Chapter 11
The man called Ren scratched his head and turned away. Solitaria covered her mouth and silently wished for them to disappear quickly.
“Anyway, it’s at 4 o’clock today. After you stab him, leave through the back door. The carriage will be ready. If you’re really nervous about doing it alone, I’ll be nearby.”
“What’s there to be afraid of? With this medicine from Tigris, no matter how skilled the heir of Hirupus is, he won’t sense me.”
Ren sneered and swallowed the medicine. Then he picked up a long knife. They talked about what kind of life they would live afterward, but Solitaria heard nothing.
After a while, they disappeared, chuckling unpleasantly.
“Ah…”
Solitaria covered her eyes with both hands. It was overwhelming for her, who had been wondering what to do once she became an adult.
She thought about running to tell everyone immediately. But then she felt drained and clenched her hair tightly. The men she overheard were servants who had worked at Hirupus for a long time, and she was nothing more than the young master’s pet rabbit.
“Who would believe me…”
A sudden emotion welled up inside Solitaria.
“Maybe I should just pretend I don’t know.”
No one would know she overheard this here. Maybe it was better to just ignore it.
If she hid nearby and hurried to call Leo, Heinrich would surely survive.
“If I try to stop that, I’ll probably die. It’s better if the young master gets hurt briefly than if I die…”
She had a very cruel and wicked thought. Thinking of the recently annoying Heinrich, it somehow felt okay.
But she knew.
“How can I do that…”
No matter how annoying and lighthearted Heinrich was, he was still her savior.
She had been alone and destined to die in the cold winter. Instead, she had spent four years sleeping in warmth and receiving love she never knew.
That was enough.
“This is the last favor I’ll repay, really.”
Her eyes sparkled in the sunlight, full of determination. Although she wouldn’t get to see the world as she had planned, it was okay.
Somehow, an unknown strength bloomed in her heart, as if she could overcome dying or pain instead of Heinrich.
“Will it hurt a lot?”
Solitaria patted her stomach and jumped up. Then she started running toward the library with all her might.
There was no trace of worry or concern on her face. With a peaceful smile, Solitaria asked herself inside.
‘This counts as repaying my debt, right?’
* * *
After running for a while, she arrived at the quiet path near the library. She could barely sense the presence of the man called Ren who had put something in his mouth earlier.
‘Tigris! Seriously!’
It would be bad if the other side noticed her. Solitaria took a deep breath and held it firmly.
Just as they each took their positions, Heinrich appeared.
He had been annoying until they parted, but now she felt glad to see him again. Matching his slower-than-usual pace, Solitaria took a deep breath.
‘One.’
She recalled the moment he saved her.
‘Two.’
She remembered the day he first called her name and gave her a nickname.
‘Three.’
She regretted not dodging earlier.
Three seconds passed in an instant, and the rabbit was surprisingly fast.
Watching her sprint, Solitaria couldn’t help but laugh. Heinrich’s usual pace was slow because he matched her steps, but her legs were fast when saving him.
Maybe she had been walking slowly on purpose when with him. With that thought, the expected pain pierced her stomach.
The expression on Heinrich’s face was one she would never forget in her life.
‘Ah. But maybe this is the last time.’
His face was frozen, neither crying nor frowning.
‘Such a foolish expression.’
Solitaria snickered. Looking at Heinrich’s face, the pain in her stomach almost disappeared.
Heinrich’s eyes shook as if he didn’t understand the situation. Ren, who had tried to attack him, hurriedly pulled the knife from her stomach and tried to run.
At that moment, Heinrich’s hand suddenly shot out from behind and grabbed the sharp blade tightly. The knife couldn’t escape his strong grip, and Ren fell backward in shock.
Solitaria, leaning weakly against Heinrich, opened her mouth slightly.
‘I protected him.’
Watching Heinrich keep shaking his head in disbelief, a small regret bloomed in Solitaria’s heart. If she had known this would happen, she would have resisted more and been more honest with her feelings.
If there was a next time, she promised herself to be more honest with her feelings. At the same time, her body began to fall backward.
If Heinrich hadn’t caught her, she would have fallen to the ground in a very awkward way. She had lost a lot of blood, so her vision blurred and her stomach churned.
It was hard even to open her mouth, but summoning her remaining strength, Solitaria said goodbye to Heinrich.
“Good…bye.”
With those heavy words, her hand dropped to the floor.
Heinrich clenched the fallen hand and trembled. He was terrified. He felt Solitaria growing cold and slipping away from him.
“Sol, Solitaria?”
Her sparkling green eyes and silver hair that fluttered in the sunlight looked dull and lifeless.
Among them, a thick red liquid began to cover Heinrich. The smell was sharp and foul. Heinrich shivered but wrapped Solitaria in his clothes.
“If you’re cold… are you cold? No, no. It’s my fault. Sol. First, to Leo. Leo… Leo!!!”
The wolf’s howl filled the space. It was a mournful and lonely cry.
After some time, beastkin from Hirupus rushed in.
“Leo, Sol won’t open her eyes.”
His golden eyes trembled like a lost lamb.
Leo hurriedly checked Solitaria’s condition. The large knife had pierced her deeply. She had lost a lot of blood, and her face was pale as if she might die at any moment.
“We need to move her to a room and start surgery immediately. Penetrating wounds can’t be healed with just healing magic.”
“Then what should we do first…”
Ignoring the flustered Heinrich, Leo calmly moved Solitaria to a room. Then an operation lasting over eight hours began.
Heinrich paced helplessly the entire time. He was disgusted by his own helplessness.
“I’m such an idiot.”
Just before he was about to lose his mind thinking about Solitaria’s last goodbye, Leo came out of the operating room.
“The surgery went well. But I can’t promise when she’ll wake up. Until then, we can only keep her alive with healing magic.”
Hearing the grim news, Heinrich collapsed into a chair. His sorrowful cries filled the hallway.
Leo could only say he would do his best to the pleading Heinrich.
After that day, Hirupus was shut tight. Heinrich’s coming-of-age ceremony was canceled. A long time passed since Solitaria closed her eyes.
Spring, summer, and autumn passed. Even when the cold winter returned, the same one when she first came to Hirupus, Solitaria did not wake.
* * *
A chilly breeze brushed her nose.
Solitaria wriggled to find warmth and burrowed deeper into the blanket.
‘Hasn’t this happened before…?’
Suddenly, a loud crashing noise came from beside her. She made a small sound to complain about the noise, and it quieted down.
“Mm…”
Then she heard footsteps tapping again, and someone roughly opened the door and left.
Solitaria blinked repeatedly, trying to focus. She struggled to understand what was happening.
At that moment, someone ran through the open door.
“You…!”
Turning to the familiar voice, she saw Heinrich, disheveled. Slowly, she began to realize what had happened.
‘Wow… I’m alive?’
She had really thought she was going to die, but now her body was intact. No pain anywhere.
Solitaria looked away from Heinrich and carefully touched her stomach. Then she lifted her head to show him she was alive.
Heinrich’s expression was stiff and serious. Only then did Solitaria sense something was wrong.
“Ah, h-hey. Master, I’m alive?”
Startled by his harsh tone, Solitaria squeezed her eyes shut. But unlike what she thought, he didn’t seem ready to say anything sharp to her.
“I’m glad. Really.”
So she misunderstood.
Usually, the calm before the storm is the scariest.
‘Glad about what?’
Solitaria slowly opened her eyes and glanced around. Just as she was about to joke about the nice weather with an awkward smile, she felt something strange.
The moment she was stabbed was in autumn, on Heinrich’s birthday. But now, snow was falling outside the window. Her hair, once just past her shoulders, had grown to her waist.
“Ah, um…? Maybe I slept a little too long.”
“Too long?”
