Deflower Me If You Can Chapter 16

“And on top of that, it was Cassian who’d been seen naked, yet his mother was chiding him for exposing an indecent sight to a young child. Facing that, his already-thin patience finally ran out. Unable to hold back any longer, Cassian lashed out harshly, glaring at his mother with fierce, wide eyes. She flinched, startled, but quickly regained her composure.

“Cassian, you’ve been terribly rude since earlier. Lower your voice.”

At her stern reprimand, Cassian barely managed to salvage a shred of reason. Seeing her son bite his lower lip and suppress his temper, the duchess continued in a soothing, calm tone.

“That earlier reaction was probably just because he was so happy to see you. It’s been a year since you last met, hasn’t it? He waited all that time without forgetting you—isn’t that admirable? Bliss kept his promise, so now it’s your turn to keep yours, isn’t it?”

Cassian was exasperated, but he couldn’t find a single flaw in his mother’s logic. If you traced the root of the problem, it was entirely Cassian’s fault. After all, it was Cassian himself who’d said “in a year” in the first place, creating this situation.

But who could have imagined that a mere six-year-old would remember that and show up exactly one year later?

Cassian buried his deeply contorted face in one hand and let out yet another deep sigh—he’d lost count of how many. The duchess could only cautiously steal glances at her son, who was radiating profound anguish. The two of them sat alone in the living room adjoining the duchess’s bedroom, and quite some time had passed, but the situation remained unchanged.

“…Why.”

After a long while, he finally managed to speak.

“Why did you bring that brat into the house? No, at the very least, couldn’t you have given me a heads-up?”

At his returning reproach, the duchess answered with an awkward expression.

“I told you, Bliss wanted to surprise you…”

“Even so, you should have told me. Isn’t it only natural that I should have known?”

As her son pressed her harshly, the duchess finally frowned and confessed the truth.

“Because if I had, you wouldn’t have come home, would you?”

“Of course I wouldn’t have!”

Cassian ended up blurting out harshly, unable to suppress his rising anger any longer. But this time, the duchess didn’t let it slide.

“Cassian, remember what I said earlier. That child is a Miller. You promised to treat him kindly, considering the relationship between our two families, didn’t you?”

Seeing his mother’s stern tone and pointed look, there was nothing more to be done. Tired of bemoaning his fate, Cassian finally surrendered.

“Fine. But this is the only time I’ll let it slide. Next time that brat is coming, you must tell me first.”

“Yes, I understand. I promise.”

The duchess finally smiled and nodded, as if relieved. Having gotten past that major hurdle, she reached for her teacup and brought it to her lips, but then frowned—the tea had gone cold. She was about to call the butler to bring fresh tea, when—

Knock, knock. At the sound, Cassian and the duchess both turned their eyes toward the door. After a moment, the door slowly opened, and the root of all this trouble cautiously poked his head in.

“Bliss!”

The duchess called his name with a bright smile, and Bliss bowed his head in greeting, then covered his eyes with his hands and opened his mouth.

“Um… is Cassian wearing clothes now…?”

The duchess nearly burst out laughing in an undignified manner. Quickly biting her lip to avert the crisis, Cassian answered in her stead.

“Yeah, I’m fully dressed. That ‘unsightly thing’ is now covered up, so you don’t need to cover your eyes.”

At her son’s pointed jab, repeating her own words verbatim, the duchess frowned and shot him a glare. But his tone was so nonchalant that it was hard to tell whether he was being sarcastic or had simply given up. Bliss, who had been peeking through the gaps in his fingers, finally lowered his hands after confirming Cassian was dressed, and grinned—hehe—before turning to the duchess.

“Madam, may I come in?”

“Oh, of course, Bliss. Do come in.”

The duchess said with a warm smile, and Bliss’s entire face lit up with joy. And his two eyes fixed on their target.

“Cassian!”

With a loud cry, Bliss ran across the room toward Cassian. His cheeks were flushed red, his arms were wide open, and he was running with all his might—though his short legs weren’t making much speed.

What the hell has that brat been doing for a year?

Cassian thought to himself, watching the pathetic sight of the child charging toward him at full speed. Currently standing nearly two meters tall, he’d grown another five centimeters in the past year and was still growing. Meanwhile, Bliss hadn’t changed much at all from a year ago. He was still small, still small, and still small.

“Cassian, Cassian! I missed you!”

Somehow reaching his destination, Bliss clung tightly to Cassian’s legs—Cassian was seated on the sofa—and kept calling his name over and over. After wiping his snot and tears carelessly onto Cassian’s trousers, Bliss looked up at him.

“It’s me, your friend Bliss! I came all the way here to see you. Do you know how long I’ve waited for this day!”

Cassian silently looked down at the little brat clinging to his legs. The child craned his neck as far back as it would go, trying to see his face, and shouted earnestly.

“I had such a hard time waiting a whole year. Now let’s play to our hearts’ content—make up for all the time we missed!”

And then, in high spirits, he shouted.

“Now we’re really getting married and playing together every single day!”

Ah.

Seeing that round, beaming face, Cassian suddenly felt as though he’d glimpsed his own bleak future, and his mood plummeted sharply.

∞ ∞ ∞

The atmosphere in the drawing room was nothing short of warm and harmonious. The duchess smiled fondly at Bliss, who was seated right beside her son.

“Bliss, try this too. It’s a special pastry made just for you.”

“Wow! Thank you!”

Bliss happily picked up a cheese-filled pastry. The pastry, as round as his own face, had Bliss’s likeness on it. With a delighted ooh, he opened his mouth wide and bit into the cookie. Chewing noisily, the duchess, who had been watching him, spoke up.

“How is it? Do you like it?”

“Yes, it’s delicious! Thank you!”

Bliss, not forgetting his manners even at the end, smiled broadly and chewed with his mouth full of pastry. As a result, crumbs scattered across the carpet and the sofa, but the duchess simply watched with a contented smile. Cassian, observing her silently, let out a scoff of disbelief.

“Mother, don’t you think your attitude toward your own son and this brat is vastly different?”

His face, wearing a smile, looked somewhat mocking at first glance. The duchess shot him a pretty glare.

“Oh, you’re all grown up now.”

And she gave her son a once-over before adding.

Too grown up, at that.

Her tone sounded almost like a complaint. Then the duchess’s gaze shifted to Bliss, seated beside her. Her lips immediately softened, and she added in a much gentler voice.

“Bliss is small and cute—truly, there’s no child more adorable than this. It’s the first time I’ve ever envied the Miller family.”

She handed another pastry to Bliss, who had finished his and was sitting there with an empty, ah-shaped mouth, and smiled contentedly. Cassian, watching this, said casually.

“Mother has always liked young children, after all.”

He was subtly pointing out that he was no longer a child, but his mother’s tone in return was indifferent.

“Even when you were little, you were… rather aloof, and you’d wake up having grown ten centimeters overnight.”

Cassian simply stared at his mother with cool, silent eyes. Ignoring her son’s reaction entirely, she kept smiling and devoted all her attention to Bliss. And that atmosphere continued until the duke, who had returned late, joined them and they all finished dinner together.

∞ ∞ ∞

“So my room is this way.”

Bliss said as he walked down the long corridor after dinner. Cassian smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, don’t get confused this time.”