By Zephyria 
“I don’t know what you’re talking about….”
As he spoke with an awkward smile, the Marquis slowly shook his head.
“There is no need to hide it. At my age, there are things one can see without needing words.”
He then continued, stroking his well-groomed beard.
“Of course, I understand why you would want to keep it a secret. That child is an Omega, isn’t he?”
“Pardon?”
The Marquis once again misunderstood Cassian’s reaction, which was one of shock at the completely unexpected question.
“I could tell at a single glance.”
The Marquis laughed heartily and pleasantly, but Cassian was simply bewildered. He tried to explain that it wasn’t like that, but the Marquis spoke first.
“A child that beautiful couldn’t possibly be an ordinary Beta. My son said there was no scent of pheromones, so he must be taking medication, right? You probably wanted to keep those fly-like Alphas from swarming around him, but with a child like that, even a Beta would fall head over heels. If you don’t keep him tucked away safely at home, you won’t be able to feel at ease for a single moment.”
“Marquis, that’s not it….”
“I know, I know. You aren’t in a relationship. Of course not.”
The Marquis nodded as he spoke, but his expression was entirely different from his words. He soon leaned toward Cassian and whispered in a low voice, as if sharing a secret.
“It seems the Duke doesn’t know yet. It’s absurd that an outsider like me found out first, truly. Even though I’m old, I still have a keen eye for these things, so don’t worry. I know nothing. Absolutely nothing.”
“Marquis, that’s not it.”
Cassian spoke up urgently. He felt a sense of desperation to correct the situation before the misunderstanding deepened further, but the Marquis continued on his own, nodding as if he understood everything.
“But you are being too harsh. Do you know how much the Duke and Duchess worry because you’ve been alone for so long? Especially when you have such a cute child with you. Even if he is a boy, if he’s an Omega, there would be no worries about continuing the family line. Don’t worry too much and introduce him to the Duke soon. I guarantee he will be delighted.”
The Marquis’s encouragement, however, was of no help. Feeling a throbbing migraine for the first time in a while, Cassian pressed a hand to his forehead.
“Sigh… Marquis, I appreciate it, but that is not the case. That fellow—no, that child is simply a relative of an acquaintance. That is truly all.”
“Of course it is. I know.”
“I am serious.”
“I told you, I know.”
“I said I am serious!”
He spat out the last words through gritted teeth. Only then did the smile slowly fade from the Marquis’s beaming face.
“What on earth do you mean by that? That you and the child are not dating?”
“As I have told you repeatedly, he is the child of an acquaintance, and I only intended to give him some experience as I thought it was a good opportunity. I deeply regret that things turned out this way. However, it would be very problematic if you misunderstood.”
At the firm denial, the Marquis looked at his face with doubt. Seeing Cassian’s stiff expression and clenched jaw, the Marquis stroked his chin seriously and asked again.
“Are you truly in no relationship with that child?”
“None at all.”
“Is that so?”
When he denied it again in the same manner, the Marquis muttered as if disappointed.
“It seems the child’s thoughts are different. How pitiful.”
At the unexpected remark, Cassian frowned and stared at him.
“Forgive me, but what do you mean by that?”
Thinking about it, it was strange. Even if Cassian, who had always attended parties alone, had brought a partner, it was excessive to misunderstand their relationship to this extent for that reason alone. Especially for someone as experienced as Marquis Norman.
“Did something happen at the party that I am unaware of?”
At those words, Marquis Norman seemed surprised for a moment, then nodded as if he had reached a conclusion.
“You weren’t there. Leaving your partner behind and stepping away was quite a rude thing to do.”
“I am sorry.”
“You don’t need to apologize to me.”
As Cassian lowered his gaze, the Marquis pointed it out sharply. Cassian had been regretting leaving Bliss alone for a long time. He had blamed himself enough even without the Marquis’s scolding, but was there another reason?
“Are you completely unaware of why that child was so angry and acting out?”
Cassian flinched at the Marquis’s sudden question. He had naturally concluded that Bliss had simply caused a scene because he was drunk. As if seeing right through his thoughts, the Marquis clicked his tongue.
“I suppose so. If you had known, you wouldn’t have come to apologize to me. Unless you came to receive an apology.”
What on earth was he trying to say? As Cassian waited anxiously for the next part, bewildered, the Marquis barked at him with a stern expression.
“Surely you didn’t just scold the child without knowing the inside story? I hope you aren’t such a reckless person.”
At the Marquis’s thunderous tone, Cassian hurriedly denied it.
“No, I didn’t. I had to leave at dawn to clean up the aftermath of the party, so I had no time for that.”
The Marquis examined his face as if to verify the truth, then nodded after a moment and relaxed his expression.
“Then it’s fine. That’s a relief.”
“Marquis, could you please tell me the reason now? I truly cannot figure it out.”
To Cassian, who was now practically pleading, the Marquis finally spoke calmly.
“Didn’t my grandson mention it earlier? Your partner got so angry because he overheard some people speaking ill of you.”
Of course, he had heard that. But he couldn’t find any connection. To Cassian, who was only frowning, the Marquis clicked his tongue and said:
“Good grief, how can you be this dense? That poor child’s heart must have been burning because of you. My dear fellow, how lonely and scared must he have been, left all alone in such an unfamiliar party? And then, that rabbit-like child, who must have been trembling in fear, heard some men—strangers and larger than himself—swarming around and insulting you, and he fought back out of anger. What a brave and pitiful situation. To fight for the honor of a man who doesn’t even recognize his feelings… if a poet had been there, he would have written a poem praising that child. It’s been nearly 50 years since I’ve been this moved. My heart beat like a young boy’s!”
Cassian’s eyes widened at the Marquis’s story. No way, this was absurd. Bliss had simply caused a scene because he was drunk. In short, it was a drunken rampage, and it had been distorted into this.
However, he couldn’t deny the Marquis’s words and say that was absolutely not the case. Thanks to the Marquis’s delusions, the incident had ended on a positive note for once; if the Marquis found out it was all a misunderstanding, it would truly be impossible to fix the aftermath.
Since it didn’t particularly hurt for the Marquis to misunderstand like this, couldn’t he just keep his mouth shut and let it slide?
A devil whispered in his ear. It wasn’t as if Bliss was going to stay forever. He would leave eventually, and at that time, he could just say they broke up. The Marquis wouldn’t have a reason to meet Bliss again anyway….
“I… see… that… happened….”
Cassian struggled to force the corners of his mouth up into a smile. He hadn’t realized that agreeing with the Marquis would be this difficult. Cold sweat ran down his back, but he tried his best to rack his brain and play along.
“I didn’t realize. That Bli—Blair felt that way about me….”
“Haha. I told you so. I didn’t know the Count was such a dense man. How much must that child have suffered internally?”
The Marquis, who had been clicking his tongue, narrowed his eyes and asked in a voice that had dropped even lower, as if plotting a conspiracy.
“So, what do you think of that child? Be honest, you don’t dislike him either, do you? Hmm?”
He had to be careful. The Marquis’s eyes were full of anticipation and excitement. The moment he said ‘no,’ the Marquis would surely be enraged. And Cassian could absolutely not afford to offend his mood.
“No… yes.”
“What?”
He hurriedly tried to take back the truth that had slipped out, but wrinkles of suspicion had already formed between the Marquis’s brows. Cassian swallowed a groan of agony and squeezed his vocal cords to make a sound.
“Everything the Marquis said is correct. I… like Bli—Blair.”
He couldn’t bring himself to say he loved him. He mumbled the pronunciation ambiguously, but the Marquis took it literally.
“I knew it! I knew it would be so. You’re still far from being able to deceive my keen eye. You can’t fool me!”
As the Marquis threw back his head and let out a boisterous laugh, louder than ever before, Cassian could only force a smile back, his face contorted.