Chapter – 32
Thanks to Heinrich’s long strides, they soon arrived at Solitaire’s room. He carefully set her down.
She showed no intention of coming out from the blanket and clothes Heinrich had wrapped around her. Looking down at her still trembling body, Heinrich said he would fetch warm water.
“Wait a moment. I’ll get warm water so you can calm down.”
After wrapping her up securely once more, Heinrich left the room. The room grew quiet after he disappeared.
The scales covering her body showed no sign of disappearing and still felt rough. Solitaire curled herself into a ball and swallowed her tears. She thought it might be easier to hide if she transformed into a rabbit, but for some reason, she couldn’t.
A hollow laugh escaped her lips at her helplessness.
“Ha…”
It was supposed to be the best day, the happiest day of her life, yet in an instant, it had plunged into the abyss. It was the worst.
“Disgusting…”
She hadn’t seen her face, but it was surely no different from her arms now.
Silver scales densely covered her arms, shimmering faintly. It gave her goosebumps, and even when she tried to tear them off, they wouldn’t budge.
Just as she was about to be swallowed by self-blame and depression, noisy voices drifted in through the open window. Because she hadn’t closed the door she had left ajar for ventilation, the noise came through clearly.
“Hey—, listen!”
“—Let go!”
Even though she covered her ears, her rabbit hearing was immense. They must have been far away, yet she could hear them clearly.
“Jizia!”
“Let go.”
“Stop it and go back first. I’ll handle things here.”
“What’s it to you? What, do you feel sorry for me now?”
Jizia. It was a familiar name.
A fierce conversation continued. One side wanted to talk, the other refused.
“Don’t say strange things. There’s never been a single time I felt sorry for you.”
“Oh really? I feel so pitiful I could go crazy. The way you’re acting so disgustingly is hateful too. Just facing you like this is horrible, and even being in the same space makes my blood boil.”
“That’s a misunderstanding.”
As their conversation reached her, Solitaire stopped crying and listened intently.
Sally tried to say more but closed his mouth and took a deep breath. Calmed, he began questioning Jizia calmly. But with every word he chose, she grew angrier.
“Ha, more than that, what on earth did you spray? Wasn’t it originally meant for the companion, not the successor, given by Father…”
“Father? Who’s your father?”
At Sally’s remark, Jizia’s eyes instantly turned fierce, colder than before.
“Have you decided to call him that for good now? Even though Mother refused so much, you stubbornly took the cousin’s position. Now that Mother’s gone, are you trying to become his son or something?”
At the scornful words, Sally sighed and swept his hair back.
Sally looked at Jizia with a hurt expression, but she showed no sign of stopping her venomous remarks.
“Ah, not satisfied with being a son? Want to be my brother? Did you feel guilty about what happened to our mother, so you thought you’d act like a brother and comfort me? Sorry, but I don’t need a brother. Maybe Father needs one, though.”
After a brief silence, Jizia stated firmly.
“Not me.”
“…I was wrong. Uncle, what did Uncle give you? Tell me that first.”
Sally bit his lip firmly, trying to calm her. But Jizia turned away without a word.
Sally stood there for a while, staring at the sky, then collected himself and chased after Jizia.
After they disappeared and silence returned, Solitaire closed her eyes tightly. Hearing their conversation, it felt like the mismatched puzzle pieces were falling into place.
“Mers Tigris.”
He, who had amplified her anxiety since meeting him at Refuth, was the connection point in all these events. From the attack on Heinrich to today’s chaos.
Looking at his past actions, what Mers wanted was clear.
To bring down Hilrufth.
She thought that was all… but this time, something felt off.
She could be targeted because she was Heinrich’s companion, but the Mers she saw earlier seemed to be looking for her, the one who was at Refuth back then. Moreover, the water he instructed to be sprayed specifically at her caused no harm to Heinrich. But when she touched it, didn’t these strange scales sprout? It meant she alone was targeted.
Her head went cold in that moment.
The question ‘why’ consumed her mind, but unable to reach a valid conclusion, Solitaire tore at her hair.
Lost in thought, Heinrich, who had just left, knocked on the door.
“Sol, can I come in?”
Hearing his voice, the mismatched puzzle was completed. Mers’s plan to use her to bring down Hilrufth began to become clear, piece by piece.
Furthermore, Mers must know something about Solitaire.
He planned to use a weakness even she wasn’t aware of to manipulate Hilrufth. Even if her status as a fake companion was revealed, Hilrufth would take a hit, and in that gap…
“He’s trying to threaten us like last time.”
She thought things had quieted down after that incident, but apparently not.
Did Heinrich and the wolves of Hilrufth know what Mers was aiming for?
“Sol?”
“Young Master, I’m strange right now. I know this is really strange.”
On the other side of the door, Solitaire rambled incoherently. Perhaps due to the unorganized information in her head, she was extremely confused.
Even amidst this, Solitaire held the door tightly, afraid Heinrich might open it.
“I’m strange, you see, I’m different. It would be better to stop this fake companion act now.”
“Sol, let’s talk face to face first.”
“No, don’t look at my face. I don’t think you should see it. Just stop everything and send me out of Hilrufth.”
A momentary silence fell.
That silence felt like an eternity, tightening around Solitaire’s throat. Many thoughts crossed her mind during that silence.
A self-mocking laugh escaped her lips.
“What are you trying to do…”
She was the one who said to stop. Yet, in her heart, she harbored conflicting emotions: hoping he would let her go, but also hoping he would hold on to her.
Feeling disgusted with herself, Solitaire squeezed her eyes shut and slowly stepped back. As she moved away from the door, it finally felt real.
It’s over now. Really over.
Thanks to his meager pity, she had lived here until now, but she mustn’t cause them any harm.
“Sol.”
A slight sigh, then a tired voice was heard.
His voice, which had been excited before the coming-of-age ceremony began, was now sunken low. Even without seeing his face, she could imagine the expression he was making.
Probably a disgusted look.
Anticipating his response, Solitaire smiled bitterly and waited for his verdict. But Heinrich’s answer was different from what she expected.
“There’s warm water in front of you, so drink it. You haven’t eaten anything since dawn, so you must be hungry. I’ll ask Mary to bring up some simple food. Don’t skip it and eat. I’ll take care of everything outside, so you don’t need to worry. So you just…”
Heinrich’s voice trailed off.
Solitaire pricked up her ears at his low muttering, but he left without finishing his sentence.
Among all those words, there was no answer to her plea to stop.
“Why are you like this to me.”
Solitaire leaned against the door, let out a sigh, and muttered.
“If we stop now, no one gets hurt. Why are you acting so foolishly.”
But there was no one to answer her question. Left alone, Solitaire curled up as if to hide herself and closed her eyes.
The banquet hall, now devoid of Solitaire and Heinrich, was frozen solid like midwinter.
Eremus hastily ordered the knights to find Jizia, and Sophia instructed them to prevent the beast-kin in the hall from leaving.
Not long after, the firmly closed hall doors opened. There stood Jizia, apprehended by the knights.
“Jizia Tigris, do you realize what you have done?”
Even with Eremus’s shout, Jizia didn’t bat an eye and stared back at them.
As Eremus prepared to speak again to the unresponsive Jizia, Mers intervened and answered for her.
“I ask for your leniency regarding my daughter’s impulsive action. It’s just water, after all.”
Mers smiled amiably and tried to pacify Eremus. However, Eremus’s gaze remained fixed on Jizia.
Finally, as his glance wouldn’t come her way, Mers stepped between them, bowed his head, and apologized.
“I apologize on behalf of my daughter.”
The beast-kin who saw this widened their eyes in surprise.
For a mere daughter’s mistake, the family head was bowing his head in apology? It was unthinkable. Moreover, Sally, the Tigris successor standing beside him, also bowed, completely swaying the tide of sympathy in their favor…
