IBWOC 13

Chapter – 13

“I regret ever saving you! Thinking of you as my savior until now is so embarrassing—!”

The person at the receiving end of that outburst, however, seemed completely unfazed. Meeting her eyes, he gestured for her to continue.

“I won’t be your pet rabbit anymore.”

“Who told you to be one? I never made you do that.”

“Ha! Someone like you—”

Solitaria spat out whatever words came to mind, and before long, she ended up using the worst insult she knew. To call Heinrich “you” instead of “young master”—

“Are you acting out now?”

“Why?!”

“Because I like this better.”

Heinrich tilted his head with a much more relaxed expression than before, provoking her as if daring her to try more. Faced with that look, Solitaria swallowed the words she had vowed to throw at him.

Only then did she realize what she had actually said. Flustered, she hurried to apologize.

“I’m sorry. I misspoke just now. You did save me, young master, and I’ll never forget that kindness for the rest of my life. I must be bothering you, so once I’m fully recovered, I’ll leave.”

“Where are you planning to go?”

“Anywhere. I’ll just…”

“That won’t do.”

Heinrich’s lips curled upward—only on one side.

A siren blared in Solitaria’s head. Whenever he smiled like that, she was always the one who lost.

She rushed to cover her ears, refusing to hear what would come next. But his words reached her faster than her hands could block them.

“From now on, I’m going to pay back that damn ‘kindness’ you keep talking about.”

Hearing those strange words, Solitaria had a bad feeling—she couldn’t let the conversation end like this. But she had used up too much energy already; her eyelids grew heavy. As her consciousness drifted, she came to one conclusion:

This time for sure—her young master had gone insane.

“How on earth is that considered repayment?! I don’t want it! I won’t accept it. Just let me go.”

“Don’t get heated.”

Watching her fume, Heinrich responded as calmly as ever. His tone made it sound like the explosive words earlier were nothing. Solitaria felt suffocated.

“I’m not doing it.”

“Then don’t.”

“Really?”

He answered so casually that Solitaria’s eyes lit with hope.

She lifted her head to look at him—only for Heinrich to smile brightly and send that hope crashing.

“Sure. But you’ll lose a bit of freedom. That’s why I made the suggestion—because I was worried about that.”

“This is fraud!”

A sweet lunatic… Solitaria stared at him, speechless.

Even while spouting madness, Heinrich continued feeding her, and Solitaria still chewed and swallowed the food he brought to her lips.

Even the carrots she hated, she gulped down every last one before continuing her rant.

“How am I your mate? No—what kind of scam is this fake mate thing supposed to pull?”

“Sol. If you’ve decided to act out, shouldn’t you at least change how you address me too?”

Good grief. He was impossible to talk to.

“And if you’re going to swear at me, you should diversify. Yours are too harmless.”

“…Huh?”

Completely composed, Heinrich handed her water and medicine.

“What, are you going to feed me this too?”

“You really must be crazy… You have to be. Otherwise how could you change like this?”

They say people change after a near-death experience… Though in truth, she’d changed just as abruptly, without realizing it herself.

“It’s nothing. People will just hear that I now have a mate, that’s all. You won’t have to show yourself or do anything.”

“But if they ask who your mate is, you’ll say it’s me?”

“Mm-hm. Even if it’s in name only, people will need something to see.”

“…And how did something that benefits you become twisted into repaying a favor to me?”

“Dunno. Curious? Want me to tell you?”

The expression he wore as he offered to explain made her slam her mouth shut. She swallowed the medicine in one gulp. When she opened her mouth to show it was gone, Heinrich smiled with satisfaction. All Solitaria could do was narrow her eyes in a triangular glare.

“Why stop talking midway? Aren’t you curious?”

“Forget it. I’m leaving soon anyway. Young master, please go.”

“You can’t even walk properly. Where do you think you’re going alone?”

Heinrich ruffled her hair with a hum, amused by how sulky she looked. Then he held out his arms, beckoning her to climb in.

“If I ask Sir Leo or Sir Laon, they’ll—”

“Why ask them? You can just get in my arms and I’ll take you.”

After the incident, Leo had used healing magic on her daily. She had no injuries left—yet the aftereffects were severe. Nearly a year bedridden had left her with no muscle.

Leo had prescribed, “You must walk at least 30 minutes a day.” Heinrich had been present to hear it, and despite his busy schedule, insisted on walking with her.

Every single day.

“…No.”

“Hm?”

It was no wonder Solitaria refused with such a pained expression.

Heinrich carried her everywhere—stairs, hallways, all while people watched.

He still waited with arms open now, and Solitaria grimaced as if horrified.

“I don’t want to go out today.”

“If you skip today, the days you’ll have to go out in my arms will only increase.”

“…Fine. Go.”

“Yes, good—”

“I meant you go. I’m not falling for it today.”

And so Heinrich found himself kicked out of the room. He tried pouting at her before stepping out, but it was no use. No matter how many times he looked back, she mouthed the same firm “go.”

He left with slumped shoulders and closed the door behind him—

—then burst into laughter. If he listened closely, he could hear her sighing in relief inside.

Solitaria knew his proposal was strange but couldn’t refute it properly. She growled, determined not to lose, but one soft look from Heinrich toppled everything.

Because in the end, she always did what he wanted.

“Idiot.”

He had thought that if she ever opened her eyes again, he might need to lock her away so no one could see her. But no—this was enough for now.

He had barely removed one latch on his heart. Any further, and that troublesome rabbit would definitely cause far more chaos than he could handle.

So he needed to hide his intentions completely. And even when she realized later, she would already be stuck in the web he spun—unable to even think of escape.

Solitaria had recently noticed a change in her relationship with Heinrich.

His behavior had grown oddly heavy, enough to startle her at times.

There were times she hated how carelessly he acted, but she never wanted him to touch her so deliberately that she felt aware of every move.

She wished he would walk a little slower beside her—but she hadn’t meant slower than a snail.

She was already struggling to interpret his strange behavior, but then Heinrich took it even further.

“This is going too far!”

“What? Mates normally do this.”

“We’re not even real! Stop it!”

During a meal with Sophia and Eremus, he casually declared, “Affectionate mates should feed each other.”

He promptly ate the mushroom on her fork, then shamelessly offered her a carrot.

When she quietly grumbled, Sophia slid her soup over in sympathy. Only then did Solitaria fully realize who was present and shot Heinrich a glare.

“Lien, dear, this is something you like. Eat up.”

“Thank you, Madam.”

Sophia and Eremus watched intently as she ate every bite.

It was a bit overwhelming, but their presence put a stop to Heinrich’s antics, so Solitaria focused on her meal.

The couple, lips twitching the whole meal, spoke just before dessert arrived—as though they had been waiting for the moment.

“But Lien. Don’t you think it’s time your way of addressing us changed?”

“…”

Solitaria quietly set down her fork.

Heinrich hadn’t nagged her about titles recently, so she had thought he’d given up—she didn’t expect them to attack from this direction.

She glared at Heinrich pretending not to know anything and swallowed.