"If holding hands helps control the poison... That does make sense now that I think about it."
Elodie pondered for about a second.
“Hmm, okay!”
“What do you an, ‘okay’?!”
And then, Sera erupted in anger.
“This bastard! I let it slide once or twice, but now he’s being blatantly shaless!”
“Sera, what do you an, shaless?”
“My god, Elodie. Don’t tell you don’t even realize this is shaless behavior?”
“Well...”
Sera looked at her in sheer disbelief before unleashing a rapid-fire lecture about how on earth she planned to survive in this ruthless world.
“Okay, calm down.”
Let speak.
I knew Long-Long had ulterior motives when he insisted on holding my hand.
But, well, that was understandable.
Even though he had been in the form of a snake, we had already shared the sa bed...
‘Holding hands isn’t a big deal.’
But that wasn’t the important part.
“Regulating the concentration of poison based on the target is definitely difficult. Up until now, Karon probably could only do one of two things—completely seal it off or release it entirely.”
Karon carried a deadly poison within him.
Not just any poison, but one that far exceeded the limits of what any living being should be capable of holding.
So, when he had control, he must have focused solely on suppressing it. And when he lost control, all he could do was endure it helplessly.
Like riding a broken carriage that could only run wild or stop completely—no in-between.
‘This must be the first ti he’s gained the ability to regulate its speed, thanks to my treatnt.’
Elodie thought about this as she continued speaking.
“But if I hold Karon’s hand and absorb so of the poison while assisting him in adjusting it, he should be able to get the hang of it.”
Elodie instantly understood that this was what Karon had ant.
Sera, unaware of the details, had only heard shaless nonsense.
“Do you get it now?”
“No, not at all.”
“...”
“Ugh...”
Sera took a deep breath to calm herself.
Then, still glaring daggers at Karon, she said, “It’s absolutely shaless, but if it’s necessary, fine.”
The boy lowered his eyes, casting his white lashes downward as if he had no intention of provoking Sera’s irritation further.
“Look at him. Pretending to push the limits just enough to cross the line, and then suddenly tucking his tail in and acting all obedient.”
Sera clicked her tongue in disapproval.
He had claid to have been isolated his whole life. So where exactly had he learned this?
“It’s the perfect way to lure soone in—acting harmless until you’ve completely ensnared your prey. Must be a snake’s instinct. Be careful, Elodie.”
Uh, Sera. I get it, but... he’s standing right here listening.
Not that Karon reacted in any way. His utter lack of response to the insult seed to make her even more frustrated.
Sera, who had been bristling with hostility, suddenly grew serious.
“Elodie, do beastfolk ever marry outside their own species?”
“It happens, but it’s rare.”
“Who do you plan to marry?”
“?”
I was only ten years old.
Trying to imagine a future spouse...
‘Hmm...’
My mind went blank.
How ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ was I supposed to think of soone when I had nothing to go on?
That would be like creating sothing out of thin air.
Which only happens in fiction.
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
As a clueless child, I might have followed soone around, dreaming about marriage, but now that I understood reality... not so much.
“I was planning to treat it as if I was married to Sera and just live with her forever.”
Sera ruffled Elodie’s hair and asked again.
“Then what if I weren’t around?”
“Since I’m the only heir to the Ratson family, I’d have to marry another harvest mouse to continue the bloodline, I guess?”
Sera’s face twisted into an expression of pure disapproval.
Seeing how annoyed she looked made laugh.
“But do I really have to marry?”
“You said you need to continue the family line...”
“If I grow up and keep my position as High Priest, won’t God just grant a child? If the lineage breaks, wouldn’t that be troubleso for the divine as well?”
A baby descending from the heavens.
Or maybe sprouting up from the earth...
Either way, this wasn’t a problem a ten-year-old should be worried about.
Even if I racked my brain over succession now, it wouldn’t matter if I lost the High Priest position in the future.
‘Honestly, I couldn’t care less about my own marriage. I’m more interested in Sera’s.’
Sera, you’re already an adult.
By this ti, you had already gotten married.
To that bastard.
The re thought of it made my chest ache.
“So, in short, you don’t plan to get married, but even if you did, it absolutely wouldn’t be to a different species.”
That about sumd it up.
But why did she say that while staring at Karon?
“Well, at least he asks for consent before making a move. The problem is how shalessly he tries to get that consent.”
Sera raised two fingers and pointed from her eyes to Karon’s, a silent warning.
I’m watching you.
Only then did Karon finally get to hold Elodie’s hand.
“...Why are you smiling?”
Elodie frowned at the faintly curved corners of the boy’s eyes.
“Mm, because I’m happy.”
“Didn’t you just get scolded the entire ti?”
“In the end, I still got permission to hold your hand, didn’t I?”
Did that really count as permission?
It felt more like he only got a chance after I made it clear I had no intention of getting married.
“At least things are better than before. I wish she’d see in a kinder light.”
Seeing him whisper that with a bright smile, like a flower in full bloom, made my heart ache a little.
Anyone could tell he was being blatantly rejected.
Had he really never experienced affection before?
Thinking about it, aside from when he was Long-Long, he probably hadn’t...
Of course, that was because he had instinctively rejected everyone except .
‘There’s so much I want to say.’
But since he looked so happy, I decided not to ruin the mont.
***
The two of them road the castle, wiping out all the pests.
And they spared the bugs that weren’t harmful to people.
Of course, spiderwebs had to be cleared away for aesthetic reasons.
“Oh, this place looks perfect for Sera and to use as a research lab.”
Elodie had just discovered a location and was stepping inside when—
She suddenly flinched.
“What’s wrong?”
It felt like sothing flashed before her eyes, like an afterimage passing by in an instant...
She staggered slightly, bringing a hand to her forehead.
Before she could lose her footing and collapse, Karon swiftly supported her waist, pulling her into his arms.
“Are you dizzy? Look at .”
“...”
But aside from that brief hallucination, there was nothing else.
Except for how unnervingly close Karon’s worried gaze was.
It took her a mont to realize that he was holding her face in his hands, pulling her close to check her expression.
Elodie gently pushed against his chest and said,
“I’m fine. I just saw... sothing.”
“Saw sothing?”
“This happened before when I started regaining so of my mories...”
Her first eting with Nyx Basilisk and the mont he kidnapped her.
But this felt different.
Back then, it was as if she was reliving the experience, vividly seeing and feeling everything.
But this ti, it had been barely a glimpse—so faint she couldn’t even grasp it.
Maybe that’s why, unlike before, when it had been unbearably painful, she only felt a little dizzy this ti.
The nanny, who had been swiping a broom at the ceiling to clear out spiderwebs, looked up with a brightened face.
“Does this an you’re getting your mories back?”
“No, nothing’s co back yet.”
“Oh...”
But maybe... pieces of her mories were scattered throughout the Holy Kingdom.
“I think I’m recalling sothing connected to this place. I’m not sure, though.”
Elodie, looking serious, pointed at the room she had just been about to enter.
“What was this room used for?”
“It was a room used by the physicians. There were a lot of dangerous dicines in there, so they told you never to go in. Which, of course, only made you go in more often.”
The nanny reminisced with a wistful expression.
‘I must have been really bad at listening...’
So the half-forgotten mory was just about sneaking into a physician’s room and causing trouble?
How useless...
“So, basically, it’s a place that has no real aning to .”
Elodie had no particular desire to recover her past mories.
If there was sothing to gain from them, maybe, but she already knew who had kidnapped her.
Of course, recovering fond mories would be nice.
But priorities mattered.
And then, a thought flashed through her mind.
‘Could this actually help treat amnesia?’
If I recover my mories, maybe that experience will let unlock the book in the Healing Sanctuary?
‘After all, I could only open the book on Poison Immunity after achieving poison immunity myself.’
Elodie quickly finished her thought and said,
“I think I need to wander around and collect the fragnts of my mories.”
“You an we need to visit places where you have strong mories? If that’s the case, I know just the place.”
The nanny answered confidently.
Since it was a reasonable suggestion, Elodie didn’t hesitate and looked at her expectantly.
“It has to be the lake, of course.”
“Oh... The place where I fell in.”
“It must be a painful mory for you, but that also ans it left a strong imprint. It could help restore what you’ve forgotten.”
“Well, yeah. Shocking mories do tend to linger.”
And that was where I t my first love, wasn’t it?
The most intense experience a three-year-old could have.
“Nanny, you’re a genius.”
“Hehe, I’m just glad to be of help.”
“Then let’s not waste ti. We should head out right away.”
“I’ll guide you to the lake.”
Elodie, filled with determination to learn a new healing technique, took the lead.
But suddenly, Karon snatched her hand.
“...Why?”
She looked up at him in confusion.
His face was unsettled, as if even he didn’t understand why he had reacted.
Maybe his body had moved before he could think.
The answer ca after a long silence.
“...Do we have to go?”
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