. Seeing this, the boys turned white with fear, unsure what to do, and soon began to shriek.

“H-he’s crazy! A crazy bastard!”

“Ahhh, this kid’s insane!”

“Move, get out of the way! Mommy!”

“Waaah! I’m scared, Mommy, Mommy!”

The boys scattered in all directions, screaming as they fled. Seeing this, Bliss chased after them at full speed.

“You cowardly brats! Don’t you stand still? All of you, stand still!”

As he chased them, zigzagging through the adults at the party, he kept hitting his own eye.

“Hey, look! Look! Are they still not purple? How about now? And now?”

“Eek, aaaah!”

“Look, you bad kid! Look! I said look!”

“Waaah, don’t come near, don’t come near!”

He was chasing the crying children like a dog when suddenly someone blocked his path.

“Hey, cough!”

Bliss, who had been running while hitting his eye, crashed face-first into the man’s leg and tumbled over the other side. Just as he was about to hit his head directly, the man grabbed the back of his head by a hair’s breadth, averting the crisis.

“Oh dear, are you alright?”

At the calm voice coming from above, Bliss was momentarily bewildered. The impact had left his head fuzzy, and it took a bit more time to grasp the situation. The man, who had knelt on one knee and was covering Bliss’s head with his large hand, spoke with concern.

“You’re not hurt anywhere, are you? Anywhere that hurts?”

“Uh, uh.”

Belatedly remembering what had just happened, Bliss hurriedly straightened up and looked around. The boys were already gone. Thinking he had let them slip away right before his eyes, he felt a mix of emptiness and frustration.

“Tsk…”

If it weren’t for this man, he wouldn’t have lost those brats.

Thinking that, Bliss whipped his head around, but when his eyes met the man’s, he froze. The man’s thick, rich brown hair was neatly combed back, revealing a well-shaped forehead beneath. He wore glasses, which, perched on his handsome nose bridge, made his appearance look even more intellectual. Staring blankly for a moment at the deep, near-black eyes gazing at him, the man gave a faint smile and asked.

“Did you lose your quarry because of me?”

The kind voice also sounded somewhat teasing, but Bliss answered seriously.

“No, I was chasing those brats to teach them a lesson for making fun of me.”

“Oh? What did they say to make fun of a cute kid like you?”

The man spoke again with a smile. He didn’t forget to tap Bliss’s cheek with his index finger. Bliss was furious at why this man was playing such tricks on him, but the man, oblivious, added.

“Maybe they wanted to be friends because you’re cute?”

In response, instead of answering, Bliss thwacked his own eye again. As if daring him to spout such nonsense one more time.

“…Oh.”

As expected, the man let out an exclamation, seemingly flustered for the first time. Only then, perhaps realizing the seriousness of the situation, he smiled and apologized.

“Alright, I’m sorry. How about you stop hitting your eye? It’s a shame to ruin such a cute face.”

“Hmph.”

Instead of answering, Bliss hit his eye again, harder. The man’s mouth was still smiling, but his eyes were not. Hmm, he stroked his chin with one hand and spoke in an unchanged, calm voice.

“Well then, I’ll be on my way. Goodbye, have a pleasant evening.”

The man, who had lightly ruffled Bliss’s hair, stood up, and his figure seemed to stretch on endlessly. Feeling as if he were looking at Papa or his eldest brother Nathaniel, Bliss held his breath, but the man soon turned and disappeared into the crowd.

“Huff, huff.”

Before he knew it, the surroundings had grown quiet. Coming to his senses, Bliss found himself alone. Even with one eye turning a vivid purple from a bruise, he seemed still unappeased, his shoulders heaving as he panted heavily, and he clenched both fists tightly.

“How dare they pick a fight with me? I’m Bliss Miller!”

There was no one around anymore. Bliss wiped his nose with his sleeve and boldly raised his head, looking around. Only unfamiliar adults were gathered in small groups, chatting. Not only Papa and Daddy, but his other brothers were nowhere to be seen.

Cowardly brats.

Just as he thought. They saw he was alone and picked a fight, thinking it was their chance. But Bliss Miller wasn’t one to fall for such petty tricks. How dare they challenge me, not knowing their place.

Did they think they could get me just because I’m alone? They must have gotten a good taste of it by now, right?

‘It’s a shame to ruin such a cute face.’

Suddenly, the man from earlier came to mind. Come to think of it, his pronunciation was strange. It was English he’d never heard before. Why did he say that? He was tilting his head in puzzlement when…

“Vi, there you are.”

Suddenly, a voice called him from behind. Whipping his head around, Bliss’s expression immediately brightened.

“Papa! Daddy!”

He scurried over and jumped into the arms of Papa, who was kneeling on one knee with arms spread wide, waiting for him. Daddy, who had also spread his arms waiting for him just like Papa, wore a thoroughly disappointed expression on his face and muttered.

“Vi, I was the one who called you…”

Seemingly deeply saddened that his youngest son hadn’t hugged him, Daddy let the corners of his mouth droop and looked at Bliss. But before Bliss could say anything, Daddy, having seen the boy’s face, immediately cried out in surprise.