By Zephyria 
“Hum hum hum, hum hum hum.”
Wearing her sleeping cap, Penelope hummed a pleasant tune as she climbed into bed. She figured it would be fine to wake up about thirty minutes later tomorrow. Just so the two of them could get enough sleep.
They must be exhausted after spending such a passionate time at the party. Surely, both of them would sleep well past noon.
Since the Count has a schedule, waking them around 10:00 AM should be sufficient.
With that thought, Penelope set her alarm thirty minutes later than usual, looked up toward the direction of the Count’s room, and whispered.
“Goodnight, my two beloveds.”
With a sudden movement, Penelope hugged the air with both arms, covered her mouth with one hand, and giggled as she lay down comfortably to seek sleep. However, her expectations were once again thwarted.
While she was deep in sleep, Penelope was startled awake by the sudden ringing of her phone. Who on earth is it? What time is it to be calling? In a half-asleep haze, she hurriedly answered the phone, and upon checking the caller, she was wide awake.
“Yes, yes, Count.”
—Prepare the tea.
With only those words, Cassian hung up. Surprised, she looked outside to find that the sun had not yet risen. The Count’s schedule for today wasn’t supposed to start until after 10:00 AM. Though bewildered, Penelope hurriedly changed her clothes, called the driver to inform him that the Count was heading out, and then rushed up to the room.
“Count….”
Opening the door urgently, she paused for a moment. No matter how she looked, the master was nowhere to be seen. On the bed, there was only Bliss, snoring away with his arms and legs sprawled wide. What happened? Penelope hurriedly looked around and noticed that the door to the connected room was closed. It was the dressing room.
Knock, knock. After knocking, she carefully opened the door.
“Count, are you in here?”
When she asked in a low voice, Cassian, who was just putting on a white shirt, looked back at the butler. As Penelope beamed with relief at having found the Count, Cassian suddenly brought his index finger to his lips and cautioned her with a “shh.”
“Bliblair will wake up. Be quiet.”
Speaking in a hushed voice, he gestured toward the bedroom and waved his hand as if telling her to come in quickly. Hurrying into the dressing room and gently closing the door behind her, Penelope approached her master with quick steps and spoke in a similarly hushed tone.
“What brings you up so early?”
“Something came up that I must attend to. Get the cufflinks over there. Did you tell the driver?”
“Yes, I did. These, right?”
After attaching the cufflinks Cassian had pointed to his wrists, Penelope quickly retrieved the suit jacket and stood behind her master. While Cassian leaned forward to slide his arms into the sleeves and stood before the full-length mirror for a final check, Penelope quickly scanned him from head to toe to ensure nothing was missed. As the master looked down at the butler as if asking if everything was ready, Penelope nodded.
Normally, she would have said something like, “You are perfect today as well,” or “How can the Count be so flawless?” but today she kept her mouth tightly shut. There had been a strict order from her master to be quiet, after all.
Sure enough, as Penelope stealthily opened the dressing room door, Cassian arrived at the door in just three large, muffled strides. He peeked out to confirm that Bliss was still snoring in his sleep, then similarly quietly, with long strides, headed toward the bedroom door.
“Whew.”
Having finally escaped the bedroom, Cassian only relaxed and let out a sigh of relief after confirming the butler had closed the door. Only then did Penelope’s eyes, watching her master stride briskly down the hallway as usual, sparkle like the Milky Way with emotion.
Oh dear, because Bliss fell asleep, the Count must have spent a night of frustrated desire.
Finally, she realized the reason why the Count was rushing out so early.
He’s definitely rushing out for fear he might pounce on the sleeping Bliss. My, how gentlemanly our young master is. Moreover, to move so cautiously so as not to wake the soundly sleeping one—his consideration is overflowing.
The flames of love rose fiercely in the heart of the old romantic. What an ecstatic experience. To witness such a beautiful romance with her own eyes, from such a close distance. This isn’t a drama; this is real!
“Life is beautiful.”
Performing a quick pirouette on one foot, Penelope hurriedly ran down the hallway after the Count. Upon leaving the castle and reaching the entrance where the car was waiting, she quickly overtook him and opened the rear door. As Cassian climbed into the car, Penelope whispered a word before closing the door.
“I will take good care of Bliblair.”
Unlike usual, when she would simply close the door and step back, Cassian stared at the butler with a frown for adding an extra comment. However, he soon realized the reason.
Right, I have to keep an eye on him since I don’t know what kind of trouble that brat will cause next.
“Thank you, Penelope. You are reliable.”
At Cassian’s response, she beamed a wide smile, closed the car door, and stepped back. Then the driver started the car, and only then did Cassian let out a sigh of relief and sink deep into his seat. As he closed his eyes, the tasks he needed to handle immediately flashed through his mind.
First, he had to manage all the articles to ensure this matter didn’t spread, silence the people who were there, and also deal with the property damage….
It had been only one night—barely a few hours—but the damage was immense. Eventually, he buried his face in his hands and let out a deep groan.
Damn it, I tried to kick that brat out, but I ended up hitting a bigger bomb.
“Uuuugh.”
Bliss let out a groan and squeezed his eyes shut. He felt like he only had one glass of alcohol, so why did his head ache so much? In particular, the throbbing at the back of his head felt quite unpleasant. Seeing Bliss frozen in the motion of about to tear a piece of bread with both hands, Penelope spoke worriedly.
“Are you alright, Bliblair? It seems you overdid it yesterday. What should we do if you’re struggling this much?”
Her expression, as she gazed at him with a sigh, was full of anxiety. The Count, really, of all times, why did he have to leave so early?
Bliss was the only person sitting at the breakfast table. This was because the Count had left the castle before the sun had even risen.
Even if his heart was fluttering so much that it was hard to look at Bliss’s face, still, honestly.
Shaking her head, Penelope said, “More importantly,” as she filled Bliss’s cup with juice.
“How was the party yesterday? Tell me what happened, I’m dying of curiosity!”
At her excited pressing, Bliss half-opened his tightly closed eyelids. Yesterday’s party, the party.
…What happened?
As he worked hard to trace his memories, humming to himself, his eyes suddenly snapped open. Seeing Penelope smiling brightly with her hands clasped as if praying, finally remembering, Bliss answered through gritted teeth.
“He introduced me as Bliblair, that damn—no, the Count did.”
He barely managed to hold back a curse word. Penelope will be angry with me, right? He looked up with anticipation, but the butler said something completely off-base.
“The Count introduced Bliss to other people! That’s wonderful, so? What happened next?”
Bliss was momentarily bewildered by Penelope’s still-excited face, but soon disappointment washed over him. My goodness, Penelope. I suffered such humiliation, and she doesn’t even care.
I thought she was the soulmate I finally found, but maybe I was wrong.
Thinking that, he suddenly felt lonely.
“Sigh.”
At the sight of Bliss letting out a deep sigh, Penelope cried out in surprise.
“Bliss? What’s wrong, why are you sighing like that? What on earth happened yesterday? Tell me, quickly!”
She pressed him repeatedly in frustration, but his mind had already wandered elsewhere. He couldn’t remember much anyway because of the alcohol. More than that, now was the time to sink into the sense of loss from losing the soulmate he had barely found.
“Huuuu.”
As Bliss looked out the window lonelily, sighing once more, Penelope’s heart suddenly sank.
Oh no, we’ve entered the ‘sweet potato’ frustration phase!
The progression process she had intentionally omitted from ‘The Count and the Servant’ had finally arrived. Penelope clutched her head and let out a painful scream from the depths of her heart.
A heavy, oppressive silence descended upon the drawing room of the historic Marquis’s estate. Waiting for the white-haired Marquis sitting opposite him to speak first, Cassian remained inwardly anxious and silent.
Marquis Manon.
He was the owner of the cane that Bliss had snatched and swung around wildly.