The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella-Chapter 85

Swordsmanship, Magic Research, Monster Studies, Alchemy...

Is there anything our Sera can't do?

I can’t wait for Sera’s graduation.

There’s really not much time left now.

Since it’s obvious she’ll be stepping onto the stage as the top student of her class, I’ll be standing in the front row, holding a bouquet just for her.

With a now significantly refined handwriting, Elodie neatly wrote down her thoughts in a flowing script before folding the paper and slipping it into an envelope.

After sealing it, she handed it over to a courier and stretched her arms wide, letting out a deep sigh.

Four years had passed since then.

Elodie was now nine years old, soon to celebrate her tenth birthday.

While Sera had been attending the academy, dazzling both professors and students with her brilliance and excelling in every subject, Elodie’s own skills had been improving at an astonishing pace.

It’s still hard to believe that I’ve kept it a secret from Mother and Father all this time.

The only reason they hadn’t found out was because they were trapped within the confines of the Ratson domain. Had it been otherwise, they would have caught on long ago.

Because...

“Lady Elodie, the new medicine you developed—it's causing quite the stir.”

It was at that moment.

“Even though only a prototype has been released, we’re already being flooded with orders.”

Watson, the youngest physician, came running in, his arms filled with stacks of papers, his face beaming with excitement.

Despite it not being his personal achievement, he was as delighted as if it were his own, laughing heartily before his expression suddenly turned serious.

“But, Lady Elodie.”

“Yes?”

“That medicine... do you think it would work on the old master?”

The new drug that Elodie had developed.

It was similar to the rejuvenation potion she had previously created, the one that had made Eisen ten years younger.

At those words, Elodie’s gaze drifted to Physician Turtlebrown.

The eldest physician of the Valkyrisen medical division, a living legend—Turtlebrown.

Hunched over, he was once again scribbling something diligently into his notebook.

“Watson.”

“Yes?”

“I can give it to him.”

Elodie spoke with an unusually respectful tone, considering Turtlebrown’s age, which had long surpassed a century.

“The medicine I developed restores about five years of youth.”

“That’s right.”

Eisen had seemed to regain ten years of his youth, but even after further research, she hadn’t been able to replicate that effect.

Most likely, the dramatic results had come from Valkyrisen’s naturally superior physique.

In the end, Elodie had settled for announcing a version that reversed aging by only five years, but the reaction had been overwhelming.

A medicine that could turn back the body’s clock by five years?

There was, however, a crucial limitation.

No matter how much one drank—whether two bottles, three, or even more—the effect would always remain the same: exactly five years. It was a one-time effect, with no cumulative benefits.

Even though she had clearly stated this limitation in advance and set an astronomical price, nobles were still scrambling to buy it, utterly blinded by their desperation.

“If Physician Turtlebrown were to regain five years of his youth, he’d be... a hundred and five years old.”

“......”

“What’s the point in that?”

Yeah... what’s the point...

Watson trailed off, his voice tinged with melancholy.

Thinking about it, Turtlebrown’s condition hadn’t really changed much over the past five years anyway.

Watson gazed at the old sea turtle beastfolk with a bittersweet expression.

“So, the old master is just going to stay like that forever, huh?”

“Whaaaat? Did you just talk bad about me?”

“No, but why is it that you only hear things like this? Are you actually just pretending to be deaf when it’s convenient for you?”

Just as Watson was questioning Turtlebrown’s selective hearing—

“Gah! That scared me!”

He let out a startled cry as he saw something black slither past the window.

Then, after realizing what it was, he placed a hand over his chest in relief.

“It’s fascinating, really. How does it always manage to come at the exact same time?”

At those words, Elodie turned her head.

On the windowsill, a black snake waited patiently.

“Oh, Long-Long.”

She got up from her seat and opened the window.

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With practiced ease, the snake slithered inside and coiled itself comfortably around her shoulder.

As a physician of Valkyrisen, Watson had a keen interest in animals, and now, he stared at the black serpent with open curiosity.

“Did you know? In some myths, the black mamba is recorded as the divine beast of a god of destruction—so ferocious that it crushes everything in its sight...”

“Yeah, I think I’ve heard that at least ten times now.”

Every time a beastfolk saw the black mamba, they always repeated the same line. At this point, she was sick of hearing it.

Seriously...

Elodie gazed down at the black snake with a complicated expression.

Yet when she met its gentle, round eyes staring up at her, something warm and fuzzy stirred inside her.

How could something this cute be so terrifying?

“I should get going now.”

Elodie reached into her robes and pulled out a vial, pressing it into Turtlebrown’s hand.

“What’s this?”

“A rejuvenation potion. Make sure to drink it.”

“Oh, you didn’t have to—”

“No, but why do you only hear the things you want to?”

Had Watson been waiting for the old man to feign deafness again, as usual?

Because the moment he heard the words rejuvenation potion, Turtlebrown promptly snatched up the vial and downed it in one gulp.

Seeing this, Watson clutched his chest in exasperation.

Regardless of Watson’s reaction, the sea turtle beastfolk smacked his lips after emptying the bottle.

Just like that, he became five years younger.

Of course, outwardly, nothing had changed in the slightest.

But perhaps the person himself felt different?

Turtlebrown flexed his fingers as if testing them out, then lifted his gaze absentmindedly—only to flinch violently at the sight of Watson.

“What the hell is that? A gorilla beastfolk?”

“It’s Watson! A human!”

Leaving the two bickering [N O V E L I G H T] behind, Elodie slipped out of the medical ward.

“Long-Long, you’ve been coming to see me quite often these days.”

“......”

“Well, not that I mind.”

Now that they were alone, she grinned as she said it.

His frequent visits meant one thing—he was getting better at controlling his venom.

Maybe it’s because he’s been spending so much time near me since taking on a snake form?

Either way, compared to their first meeting, his condition had clearly improved. That alone made her happy.

But... how much longer is he planning to stay in this form?

When is he going to stop pretending?

I am Karon.

I am a Basilisk.

When was he planning to say those words out loud?

It had already been four years. And in just one more month, it would be five.

Yet Karon still hadn’t revealed his identity.

When she ran into him in his human form, he would walk past her like an icy wind, cold and indifferent.

And yet, in the form of a snake, he clung to her side, refusing to leave.

Has he realized that, like Magic Cotton, he gets healthier when he’s near me?

Not that she minded. In fact, she found the whole thing more cute than anything else.

Karon should be thirteen this year... No, wait. His birthday has passed, so fourteen now.

Could she say, at this point, that she had successfully prevented the Valkyrisen Massacre?

Elodie glanced at the snake with a trace of unease.

He simply stared back at her with those unreadable, glassy eyes.

...We are making progress, right?

He was so good at hiding his thoughts that it was impossible to tell.

Well, he was pretending to be a snake—so, of course, he wouldn’t show anything.

But we’re getting close to the breaking point.

Still, she had some reassurance.

Because before anything happened with Karon, Eisen’s ordeal would come first.

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If Eisen made it through safely, then Karon’s crisis would unfold.

So...

For now, I should stay close to Grandfather.

That way, if anything happened to him, she could treat him immediately.

Just as she was thinking this—

The black snake, coiled around her neck—Karon—suddenly drew closer.

What...?

Elodie blinked slowly.

His small head was so close that it blurred in her vision.

And then—

Something cool and damp brushed against her cheek.

Before she could react, Karon slithered down from her shoulders and disappeared into the distance.

As if that had been his only reason for coming today.

“......”

Elodie stood frozen for a long moment.

Then, she raised a hand and rubbed her cheek where the snake’s mouth had touched.

Since it had been a snake, it didn’t feel embarrassing or flustering—just an act of simple, animalistic affection.

And yet, if she thought about it in human terms...

Wasn’t that...

A kiss?