Chapter 10
She tried to turn her head away from his heavy stare, but it was useless.
Heinrich gripped both armrests tightly and looked at her as if there was no way to escape. In the end, Solitaria surrendered and protested in a voice so small it could have come from a mouse hole.
“I wasn’t running away.”
Even at her words, Heinrich had no intention of letting her go. He brought his face even closer.
When Heinrich’s hair brushed against Solitaria’s forehead, the atmosphere grew even more tense and strange.
Unable to stand it any longer, Solitaria chose to escape by turning into a rabbit.
“Huh?”
Because she shrank, the distance that had been close enough for their breaths to touch suddenly widened again. Heinrich stared at Solitaria, who had slipped out of his clothes, with a blank expression.
Solitaria looked back at him, and her eyes were brimming with tears.
“Why are you crying?”
She had been sulking since morning because of his lightheartedness, and those tears were filled with resentment toward Heinrich, who didn’t understand her feelings.
Heinrich asked again, baffled, but Solitaria shook her head and bit her lips tightly. Seeing that, Heinrich gave a firm warning.
“I can only let it slide because you’re cute so many times.”
“……”
“Pretending you didn’t hear won’t work. Next time you run away like this, I’ll just eat you up.”
As a very timid sign of rebellion, Solitaria turned her head sharply. And so, a silent cold war began between them.
* * *
After parting with Solitaria, Heinrich couldn’t get a grip on himself because of strange emotions.
With Raon scratching his nerves at his side, Heinrich suddenly realized he was angry.
“I feel so sorry for our young lady.”
“Who are you calling ‘our young lady’? I told you to stop using that title.”
“Can’t call her Miss Rian! Can’t call her young lady! Then what should I call her?”
[TLN: Changed Lien to Rian]
“You could just not call her anything.”
Because of Heinrich’s threatening mood, Raon’s lips twitched.
He opened and closed his mouth, as if struggling to decide whether to say something. After a while of making a fuss, Raon finally said what he wanted to say.
“If you keep treating her like that, she’ll just run away for good.”
“What?”
Heinrich froze. He had never even considered that possibility.
“Think about it. She’ll be an adult soon. She might say she wants to be independent. And if she leaves, she could meet someone new…”
Raon, who had watched this clueless fool up close for four years, seemed unable to hold back anymore.
“Leave? Meet someone?”
Heinrich’s reaction was oddly satisfied. Though it seemed he’d gone a bit off the rails compared to what Raon expected.
“At her age, it’s natural to be curious about romance.”
“Sir Raon, the way you’re talking makes it sound like you’re interested in Sol.”
“Of course! Serving our young lady is better than serving a bratty master like you…”
Heinrich, nodding at Raon’s words, casually picked up the sword by his desk. The blade flashed, and so did Heinrich’s eyes.
Even someone as dense as Raon could tell his life was in danger at this moment.
“Wait, wait. Master, put that down.”
“The more I think about it, the more I feel like I’d be at peace if you were gone. Don’t you think?”
Heinrich scraped the sword against the floor and took a step toward Raon.
“Your eyes have gone crazy! Get a grip! You lunatic!”
“My eyes? And lunatic? You’ve finally lost it, haven’t you?”
The scraping sound filled the room. The sword in his hand traced a path closer to Raon’s neck.
And just before the blade touched his neck…
“Still, it’s a waste to kill our capable Sir Raon.”
“Gasp. Gasp… You really were going to kill me.”
“Shh, Raon. People will think I’m a villain. Get up already.”
Heinrich sheathed the sword and smiled brightly. Raon felt the hair on his body stand on end, from his spine to his scalp.
For a while, the room was filled with Raon’s sobs and the lively sound of something being pounded.
After quite some time, Heinrich came out looking much more at ease.
James was waiting for him outside. He had come to brief Heinrich on his next schedule.
“I’ve placed the documents you need to review in your office. You’ll be going to the library later, right?”
“Of course. My work goes better when I check on the rabbit who just sleeps instead of reading. And she seems really upset, so I should try to cheer her up.”
Remembering the ridiculous fight from the morning, Heinrich ran a hand through his hair.
“Then shall I send some refreshments to the library for you and Miss Rian to enjoy?”
“Lemon cake would be good. She likes sour things, our mischievous young lady.”
Heinrich hummed, as if he didn’t even remember he disliked sour things. James nodded lightly.
He did so because he knew that, at some point, Heinrich’s standard had become Solitaria. James wrote “Time for Master and Companion” in his schedule notebook and smiled brightly.
“I’ll bring it at the right time. By the way, Miss Rian seems to have been napping around the library lately.”
James, who was about to bow, remembered to tell Heinrich. Hearing that, Heinrich smiled as if he were the happiest person in the world.
“So that’s why her hair is stained with grass.”
He always reacted this way whenever Solitaria was mentioned.
He didn’t seem to realize it himself, but James, who delivered Solitaria’s schedule to Heinrich every day, could see it clearly. He knew what Heinrich’s face meant.
“Maybe I shouldn’t let her nap. She’s been looking tired lately because she sleeps late, and it’s all because of those naps. She never listens to me.”
Heinrich soon said he should get going and turned to leave. James bowed as he saw him off.
Heinrich’s steps toward Solitaria looked light, so James smiled gently.
Some people were frustrated that there had been no progress in their relationship over the past four years. But James thought this kind of time wasn’t so bad.
His young master, who used to have flat emotions, was learning a lot of new feelings. So maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if this time lasted a little longer.
But that hope brought a disaster no one could have predicted.
* * *
Solitaria lay down in the grass near the library and let out a deep sigh. When she closed her eyes, the events of the morning replayed before her.
She didn’t understand why she couldn’t hide her feelings today, even though she usually did so well. She didn’t know why Heinrich’s approaching figure kept coming to mind.
Solitaria took a deep breath and muttered.
“…Act like a pet rabbit, Solitaria.”
To clear her mind, she recalled her daily plans.
“There’s not much time left until adulthood. When that comes, I’ll leave Hirupus and live on my own. If I spend less time by Master’s side, these strange feelings will disappear too.”
It didn’t seem bad to visit the places she’d read about in books.
Sophia secretly gave her enough allowance every month, so she thought she wouldn’t have trouble living independently.
“I don’t know. After following him around for four years, haven’t I repaid enough of my debt? No… I’ll rest a bit, then live near Hirupus and keep repaying Master. How could I just leave the one who saved me? That’d be heartless.”
While she was lost in these thoughts, an unpleasant noise reached her ears. She tried to ignore it and sleep.
But unfortunately, a rabbit’s hearing is excellent. With a helpless smile, Solitaria started listening to their conversation.
“They said Tigris can’t wait any longer. They want it done before the coming-of-age ceremony.”
Tigris? Just hearing that family name made Solitaria’s fur stand on end.
She curled up small and looked for a place to hide. She spotted a big rock and hid behind it. Then she listened to their conversation again.
“They said if the heir of Hirupus dies, Tigris will bring in a wolf beastkin from their side branch.”
“Why go that far? Why not just attack Hirupus if the heir dies?”
“Tsk, we don’t need to know that much. We just take the money after the job’s done.”
Solitaria covered her mouth. She hadn’t understood what “the job” meant before, but now she knew exactly.
Tigris was trying to kill Heinrich.
She could see them over the rock, drawing large knives and grinning wickedly. At that moment, she couldn’t hold her breath any longer.
“Gasp.”
One of the men, who had been saying terrifying things, seemed to hear it. He put his hand to his mouth and lowered his voice.
“What’s wrong?”
“I thought I heard something.”
“You’re imagining things. No one comes here. Besides, who would hide in a place with nowhere to hide?”
“Can’t hurt to be careful.”
He started walking toward the only hiding place… the rock.
The sound of feet rustling through grass reached Solitaria’s ears.
“Ren, I’m telling you, there’s nothing there. You’re being too sensitive.”
“I just need to check that rock.”
“Who would be dumb enough to hide there? Anyone could see them.”
