Deflower Me If You Can Chapter 6

As expected, everywhere was utterly quiet, without the slightest sign of anyone around.

Nice.

Soon, he escaped the room and began running busily. Straight toward the snack bar where the treats were prepared.

Chocolate chip cookies, caramel, jellies, candy, ice cream, pudding… All sorts of snacks flew around in his head. I’m gonna eat them aaaaaall!

He was giddily racing across the corridor when, suddenly, a door burst open and Ashley stepped out.

“Bliss, you’re right here. Perfect timing.”

Seeing Bliss charging straight toward him, Ashley immediately bent down and scooped the child up with one hand.

“Uh…!”

As Bliss floundered at the unexpected situation, Ashley continued.

“You might need to greet them as well, so it’s best to get you ready just in case.”

Whaaaat?

Bliss turned pale, but it was already too late.

“N-no, no.”

He squirmed and resisted, but it was a futile effort. The footsteps that had been dashing toward snacks were caught by Papa and dragged straight back into the room.

∞ ∞ ∞

“Thank you for inviting us like this.”

At the Duke of Strickland’s words, Ashley responded courteously.

“It is an honor to have you. This is my partner, Connor Niles.”

Following Ashley’s introduction, Koi naturally introduced himself.

“Hello. I continue to use my pre-marriage surname. Pleased to meet you.”

He exchanged handshakes with the duke and duchess in turn, and when he naturally faced the son standing at the end, Koi momentarily faltered.

…Didn’t he say they were Betas?

The majority of people with outstanding appearances are trait manifestors, so they are Alphas or Omegas. Of course, there were occasional cases among Betas as well, but they were exceedingly rare. So if Ashley hadn’t told him in advance, he would have automatically assumed this man was an Alpha as well.

And with good reason—he was as tall as his eldest, Nathaniel, and his long, slender eyes visible beyond his glasses somehow put the other person on edge. His overall impression was of someone who had shot up tall and lean, yet his angular jawline and straight-line shoulders somehow evoked the image of an unyielding wall.

He looks incredibly, monumentally stubborn…!

Just as he thought that, Cassian extended a hand and greeted Koi.

“Good day to you. I am Cassian Strickland. Thank you for having us.”

Nevertheless, the gesture of shaking Koi’s hand and the voice delivering the greeting were so utterly calm and elegant that Koi felt embarrassed about what he had just been thinking, while at the same time realizing for the first time, ‘So this is what they mean by an aristocrat.’

“Koi.”

“Ah, yes.”

When he came to his senses at the low voice, Ashley was looking down at him. A smile lingered at his lips, but his eyes were not smiling at all. Koi hastily pulled himself together and hurriedly fumbled for something to say.

“Ah, um. You’re attending university, I hear?”

When he voiced the first fact that came to mind, the young man offered a calm smile and corrected him.

“I have only received the acceptance letter. I have not formally matriculated yet.”

“He’s still a high school student.”

At the duchess’s additional remark, given with a lilting laugh, Koi nodded.

“Ahh… I see.”

So roughly seventeen? Eighteen? Koi did some rough calculations in his head, comparing his children’s ages to his. Younger than Nathaniel, older than Grayson or Stacey.

Just as he had thought that far, the duchess, her face wreathed in smiles, spoke up.

“My child is a bit different from the typical Beta, isn’t he? He often gets mistaken.”

Her continuous, lilting laughter and smiling face were filled with pride in her child and boastfulness. Koi smiled back while inwardly breathing a sigh of relief that she wasn’t offended. There were often people who became displeased when mistaken about their trait; it was fortunate, he supposed, that the Duchess of Strickland was not that type.

“Please, have a seat here.”

With the brief greetings concluded, they sat in the drawing room, drinking tea and exchanging everyday small talk. Before getting into serious discussion, Ashley first brought up miscellaneous peripheral topics.

“How much longer will you be staying in the United States? It’s been about two weeks since you arrived, hasn’t it?”

When Ashley asked, the duke answered with a leisurely smile.

“Yes, in fact, we are scheduled to return the day after tomorrow. I am delighted we were able to visit like this beforehand. It’s all thanks to Mr. Miller…”

While meaningless words passed back and forth, the duke and duchess’s only son, Cassian Strickland, sat quietly drinking his tea. Koi stole glances at him as he brought the teacup to his lips with movements so restrained there wasn’t a single lapse in composure.

His first impression had not been wrong. Cassian Strickland sat ramrod straight, shoulders and back upright, drinking his tea. He showed no sign whatsoever of boredom, even though it must have been tedious. Neither did he display excessive interest or exaggerated behavior. Watching him sit there composedly, as if both present and absent, Koi felt a strange sensation. He must have been trained in all that since childhood, right? Is it because he’s from an aristocratic family, after all…?

Compared to that, my children…

It was just as he recalled his youngest son, his eye bruised black and blue from punching it the day before, and let out a sigh.

“Your son is very composed and gentlemanly.”

At Ashley’s sudden words, Koi snapped back to attention. When he looked up, the duchess was blushing and smiling with a bright face.

“Yes, he has grown up well, for which I am grateful.”

Seeing that, Koi chimed in to Ashley’s remark with half sincerity.

“It doesn’t look like he was very mischievous when he was little. He must have been a very obedient child?”

“Yes, thankfully.”

The duchess repeated the same words, then soon added.

“It would have been nice if I could have had more children. Though Cassian has, of course, grown up splendidly. The Miller family has six children, did you say? Ah, speaking of which, isn’t the youngest still quite young? I don’t see him.”

At the duchess’s display of interest, Koi stole a glance at Ashley. As if asking, ‘What should we do?’ At that, Ashley spoke first.

“He is still very young and doesn’t know his manners well. I told him to stay in his room in case he might commit a blunder.”

“Oh my, children are meant to grow up making mistakes, you know.”

The duchess spoke with a benevolent smile.

“But it’s all part of the process. If it’s alright, could you perhaps introduce him to us? I would love to greet your child.”

Koi unconsciously looked at Ashley again. It was a bewildering situation, but there was not the slightest hint of pretense in the duchess’s words. Just as he hesitated, sensing that she genuinely wanted to meet Bliss, the duke spoke up this time.

“Since we have only one child, seeing a family with many children makes us envious and is truly a wonderful sight. Truth be told, there are widespread rumors that the Miller family’s youngest is exceedingly cute and lovely, so my wife has been greatly looking forward to this.”

“Bliss, you mean?”

Koi’s face immediately lit up with delight, his eyes sparkling. Anyone would be pleased to hear their child called lovely. Koi thought himself not the least bit unusual. Even though he had just barely stopped himself, by a hair’s breadth, from perking up his ears.

But he had no choice but to suppress the urge to immediately bring Bliss out and shout, “Look at our cute youngest!”

“Um, well… actually, there was a bit of an incident yesterday.”

Koi, who had carefully broached the subject, tried to choose his words so as not to startle the duke and duchess.

“He overdid it a bit at the party yesterday… um, he hurt his eye somewhat.”

“His eye? How did that happen?”

The startled duchess asked with wide eyes. Though he thought it was a natural reaction, Koi couldn’t help feeling abashed as he answered.

“Uh, well… it seems there was some quarreling with other children yesterday. As you know, all our children share the same trait, but Bliss is the only one who hasn’t manifested yet, so his eye color is different. It seems they teased him about it…”

After a brief pause, he added sheepishly.

“Bliss punched his own eye with his fist.”

At those words, the son of the duke and duchess, who had been drinking his tea, faltered for an instant. But it was such a minute movement that no one noticed, and the conversation carried on.