Chapter 15
Arriving in front of the parlor, Solitaria focused on the voices leaking out through the open door. Heinrich’s cold voice from inside was enough to freeze the whole space.
“If you come into Hirupus, you understand you can’t leave, right?”
“Yes.”
“And this clause?”
For some reason, Heinrich kept grilling them, not satisfied with anything.
Watching him, Solitaria grumbled to herself that maybe they’d never find a teacher at this rate.
When the room suddenly went quiet, Solitaria slowly turned her head.
“Why are you here?”
“Eek!”
“See? You hate being apart from me even more than I do.”
She turned around and saw Heinrich looking at her mischievously.
She was so startled that her ears popped up above her head.
The chill in Heinrich’s voice inside the parlor had vanished, replaced by his usual warmth.
Heinrich hummed, teasing her.
“You must be really surprised. Your heart’s racing.”
“Get away from me!”
“You’re so red. Like a carrot. Just like a rabbit.”
“Of course I look like a rabbit. I am a rabbit!”
“Your ears are out too, you know?”
At his words, Solitaria quickly reached up to touch her head. Just as he said, her ears were sticking straight up, no room for argument.
She hurried to push her ears back down, pressing them firmly. Heinrich watched her flustered movements with a relaxed gaze.
Maybe because she could feel his eyes, Solitaria’s face turned even redder, and her eyes drooped in embarrassment.
“No matter how much you press, they won’t go back in like that.”
“Ugh…!”
“Why are you so flustered?”
Heinrich pretended not to know, even though he understood everything, which annoyed Solitaria. She turned her back on him completely.
Then Heinrich stood behind her and slowly pressed her ears down for her.
“Don’t touch them.”
“If I don’t, they’ll never go back in.”
She was frustrated by his constant teasing, but she didn’t stop his hands. Just like he said, if she left them like this, she’d be walking around with her ears out for a long time.
After a while, when the heavy feeling of her ears disappeared, Heinrich took his hands away.
Then he smiled proudly.
“Ta-da, all done.”
“…It’s all your fault, Master.”
“My fault? Should I take responsibility?”
Solitaria glared at the shameless Heinrich. He just shrugged, as if he found her cute.
As she hurried to get away from his hands, a stranger’s voice came from behind.
“Is it this person?”
“Who told you to come out?”
Startled by the sudden stranger, Heinrich pulled Solitaria behind his back and bared his teeth. All Solitaria could see was his broad back. She pouted. She was surprised by the sudden approach, but it wasn’t enough to need this much protection.
If anything, the one who startled her was Heinrich. There was no need for him to be this overprotective…
“Let’s forget about hiring you. I can’t bring a teacher into Hirupus who has no patience at all.”
“Oh, I thought I was the last applicant.”
“What…!”
It was Solitaria who reacted to that. Heinrich just squeezed her hand gently as if it was nothing.
“Don’t worry, Sol. I’ll definitely find you a teacher.”
“…You mean one with all those weird conditions…”
“Weird? I just mixed a little of what you wanted with what I wanted in the requirements.”
Heinrich’s nonchalance made Solitaria anxious.
“Why not just tell me not to learn anything at all?”
“Want to do that? Or you could learn from me. Give me a month and I’ll master everything.”
Nonsense. Absolute nonsense.
Solitaria stared at Heinrich in shock, but he acted like there was nothing wrong with what he said.
He smiled so prettily she couldn’t even smack him, so she just sighed in defeat.
“Fine, do whatever you want.”
“There must be a limit to what you can teach her, Master.”
Then the stranger’s voice echoed in their ears again.
The woman adjusted her glasses and, not even noticing Heinrich’s fierce look, just kept talking.
“By the way, your companion uses a rather unique form of address.”
At that, Solitaria tensed and squeezed Heinrich’s hand tightly. He stepped forward for her.
“That’s none of your business.”
“…I’m just a childhood habit.”
Maybe she gained some courage, because Solitaria spoke up in a small voice. The stranger looked apologetic as she replied.
“Oh, I didn’t mean to make you wary.”
“Stay where you are. Don’t come any closer.”
Raon quickly stepped in front of Solitaria and Heinrich to block her. Raon was twice her size, but the stranger just widened her eyes, unfazed.
She didn’t hesitate to break the tense mood.
“I was just curious. If you look at my application, you’ll see everything I’ve done. I graduated at the top of the most famous school on the continent… Knowledge, self-defense, there’s nothing I can’t do.”
“Shut your mouth right now…”
“I’m an orphan, so I have no family to threaten Hirupus. Oh, and I’m a sloth beastkin. Please don’t assume sloths are slow.”
She rattled off everything without batting an eye. The mood grew even more tense, so Solitaria stepped in.
“Ha ha… ha… Master? Sir Raon? How about we put away those scary faces and teeth and just talk?”
“You really are the kindest, Miss.”
Either she didn’t notice the mood or pretended not to, but the stranger kept provoking Heinrich and Raon. Solitaria frowned and spoke to her.
“…I’m not being kind. I just get uncomfortable if this keeps going. I wasn’t taking your side.”
“Is that so? Well, that doesn’t matter. If I leave, you won’t find a teacher. There’s no one better than me, and Hirupus won’t open its doors again for a long time.”
It meant that even though Hirupus had briefly opened its gates to find Solitaria a teacher, if this woman left, those gates would close again.
Heinrich had closed Hirupus for her safety, and only opened it to give her what she wanted. Even with Sophia and Eremus’s support, Heinrich was pushing himself too far.
This might be the last time he did something so unreasonable as heir.
“It’s fine. I’ll just find and bring someone else.”
“This is enough. I know you’re pushing yourself, Master. Let’s just stop here.”
“Ha…”
Heinrich’s sigh rang in her ears. After a moment’s thought, he spoke.
“…It’s not easy to decide right away. I have to check if what she brought is real.”
“I’m good at waiting. Well, I guess I’ll have to stick with you a bit longer, which is kind of a shame…”
“What?”
Solitaria’s joking tone eased the mood.
Heinrich nodded, and Raon led the woman away. Once she was gone, Heinrich buried his face in Solitaria’s shoulder.
He was much bigger than her, so it was hard to say he was really hugging her, but Solitaria just patted his shoulder without a fuss.
“I never told Raon to stop you, but I didn’t think you’d get this far.”
“Anyone listening would think I did something amazing.”
“Maybe I really should lock you up.”
Heinrich let out a nervous laugh.
Seeing him like that, Solitaria felt a chill. He’d been saying things like locking her up or tying her down so casually lately, and it felt strange.
“You say scary things so easily.”
“Should I really do it?”
“If you do, I’ll run away.”
“Tag, huh? If I catch you, will you let me?”
“No way. I’ll hide so well you’ll never find me.”
At that, Heinrich wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. Solitaria tried to wriggle free, but it was useless. His grip didn’t hurt, but she couldn’t shake the feeling that he might really lock her away somewhere.
“Don’t say things like that.”
“Are you crying?”
Heinrich’s voice was thick with emotion, and Solitaria looked at him in surprise. He shook his head and said no.
“No, just the thought of it is awful.”
“Oh, what are you going to do when I become independent?”
“You know I’m coming with you when you move out, right?”
