The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella

“What… what do you mean by that?”

The High Priest of Ratson, who had been frozen like a broken doll, stammered as he spoke.
“Is it because this place isn’t good enough for you? Did I disappoint you somehow? Tell me. Whatever it is you want, I’ll—”
“No.”

That wasn’t it at all.
Compared to the days when she lived in a hole in the ground, this place was nothing short of paradise.
Honestly, even if it wasn’t a grand temple but just a dilapidated shack made of wooden planks, Elodie would have been fine with it.

At the very least, she wouldn’t have to fight for her life every single day.
But there was another reason why she had made up her mind not to stay in the Ratson domain.
“That’s not it. I just really, really like Sera.”

Elodie replied with utmost composure.
“I feel like I’d die without her.”
Of course, the content of her words was anything but composed.

“W-what…?”
“I made a promise.”
“A… a promise?”

“I promised to make Sera happy forever.”
At Elodie’s blunt and passionate confession, everyone fell silent.
Sera, though momentarily caught off guard, soon smiled as if she had been given the whole world.

“Elodie, you don’t have to do anything more. Thanks to you, I’ve already been given the chance of a lifetime.”
She spoke as if comforting a child.
“Just because we can’t always be together doesn’t mean we’ll be apart forever.”
“No. If our bodies grow apart, our hearts will too.”

“…”
Where did she even learn something like that?
Before Sera could ask, Elodie, sensing the mood, tightened her grip on Sera’s hand.

Then, looking up at her with a gaze filled with unwavering resolve, she spoke in a solemn, lowered voice.
“And I never break my promises.”
“…!”

It didn’t matter that her short tongue stumbled over the words.
Sera bit her lip.
The way Elodie tried to act all mature despite her childlike pronunciation was both adorable and amusing, but at the same time, a deep, tender emotion swelled in Sera’s chest.

It was so warm and overwhelming that she couldn’t bring herself to say no.
“…Mm.”
Instead, she found herself nodding, her cheeks unconsciously turning red.

Watching this unfold, the High Priest of Ratson clutched the back of his neck with a chiiik! sound.
“Your Holiness!”
“Please, get a hold of yourself, Your Holiness!”

My daughter… has already found her fated one?!
No—meeting her early had allowed her to break the curse, and Sera was her savior, but still.
This was way too soon!

“I haven’t even gotten to hold her properly, and now she’s already leaving…”
Elodie watched him mumble pitifully with a complicated expression.
In truth, she didn’t want to leave the Ratson domain immediately either.

But.
Mom, Dad… are you hiding something from me?
She had no choice but to test them.

Because no matter how she thought about it, something didn’t add up.
Why haven’t they turned back into their human forms, not even once?
Even after reuniting with their long-lost daughter after two years.

Unless…
They couldn’t return.
Just like she hadn’t been able to.

At that moment, the High Priestess of Ratson, who had been silent in thought, finally spoke.
“…Then let’s do this. Stay at House Valkyrisen for the time being.”
“Dear!”

“Valkyrisen is a neutral zone that does not tolerate any form of conflict. If she stays there, we can rest assured that she’ll be safe.”
“Isn’t this decision a little too hasty?”
The High Priest protested weakly.

But it was short-lived—when his wife gave him a firm, silent stare, he broke into a cold sweat and looked away.
Everyone’s gazes then shifted to Duke Valkyrisen—Eisen—who had been standing quietly with his sword cane.
He raised a brow and responded calmly.

“I expected this.”
He expected it?
Elodie narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Will it be difficult?”
“Well, I won’t turn away anyone who wants to come… but are you sure about this?”
“Please, ensure her safety at all costs.”

The High Priestess only gave a weary smile.
Then, she took Elodie’s fingers in her tiny hands, pressed a kiss to them, and spoke as if giving a final request.
“But it will only be for a while. If your mother and father call for you, you must come back. Understood?”

After grumbling for a long time, the High Priest finally gave in as well.
“…We will call for you soon.”
He looked utterly heartbroken about it.

Elodie silently observed her parents, as if studying them.
I knew it.
And she became certain of one thing.

Her parents were also under a curse.
A curse that prevented them from returning to their human forms.
***

If Elodie had truly been just five years old, she wouldn’t have noticed.
But I can’t just let myself be fooled.
The fact that only authorized individuals could enter the Ratson domain in the first place was suspicious.

For an ordinary noble family, that might have been understandable.
But Ratson wasn’t just any noble house—it was the lineage that had produced the divine representatives of the god worshiped across the Animallia continent.
Yet in this grand temple, built to honor and serve the divine, not a single beastfolk outside of the harvest mice could be seen.

It wasn’t as if the entire beastfolk world had suddenly decided to worship some kind of mouse god.
A true grand temple should have been large enough to accommodate all beastfolk and should have been located in the heart of the capital, at the center of the continent.
Which means… they’re under a threat severe enough to force them into hiding.

Elodie was just a five-year-old child.
A miracle of a child who had somehow made her way back to them.
For them to willingly send such a child away again…

That must mean Valkyrisen is far safer than here.
It could only mean they were trying to protect her.
Elodie felt the warmth of her reunion with her parents slowly cool.

It was only a matter of time before Ratson lost the position of High Priest to another family.
The reason she hadn’t immediately recalled the name Ratson when she returned was because, in the future she had once lived in, the High Priest of Animallia had not been a harvest mouse.
I thought my disappearance meant that, without an heir, the Ratson family had gradually declined…

But if Ratson wasn’t just falling but was actually cursed—if their entire domain was trapped under a curse…
Then this wasn’t mere decline.
It was deliberate destruction at someone else’s hands.

And in her past life…
They must have all perished without ever breaking the curse.
Up until this moment, Elodie had never thought deeply about the curse.

How could she have?
She had learned that she wasn’t just a mouse—she was beastfolk, with a family waiting for her, a house that supported her.
She had begun dreaming of a future where she could stay with Sera forever.

She had experienced one miracle after another.
So of course, she had been swept up in that joy.
But all of this… should have been mine from the start.

Yes, it was a miracle.
The fairy godmother had turned back time, and Sera had broken her curse, granting her this precious second chance.
But none of that changed the fact that if the curse had never existed in the first place, none of this suffering would have happened.

Elodie clenched her fists, pushing down the surge of fury and bloodlust rising within her.
The Basilisk.
In ten years, they would become the new High Priest family of Animallia.

There had been an uproar when a family of venomous serpents took the position of divine representative.
The news had even spread beyond the continent, reaching as far as Terranolia.
At first, many had been wary of them.

But soon, the continent had been singing their praises—because the Basilisks had demonstrated healing abilities just as remarkable as the previous High Priest family.
As remarkable as Ratson.
Was the culprit their High Priest?

Or was the entire Basilisk family involved?
There was no way to know.
Yet.

But they were worth investigating.
No matter who had done this to Ratson…
I’ll find them.

I’ll find them, break the curse…
And—
I’ll make them suffer the same fate.

Nothing more, nothing less.
I’ll make them just as cursed as they made us.