The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella-Chapter 113

Elodie cupped Karon’s cheeks and quickly pulled his face toward her.

Lowering her voice as much as possible, she whispered,

"What’s with you all of a sudden?"

"......."

"Hurry up and put the scales away."

The boy, who had awkwardly bent down to meet her gaze, blinked slowly.

Each time his eyelids covered his pupils, the shimmering light in them gradually faded.

"I didn’t do it on purpose."

Not on purpose?

Then... he had transformed instinctively?

Beastfolk usually only lost control of their transformation when they were pushed to their mental or physical limits—or when they were excited.

"...Did the harvest mouse trigger your appetite?"

"No."

"Are you sure? Be honest. If a human eats another human, they’re a cannibal, but if someone was truly turned into a harvest mouse by a curse, then they might look like prey—"

"Absolutely not."

Karon’s answer was firm, his voice forceful as he repeated himself.

Elodie let out a quiet sigh of relief.

For a second, she had imagined bringing a wild black mamba into a village full of harvest mice.

"Then why?"

The boy avoided her gaze and mumbled,

"I don’t know."

"Have you been overexerting yourself?"

Now that she thought about it, when she had first met Karon, black scales had appeared all over his body while he suffered from the effects of his mutated poison.

Elodie suddenly recalled that he was still a patient.

Not even two weeks ago, he had been in a condition so severe that an ordinary person wouldn’t have been able to leave their bed.

‘I forgot because his natural recovery rate is so incredible...’

Even though she had been treating him consistently, maybe moving around constantly had taken its toll.

Elodie asked worriedly,

"Should you go back to Valkyrisen?"

Karon covered the back of her hand with his own and replied,

"I’m fine."

"......."

"Just stay like this for a bit."

It seemed like he wanted her to cover his face until the scales disappeared.

‘But isn’t this a bit embarrassing for others to see?’

Wouldn’t it be better if he just covered his own face instead?

Elodie glanced at the Ratson couple.

They were too busy discussing countermeasures to pay attention to her.

She turned to Seraphina next.

She was deeply engaged in conversation with the harvest mice.

"Does this bother you?"

Of course, it bothered her.

She was sneaking around like this while two hopelessly affectionate people stood on either side of her.

Elodie fidgeted with her fingers.

She tried to pull her hand away, but it was completely trapped beneath Karon’s large, firm palm.

‘His hands are huge.’

Come to think of it...

His hands had always been bigger than hers, even back when they had been pretty and doll-like.

Maybe it was just the way they were positioned now, but she couldn’t help but notice the thickness of his knuckles, the rough calluses on his palms—so different from her own soft hands.

"How much longer?"

Elodie whispered in the lowest voice possible, but Karon simply murmured back with an odd glint in his eyes,

"You really are bothered..."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

For a moment, he leaned his cheek against her palm, pressing into it as if savoring the warmth.

Then, as soon as the scales disappeared, he obediently let go.

Something soft brushed against her fingertips.

Not exactly soft—his skin was slightly rough, as if dried by the winter air.

Elodie stared down at her hand, now carrying a faint chill and an unfamiliar scent, then flinched and quickly hid it behind her back.

Had his lips just... touched her?

"Thanks for the help."

"......."

Karon gave her a faint smile as he expressed his gratitude.

For a moment, despite being a black mamba, she could almost imagine a tail swishing happily behind him.

Elodie opened her mouth but found herself at a loss for words.

Without realizing it, she started inching away from him.

"So, are you two close?"

"You’re so persistent..."

"It’s a species trait."

The boy smirked as he answered.

"Honestly, I don’t know. I don’t remember anything from when I was young."

"Ah, so you might be close."

Well, that was true.

‘But even if we were close, wouldn’t that mean I was, like, three years old at the time...?’

Thinking about it like that, it didn’t seem like such a big deal.

It was a bit much [N O V E L I G H T] to expect her to remember anything from that age.

‘Of course, I wish I could remember my time with my mother and father, but...’

Some random harvest mouse from her forgotten past wasn’t something worth worrying about.

Elodie was more concerned with Seraphina, who had been talking to another harvest mouse.

Her smooth, pale cheeks were slightly flushed.

‘She’s openly having an affair with another harvest mouse right in front of me...’

Elodie sidled up to them, her expression sulky, and started stomping her feet against the water.

Splish. Splash.

Each time she did, droplets scattered into the air.

"What’s going on here?"

"Ack! Baby!"

The harvest mice quickly bowed their heads and scattered.

"What were you talking about?"

"Uh..."

Seraphina trailed off with a vague smile.

"Nothing much. They were just asking about you."

"...Really?"

Then why was she blushing?

Elodie wanted to interrogate her further but held herself back.

Calm down. Do you want to act like that prince who lost his mind just because Seraphina talked to another man?

She could blush while talking to a harvest mouse.

Seraphina had always loved small and cute creatures.

Even though she pretended to have no interest in Edmund, the moment a conversation about harvest mice started, she could talk for hours.

‘To her, they probably just look like harvest mice.’

That must be it.

But Seraphina’s infidelity didn’t stop there.

Every time Elodie turned around, she was chatting with a different harvest mouse.

And their numbers were steadily increasing.

"......."

"Are you really okay?"

Karon came up beside Elodie and asked quietly.

Was she okay?

Of course not.

But she didn't show it.

She wanted to appear like a cool and dignified harvest mouse in front of Seraphina.

"Elodie, they need my help for a moment. Would it be alright if I went to the plaza?"

"What? I’ll go—"

"Elodie, you should stay in the fortress and rest for now. You must be tired."

"......."

A cool and dignified harvest mouse...

Damn it, couldn’t she just be a pathetic and clingy harvest mouse instead?

‘Isn’t this just outright exclusion?!’

She didn’t want to doubt Seraphina’s affection, but wasn’t this exactly the kind of situation where she was neglecting her in favor of some other harvest mouse?!

But in the end, Elodie held back.

For now.

However, Seraphina didn’t return even as the bright sky dimmed into night.

‘She’s even staying out overnight?’

Elodie felt her patience wear thin.

Of course, she knew that in the harvest mouse domain, there wasn’t anywhere for Seraphina to sleep except for open spaces like the plaza...

‘But still, she should have come back before sleeping!’

That way, they could at least decide whether to sleep together or not!

And now she was spending the night with some random harvest mouse?

"...Karon."

"Hm?"

"We're storming the plaza. Now."

Elodie shot up, seething.

Karon glanced at the clock. It was nearly midnight.

He nodded.

"I’ll go with you."

And so, when they arrived at the plaza—

"Squeak! Squeak! (Happy tenth birthday, Baby!)"

They had not expected this.

The reason the High Priest had been glancing at Elodie all day with an awkward expression.

The reason Seraphina had been secretly talking with the harvest mice behind her back.

The reason the harvest mice had scattered whenever she got too close.

‘Ah... It’s past midnight now, so today is my birthday.’

Back at the academy, she had remembered her birthday.

"The cake is your favorite, chestnut cake," Seraphina said with a smile.

"Ugh."

And here she was... completely unaware.

Suddenly, tears welled up in her eyes.

She tried to suppress them, wanting to stay cool, but Seraphina picked her up and patted her back.

Being comforted like this only made her want to cry more.

"You know, Elodie... There’s something I’ve always wanted to say, but I couldn’t before."

"What?"

There was something she hadn’t been able to say?

"W-what is it?"

"I had hoped that one day, I’d be able to tell you..."

Seraphina had a talent.

A talent for identifying weaknesses, breaking through, and nullifying things.

From the moment she realized she had this ability, she had pursued a single goal.

That was why she had transferred into the academy.

Why she had pushed herself so hard that she became the top student.

People showered her with praise for her talent, calling her a genius, but that wasn’t enough.

For her goal, being merely a genius was insufficient.

She had to become one of a kind—someone unparalleled in the world.

No matter how much others called her brilliant, she had to prove she was worth that recognition.

She had to rise to a place no one else could reach.

Until now, she hadn’t been certain enough to tell anyone...

But now, she could.

"I think I might be able to help lift the Ratson family's curse."

"......."

"I actually wanted to tell you at graduation, but I wasn’t sure. I needed to see the Ratson family myself first."

That meant—she was sure now.

That was why she could say it with confidence.

Elodie couldn’t answer.

She didn’t know what to say.

"Of course, I’d only be coming up with a method and assisting. Your power would be the key to breaking it, so it feels a little presumptuous to say I’m ‘helping.’ And lifting a curse on an entire species... who knows how long that would take..."

"......."

"But I’ll do my best."

"......."

"Happy birthday, Elodie."

I’m glad I could tell you today.

Right?

Seraphina laughed softly and pressed a kiss to Elodie’s forehead.

Even after hearing everything, Elodie still couldn’t say a word.

Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freewebnσvel.cøm.

What else could she do?

She could only let the tears she had been holding back finally fall.