Deflower Me If You Can Chapter 23

“It’s just—I wondered if you’d changed your mind. So that’s me and you, four in total.”

“One more person, that’s fine, right?”

“One more?”

At the sudden remark, Cassian frowned, and Jeffrey replied with a grin.

“Yeah, a friend of mine. The more the merrier, right?”

Then he gave a wink. Cassian felt vaguely uneasy, but soon Jeffrey laughed “Wahaha” casually and gave his arm a light tap.

“Didn’t you say you were going to have a wild and thrilling vacation? What’s with the sudden cold feet?”

It was a very small, trivial provocation, but it worked well enough. Cassian soon relaxed his guard and shrugged.

“Just curious. Do whatever you want, I don’t mind.”

“Right, let’s have ourselves a proper good time.”

Saying that, Jeffrey raised his own beer bottle as if toasting and brought it to his lips. Downing the rest of his drink in one go, he clapped his hands with a “Right,” and gestured with his chin behind Cassian. Turning around without thinking, he immediately met eyes with the women.

“Hi.”

To the woman who smiled and greeted him first, Cassian also softened the corners of his mouth and said.

“Hi, I’m Cassian. And you?”

“I’m Kitty. This is my friend, Bebe.”

After introducing her friend as well, Kitty tilted her head and asked.

“Are you a celebrity by any chance? You look familiar.”

Cassian laughed shortly and shook his head.

“Sorry to disappoint, but no.”

“Really? Then are you a shifter? An alpha?”

At the follow-up question, Cassian denied it again this time.

“Sorry about that too, but no. I’m a beta.”

“…Really?”

As Kitty blinked in surprise, the music changed just then. Cassian looked down at her and asked.

“Wanna dance?”

Instead of answering, Kitty took his outstretched hand. And not long after they went off alone, they shared a deep kiss.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Master, please wake up. Master.”

The servant struggled to support Cassian while constantly trying to rouse him. But Cassian could barely move his feet as directed and couldn’t seem to open his eyes at all.

At least it was a relief that he’d taken a taxi. Thanks to the Duke’s strict teaching that one should never drive after even a single drop of alcohol, he always takes a taxi home on such occasions. The problem now was that the servants would have to go retrieve his car later. Still, it was far better than him recklessly driving and causing an accident out of misplaced bravado.

“Now, right foot first. That’s it.”

As the servants grunted and heaved, supporting Cassian from both sides as they walked down the hallway, a small figure hid in the shadows, watching their backs. Too busy moving Cassian, the servants were completely unaware of such a gaze and worked hard to cross the hallway to Cassian’s room.

“Phew.”

After barely managing to lay the young master on the bed, they looked down at the deeply unconscious Cassian for a moment before returning to their own tasks.

“I’ll go get the car, you look after the master’s sleep.”

“Got it, the key… found it, here.”

As one servant tossed a key he’d fished out of his pocket, the other caught it lightly and hurried out of the room. The remaining servant removed Cassian’s shoes and outerwear, unbuttoned a couple of buttons on his shirt, and then let out a sigh, “Huff.” Finally, after pulling the sheet up to his chest, he too left, and at last Cassian was alone.

The only sound in the room was the rhythmic breathing of deep sleep. Morning light began to shine in, and the firmly closed door creaked open silently. Entirely unaware of the small, ominous shadow creeping in on tiptoe, Cassian remained in his deep slumber.

∞ ∞ ∞

It sounded like birds singing in the distance. His ears were the first to wake, but the next thing he realized was the pressure on his chest.

…What is this?

“Ugh.”

Cassian groaned with a frown. There’s something there. Pressing down on me. Is this what they call sleep paralysis, which I’ve heard about? I’ve never experienced it before, but I’ve heard of it. I also know it’s just a type of sleep disorder.

But the stifling feeling and the pressure on his chest were undeniably unpleasant. On top of that, the alcohol he’d drunk through the night had come back as a vicious hangover. His head was heavy, his stomach was off, and now sleep paralysis on top of it all.

He could roughly guess what would happen next. He’d open his eyes but not really see, and start hallucinating. In all his life in this castle, he’d never seen a ghost, so what in the world was sitting on his chest…

“…Ha.”

Finally managing to open his eyes and confirm the identity of the ‘thing,’ a hollow sigh escaped Cassian’s lips. A small, round face was looking down at him.

“You’re awake! Cassian, did you sleep well?”

The child who had been waiting all along seized the opportunity, grabbed Cassian’s face, and planted a kiss on his cheek with a smack.

“Eww, you stink!”

Despite the surprise attack, Cassian still couldn’t react properly, just blinking his eyes. Bliss pinched his nose, turned his head away, and made a pained sound. Cassian was still just blinking, having no idea what was going on, when Bliss finally chuckled and said.

“I waited for you to wake up. Cassian, you’re such a sleepyhead. I woke up aaaaages ago.”

Hehe, seeing the child giggling with both hands covering his mouth, his mind gradually started to clear. So, this little brat barged into my room on his own and woke me up…?

He’d tried so hard to avoid him for days, only to be ambushed like this. Thinking that, exhaustion suddenly washed over him. Letting out a pained groan, he covered his face with one hand.

“Huh? Cassian, what’s this?”

At Bliss’s sudden remark, Cassian froze. What now, you damned brat. With a sigh, he opened his eyes through his fingers and looked down. Bliss, sitting on his chest, had turned around to look behind him. What’s he looking at? Hidden by the child’s body, he couldn’t see properly. As he frowned, Bliss suddenly moved downward and said.

“How strange. What did you put in the sheet? Is it a balloon? Is it bread?”

At the fleeting sensation of tiny fingertips brushing against it, Cassian grasped the situation. That thing that naturally happens in the morning had unfortunately caught the child’s attention. Blood rushed to his face in an instant, and he desperately reached out.

“Wait, Bliss. Don’t touch tha—”

There was no time to feel the ominous foreboding. The child, tilting his head, gave the thing protruding upright under the sheet a hard punch with his fist.

Thump.

Aaaaaaah.

The instrument that had delighted Kitty the night before met its glorious end. A scream that couldn’t even escape his lips swirled in his mouth, and Cassian violently curled his entire body.

“Wah!”

Then Bliss tumbled and rolled off the now-curled Cassian onto the bed.

∞ ∞ ∞

The breakfast table was quiet. Amidst the silence, where nothing could be heard except the occasional clinking of cutlery, Bliss cautiously watched Cassian’s mood.

He sat at the table with a face even more haggard than when he’d woken up that morning, continuously tearing apart his bread. Unable to stand the sight of the bread, never making it to his mouth, being torn to shreds and piling up on his plate, the Duchess spoke up.

“Cassian, what are you doing? You need to eat properly.”

Despite the reprimand, he showed no reaction. It was only after tearing one piece of bread to pieces like paper that he finally stopped his hands.

“Mother.”

“Yes?”

Startled by the quiet call, the Duchess answered, and Cassian, still staring into the distance, spoke.

“You said one month, didn’t you?”

“What? Ah, yes.”

Realizing the meaning a beat late, the Duchess nodded, and he lowered his head deeply and muttered.

“Hah, one month…”

Within that deep sigh lay truly many emotions. Unable to understand what was going on, the Duchess could only blink in confusion.

“Um, Cassian.”

After finishing his meal, as Cassian walked back to his room, he heard a cautious call from behind. Sure enough, the troublesome little brat was standing there hesitantly, watching him. Turning toward him as if to ask ‘What now?’, Bliss opened his mouth with a worried look.