IBWOC 12

Chapter – 12

A cool breeze brushed the tip of her nose.

Solitaire wriggled deeper under the blankets, seeking their warmth.

‘Haven’t I experienced something like this before…?’

Just then, a loud clattering sound came from beside her. She made a small sound of protest at the noise, and it quieted down.

“Mmm…….”

Soon after, the sound of pattering footsteps was heard, and someone roughly opened the bedroom door and left.

Solitaire kept blinking, trying to focus her blurry vision. As she did, she struggled to grasp what had just happened.

At that moment, someone rushed in through the open door.

“You……!”

At the familiar voice, she turned her head to see Heinrich standing there, his appearance completely disheveled. Seeing him, Solitaire slowly began to remember what had happened.

‘Whoa…… I’m alive?’

She really thought she had died, but now her body was perfectly fine. Not a single spot hurt.

Solitaire averted her gaze from Heinrich and carefully felt her stomach with her own hands. Then, she lifted her head to convey to Heinrich that she was alive.

Heinrich’s expression was stony. Only then did Solitaire sense that something was wrong.

“Ah, ha, ha. Young Master, it seems I’m alive?”

Bracing for the scolding that was sure to come, Solitaire squeezed her eyes shut. But contrary to her expectations, he didn’t seem to have any intention of berating her.

“What a relief, really.”

So, she misunderstood.

There’s nothing as frightening as the calm before a storm.

‘What do you mean, a relief.’

Solitaire cautiously opened her eyes and rolled them around. Just as she was about to force an awkward laugh and make a lighthearted comment about the nice weather, she noticed something strange.

The moment she had been stabbed was in the autumn, around Heinrich’s birthday. But now, snow was fluttering outside the window. Moreover, her hair, which had been just past her shoulders, had grown long enough to swish around her waist.

“Ah, um……? It seems I slept for a while.”

“A while?”

As she spoke nonchalantly to lighten the mood, Heinrich’s face gradually contorted.

Heinrich, who had let out consecutive sighs, roughly wiped his face and let out a bitter laugh. It was a smile reminiscent of a demon’s, causing her to flinch involuntarily and slowly back away.

Seeing this, Heinrich tilted his head and spoke.

“If you go back any further, you’ll fall off.”

At his words, Solitaire turned her head to check behind her.

‘When did I get here?’

She was close to the edge of the bed, which had felt so large before. Furthermore, even though the distance between them had increased, the feeling of suffocation grew stronger.

Under that pressure, Solitaire unconsciously gulped.

The sound of her heart filling the quiet bedroom combined with Heinrich’s cold gaze, making her feel nauseous.

The action she took to quickly escape this oppressive situation was both an evasion and a flight.

“Young Master, is it alright for you to be here at this hour? Shouldn’t you be busy? Looking outside, it’s still time for you to be working, right?”

Her gaze and tone were awkward.

The surprised expression he had when she first woke up was nowhere to be seen. Heinrich, having regained his usual composure, replied calmly.

“Well, I’m not really sure.”

“Ah, then that means it’s *not* the time for you to be here! Sir Laon is probably looking for you, so you should quickly— *Cough, cough*.”

Perhaps it was because she had spoken too much for the first time in a long while, Solitaire’s throat felt parched. Watching her cough repeatedly, Heinrich picked up a glass of water and called her.

“Sol, come here. You need to drink water. If you try to drink it over there and spill it on the blankets, it’d be quite…….”

“Huh?”

“…troublesome. Okay?”

Under his scorching gaze, Solitaire reluctantly approached him. Finally reaching Heinrich, Solitaire reached out to take the glass.

However, Heinrich showed no intention of handing it to her; he just stared intently at her while gripping it tightly.

Finally, Solitaire asked in a crawling voice.

“Why… are you looking at me like that?”

“Like what.”

“The, the water. Please give me the water.”

“You probably don’t have the strength in your hands. Don’t you think you should behave and let me feed you?”

At his twisted words, something surged up inside Solitaire.

She couldn’t even be grateful for him saving her; why was he being so spiteful?

“I’m not a child, why should I be fed?”

It was a reaction he was seeing for the first time, so Heinrich’s eyes widened in surprise. After a moment, he let out a low laugh.

“Right, you’re not a child.”

“Exactly!”

“I have a rabbit I’m very fond of, you see. It’s not a child, but it recklessly jumped into a very dangerous situation without any fear. I was contemplating whether I should lock it up, and then you woke up?”

His gaze was too blatant, so Solitaire avoided his eyes.

“I’m thinking about what to do from now on. Sol, what should I do?”

It was a threat disguised as a question.

Yes, this was clearly a threat. Otherwise, he wouldn’t say such chilling things in such a gentle voice.

“What do you mean, ‘what to do’?”

“……That’s right, I’m just thinking about it.”

She had thought he seemed subtly different from before she was stabbed. Heinrich looked utterly exhausted.

His dark, sunken eye bags and dull golden eyes emphasized his weary appearance. Moreover, the man who was always light and affectionate was now as irritable as a cat with its fur standing on end.

Part of the reason she was humoring this behavior was because she had never seen him like this before.

“All I have to do is let you feed me the water, right?”

Heinrich nodded. As he carefully tipped the water into her mouth and it went down her throat, the scratchy feeling subsided a little.

But the cool relief and the sharp gaze she felt from above made Solitaire’s neck stiffen.

*Clatter.*

The sound of the glass being set down was loud. Glancing at him, Solitaire wished he would leave quickly. Contrary to her wishes, Heinrich, showing no intention of leaving, dragged a chair over and plopped down in front of her.

“……Why?”

Heinrich didn’t seem to have any intention of retracting his fierce gaze. He even crossed his legs and looked at Solitaire.

Then, he let out a hollow laugh and said something incomprehensible.

“It seems I didn’t know my rabbit very well. There are so many new sides to you.”

Solitaire let out a sigh and asked him.

“……Stop it. Why are you so angry?”

“Me? You think I’m angry?”

“Then is there a reason other than anger for you acting like this?”

If he wasn’t angry, then what on earth was it? Solitaire wasn’t pleased with this situation either.

Above all, no matter how many times they talked, Heinrich didn’t seem willing to tell her what he was truly feeling. She felt frustration bubbling up inside.

‘They say you should tolerate things three times.’

She reined in her rising anger, turned her back to him, and bundled the blankets tightly over her ears. She could hear Heinrich’s scoffing laugh, but Solitaire hid herself even more.

Unfortunately, a rabbit’s hearing was too good, and Heinrich’s low muttering pierced her ears clearly.

“Congratulations.”

The words were completely mismatched with the situation. But even a three-year-old beastman could tell that his words weren’t meant positively.

Flabbergasted, Solitaire forgot to cover her ears, turned back, and looked at Heinrich.

“What did you say?”

“That favor you were so concerned about, that disgusting feeling… you repaid it all with your own hands, didn’t you?”

At his sarcastic remark, Solitaire let out a disbelieving laugh.

During her entire time living in Hilerups, she had never once mentioned repaying a favor in front of him. Yet he acted as if he knew everything. And that attitude was extremely irritating.

Furthermore, she was annoyed at Heinrich himself for disliking the concept of repaying gratitude.

“From now on, you have no favors to repay. You don’t need that kind of thing anyway.”

At his words, Solitaire began to ponder deeply. She was trying her best to understand why he was so angry.

But the conclusion was still, ‘Why is he angry?’ If he had said ‘thank you,’ it would be different.

“……You’re right. If I knew I’d hear this after saving your life, I should have just pretended not to know that day. If I had known you were this shameless and ill-tempered, I would have run away by myself.”

“That’s right. If you had, you would have had a chance to run away.”

“Whatever. The reason you’re being so difficult now is because I repaid the favor, so I’m no longer your pet rabbit, right? Yes, well said. Now that I’ve repaid such a big favor, you can burn or throw away that damn contract scrap you got from Lepus.”

The word ‘run away’ did stick in Solitaire’s ear, but she quickly erased it and revealed her raw, unfiltered emotions.

It was the first time.

Without fear of being abandoned, without selecting the prettiest words, she was laying bare her feelings and thoughts exactly as they were.