By Zephyria 
Cassian gazed blankly at Bliss, who was stubbornly staring out the window. For some reason, his puffed-out cheeks caught his eye. He must have gotten upset about something again. Even as he thought this, a smile inexplicably played on his lips. He instinctively reached out to poke those plump cheeks, but he hurriedly caught his own hand with the other.
What on earth am I thinking?
A sudden wave of self-loathing brought an involuntary sigh. He tried to ignore Bliss by fixing his gaze out the window, pretending to be indifferent, but that didn’t last long. Something heavy suddenly landed on his arm with a thud.
…What?
Cassian looked beside him and let out a bewildered sigh. Bliss had already fallen fast asleep. Judging by the soft, rhythmic snoring, he was clearly deep in slumber.
It was absurd, but on the other hand, it was understandable. The sun had already set, and Bliss had spent over five hours at the shop changing clothes, fitting shoes, and picking out accessories. By the end, he had been so exhausted that he couldn’t even eat the snacks placed in front of him. Still, seeing the lingering longing in his eyes, Cassian had asked the manager to pack the refreshments to go…
“Krrr-shhh.”
Cassian was floored once again to see that even while snoring loudly, Bliss was tightly clutching the bag of snacks. The strange thing was that instead of a sigh of disbelief, a chuckle escaped his lips.
He quietly looked down at Bliss’s sleeping face. A faint flush had risen on his soft cheeks. Seeing the slight curve of his lips, as if he were having a pleasant dream, Cassian suddenly felt a mischievous urge.
He slowly raised the hand he had forced himself to restrain earlier. His finger lightly brushed the cheek, but Bliss didn’t budge. His hesitant fingertip moved slowly. Passing the soft cheek, his finger paused as it moved downward. Just a little—just a tiny bit more—and he would touch them. Those plump, slightly parted lips.
And the red… hiding inside them.
In an instant, Cassian flinched, pulled his hand away, and pushed Bliss’s head to the side. The sleeping Bliss was pushed helplessly and almost hit the window, but Cassian quickly snapped out of it and caught his head, narrowly avoiding a crisis.
“Mmm….”
Only after confirming that Bliss, who had groaned softly with a furrowed brow, had fallen back asleep did Cassian slowly let go.
What followed, naturally, was self-criticism.
Slap! Cassian loudly slapped his own cheek, then followed it with a hard strike to the other side. He felt a stinging pain, but it didn’t matter. Not enough. He needed to hit himself a few more times to wake up. He squeezed his eyes shut and slapped his cheeks repeatedly. Harder, even harder.
What are you thinking, Cassian Strickland? Are you crazy? This kid is twelve years old younger than you. He’s just a little crumb. What are you thinking about a child this young, a snot-nosed brat who isn’t even an adult yet? You crazy pervert. You psychopath, you lunatic.
Slap, slap. The sound of him hitting his cheeks continued to echo loudly inside the car. At some point, Bliss’s snoring stopped, but Cassian didn’t notice at all. The sound of him slapping himself was far louder.
That guy must be crazy.
Woken up by the noise, Bliss almost screamed. This was because Cassian was suddenly slapping his own cheeks wildly while muttering curses. Bliss stared with wide eyes in shock, but Cassian didn’t notice. The slapping sounds were quite loud, and the pain must have been significant, yet he didn’t stop.
H-he’s scary.
Bliss hurriedly closed his eyes tight and pressed himself as close to the door as possible. He even unlocked the car door, just in case he had to jump out. Tense, he peeked at Cassian through narrowed eyes.
“Huuu….”
With a long sigh, Cassian stopped slapping himself and buried his face in his hands. Slumped forward with his large frame, he looked as if he were in deep agony, but Bliss still had no idea why.
As he held his breath, he suddenly realized the car had become excessively quiet. Bliss wasn’t snoring, and Cassian wasn’t slapping himself anymore.
Huh?
…Huh?
Just as Cassian realized the same thing, Bliss suddenly started snoring again.
“Krrr, krrr, k-ack!”
While inhaling sharply, his airway suddenly blocked. Startled, Bliss bolted upright.
“Haa, haa!”
Taking deep breaths with a pale face, he finally regained his composure, only to freeze. He didn’t even need to turn his head to know. He could feel Cassian’s eyes staring intently at him.
In times like this, the only thing I can do is…!
“Ahem, ahem!”
Bliss cleared his throat to buy time and looked back at Cassian with an awkward smile.
“I think I was snoring too much.”
At those words, Cassian finally furrowed his brows and blurted out:
“Go see a doctor.”
Bliss could only gape in disbelief at the reaction as Cassian whipped his head away.
What? Go to a doctor? Me?
A surge of anger rose belatedly. You’re the one who needs to go to a hospital!
…He wanted to say that, but of course, he couldn’t. Seeing Cassian’s flushed red cheeks, the words died in his throat.
Not every truth needs to be revealed.
Sinking deep into his seat, he modestly kept his mouth shut. There are times when one must remain silent.
Instead, the fists he clenched to suppress his indignation didn’t loosen for a long while.
29.
Fortunately, the day of the Duke’s birthday party was sunny without a single cloud in the sky. Amidst the people busily coming and going since early morning, Cassian woke up late and greeted the Duke and Duchess.
“I told Bliss to rest in his room before coming out today,” the Duchess said with a smile.
“He’ll get tired quickly since he has to meet so many strangers, won’t he? Why don’t you go early and look around a bit?”
“Yes, I will do that.”
Cassian answered readily, though it wasn’t because he agreed with his mother. He simply didn’t want to drag things out or hear complaints since it was something he had to do anyway. Pleased by her son’s obedient attitude, the Duchess gave a bright smile.
“It seems you bought quite a lot of things with Bliss yesterday; I’m really looking forward to it. I wonder how much Bliss will shine at today’s party. He’ll probably be the prettiest child there.”
“Yes, I suppose so.”
Cassian answered half-heartedly and prepared to leave. Not wanting to recall the previous day’s events, he tried to make a quick escape, but it didn’t go as planned.
“Then, I’ll be going—”
“Wait.”
The Duke suddenly spoke to Cassian as he tried to stand. As Cassian stopped awkwardly, the Duke stood up and looked at him.
“Cassian, follow me. Let’s have a word.”
For some reason, the Duke led Cassian to the study. He wondered what on earth they were going to talk about. He had no clue, only vaguely guessing it would be about Bliss.
“What is it that you wish to say?”
Once they were seated alone in the study, Cassian finally asked. The Duke nodded and spoke with a serious expression.
“It’s about Bliss.”
Just as expected. But he had no idea what would come next. As he watched in silence, the Duke continued.
“Is that child taking suppressants?”
“Pardon?”
Taken aback by the unexpected question, Cassian asked back instinctively. The Duke cleared his throat a few times, looking somewhat embarrassed, before continuing.
“The thing is, Bliss manifested when he left this place before, didn’t he? So he should be an Omega now, but I don’t smell any scent from him at all. I’ve heard there are Omegas with weak scents, but is that the case for Bliss?”
“That is….”
Caught off guard by the question, Cassian became flustered. Seeing his son hesitate without a word, the Duke furrowed his brow with a serious expression.
“If Bliss is taking suppressants, shouldn’t we be careful about that? If I recall correctly, I heard that taking those drugs for a long time causes severe side effects. At a party like today’s or in crowded places, it’s better to take the medicine to hide the scent, but isn’t it unnecessary to take them normally? Both we and the servants are all Betas, after all.”