“Yes?”
“It’s been two years since then, so you’re only five years old now.”
Elodie blinked her large eyes.
“Do you know what my grandson said to at that age?”
What did he say?
“That little brat, with a face round as a stead bun, asked who I was and why I was in his house.”
“…”
“No matter how little he was when he first saw …”
Edmund, his cheeks slightly reddened, muttered under his breath.
“…Please stop. I’ve heard that story at least twenty tis now.”
“Then hear it ten more.”
Had that really been such a shock to him?
Ignoring his grandson’s grumbling, Eisen looked back down at Elodie.
“Who rembers anything from when they were three? Even if so do, they’re rare. No one expects that from you.”
“…”
“Just the fact that you’re alive and well like this is already a miracle to them.”
The Duke’s massive hand landed atop Elodie’s head.
A simple pat.
For soone who gave off the impression that he’d be rough, regardless of whether his opponent was a child, his touch was surprisingly gentle.
He had seen right through her.
Was this the wisdom of experience?
Elodie still couldn’t quite grasp the situation, but the crude attempt at reassurance settled her nerves just a little.
“…Am I really their daughter?”
“You spoke to them yourself. What kind of parent wouldn’t recognize their own child?”
“…”
“Beasts lower than that deserve to be buried and used as fertilizer. At the very least, they should serve so purpose, don’t you think?”
Duke Valkyrisen said this while gazing intently at Count Bluewood.
Was squeak-execution actually fertilizer-execution?
The Count, still trapped in the terror of the squeaking, had gone beyond pale—his face was now deathly blue.
“Ahem, Grandfather.”
Was there anything he wouldn’t say in front of a child?
Mildly flustered, Edmund swiftly plucked Elodie from the Duke’s arms and handed her back to Seraphina.
***
I escaped.
So easily.
On my own two feet.
That’s right, two feet!
I can walk on two legs now.
With Sera!
What an absolute miracle.
Elodie still rembered her past life vividly.
To think she could now face humans without them trying to kill her on sight.
She no longer had to hide or run.
She could stand proudly beside Sera.
“…Huh? Elodie, what’s wrong?”
Seraphina looked at her in concern.
Elodie had been rubbing her legs in fascination, staring at them as if they were the most marvelous thing in the world.
Seraphina found the sight both heartbreaking and unbearably adorable, so she let out a small laugh.
“Do you want to try walking?”
Elodie hesitated briefly before nodding.
Since becoming human, she had only been carried around.
This would be her first step into the world…!
THUD!
“E-Elodie!”
Seraphina gasped and imdiately scooped up the fallen child in alarm.
Elodie looked down at her scraped palms—already healing in an instant—her body trembling.
I can’t even stand beside Sera…
Because I can’t even walk.
It was already frustrating enough that she struggled to speak clearly because her tongue felt clumsy in her new form.
Do I seriously have to learn to walk from scratch?
The humiliation was unbearable.
How the hell was she supposed to beco soone Sera could rely on at this rate?
“…There’s no helping it, then. I’ll just have to carry you for the rest of my life,” Seraphina declared.
Damn it.
She had made Sera say sothing like that.
Far from being a reliable partner, she was turning into a burden.
Well, I have no choice then.
She would learn to walk properly in two days.
Elodie clenched her fists, her determination burning fiercely.
As soon as they safely returned to the Ratson estate, the first thing she would do was train herself to walk.
She never expected that such a simple plan would be derailed imdiately.
For real.
“The location of the Ratson estate is completely hidden. Only those with permission can enter, so we’ll only be traveling by carriage as far as Valkyrisen.”
Elodie hadn’t thought much of it when the Duke adjusted his bracelet and explained this.
If anything, she had been filled with excitent.
‘Wow, am I actually from a really important mouse family?’
The continent was broadly divided into two regions: the lands of humans and the lands of beastfolk.
Terranolia, inhabited solely by humans.
Animanolia, inhabited solely by beastfolk.
And between those two, at the very border, was the Valkyrisen territory.
aning that travel between the two continents was only possible through Valkyrisen land.
I heard that there are strict inspections and rigorous security asures, so not just anyone can pass through…
But who would dare stop Duke Valkyrisen himself?
Of course, they passed through imdiately.
Shortly after, they used the artifact embedded in the Duke’s bracelet to teleport directly to the Ratson estate.
The scenery changed in an instant.
This is the Ratson estate…!
But aside from a vast sky and dense forest, there was nothing else in sight.
Confused, Elodie looked around in a daze.
Slowly, she lowered her gaze.
The Ratson estate was there.
Elodie gaped at its splendor, its prosperity, its grandiosity… and the adorable size of it all.
It’s so small!
She could see the entire estate at a glance.
Stunned, Elodie took in the sight of beastfolk mice freezing in place and scrambling in panic at the sudden arrival of humans.
She felt like a giant.
This… this is the Ratson estate?
From a harvest mouse’s perspective, this must have been an unimaginably vast and impressive domain.
From a harvest mouse’s perspective.
For reference, the average harvest mouse was about 5 to 6 centiters in size.
Thinking about it that way, it made sense that the estate seed like a massive and wealthy territory.
But.
But still…
If I try practicing walking here, I might end up destroying the entire estate…
Was this really happening?
Did this an she couldn’t live with Sera?
How was a human supposed to live in a harvest mouse’s house?
Even a doghouse wouldn’t be livable, let alone this.
Elodie was still frozen in shock when—
“Oh my goodness…”
Seraphina let out a breathy sigh.
Her eyes shimred like the surface of a lake, her cheeks blooming a soft pink.
I’m dood.
Elodie had known Seraphina for fifteen years—she could tell exactly what she was thinking.
She’s absolutely lting over how cute this is.
She had planned to beco the proud noble daughter of a prestigious family, standing tall and composed so Sera would have no choice but to rely on her.
Just like the prince had in her past life.
She had envisioned herself standing before a grand castle, spreading her arms wide, and saying,
"Now, all of this is yours. Let’s live happily together forever."
"I will give you everything."
That had been the plan.
But there was nothing to give.
The wealth and luxury she was supposed to flaunt… were all harvest mouse-sized.
Unless they wanted to play an elaborate ga of dollhouse fantasy, it was completely useless.
As Elodie clutched her head in despair, Eisen turned to the guards at the estate’s walls—walls that he could easily step over if he raised his leg.
“I’ve co to see His Holiness.”
His Holiness?
Was one of my parents… the High Priest?
The High Priest.
The religious leader of an entire continent.
Soone whose authority in Terranolia was equal to, if not greater than, that of the emperor.
According to history, there had even been tis when the High Priest had turned emperors into re puppets.
Elodie’s jaw dropped.
Now that I think about it… I did hear sothing once.
That the forr High Priest of Animanolia had lost a daughter at a young age.
And that daughter…
Was .
In the beastfolk world, abilities were inherited through bloodlines, and only those with the strongest healing powers could beco High Priest.
But a harvest mouse family?
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