Chapter 13
Solitaria looked at him with hope as he answered so calmly.
When she looked up at him, Heinrich smiled brightly and crushed her hopes in an instant.
“Yeah. But maybe you’ll lose a bit of your freedom? That’s what I’m worried about, so that’s why I made this suggestion.”
“This is a scam!”
A sweet, crazy man… Solitaria stared at him, mouth open in disbelief.
Even while saying strange things, Heinrich put food in her mouth. Solitaria chewed and ate it anyway.
After swallowing even the carrots she hated most, Solitaria started speaking heatedly again.
“Why am I your companion? No, what kind of scam are you trying to pull with a fake companion?”
“Sol. Since you’ve decided to rebel, why not change how you address me too?”
Oh no, he didn’t understand a word she was saying.
“And if you want to curse at me, you should try more variety. Yours are too harmless.”
“Ha…?”
Heinrich calmly handed her water and medicine.
“Why, do you want me to feed you this too?”
“You’re crazy… You really must be crazy. How else could you change so much?”
They say you change after a near-death experience… She had changed in an instant too, but didn’t realize it herself and grumbled.
“It’s nothing. People will just hear that I have a companion now, that’s all. You don’t have to show up in front of them or do anything.”
“But if they ask who your companion is, you’ll say it’s me?”
“Yeah. Even if it’s just for show, they’ll only believe it if they see you.”
“…Seriously, the companion thing is just for your benefit, so why did it turn into me repaying a debt?”
“Well, are you curious? Then I’ll tell you.”
He said it with a look that made it clear she should never listen. Solitaria closed her mouth and swallowed the medicine. When she opened her mouth to show she’d swallowed it all, Heinrich smiled with satisfaction. The only rebellion Solitaria could manage was to glare at him with narrowed eyes.
“Why’d you stop talking? Aren’t you curious?”
“I’m done. I’m leaving now, so you should go too.”
“You can’t even walk properly. Where do you think you’re going alone?”
Heinrich hummed and twisted her hair, as if he was delighted by how sulky she was. Then he reached out and gestured for her to come into his arms.
“I could ask Dr. Leo or Sir Raon…”
“Why ask them? You can just come into my arms and I’ll take you out.”
Thanks to Leo pouring healing magic on her every day since she collapsed, nothing was damaged, but the aftereffects were severe. After lying down for nearly a year, she’d lost all her muscle.
Leo, who noticed this quickly, prescribed, “You must walk at least thirty minutes a day.” Heinrich, who heard this with her, made time in his busy schedule to walk with Solitaria.
Every day.
“…I don’t want to.”
“Hm?”
Of course Solitaria, looking so miserable, refused.
No matter if it was stairs or hallways, Heinrich carried Solitaria in his arms. In front of everyone.
Heinrich was still waiting with open arms, and Solitaria scrunched up her face in disgust.
“I don’t want to go out today.”
“If you skip today, there’ll only be more days you have to go out in my arms.”
“…Goo.”
“Good, that’s a smart dec-”
“Master, I mean you go out. I’m not falling for it today.”
In the end, Heinrich was kicked out of the room. He looked back at her with drooping eyes, but it was no use. No matter how many times he looked back.
Because she firmly mouthed for him to leave, Heinrich slumped his shoulders and walked out the door.
Once he was out, Heinrich burst out laughing. When he listened, he could hear her breathing heavily inside.
Solitaria knew Heinrich’s proposal was strange, but she couldn’t argue back properly. She growled as if she’d never lose, but if Heinrich narrowed his eyes, it was meaningless.
She always ended up doing whatever he wanted, trembling as she did.
“Idiot.”
He thought maybe he really should lock her up somewhere and not let anyone see her when she woke up. But no.
“This much is just right for now.”
He’d barely removed one lock from his heart. If he went any further, that sly rabbit would definitely do something far more outrageous than he expected.
So he had to hide his true thoughts from her. Even if she figured it out later, by then she’d be so tangled in the web he’d spun that she wouldn’t even think of running.
* * *
Recently, Solitaria realized her relationship with Heinrich had changed.
His oddly heavier actions surprised her from time to time.
She’d hated when he acted light and careless, but she never wanted him to hold her hand so slowly just to make sure she noticed he was there.
She wished he’d walk beside her longer, but she never wanted him to walk slower than a snail.
Just dealing with his odd behavior was tiring, but Heinrich took it even further.
“This is too much!”
“What is? This is normal for companions.”
“We’re not even real! Just take it easy.”
At a meal with Sophia and Eremus, he casually said, “Good companions feed each other.”
He quickly ate the mushroom from her fork and shamelessly offered her a carrot.
When she grumbled, Sophia, unable to watch any longer, pushed the soup toward her. Only then did Solitaria realize who else was there and glared at Heinrich.
“Rian, it’s something you like. Eat up.”
“Thank you, Madam.”
Sophia and Eremus watched every bite that went into her mouth.
Their attention was a bit overwhelming, but thanks to them, Heinrich’s antics stopped, so Solitaria focused on eating.
The whole time she ate, they kept opening their mouths as if there was something they just had to say before dessert.
“But Rian, don’t you think you should change what you call us?”
“…”
Solitaria quietly put down her fork.
Lately, since Heinrich hadn’t nagged her about titles, she thought he’d given up. She never expected an attack like this.
She glanced at Heinrich, who pretended to know nothing, and swallowed hard.
“By titles, you mean…”
Sophia and Eremus, their eyes full of expectation, didn’t seem to feel sorry for the trembling little rabbit at all.
Because of them, Solitaria was in a real bind.
Her pet rabbit status was gone, but they were still Hirupus, and she was still a rabbit with nothing.
Thanks to Heinrich’s ridiculous “repaying a debt,” she’d become a “fake companion,” but everyone knew it was fake. She didn’t understand why they cared so much about titles.
“Here, you said you wanted this.”
Heinrich, picking up the fork she’d set down, cut a piece of cake and handed it to her. She glared at him, but he just smiled brightly and urged her.
“Ah, open up.”
Silence filled the space between them.
Heinrich looked at the feisty Solitaria and couldn’t wipe the smile from his lips. He looked like he thought he’d already won. That made something stir in Solitaria.
A competitive spirit to wipe that smug look off his face.
After a deep breath, Solitaria smiled sweetly and spoke.
“Then, I’ll call you Sophia, Madam.”
“Oh my, would you?”
“And Sir Eremus, too.”
“Sol, what about me?”
The two whose names were called brightened up. Heinrich, full of anticipation, waited his turn.
Without a word, Solitaria took the cake Heinrich offered. She smiled as widely as she could at him, wishing the cake would disappear quickly.
Then, as if puzzled, she tilted her head and asked Heinrich,
“Aren’t you having dessert?”
She knew exactly what he wanted, but she pretended not to, determined to mess with him.
Heinrich frowned, clearly displeased. Normally, she would have smoothed his brow, but not today.
Just to make sure, Solitaria called Sophia and Eremus again.
“Madam Sophia, Sir Eremus. Please eat a lot. You like sour things, don’t you?”
At that moment, Heinrich’s smug expression, certain of victory, crumbled.
“Oh, Master, you don’t like sour things, right? You even ate the mushroom you hate earlier. Why not just skip it? Or do you want a palate cleanser? Should I go to the kitchen and get one for you?”
“…Sit down.”
“Yes, Master. I have to listen to you, right? That’s what a good rabbit does, isn’t it?”
Her face as she teased Heinrich looked oddly satisfied.
“…My title hasn’t changed, has it?”
“No, and it never will.”
Seeing him force a smile, Solitaria felt a strange sense of accomplishment. After pausing for a while, he finally snapped out of it and returned to his usual sly self.
