By Zephyria 
That damn brat. Cassian ground his teeth, suppressing his rage. For goodness’ sake, ten years had passed, yet absolutely nothing had changed. That little peanut crumb was still occupying his bed as he pleased, falling asleep anywhere, and turning Cassian’s life into a mess.
This was exactly why he had tried to kick him out immediately.
But reality did not go according to his will. Not only had the boy been waiting in the room, but now he had completely conquered the bed. Seeing Bliss snoring away so peacefully only made Cassian’s anger flare up further.
“Wake up. Hey, I said wake up.”
He shouted sternly and shook the boy’s shoulder, but all he got in return was sleep-talking. When Bliss let out a small groan and rolled over as if annoyed, Cassian was so appalled he felt like he was suffocating.
“Damn it.”
The types of people Cassian hated could be divided into three: first, people who slept soundly; second, people who fell asleep easily; and third, people who slept so deeply they wouldn’t wake up for most things. This so-called ‘Bliblair’ was all three. Audaciously so.
What on earth should he do with this brat?
He wanted to call Penelope right now and order her to take him away, but it was already well past midnight. Thinking of the elderly housekeeper sleeping, he couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing. One person unable to sleep in this old castle was more than enough.
“Sigh.”
Cassian pressed a hand to his forehead and let out a deep sigh with his eyes closed. When he opened them again, he glared at the culprit of this entire situation, who was brazenly occupying his bed. The guilt he once felt for this peanut was gone. He had paid more than enough penance for what he had done.
I’ll just kick him out the moment morning comes.
Unfortunately, he would have to wait quite a while for that. In the end, Cassian flopped down onto the empty other side of the bed. Spending the night wide awake was no different from any other day. There was just a snoring peanut crumb next to him. Just ignore him. Ignore him. Ignore him. Ignore…
“Khhh.”
Suddenly, Bliss took a sharp breath and began tossing and turning. They say dogs shake their four legs when they run in their dreams. The moment that thought crossed his mind, the peanut crumb, who seemed to be rolling away, suddenly turned toward Cassian.
“…What.”
Before he could do anything, Bliss plopped an arm and a leg right on top of Cassian’s body. Cassian, who had been lying flat, stared wide-eyed to his side, but the audacious brat didn’t wake up; instead, he continued to make nasal sounds and even rubbed his face against Cassian’s shoulder.
This damn snot-nosed brat…!
Exploding with irritation, Cassian violently shoved away the arm and leg that had climbed onto him. The boy’s slender body seemed to flip over from the recoil, but soon, with a small groan, he returned to his original position. Moreover, this time he hugged Cassian’s body and entwined his legs with Cassian’s, clinging tightly.
Is this brat actually asleep?
“Wake up, I said wake up! Damn it, wake up!”
He couldn’t take it anymore. Shouting repeatedly, he tried to push the boy away by shoving his head, but Bliss simply bounced back like a yo-yo and clung to him again. Over and over, and over again.
Eventually, Cassian was the one who wore out. Letting out a long, deep sigh, he covered his face with one hand and grit his teeth. Just as expected. He knew this would happen. He knew it! He knew this brat would ruin his life again!
No more tolerance. The moment the sun rose, he would call Penelope. Seeing as she had spouted nonsense about him being a relative, Penelope was clearly in on it. He couldn’t believe the elderly housekeeper, who had known him for so long, could deceive him like this. What on earth was she thinking?
But that was enough. There was no need to know any more. He could just kick him out tomorrow. It wouldn’t be too late to think about Penelope later. Above all, getting rid of this peanut and reclaiming his life was the priority. His peaceful daily routine….
And Cassian’s thoughts cut off there.
“Oh my goodness! Count! Oh my, oh my!”
He regained consciousness at the sound of a fussing voice. Cassian frowned and remained still for a moment. What, is it Penelope? Letting out a groan, he suddenly felt something strange.
As he slowly opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was the familiar ceiling. The moment he realized he could see objects so clearly, he noticed that the surroundings were bright.
…What?
He was still bewildered. When did it get so bright? It was definitely night. How could the moon set and the sun rise just by closing and opening his eyes?
While he struggled to grasp the situation, rolling his eyes around while lying down, he suddenly saw the face of the elderly housekeeper standing by the bed. Though it was a familiar face, it felt strange. She was looking down at Cassian with an expression of overwhelming emotion, her hands clasped tightly as if in prayer.
“My goodness, Count. To think you slept so soundly. How long has it been since this happened!”
At first, he didn’t understand her words. As Cassian blinked with a furrowed brow as if asking what she was talking about, Penelope continued in an excited voice.
“To see you in such a deep sleep—this is the first time since I began serving you, Count. I am so happy I could cry.”
Seeing her wipe the corners of her eyes for show, his mind began to work. Soon after, he sat up abruptly in surprise. Along with that, the arm and leg resting on his body fell away. He looked back reflexively to see Bliss let out a small “mmgh” and flop over to the other side.
Cassian froze. Wait, what exactly is happening right now?
Even as he raced his thoughts, he couldn’t believe it. He was stunned by how clear his head felt—how long had it been since his mind was this lucid? He didn’t feel irritable, and his body felt light as a feather. The migraine that had always plagued him had vanished without a trace.
He had slept deeply, for several hours.
“What on earth is this….”
As he muttered blankly, the snot-nosed brat, who had been snoring away, twitched his shoulder. Cassian paused and looked down at him; a moment later, Bliss made a sleepy “uuung” sound and began rubbing his eyes. Cassian sat motionless, staring down at him. Unaware of this, Bliss stretched his arms as far as they could go, letting out a huge yawn.
“Kuuuuuung.”
Finishing his stretch with a groan, he sat up wobblily, exhaled a breath, and mumbled.
“Pee.”
Perhaps because he wasn’t fully awake yet, he mumbled as he climbed out of bed and headed straight for the bathroom. Listening to the faint sound of trickling water, Cassian and Penelope continued to stare in the direction he had disappeared.
“I won’t ask how the two of you ended up sleeping together,” Penelope said softly, her voice full of amusement.
He wanted to get angry and tell her not to imagine useless things, but if he did, he would have to explain how this situation happened. Since he didn’t know the reason himself, talking about it would only be counterproductive. Cassian opened his mouth to snap at her, but hesitated for a moment and closed it again. In this situation, it was better to just state the conclusion.
“Enough. Get that brat out of here.”
He spat the words out through gritted teeth, but Penelope’s reaction was contrary to his expectations.
“Oh, would that be alright?”
At her surprised question, Cassian looked back at her with a frown, as if asking why she wasn’t just doing as she was told. Despite her master’s fierce gaze, the experienced housekeeper did not shrink back and answered.
“Your insomnia wouldn’t improve no matter what we tried, Count. But there must be a reason you slept so soundly last night, right? Perhaps it was thanks to Bli—Blair that you were able to sleep, Count?”
He tried to retort, ‘Stop it if you’re going to say it’s thanks to that brat,’ but Penelope cleverly gave him no opening. Because she preemptively added her thoughts quickly, Cassian, who ended up hearing the words he didn’t want to hear, said irritably:
“Nonsense. Get that brat out right now.”
“Please don’t act so hastily.”
The housekeeper, who usually carried out orders immediately, was not inclined to give in easily today. To Cassian, who was staring at her with a distorted face, Penelope dropped a bombshell declaration that he absolutely did not want.
“Why don’t you test it? We can’t have your insomnia return just because you kicked him out abruptly, can we?”