By Zephyria 
It wasn’t a particularly pleasant feeling, but it wasn’t wrong either. Anyway, he got the desired result, so that’s all that matters. Kids that age completely forget what happened the day before after just one night’s sleep. For them, how long must a year feel?
It’s more than enough for them to completely forget about today’s events, and about me.
Besides, their home country is England. Once their schedule is finished, they’ll leave this country immediately. Then there will be even less chance of running into that kid. Thinking that, he closed his eyes contentedly. Cassian will soon be an adult and become independent. A free university life awaits him. Is this the time to be dealing with a stupid little brat?
Recalling the London flat he would be living in from now on, he pulled up the corners of his mouth happily. Goodbye, Peanut. Let’s never meet again.
“Yaaawn.”
Bliss let out a big yawn as soon as his head hit the pillow. He kept dozing off while bathing, narrowly avoiding disaster several times. Ashley gently stroked the child’s forehead with his large hand.
“You must have had a really fun time playing today. Did Cassian treat you that well?”
“Yeah.”
Bliss nodded emphatically, but his drooping eyelids were hard to control. Yawning loudly again, he opened his mouth in a sleepy voice.
“Papa, I’m definitely going to go meet Cassian….”
“Okay, I know.”
Ashley readily agreed and stroked the child’s cheek.
“I’ll definitely let you meet him in a year. For now, just go to sleep.”
“Definitely….”
“Yeah, definitely.”
By the time he reaffirmed it, Bliss’s eyes were already closed. Ashley gazed down at the child, who was soon breathing evenly in deep sleep, then leaned down to give his forehead a light kiss before heading out.
“Bliss, is he already asleep?”
Just as Koi, who had finished showering, saw Ashley entering the room and asked, he nodded and replied.
“He’s completely out. He was talking about the eldest son of the House of Strickland right up until he fell asleep.”
“Really?”
As Koi looked surprised, Ashley gave a short nod and then spoke nonchalantly.
“He’ll forget after he wakes up. Kids lose interest so quickly.”
Watching Ashley give Koi a light kiss on the lips and head into the bathroom, Koi muttered to himself.
“I hope so….”
Surely he wouldn’t remember and ask to go to England, right?
Suddenly struck by the thought, Koi hurriedly shook his head. That can’t be, it’s ridiculous. Ash is right. Bliss is still young, so he’ll forget soon. A year is long….
‘I’m going to marry Cassian!’
Suddenly, he recalled Bliss’s declaration. Stunned, a wry laugh escaped his lips. What does a mere six-year-old know? Shaking his head with a smile, he got into bed and took out the book he was reading. It was a peaceful night like any other.
And a year passed.
“Papa, Papa!”
Early in the morning, while still getting ready for work, Ashley opened his eyes wide in surprise at his youngest son, who had rushed into the bedroom calling for him urgently.
“B, what’s wrong? At this early hour.”
As Ashley bent his large frame to pick up the child and asked, the child looked at him with a flushed, excited face and shouted in a thrilled voice.
“I want to go to England!”
“England?”
“England?”
Ashley, and Koi standing behind him, were both surprised and repeated their son’s words. Looking back and forth at their bewildered and confused faces, Bliss spoke confidently.
“It’s tomorrow. Cassian said the one year is exactly tomorrow!”
“What?”
“Ah.”
This time too, following Ashley’s exclamation, Koi added an explanation.
“That, when the Duke’s son came and was about to leave….”
“Ah, ahh.”
Only then did Ashley also recall the incident at that time. Then Bliss immediately shouted.
“We promised, so I have to meet Cassian. I want to go to England!”
“Wait a minute, Bliss. That’s not such an easy….”
Ashley tried to calm the child, but it didn’t reach Bliss’s ears. Of course. He had waited a whole year just for this day.
“I want to go meet Cassiaaan!”
Bliss began to shout and struggle. It’s out, Bliss’s ultimate move. Koi just looked at the child with despair. In the end, they couldn’t hold out even five minutes and surrendered.
“Okay, Bliss. I got it.”
Letting out a long sigh as a sign of surrender, Ashley, who had picked up the now-quieted Bliss, continued.
“But we can’t just leave on our own. We need to check their situation first, okay?”
“No. What’s that?”
Seeing Bliss tilt his head in confusion, Koi explained from the side.
“He means we need to get permission to see if it’s okay to go, B.”
At those words, Bliss tilted his head to the other side this time.
“But Cassian said to come?”
“Even so, we still need to get permission.”
Koi, who kept repeating the same thing to Bliss who still didn’t understand, looked up at Ashley this time.
“Should we contact the Duchess?”
“I’ll do it, so just wait for now.”
Ashley said briefly, handed the child he was holding to Koi, and began tying his own tie.
“I’ll be back. Don’t come out. Koi, leave Bliss with the butler. Don’t let the two of you be alone.”
He finished preparing in an instant, kissed Koi and Bliss alternately, and left the room. At other times, Koi would follow him out and watch him get in the car and leave, but today Koi didn’t do that. Staying in the room as Ashley said and seeing him off, Koi finally turned his attention to Bliss once they were alone. Normally, he shouldn’t spend a long time alone with the child, but today he had a special question to ask.
If I’m careful, it’ll be fine.
“Bliss, why did you suddenly think you need to go to England?”
First sitting the child down on the living room sofa connected to the bedroom, he asked. Bliss answered without hesitation.
“It’s not sudden, I’ve been waiting for a year, remember?”
“You remembered it all this time….”
It felt strange that this young child had been thinking about something he himself had forgotten. And that wasn’t the end. Bliss continued in an excited voice.
“Cassian said he lives in England, right? They say it rains a lot in England. So I packed a raincoat too. I’m all prepared!”
Looking at his delighted face, the words ‘you can’t’ simply wouldn’t come out. Instead, Koi asked another question.
“Prepared? What do you mean? Did you pack something?”
Then Bliss nodded and said, “Yeah.”
“Wait a minute, Daddy.”
Bliss jumped off the sofa and hurriedly ran out. Probably heading to his own room, Koi thought, and waited a moment. Soon the child returned carrying a large bag. Grunting, Bliss placed the backpack in front of Koi, unzipped it, and began taking out the items inside one by one. First, he took out the yellow raincoat he mentioned earlier and set it down. Next, he pulled out a crumpled baseball cap.
“They say when you greet someone, you have to take off your hat and place it on your chest like this. For that, you need a hat, right? So I packed my favorite hat.”
You could just not wear a hat, B.
Koi thought but kept his mouth shut and waited for what was next. Then Bliss took out butter cookies, a gift for the Duke and Duchess, that he had packed who knows when. Next, he pulled out board game pieces to play with Cassian, a handkerchief packed in case he caught a cold and had a runny nose, and even a desk clock with his favorite character on it so he could tell the time if someone asked.
“…Is that all?”
Koi asked, gazing down at the assortment of items spread out on the floor. The child shook his head and answered.
“I couldn’t pack the boots and umbrella for when it rains. And I have to take Sanchez too. Also….”
Bliss continued eagerly listing things, but to Koi’s ears, over half were still useless items. But thinking that he had diligently prepared for a trip to England all by himself for a whole year made him proud, so he stroked the child’s head and said this.