Chapter – 08
The snowflakes clung to his black hair, refusing to fall.
‘How can his black hair… shine like that?’
Unable to resist the impulse, Solitaire instinctively reached out and placed her hand on Heinrich’s head.
Three seconds. It was exactly three seconds.
A sudden silence fell upon them. Startled, Solitaire apologized and quickly pulled her hand away.
“Ah! Ah! Sorry, I’m so sorry!”
“It’s fine. Really, it’s fine!”
His ears were flushed bright red, and his body had stiffened like a tree branch. Solitaire could only stare at Heinrich, speechless.
If James hadn’t entered at that moment, their absurd staring contest would surely have continued until nightfall.
* * *
The only sound echoing in the dining room was the clattering of utensils. Unable to bear the awkwardness, Solitaire carefully set down her spoon.
Noticing this, Heinrich told her it wouldn’t do and handed her fork back to her.
“You need to eat more.”
“I’m finished.”
“No, just eat this much more. Try this, they say herbivorous beastfolk like it.”
As if he couldn’t see her parents sitting right across from them, Heinrich piled something mountain-high on Solitaire’s plate. With a sullen expression, Solitaire was left in an awkward position, unable to either eat or not eat the food placed before her.
As if displeased with Solitaire’s reaction, Heinrich picked up her spoon and held it out to her.
“Ah, here, try it.”
“I’m not a child!”
“I didn’t say anything. Eat up quickly. Leo, remember the doctor we saw earlier? He clearly said you need to eat well.”
Bringing up what Leo, who had examined Solitaire’s health, had said, Heinrich placed a mushroom into her mouth.
By the time the third mushroom was fed to her, Sophia, who had seen enough, stopped Heinrich.
“If you feed her like that, the child will get indigestion.”
Suddenly addressed, Solitaire jumped up from her chair in surprise. She was so startled that her ears popped upright on her head. Heinrich sighed and pressed down on Solitaire’s ears, one after the other.
He didn’t forget to glare at his parents.
“Why are you scaring the child?”
“When did we ever scare her?”
Sophia and Eremus protested as if wronged, but their words didn’t reach Heinrich.
No matter what reaction they showed, Heinrich’s gaze remained fixed on Solitaire. Seeing this, Sophia and Eremus threw up their hands in surrender.
As they were in a standoff for a while, Eremus, as if suddenly remembering something he had forgotten, handed a piece of paper to Heinrich.
“Ahem, ahem. More importantly, this is what you asked for back then.”
Heinrich tilted his head, seemingly not remembering what request he had made, but then realizing it, he accepted the paper.
After carefully tucking the received paper into his pocket, he proceeded to feed another mushroom to Solitaire. Confirming that she had even gulped down the last remaining dessert, Sophia and Eremus tried to speak again. But before they could ask anything, Heinrich quickly ushered Solitaire out of the dining room.
Watching them leave, Sophia and Eremus let out a hollow laugh.
“Ha… It seems our son has truly found his master.”
They were relieved that Heinrich had found his destined partner. At the same time, an indescribable emotion welled up inside them.
Solitaire was emaciated to a degree that couldn’t be hidden by clothes, and according to Leo, she had likely suffered long-term abuse and neglect. They had expected it when they briefly spoke with Securus at the Lepus family, but seeing the child in person, she was so small.
“How could anyone… to such a lovely child…”
“Let’s not worry now. There’s no beastfolk powerful enough to harm that child. The contract is solid, and the head of the Lepus family will never be able to speak of her again.”
“Tch, if it weren’t for the family head, we could have torn him to shreds.”
At Sophia’s words, Eremus patted her back.
“Don’t waste your energy on trivial matters. The important thing is that our Heinie recognizes his mate first.”
At his words, Sophia nodded.
The situation was resolved, and now the crucial thing was for Heinrich to realize that Solitaire was his mate. It seemed their son still didn’t know that Solitaire was his destined partner.
“Even if his instincts are faint… could he really not recognize his mate right in front of him?”
In response to Sophia’s question, Eremus gave an awkward smile.
“We can only hope he realizes it quickly. There’s nothing we can do by intervening. Until Heinie realizes it himself, we can’t even be sure she’s his mate…”
“Weren’t you just convinced she was his mate a moment ago?”
“Thinking about it carefully, it suddenly occurred to me that he might just see her as a pet or something.”
“Eh, no way.”
But as they say, ‘famous last words,’ everything unfolded exactly as they had feared.
* * *
After leaving the dining room, Solitaire followed behind Heinrich. However, her trotting steps were no match for his large strides.
Noticing her quickening footsteps, Heinrich stopped abruptly without warning.
Solitaire, who had been following while looking only at his feet, ended up bumping right into his back.
“Ouch…”
Staggering from the impact, Solitaire wobbled. Heinrich swiftly grabbed her hand.
It was in that moment their eyes met.
A strange sensation, both ticklish and startling, passed between them. The atmosphere was odd.
Solitaire was the first to look away. At her action, Heinrich, as if coming to his senses, cleared his throat repeatedly.
“Ahem, ahem. I was walking too fast. Sorry.”
“I, I can keep up.”
“I’ll walk slowly.”
Solitaire repeatedly shook her head and hands, insisting she was fine, but Heinrich silently grabbed her small hand and began walking slowly.
Feeling his warm body heat, Solitaire smiled happily, glancing alternately at their joined hands and at his somehow flushed face.
Flutter—.
At that moment, something fell from Heinrich’s pocket. Unfortunately, it landed right at Solitaire’s feet.
A sudden silence fell between them.
Solitaire bent down and picked up the paper. She then tried to hand it to Heinrich, but he just stood there dazedly, not even thinking to receive it.
He fidgeted like a guilty child, looking both apologetic and as if he’d done something wrong.
“Young Master?”
“Don’t misunderstand.”
“Huh?”
Solitaire hadn’t said anything. She was just staring intently.
Under her gaze, Heinrich, as if feeling restless, was the first to speak.
“I made a contract with the Lepus family to bring you here. Otherwise, they would have kept trying to hold onto you. I didn’t want you to suffer any more misfortune there, and I didn’t like it either. What if they tried to use you to make demands later? That’s why I did it.”
His disorganized excuses and awkward posture didn’t inspire any confidence.
Ironically, Solitaire didn’t understand a single word written on that paper.
As if realizing how strange his words sounded the more he talked, Heinrich hesitated before finally uttering the words that would plant the worst possible misunderstanding.
“If I say you’re mine, then no one would dare lay a hand on you.”
At his answer, Solitaire’s questioning eyes seemed to find their answer.
The reason she was here was similar to when she had almost become ‘Tigris’s’ toy—she was merely here to be ‘Heinrich’s’ pet rabbit.
A terrible misunderstanding had occurred.
“Yes…!”
Hiding her true feelings, Solitaire looked at Heinrich and smiled brightly. As if she were ignorant, as if she knew nothing.
Seeing her smile, Heinrich felt relieved, thinking all misunderstandings were resolved. He firmly believed his relationship with Solitaire would be smooth sailing from now on.
And so, the misunderstanding born from that one exchange lasted for four years.
* * *
Nothing had changed over the past four years.
Heinrich simply kept Solitaire by his side, and she, in turn, as his pet rabbit, tried her best to do everything she could for him.
Waking up early one morning like any other, Solitaire tidied her bed. The soft duvet that met her fingertips was still one of the things she couldn’t get used to.
‘I thought that rug I stepped on back then was the softest thing in the world.’
Useless thoughts clouded her mind, but she shook her head and brushed them away.
‘I guess sleeping late makes me think all sorts of things. I should go to bed early today.’
As her eyelids kept drooping, Solitaire resolved to go to bed early today.
She wanted to lie down on the cozy bed and sleep more right then, but remembering her duties, she rubbed her eyes vigorously and sat down on the chair.
Right on time, someone knocked.
“Come in.”
It was Mary, the head maid of the Hilrufs household and Solitaire’s primary attendant.
Hearing Solitaire’s drooping eyes and sleepy voice, Mary began scolding her in a worried tone.
