The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella

Elodie shrugged her shoulders.

"I dunno. But I heard they’re an awful, wicked villainous family. So that means they could have done something bad to me!"
She gave an answer that was exactly what a child would say.
Edmund, realizing he had reacted too sharply, awkwardly scratched the back of his neck.

"If Basilisk was responsible…"
Even though Elodie's theory sounded like nonsense from a child’s imagination, he still responded with utmost sincerity.
"They are people blinded by their own greed. If they truly kidnapped the sole bloodline of the High Priest, I wonder—what could have possibly been offered in exchange to win them over?"

The boy furrowed his smooth brow, sinking deep into thought.
As if he simply couldn’t fathom it.
Perhaps because he had been raised in Valkyrisen—a land of peace and neutrality—he did not yet fully understand just how depraved human greed could become.

He had no idea that to a villain, mocking God Himself was barely even a crime.
But Elodie knew.
Basilisk was given the High Priest’s position in exchange.

The right to become the divine agent of God—was that not a prize worth staking their entire family’s fate on?
No matter the price.
And in her past life, they had succeeded.

But this time, she would never allow it.
Because—
Because she had found a clue.

Nyx Basilisk.
As soon as she saw his face, a certain child came to mind.
Karon Valkyrisen.
They looked alike.

Suspiciously alike.
So much so that no one would question it if they were said to be parent and child.
The third prince of Valkyrisen bore an uncanny resemblance to Nyx Basilisk’s direct bloodline.

A conversation she had once overheard from Eagles resurfaced in her memory.
"Every year, many children are abandoned in Animallia for various reasons. Some are born weak and culled, some possess powers that make them a threat to their own kind, some simply lose in the struggle for survival..."
"Valkyrisen rescues these children, takes them in, and raises them until they can stand on their own."

Perhaps.
It was just a theory, but—
Karon Basilisk… Could it be?

That thought suddenly struck her.
The first day she met Karon, she had seen it.
A black snake slithering through the garden.

She had rushed toward it, but by the time she arrived, the snake had vanished.
Instead, in its place, stood Karon—his hair just as dark as the snake’s scales.
Back then, she had assumed it was a mere coincidence.

After all, he was Valkyrisen’s third prince. She hadn’t questioned it.
But now—
What if Karon was actually a child discarded by the Basilisk family, only to be taken in by Valkyrisen?

Or worse.
What if Basilisk only pretended to abandon him, but had actually planted him in Valkyrisen as a spy?
Was that thought too paranoid?

But given how boldly they had kidnapped the High Priest’s child, she wouldn’t put anything past them.
Elodie realized something.
That feeling of familiarity, the strange sense that she had seen Karon before—

It had all come from her subconscious memories of Nyx Basilisk.
So that’s why I felt… almost nostalgic.
"Hahaha, do you think divine punishment will strike me down?"

She must have missed him so much, it made her want to kill him.
It wasn’t important.
Elodie dismissed the thought without much care.

Does Edmund know?
That his own younger brother might actually be a Basilisk?
The servants don’t seem to know.

Elodie glanced at Edmund before casually asking,
"Edmund, what’s your little brother been up to lately?"
"Karon?"

Edmund looked surprised by the sudden mention of his brother.
After all, Karon and Elodie had never interacted before.
"He’s staying in the detached palace."

She had always wondered about that.
What kind of illness would require someone to be completely isolated in a separate palace?
"Some kind of contagious disease?"

"…You could say that."
No, it wasn’t.
She had seen him wandering around freely.

Elodie narrowed her eyes at Edmund’s suspiciously vague response.
The disease itself might be real, but…
The third prince was meant to die young, after all.

He was supposed to die at fourteen, right?
She remembered it clearly.
It had happened not long after the Duke of Valkyrisen’s death.

Karon is nine years old now…
That meant he had less than five years left.
If Karon Valkyrisen was truly Karon Basilisk—

If he was truly Nyx Basilisk’s son—
Or at the very least, a close relative—
Then Elodie had to save him.

Because he was her only way inside the most secretive family in the world.
Her only link to Nyx Basilisk.
I need to meet the third prince again. This time, properly.

Healing abilities were one thing Elodie was supremely confident in.
She had mastered it the day she first transformed into a human.
She was invincible.

No matter how contagious the disease was, she knew she wouldn’t catch it.
"Does he want to leave the detached palace?"
"Of course he does…"

Edmund forced an awkward smile.
He probably already knew that Karon frequently snuck out.
And given that Edmund allowed it, she was certain now.

There was no real contagion.
"Now that I think about it, Karon is around your age."
So that’s what he thought this was about.

He assumed Elodie was simply curious because Karon was close in age.
That was a convenient excuse.
Elodie eagerly nodded.

After all, it was perfectly normal for a child to want to befriend another child!
"To be honest, I can’t tell you much. I’ve barely spoken to him myself."
"Huh? Really?"

But he was his brother?
For a moment, Edmund’s expression darkened, as if recalling something bitter.
"Karon only communicates through magical devices… but he’s never responded to a single message."

Oh.
She had felt his emotional walls before, but she hadn’t realized they extended even to his own family.
Not once? Not even to his own brother?

That was just cruel.
And Edmund was such a kind older brother, too.
He doesn’t even talk to his own family?

And from what she had seen, he didn’t associate with strangers either.
Even if she "accidentally" ran into him outside, he would likely just ignore her and run away.
She had to think of another way.

Elodie came to a decision.
If he wouldn’t come out, then—
She would go to him.

"Want me to visit your little brother and cure him?"
She spoke lightly, as if she were just a child playing doctor.
But—

When she had offered to heal Eisen, Edmund had nodded along in agreement.
Yet now—
"Absolutely not."

This time, Edmund immediately rejected her.
Then, as if realizing how firm his response had been, he hesitated, glancing at her nervously.
"I mean… that’s not…"

As if worried she might get upset.
"Absolutely not"?
But rather than being shocked, Elodie was deep in thought.

This is strange.
First, there had been her grandfather’s warning.
Now, Edmund’s reaction.

Even the Ratson family bloodline wouldn’t be safe near the third prince?
Elodie fixed him with an expectant stare, silently demanding an explanation.
Eventually, Edmund sighed and admitted,

"Even the High Priest himself could not cure his illness."
"Huh? Evenh my dad?"
If even her father—the current High Priest—had failed…

"Yes. And as the years pass, his condition only worsens. By now, he must be even weaker."
For the first time, Elodie hesitated.
If even the High Priest had tried everything to heal Karon and failed…

Then the illness must have been truly incurable.
"Hmm."
She frowned.

"Hmmmm…"
"Fine. I won’t cure him."
Edmund let out a relieved sigh.

But he didn’t know.
Elodie meant it.
She wouldn’t cure Karon.

Not yet.
This will have to be a long-term plan.
If she couldn’t heal him now—

Then first, she needed to earn his trust.
She had to make him comfortable enough to let her heal him when the time came.