The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella-Chapter 87

A drug that prolongs life?

That sounded like something used for terminal patients.

“Are you saying... it’s some kind of last-resort medicine? One that forcibly draws out life energy just to keep a person alive a little longer?”

“That boy probably didn’t realize I was watching, but if he drank it and coughed up blood... then isn’t that exactly what it is?”

Where the hell did he get something like that?!

Eisen’s assumption—that Elodie had provided the medicine—wasn’t unreasonable.

She was the highest-ranking physician in the entire medical division. Every single drug that passed through Valkyrisen was either directly created by her or distributed under her supervision.

If Karon was taking something like that, there were only two possibilities.

He either got it from an outside source, or he had been taking it for a long time already.

Neither was a good sign.

No—at this point, it wasn’t even a guess anymore. It was practically confirmed.

Karon had suddenly, out of nowhere, pressed a kiss to her cheek and vanished.

If it had been some romantic impulse, it would’ve made no sense. But if it had been—

A final farewell—

Then it made perfect sense.

Did I focus on the wrong thing?

In her past life, Eisen had died first. It had been a while after that when the massacre happened.

Right now, it was midwinter.

Eisen was supposed to die next spring, and the massacre had happened in next year’s winter.

Yes, it had all happened in the same year, but not immediately one after the other.

Naturally, she had thought Eisen should be her top priority.

But... what if that was the wrong choice?

What if she should have stopped Karon when he came to say goodbye?

What if she should have noticed that he had been hiding his condition all this time?

Unknowingly, Elodie turned to Eisen, her eyes desperate.

“Is there something else wrong?”

Eisen was quick to pick up on her sudden realization.

For a fleeting moment, she hesitated.

Could she say it?

Right now, there was no one more reliable than Eisen.

He was the hero who had put an end to the Second Great War.

But... what if telling him meant he died because of it?

Ordinarily, she wouldn’t ever think something like this would kill him—but the timing was bad.

Eisen was supposed to die soon.

She had just barely saved him through all her efforts, and now, what if one wrong move sent him to his death?

Fear gripped her. She lowered her gaze and changed the subject.

“No... I was just surprised. I didn’t know about this.”

“Elodie.”

Eisen called her name.

“Look me in the eyes and say that again.”

“......”

His sharp, golden eyes bore into her, piercing through her hesitation.

Elodie opened her mouth... but let out a sigh instead.

And then, she told him the truth.

“Karon came to say goodbye to me. Just now.”

“Goodbye? In his snake form?”

He was asking—How did you even understand a farewell from a snake?

Damn it. He’s sharp.

There was no way Elodie could say, "He kissed my cheek."

It wasn’t relevant right now!

“That’s not what’s important. If his condition is as bad as you’re saying, then he probably left... to die.”

She wasn’t sure where he had gone, or why, but she knew he hadn’t gone back to the Serenity Palace.

Karon wouldn’t have done something like that—unless he was leaving for good.

Eisen fell silent for a moment, thinking.

Then, he came to a conclusion.

“The Basilisk.”

“Huh? No way—”

“Yes. He must have gone to the Basilisk territory.”

“How do you know that?!”

“Because I’ve seen him scouting for a way to return there before.”

Elodie’s mouth fell open.

“And you just let him?!”

“What was I supposed to do?”

“I don’t know, maybe stop him?! That looks exactly like something a spy would do!”

At this point, she knew Karon wasn’t a Basilisk spy.

He had been with her for too long.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Which meant her question wasn’t about espionage. It was about ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ why no one stopped him and asked what the hell he was thinking.

“It was obvious, wasn’t it? Those weren’t the eyes of a spy. They were the eyes of someone consumed by hatred and revenge.”

“......”

Elodie fell silent.

If Eisen said that, then it was probably true.

Covering her face with both hands, she let out a groan.

“If Karon wasn’t getting better... If he knew he was dying—”

“Then he went to take down the Basilisk before he died.”

This chapter is updat𝓮d by freēnovelkiss.com.

Eisen’s voice was calm.

Too calm.

Elodie couldn’t hold back anymore—she leapt to her feet.

“We have to stop him!”

“And how do you plan to do that?”

“......”

“If revenge is what he wants, then shouldn’t we respect his choice?”

Eisen was convinced Karon was going to die.

“He can be saved!”

“How?”

I don’t know!

But she had to try!

A suicidal mission? Did that idiot really think that was the answer?!

What was he, thirteen?! No—he was fourteen now!

Elodie suddenly remembered something she had once said to a fire spirit.

"If I had to purify something, I'd throw myself into the contamination."

"If I had to neutralize a poison, I'd inject myself with venom."

A resolve to do whatever it took.

And she had meant it.

***

Karon knew that his condition wasn’t improving.

It was true that being near Elodie sped up his recovery.

But that was all it did.

His venom—an artificial poison—never stopped mutating, growing stronger each time he healed.

Every time his body recovered, the poison adapted. And then it became even stronger. Over and over, an endless cycle.

So the faster he healed, the faster the venom mutated.

"Of course. A creation unblessed by the gods would never receive their mercy."

Karon’s venom had been created by Nyx Basilisk.

And it was Nyx, along with the Basilisk clan’s researchers, who had created Karon himself.

Karon didn’t know exactly how he had come into existence.

But he knew he hadn’t been born from a mother like normal people.

Because when he first became conscious—he was inside a glass chamber.

The High Priest of Ratson had been right.

He wasn’t a creature of God.

That was why—no matter how miraculous Elodie’s healing abilities were—he would never be saved.

Because his birth had been an abomination in the eyes of the divine.

As if he had already been cast into hellfire, bound to an eternal punishment with no end.

Unlike a machine, a body couldn’t be replaced entirely.

There were limits.

And his body was collapsing—piece by piece.

But Karon never let it show.

"I can heal anything!"

There was someone who would boast like that, every single time they met.

As if trying to reassure him.

Since the day she made the flowers bloom in the garden, Karon had kept going back to her.

No matter how much he tried to ignore it, his thoughts always drifted back to that day.

And before he knew it—his feet had carried him toward her.

If anyone else had made such a ridiculous promise, he would have felt nothing but rage.

But when she said it—

Even though he knew it was hopeless, some part of him wanted to believe.

Even after accepting his own impending death, he couldn’t stay away from her.

Even if he died like this...

He thought it might be okay.

So he kept going to her.

Every day.

As long as he was near Elodie, he recovered quickly enough to keep going.

Of course, that only meant his venom mutated even faster—but he didn’t care.

If he was going to die anyway, then his last days might as well be spent doing what he wanted.

Watching the fireplace in her room, sleeping curled up in her coat—

Moments like those passed in the blink of an eye.

And now—

Now, Karon could feel it.

His body was shutting down.

He really didn’t have much time left.