24.
What on earth is going on here?
Bliss sat there blankly, just blinking. The captain's announcement kept drifting into his ears.
It had started just a few hours ago.
“Bliss, where are you? Come here right now, this instant!”
Sadly, before he could even pop the fresh-from-the-oven cookie into his mouth, Bliss had been dragged out in a rush. Penelope hurriedly changed his clothes for him and handed him his passport.
“Wh-what's all this, so suddenly?”
The bewildered Bliss asked, but Penelope just tugged him by the arm, hurrying toward the front entrance.
“No time to explain, come on, hurry!”
With no idea what was happening, he was hauled outside, where a familiar car sat waiting. Without a word of explanation, Penelope flung open the car door, shoved Bliss inside, and beamed a broad smile at him while he still hadn't gotten his bearings.
“Have a good trip, Bliss! Good luck!”
Good luck? Why? Baffled, he opened and closed his mouth, but once again she gave no explanation, just thrust up a thumb and shut the door. The car pulled away immediately, and only then did Bliss finally have a moment to look around... but if anything, things only got worse.
Gasp.
When Bliss spotted Cassian sitting right beside him, he jolted so hard he nearly screamed. He quickly turned his head and pretended to look out the window, but his heart began thumping anxiously, belatedly. Why is that jerk here? Figuring out the reason wasn't all that difficult.
It's Cassian's car, of course.
No sooner had he nodded to himself than the next question followed. But then why am I here?
He couldn't begin to work out the reason, but he didn't have the courage to ask either. While he kept rolling his eyes this way and that, diligently staring out the window, the sun began sinking lower and lower, and they arrived at an unexpected place.
Huh? The airport?
While he was completely failing to grasp the situation, the driver stopped the car, and the same thing as before repeated itself. Pushed and shuffled along by Cassian, his secretary, and his bodyguards, he walked here and there in a daze until now, when he was sitting like this inside an airplane.
And this time too, Cassian was in the seat across from him. The plane was getting ready for takeoff, and the stewardess set down drinks and snacks, relayed the safety information, and disappeared. Bliss, who had been blinking in bewilderment all the while, finally managed to recall the question he'd been chewing over.
What on earth is going on here?
The only person who could answer was the arrogant man sitting opposite him. Unwelcome as it was, he had no choice. In the end, Bliss clenched and unclenched his fists a couple of times, even finished a deep breath, and only then was he able to open his mouth.
“Where exactly are we going right now?”
That was all he managed, for all the courage it took. Surely he isn't kidnapping me? Just as that frightening thought flashed through his mind, Cassian, who had kept his mouth shut the whole time, spoke for the first time.
“Austria.”
“What? To Australia?”
When he cried out, startled, Cassian froze with his mouth open. It was exactly two seconds before he continued.
“No, that's where the kangaroos are. Where we're going is Austria.”
“I-I know that. Australia. I know.”
He didn't, in fact. Bliss had no idea what was different about the Austria Cassian was talking about and the Australia he himself had said. But getting caught not knowing would wound his pride. So he kept choosing the not-knowing route.
I'll ask Grayson about it later.
Bliss closed his mouth with that thought, but of course Cassian had noticed. Bliss was still pronouncing “Austria” as “Australia,” after all.
But Cassian had no intention of explaining any further about it. The reason was simple.
“Why are you suddenly bringing me along?”
Because he had to deal with a thoroughly sulking capybara first.
Staring expressionlessly at that pouting face, Cassian slowly uncrossed his legs and crossed the other one on top. He was making this absurd amount of effort to move along exactly the date course Bliss wanted, but he had absolutely no intention of saying truthfully, “We're going on the date you wanted.”
“I just need a gofer to come along on my schedule, that's all.”
“A gofer?”
At the usual indifferent tone, Bliss knit his brow hard and threw him a sidelong glare. As if to say, what on earth are you talking about. But Cassian had already anticipated this much. So he picked up the thread calmly.
“That's right, nothing major. My secretary will handle the important things, so you just stay beside me and do what you're told.”
“Like what?”
Always asking, one thing after another. Even if I teach him, he won't remember it for long.
Without any great expectations of Bliss's brain cells, Cassian answered.
“Well, things like handing me water to drink, or holding an umbrella over me.”
On the face of it, it sounded like nothing much. But a question still remained.
“If it's just handing over water and holding an umbrella, why do I need a passport?”
This time a longer silence was needed than before. Cassian opened his mouth after roughly five seconds had passed.
“Because we're going to another country.”
“Oh.”
Only then did Bliss let out a short exclamation, but Cassian didn't think he'd actually figured anything out. Because in the next moment his cheeks puffed out enormously into an expression full of petulance.
“What? That face. Got a complaint or something?”
Right on cue, the plane leveled off and an announcement said it was fine to unfasten seatbelts. Bliss answered with his lips thrust out for all to see.
“Yes. Because I came without even getting to eat dinner.”
So he was in a mood because he was hungry.
A child, as expected. Thinking that, Cassian lightly raised one hand. Soon a stewardess approached with a smile, and he spoke while keeping his eyes on Bliss.
“Bring the meal. This one can't handle spicy food well, so bring the pepper separately.”
“Yes, of course. Which wine would you like?”
When Cassian selected one of the wines listed on the wine list, she withdrew at once. He'd gotten information from Penelope in advance, learning the foods Bliss liked and that he had no particular allergies, so he'd ordered the meal prepared accordingly. Bliss was surely used to such treatment, too. Wherever he went, the Miller family would prepare everything to suit Bliss's circumstances and tastes.
Sure enough, he put the food the stewardess brought into his mouth without the slightest suspicion. Once something started going into his stomach, his mood seemed to lift, and he even kept smiling brightly.
“It's really delicious. The cooking's done just right, it's wonderful!”
“Thank you. The grapefruit is very fresh today; how about some grapefruit juice?”
“Yes, thank you. Give me lots, a whole lot.”
When he lavished praise on the stewardess, she smiled and responded in kind. In the cheerful atmosphere, filling his belly with food that suited his taste, he became a happy capybara on the verge of letting out a contented purr. Without sparing a single thought for why he was here, or what the truly hidden purpose was.
After about three staff members bustled back and forth attending to them, the full-bellied Bliss soon fell asleep, snoring. As predictable as the outcome was, Cassian's mind grew complicated. Because right now he was as wide awake as if it were broad daylight.
With Bliss lying comfortably asleep before him under a blanket, he once again took out the paper he'd tucked into the inner pocket of his suit and checked the list. The more he looked, the more preposterous the schedule seemed, but it had already begun. Backing out now was out of the question.
Everything should be ready by now.
In order to visit a cemetery that would be closed by the time they arrived, Cassian had gone so far as to have his secretary make a special request to the government here. Fortunately he'd received permission, but he'd incurred a debt, so the time to repay it would come someday. The problem was that the next item on the schedule was no different. No, it was even more of a headache.
“Haah.”
Unable to do anything about the deep sigh that spilled out on its own, he downed the half-remaining wine in one go. Why do I have to go this far. Even as self-reproach welled up, he couldn't stop now. He would see this through to the end. This schedule, which was a date for that brat but a nightmare for him, he'd carry it to the very last.
All the while, the plane was slicing through the sky at high speed.
