By Zephyria 
“Thank you, Cassian. I’ll treasure it.”
He spoke with sincerity, but it wasn’t enough. His heart overflowed, making his breath grow short. Holding the book in one hand, Bliss suddenly leaned in and pressed his face against Cassian, who was already tilting toward him.
Huh?
Cassian was bewildered by the soft sensation against his cheek. For a moment, he stared at Bliss, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Bliss, his cheeks flushed red, gave a beaming smile and spoke.
“Thank you. You really are my honey. My Daddy Number 3.”
At the sudden remark, Cassian finally realized what had occurred and was left stunned. It was absurd enough that he had been kissed by such a brat, but it was utterly ridiculous that the little peanut was spouting such nonsense.
“What do you mean, Daddy Number 3?”
He could guess where ‘honey’ had come from, but Daddy ‘Number 3’ was a complete mystery. As he asked with a furrowed brow, Bliss answered as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
“Daddy Number 1 and Number 2 are Daddy and Papa in America, of course. So that makes you Number 3.”
“Ah….”
Only then did Cassian understand. Right, the brat had fathers.
Realizing a beat too late that he had been having somewhat sacrilegious thoughts, he let out a hurried cough and spoke.
“Get in. We have to leave now.”
“Okay.”
Obediently climbing into the passenger seat as told, Bliss turned back to look at him and asked before he could even fasten his seatbelt.
“Let’s come see the birds again tomorrow. I want to see that bald bird again.”
“No.”
Bliss’s excited face turned pale in an instant. Cassian deliberately ignored the child’s expression, which looked as if his entire world had collapsed, and continued indifferently.
“I have work, so I can’t play with you. How about you try drawing the bird you saw today instead?”
“What? We can’t play? Why?”
The child’s voice was filled with disappointment and sadness. Catching a glimpse of the drooping eyebrows and the trembling large eyes, Cassian suddenly felt awkward. Damn, I didn’t think he’d be this disappointed. But that wasn’t the end of it.
“I… I came all the way here to play with you… I thought… we’d be together every day…”
Seeing the child trailing off, completely disheartened, Cassian’s heart softened immensely. For a split second, he felt an impulse to cancel his entire schedule.
Ridiculous.
He hurriedly denied the thought and reminded himself coldly. This was his only chance to spend the night in the forest with his friends and do the kind of stupid things he had never been able to do before. He couldn’t give up this schedule. Instead, he chose to make the child give up.
“I’m sorry, Bliss. But when you become an adult, you can’t just play every day like you do now. You have things you must do.”
He tried to soothe him with a gentle voice, but Bliss’s expression didn’t change.
“But… but…”
Then what am I supposed to do?
Bliss looked up at him again, but Cassian’s mind remained unchanged.
“I’m sorry, Bliss.”
At the repeated apology, Bliss was forced to accept reality. It seemed it really wasn’t going to happen. He was terribly disappointed, but he couldn’t just throw a tantrum. Before coming here, he had promised Papa and Daddy over and over again.
‘Be polite so you don’t cause trouble, and don’t be stubborn or pushy.’
In short, if they said ‘no,’ he was to give up immediately. And now was exactly that timing.
“…Okay.”
Eventually, Bliss muttered in a tiny, shrinking voice. Cassian replied, “Good,” and patted Bliss on the head.
“Instead, once my work is finished, let’s play all day. I promise.”
“Okay.”
Bliss nodded, then looked up at Cassian again.
“When does your work end?”
Cassian rubbed his chin as if calculating, remained silent for a moment, and then spoke.
“Hmm, a week?”
“A whole week?!”
Bliss let out a pale scream. Unable to suppress his guilt any longer, Cassian quickly added,
“It can’t be helped. I’ll finish as quickly as I can.”
“…Okay.”
Bliss nodded gloomily. Feeling that was enough, Cassian straightened his back and told Bliss,
“Fasten your seatbelt and stay seated. I’ll tidy things up quickly.”
Cassian then added with a smile,
“When we get back, let’s wash up and have some snacks. I have some videos about birds, so it’ll be fun to watch them together.”
“Yeah. I’d like that.”
Bliss nodded again and sat up straight. After fastening the seatbelt for him, Cassian closed the passenger door and hurried to pack the equipment. Since he had decided to play with Bliss for the day, he intended to do his best.
I’ve done enough for my part.
And, as he had promised himself, he played with Bliss straight through until dinner.
“Hwaaaaah.”
Bliss let out a long yawn and stretched. After wiping a stray tear from the corner of his eye with his finger, he turned his attention back to the booklet, but drowsiness soon crept in.
Boring.
He frowned and flipped through the pages haphazardly. It had already been two days since he had been left to play alone. He had been jumping for joy when he first received the gift from Cassian, but upon actually reading it seriously, it was boring beyond belief. It would have been enough to just tell him the names of the birds; why did he need to know the scientific names and classifications? It would be enough to say a canary likes candy and a nightingale likes jam—why was it necessary to know the weight, the lifespan, and those difficult names written next to them? Moreover, the biggest problem was that there were too many words he didn’t know.
“This is no fun!”
Eventually, Bliss shouted loudly and flopped onto the bed. Looking at the pictures had also ended quickly. Bliss lay on his back, staring at the ceiling and blinking.
What should I do to play?
The castle was too quiet. The servants didn’t show their faces unless they had work to do, and there wasn’t a single person in the castle to play with him. He had barely managed to get through the first day, but by the second, he felt like he was dying of boredom.
“I wish I could watch a drama…”
It was just as he was muttering to himself and sighing again. Knock, knock. A knock sounded, and a moment later, a servant entered.
“Hello, Master Bliss. The Duchess is asking if you have a moment to spare. She requests that you join her for tea.”
“I’ll go!”
Before the servant could even finish speaking, Bliss shouted. Finally, something to do! Rolling hurriedly across the bed and leaping down, he dashed across the room, causing the servant to cry out in haste.
“Master Bliss, wait a moment! I will guide you. Please wait!”
The frantic servant hurried forward and began to lead the way. Bliss walked briskly behind him, trying his best to contain his excitement.
“Bliss! Come in, dear.”
The Duchess, who had been waiting for Bliss in the tea room while basking in the sunlight pouring through the window, smiled warmly upon seeing the child appear behind the servant.
“Hello, Duchess.”
Placing one hand over his chest and bowing politely, Bliss climbed into the chair the servant provided and faced the Duchess. After the servant poured tea for Bliss and left, leaving the two of them alone, the Duchess pushed a bowl of cookies toward Bliss and spoke.
“Thank you for coming. Drinking tea alone is a very lonely affair. Thanks to you, I can enjoy my tea time today.”
At those words, Bliss picked up a cookie and replied,
“Please call me anytime. I’m bored too.”
The child then let out a short sigh and added,
“Cassian is busy, so I have to play by myself. I came all the way here just to play together, I’m so pitiful.”
“Oh dear, is that so.”
The Duchess spoke as if she were genuinely sorry, but in truth, she already knew. She knew that her only son had left a precious guest behind and gone out.
That insolent boy. He only had to endure it for a month.
To ignore such a cute child—and a guest who had come all this way to see her—and just leave was truly rude and mean-spirited.