“Goodness, Bliss. Look at you, drenched in sweat.”
Penelope, who'd been pacing in front of Bliss's room, gave a startled little exclamation the moment she spotted him rushing toward her. Bliss had sprinted across the vast castle, and between gasping breaths he tried to ask what was going on, but she got the words out first.
“I understand, it's all right, let's just go inside and talk.”
He had no idea what exactly she understood, but Bliss did as he was told for now, opening his door and stepping in. Penelope followed naturally behind his bewildered figure.
“Haaah.”
Bliss flopped down onto the bed and worked to catch his breath, and only once his breathing had eased somewhat did he lift his head to look at Penelope.
“What's going on, Penelope? Calling me so suddenly like that.”
He asked while a few ragged breaths still lingered, and Penelope, who had been peering into his wardrobe, quickly spun around toward him and let out a soft laugh.
“It's nothing serious, I just have something to ask you.”
“Something to ask? Me?”
Bliss echoed her words right back, and she answered in a warm tone.
“Yes, I suppose I need your advice. Something only you can give.”
“And what's that?”
Advice only I can give? He couldn't begin to guess. As he tilted his head and stared at her, Penelope gave his shoulder a light pat, as if to put him at ease.
“There's no need to worry, it's nothing big. Just a simple question, well, a survey, yes.”
“A survey?”
It was still nothing but talk he couldn't follow. Bliss had scrunched his brows together completely, and Penelope cleared her throat with an ahem and finally got to the point.
“Bliss, if you were to go on a date, what sort of event would be nice?”
Before Bliss could echo the question again, she quickly added,
“It's just that I haven't been on a date in so long I can hardly remember. You're still young, so you must know all sorts of things, hmm? And surely you've had the experience of dating a lovely lady, too.”
A date.
The instant he heard the word, Bliss's mood lifted at once. A date! The flower of romance, the very lifeblood of drama! What a wonderful word it was.
Seeing him swiftly grow enchanted, clasping both his cheeks, Penelope quickly pulled out her phone and got ready to take notes.
“Now, tell me, Bliss. What kind of date would be nice?”
“Well...”
Bliss thought back, faintly. A date, a wonderful date. The truth was he'd seen them countless times in dramas and books, but he'd never actually experienced one. Instead, he'd imagined them endlessly. The most wonderful date imaginable, and the very worst one, too.
The Ferris wheel date from Love Me to Death had been wonderful. And the passionate confession poured out in the pouring rain in The Tears of You, Whom My Wife Seduces had been magnificent. And the kiss shared atop the pirate ship with the sunset at their backs in The Duke and the Pirate, that one would be impossible given the era...
Hm? The Duke and the Pirate?
Suddenly his eyes flew wide open. He whipped his gaze around to look at Penelope, and she urged him on, brimming with curiosity.
“Go on, what comes to mind? What would you want to do?”
Suspicious.
Bliss had narrowed his eyes doubtfully; now he straightened his posture and broached the subject as if on guard.
“Why are you asking me a question like that...? Penelope, are you by any chance planning to go on a date?”
At that, Penelope gave a great start and waved her hands wildly.
“Oh my, me? Goodness, how scandalous. Of course not. Absolutely not. Not at all.”
Having denied it frantically, she then noticed Bliss staring at her with beady, narrowed eyes, and hurriedly came up with an excuse.
“Oh, honestly, the things you think of. I'm simply trying to give a certain someone some dating advice, that's all. But I've grown far too old, you see, and I haven't the faintest idea how people think these days. It would be ever so helpful if you'd lend a hand.”
At the request, her words trailing coyly at the end, Bliss was thrown into momentary confusion. Penelope, to me? For what reason, all of a sudden? Dating advice? For whom? From the air of it, it seemed to be someone quite important...
Penelope's important someone.
In that instant, his brain cells suddenly stirred. A thought flashed through his mind, and Bliss quietly opened his mouth.
“Is it perhaps someone of high standing?”
Hearing the hesitant voice that slipped out, Penelope broke into a beaming smile. Sweet, lovable Bliss, being so cautious like that.
“Of course. A high, very high personage indeed.”
An alarm went off in Bliss's head once more. Surely this couldn't be.
“Is it perhaps the Count?”
“Oh my.”
Penelope, startled, clapped a hand over her mouth. How could he be so quick on the uptake? Could this be the power of love?
Watching Penelope's reaction, Bliss thought, Just as I suspected, and a vein stood out at his temple. But that wasn't the end of it.
“And who's the date with?”
The memory of Cassian vanishing with Aina right before his eyes the other time came rushing back. Was it Aina after all? No, it might be yet another person.
The cocky brat, daring to seek my counsel so he can go date someone else.
Failing to notice the fist Bliss had clenched tight, Penelope raised her forefinger to her lips with a shh.
“That I can't tell you. But one thing is certain, it's a very lovable person.”
For Penelope to say something like that to me?
He was so flabbergasted he couldn't even speak. Bliss mouthed wordlessly for a moment, then barely managed to wring out a reply.
“In that case, would it really help for someone like me to say anything? The Count is suuuch a refined gentleman, after all.”
At the curt tone that burst out, unable to hide his feelings, Penelope hastily shook her head and soothed him.
“Oh, no. It's all right, and what's wrong with you, Bliss? You're more than qualified to advise the Count. There's no need to worry.”
She barely restrained herself from saying, Actually, the date is with you, Bliss. It wasn't yet the time to reveal it.
Don't be downhearted, Bliss. All of this is for your sake.
Knowing nothing, Bliss would draw up a date plan on behalf of his beloved Count, but the moment he learned that the Count's date was none other than himself, he'd be overcome. He might even shed tears. And then the two would finally share a passionate ki...
This rotten brat.
In that very moment, Bliss looked at Penelope's bright face and clenched his fist tight. Daring to try to use me. Not a chance. I'll never fall for it.
Because I'm Bliss Miller!
Whoo. Drawing one long breath to settle his emotions, Bliss finally spoke.
“So, the very first thing to do is...”
Penelope pricked up her ears and watched his lips intently. And it was roughly thirty minutes later that Penelope, citing an “emergency,” requested that Cassian return home at once.
“Is this for real?”
Having been handed the report by Penelope, Cassian skimmed through the text in an instant and then promptly twisted his face. He read it again, but it was still a preposterous list. Seeing her master's face full of disbelief, Penelope answered demurely, yet in a tone full of conviction.
“Yes, that's it. You must carry it out exactly as written.”
“This is ridiculous...”
Barely chewing back the words bullshit, Cassian frowned and fixed his eyes on the list once more. However long it had been since he'd last gone on a date, this was an utterly absurd itinerary. Are there really people who do this sort of thing? Truly?
“Is this even possible? In a single day?”
“If you keep at it diligently, it'll be done within three days.”
Still bullshit. Just adding up the travel time alone looked like it would take a full two days.
“Sheer lunacy.”
“I wrote it after asking Bliss directly.”
At those words, Cassian's hand, which had been about to fling the report aside, froze. Seeing his reaction, Penelope nodded and went on.
“Yes, that's right. It's the date course Bliss wants.”
Cassian's eyes turned back to the report. Watching him as he no longer so much as blinked, Penelope rattled on with her explanation.
“It may differ from your own tastes, Count. Everyone has their own preferences, after all. If you simply think of Bliss's tastes as a touch unusual, there's nothing you couldn't accept, is there?”
Her words were fairly persuasive. On top of that, that mad capybara was perfectly capable of dreaming up something like this. Once he thought of it that way, the report in his hand began to seem quite plausible. And Penelope's fuss about an “emergency” was hardly inexplicable either, was it?
Whoo. Cassian let out a short sigh and finally nodded.
“Fine. Prepare the private jet.”
Then, folding the report and tucking it into the inner pocket of his suit, he said,
“We'll start with Mozart's grave, right now.”
