Chapter – 06
Leo, who had been absentmindedly stroking the rabbit for a while, swallowed a sigh that threatened to burst out. He had placed the rabbit on the bed, so I thought he just wanted to keep it as a pet, but it wasn’t just a rabbit—it was a beast-man.
‘What on earth did they feed this young thing?’
Moreover, an unfamiliar drug was suppressing the beast-man transformation within its small body, preventing it from unraveling. Heinrich grew serious, mirroring Leo’s quietly simmering anger, and asked,
“What’s wrong? Is something very bad?”
“No, I think I’ve found the cause now, so it should be okay to use healing magic.”
Leo wrapped the small rabbit snugly in a blanket, preparing for when its beast-man form might unravel, and then poured healing magic into it.
How much time had passed? Where the light faded, only a small girl with silver hair, not a single part of her unharmed, remained.
And upon confirming this, a voice mixed with astonishment burst from Leo’s lips.
“…Shameless.”
The look in his eyes as he stared at Heinrich was, no matter how generously one interpreted it, not the look one gives the heir of Hilufs.
It was simply the look one gives a wolf cub.
“That’s not it.”
Uncharacteristically, Heinrich began to fluster and make excuses. Normally, he would have brazenly retorted, ‘So what?’ but for some reason, this time he couldn’t say such a thing.
“She’s small. Young. Not even half your size, Young Master.”
“I didn’t know. I just brought her.”
“Ye~es, I suppose that’s just like our Young Master. You’re careless and only think of yourself.”
Heinrich couldn’t look straight at Leo, who was critically lambasting him.
Although he had done nothing wrong, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had committed some terrible mistake.
Having finally come to his senses, Heinrich growled at Leo to move aside. But as if he had no intention of complying, Leo bared his teeth, protecting the small child.
“Don’t come any closer. Get out.”
“Are you aware that this is my room?”
“Hilufs has plenty of rooms. Since when did you, who could be thrown anywhere and live just fine, ever care about a room… Or, I’ll go to another room.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
At Heinrich’s words, Leo let out a laugh as if it was absurd.
“Aren’t you going to treat her?”
Finally snapping back to reality, Heinrich nodded. Right now, that little girl needed treatment and rest.
Heinrich pushed Leo aside, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, hugged the small child, and nodded.
“Go to the side room.”
Watching Heinrich speak as fluidly as if asking what was for lunch, Leo asked hollowly, as if having given up.
“Do you know what the ‘side room’ means?”
The side room for the Hilufs wolves was a space for their mates. And yet, he was putting someone there whose identity and origin as a beast-man were unknown.
Moreover, Heinrich, as the heir, couldn’t possibly be unaware of the room’s meaning. But Heinrich just shrugged and nonchalantly moved his steps toward the side room.
“I’m going to put this child in the side room. Do I need your permission for what I do?”
Leo, suppressing the fury rising within him, answered with a smiling face.
“If you say so, I must obey. Isn’t that right?”
“You know well.”
As Heinrich wished, the side room was quickly prepared, and Leo began to continue the treatment there. Watching Heinrich sitting quietly far away, as if worried he might disturb the treatment, Leo let out a hollow laugh.
To think he’d see the little wolf of Hilufs, who had lived his whole life thinking only of himself, so flustered over a mere rabbit.
“Who would believe it? Even I, who saw it with my own eyes, can hardly believe it.”
It was then that Leo, who had been nodding, stopped moving.
‘Don’t tell me…?’
Calming down and looking at Heinrich’s expression again, it was undeniable, absolutely certain.
“Oh, my. Dear gods.”
A sigh burst from the lips of Leo, who didn’t believe in gods. His reaction was perhaps natural.
Wolves usually try to find their mates and keep them by their side before they turn five years old. They live with them from a young age, spend their whole lives together, and when their mate dies, they follow in death.
Unlike those ordinary wolves, Heinrich, now fifteen, not only hadn’t found a mate, but also possessed none of the possessiveness called the wolf’s instinct.
*A mate, why would I need such a thing?*
*…I hope you get thoroughly disciplined by a mate.*
His parents had even said this to him.
What had Heinrich replied then?
*If that’s the kind of mate you mean, it would be more peaceful to replace them.*
And then he added words that thoroughly infuriated his parents.
*Even without a mate, I won’t neglect my duties as the heir. Whether it’s leading the family or having children.*
That was just four days ago. And Leo, who had witnessed everything, found this situation quite funny.
The way he sat on the edge of the bed, carefully touching her as if worried she might break, was undeniably the attitude of someone treating their mate.
“I thought you’d live your whole life not knowing a mate and be alone…”
“What?”
Heinrich, whose attention was entirely focused on the silver-haired girl, didn’t properly hear Leo’s words and asked back.
At that moment, the door to Heinrich’s room opened with a loud sound. It was his parents, whom he had left behind in Repus.
Heinrich looked at the open door and greeted them calmly.
“You’ve come.”
“‘You’ve come?’ Our son has finally gone mad.”
“Sophie, calm down first…”
“Calm down? I suppose you thought I *could* calm down, Lord of Hilufs.”
The woman sharply retorting to her mate was Sophia, the lady of Hilufs and Heinrich’s mother. And the man trying to calm her down was his father, Eremus.
Heinrich stared intently at his parents. Noticing his gaze, Sophia and Eremus closed their mouths and met their son’s eyes.
As the space quieted down, Heinrich nodded and spoke to them. They were words sure to thoroughly infuriate them.
“If you’re done speaking, please get out.”
“After what you’ve just done, you’re telling me to get out?”
At Heinrich’s calm words, Sophia’s eyes flashed coldly.
Eremus, sensing the situation was bad, pulled Sophia back and asked Heinrich.
“Heinrich. Why did you bring that person?”
“It was bothering me, the way she was squeaking, begging to be saved.”
“Why did you put her in this room? If you need a room, we’ll prepare another, so send her out for now.”
Sophia shook her head and directed the servants visible through the open door. Heinrich bared his teeth at them and sternly warned them not to lay a hand on her.
Watching this, Eremus dismissed the servants. Then he asked Heinrich.
“Is that child your mate?”
“That can’t be.”
“You’re not a fool who doesn’t know the meaning of this room. Why on earth is she here! It’s not like we lack rooms.”
As if feeling raising her voice was meaningless, Sophia asked in a calmer tone.
And in response, Heinrich bluntly voiced his thought.
“Right now, I just want that small thing to be stuck by my side every day.”
After pushing the dumbfounded Sophia and Eremus out of the room, Heinrich firmly locked the door. The expelled Sophia and Eremus let out the breath they had been holding.
They weren’t unaware of the meaning of what Heinrich had just said.
“Oh dear. What should we do with that fool?”
Unaware of his parents’ lament, Heinrich smiled satisfactorily in the now quiet space. Approaching the bed, the girl was still asleep.
“Wake up quickly. You said you wanted to live.”
He hooked her unkempt, long hair around his finger, twirling it, and hummed a tune.
“Your hair color is strange, and your eyes are strange too. How does a kid like this even exist?”
“Puuu.”
As if pleased with the warm, cozy blanket, the girl let out a long breath and wriggled. Worried she might get cold if the blanket slipped off, Heinrich pulled it up and tucked her in tightly.
“What should I do when she wakes up? What do kids that age play with?”
Heinrich made various plans, but the girl didn’t wake up for a long time. Despite Leo’s advice to rest a little, Heinrich didn’t leave her side.
Three days passed with him giving such clumsy nursing care.
***
* * *
The moment Solitaire, thoroughly沉醉 in the warm sunlight and soft blanket, stirred, an unfamiliar voice reached her.
“Uung……”
“You…!”
As if her focus was unsteady after waking up for the first time in a long while, Solitaire slowly blinked, repeatedly closing and opening her eyes.
“Wait a moment, just wait a moment.”
Heinrich, who had regained his composure first, hurriedly rushed out the door. After a considerable amount of time passed, the door opened again with a loud clatter.
What was different from when he left was that he was holding something in his hand.
