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Chapter – 14
“As for terms of address…”
The little rabbit trembling pitifully didn’t seem to evoke any sympathy from Sophia and Eremus, whose eyes remained filled with anticipation, showing no sign of looking away.
Because of them, Solitarie found herself in an awkward position.
Although she was no longer a pet rabbit, they were still Hiruphs, and Solitarie was still a rabbit with nothing to her name.
Thanks to Heinrich’s recent absurd act of repaying a favor, she had at least risen to the position of ‘fake companion,’ but they all knew it was fake—both they and she were aware. She couldn’t understand why they were so fixated on terms of address.
“Here, you said you wanted to eat it.”
Heinrich, who had nonchalantly picked up the fork Solitarie set down, scooped up a bite of cake and offered it to her. She glared at him sharply, but he just smiled brightly, completely unfazed, and urged her on.
“Ah, say it.”
Silence filled the space between them.
Heinrich couldn’t suppress a smile at the sight of Solitarie’s furious expression. He seemed to think that to anyone watching, he was the clear winner of this situation. Seeing him like that stirred an inexplicable competitive spirit within Solitarie.
A desire to shatter that triumphant face, drunk on victory, no matter what.
After taking a deep breath, Solitarie smiled sweetly and opened her mouth.
“Then, I’ll call you… Lady Sophia.”
“Oh my, you will?”
“And Lord Eremus, too.”
“Sol, for me…”
Their faces lit up one after another as she addressed them. And Heinrich was also there, full of expectation.
Without a word, Solitarie took the cake Heinrich offered and ate it. Wishing the cake would disappear quickly, she pulled the corners of her mouth up into a wide grin directed at Heinrich, who was watching her.
Then, tilting her head left and right as if puzzled, she asked him a question.
“Aren’t you going to have dessert?”
She knew what he wanted, but she was determined to pretend otherwise and thoroughly ruffle his feathers.
As if displeased by her actions, Heinrich frowned. Normally, she would have smoothed his brow and told him not to frown, but today was different.
As if to deliver a final, confirming blow, Solitarie called to Sophia and Eremus.
“Lady Sophia, Lord Eremus. Please have plenty. You like sour things, right?”
It was at that moment that the expression of the arrogant Heinrich, who had undoubtedly thought he would win, crumbled.
“Ah, young master, you didn’t really like sour things, did you? Our young master, you even ate the mushrooms you hated earlier, what should we do? How about you just don’t have any? Ah, you always rinse your mouth after meals, right? Should I go to the kitchen and get you something?”
“……Sit down.”
“Yes, young master. I should listen well to the young master’s words, right? Wouldn’t that make me a good rabbit?”
Her face, subtly needling Heinrich, looked somehow satisfying.
“……My title remains unchanged, I see?”
“Yes, from now on, forever.”
Seeing Heinrich’s lips trying desperately to smile was an added bonus, giving her a strange sense of accomplishment. He, who had been still for a while, finally snapped out of it and returned to his usual sly self.
And with a slight smile, he prophesied that she would surely crumble.
“……Sol, nothing in this world is forever.”
* * *
“Jerk.”
Solitarie’s face was flushed red as she glared at Heinrich, breathing heavily. As if he didn’t care that she was upset, he sat comfortably by the sunny window, sipping tea.
It was understandable, as not long after she had scored that thrilling first victory, Heinrich had begun a very childish revenge.
The kind of revenge that was too trivial to get really angry about, which made it all the more infuriating.
For example, he would specifically seek out carrots during mealtime and place them in front of her. Even though he knew full well how much she hated them!
Also, having noticed that she flinched lately when he held her hand, he would grab her hand very slowly, starting from her wrist, as if branding her. On top of that, he stuck right by her side like now, not leaving for a single moment.
Not even for the blink of an eye!
“This is my room. Get out.”
“Sol, you were always like that. You said you stuck by my side every day to repay your debt.”
“When did I ever?!”
“You said it with your face every time, don’t you remember?”
Moreover, if she showed even the slightest hint of annoyance, he would droop the corners of his eyes pathetically and look at her. His eyes held the words, ‘I’m repaying a debt, won’t you even allow me this?’
The fact that his eyes looked teary was a bonus.
She had been fooled every time, but today, she was determined to put an end to his petty revenge masquerading as debt repayment…!
The outcome was always the same.
“I’m going to leave, I’m really going to become independent.”
“Sol, I can hear everything.”
“I’m muttering, so don’t listen!”
At Heinrich’s remark, Solitarie yelled angrily, but he just shrugged his shoulders and put on a forlorn expression.
“Before, when you were sticking around, you said it was fine. You’ve changed, Sol.”
“Is that and this the same thing?”
Watching her, whose emotional expressions and defiance had intensified compared to before, Heinrich struggled to hold back his laughter.
Of course, the person in question was completely unaware, but it seemed better for her to remain unaware.
“Don’t get so flustered. As you wish, from now on, we’ll be apart for about 3 hours a day. I’m looking for teachers for the things you said you wanted to learn a while back.”
It was something Solitarie had asked Sophia for not long after she woke up.
Back then, she had thought that to avoid being taken advantage of when she eventually became independent and lived on her own, she should probably know something.
Now, the meaning had changed a little, no, a lot.
“Is it possible to learn all that in just 3 hours?”
“For what? That’s quite a short time for someone who said they wanted to take all those miscellaneous liberal arts classes.”
At Solitarie’s words, Heinrich smiled crookedly and asked. For some reason, seeing his expression sent shivers down her spine.
“……What do you mean miscellaneous? I originally wanted to learn them.”
“Then, shall we take those classes together?”
“No? Absolutely not!”
Solitarie shook her head violently.
Three hours, yes, three hours a day should be enough. As if realizing that provoking his mood wouldn’t do her any good, she soon smiled.
It was a sincere smile. So happy that the corners of her mouth trembled delightfully.
“Are you that happy to be away from me?”
Seeing her looking utterly thrilled, Heinrich narrowed his eyes.
“Oh, young master, how could that be?”
“Say that again with your smile gone.”
“Three hours of class, plus the time to go and come back, makes four hours……”
Solitarie counted on her fingers the time Heinrich had mentioned.
Even if the class was only three hours, if she took her time walking there and back, maybe she could be apart for about four hours? Her heart swelled with hope.
Unfortunately, things didn’t go as she hoped.
“I’ll be the one taking you there and bringing you back.”
“……Are you really not busy?”
“What would I be busy with? If I am really busy, I’ll just work while you’re asleep. It’s not just for a day or two.”
“Were you in my room even in the early morning?”
A voice mixed with astonishment flowed out.
“What about my privacy?!”
“Didn’t we not have that from the beginning?”
“Then and now are different!”
“Shall I add ‘how to win with words’ to the things you’re learning?”
“You’re teasing me now, right?”
Heinrich smiled crookedly, and Solitarie could only gape wordlessly.
In the end, the furious rabbit chased the wolf out the door. Of course, it was certain that in 10 minutes, she would tell him to open the firmly closed door and come in. But Solitarie was still fuming.
Until the very moment the door closed, she glared at Heinrich with a rather fearsome look, but he just shrugged, completely unfazed.
As if that really got on her nerves, Solitarie turned into a rabbit and burrowed under the blanket. Then she kicked the blanket with her hind legs.
She seemed to be hiding under the covers to be out of sight, but through the slowly closing crack in the door, everything entered Heinrich’s view.
“Heh.”
He thought about letting her win, feeling sorry for her desperate attempts to prevail, but then remembering that day’s events made him find her utterly exasperating.
To call him, her companion, ‘young master,’ while calling his parents by their names? Wasn’t that too much?
Raon, who had been waiting outside, frowned as if he’d seen something unsightly.
“Disgusting.”
The moment Solitarie disappeared from view, only a chill remained on his face. Seeing Heinrich like that, Raon shuddered and grumbled.
His golden eyes, which had been sparkling, now held no color. Like eyes that existed solely to kill everything in the world.
“The teachers.”
“I’ve screened the candidates and had them wait in the reception room.”
“Stay here and guard Sol. It won’t take long.”
After giving instructions to Raon, Heinrich promptly disappeared.
“Has the young master left?”
Not long after Heinrich left, Solitarie peeked her head out. She thought she might have been a bit too harsh earlier and was about to tell him to come in, but he was already gone.
