The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella-Chapter 95

It seemed like the incident was coming to a close.

Elodie immediately headed to the Healing Temple and quickly familiarized herself with the book "Hey, You Can Detoxify Too."

Perhaps because "Let’s Try the Unbreakable Poison" was a more advanced book, detoxifying was something she was able to do quickly.

"Alright, it’s all done."

Elodie let go of Eisen’s hand, which she had been holding for a moment.

But he didn’t seem to care much about the fact that his hand had been detoxified without any aftereffects.

His gaze was fixed on Elodie the entire time.

"Why are you looking at me like that...?"

It seemed like her grandfather always had that same dissatisfied look right before he started his nagging.

Noticing the hint of a lecture, Elodie took a step back.

"I already knew you were particularly soft on that Karon kid..."

Eisen sighed deeply as he spoke.

"Even so, letting him sleep with you is a bit much. Am I really the one who has to tell you this?"

"Let him sleep with me? What?" Elodie blinked, utterly confused by the suggestion.

Then, after a moment of realization, she shouted.

"No, back then it was Long-Long!"

"Are you saying it’s fine because he was a snake? Did you know that snake was actually a human?"

"Of course I knew!"

Well... she did know.

Elodie, feeling a bit cornered by the lack of a solid response, fidgeted with her lips for a moment before finally going silent.

No, her grandfather should try meeting someone in the form of a snake for four years.

Karon had made it obvious that he wanted to avoid her, but Long-Long had followed her around, cutely nuzzling her head, hanging onto her arm, and flicking its tongue in an adorable way.

How could they be the same being?

Even if she understood in her mind, Long-Long made her forget that he was originally the aloof third prince.

‘And somehow, over time, I ended up letting him sleep in my bed...’

Recently, Squirrel [N O V E L I G H T] had even prepared a winter blanket for Long-Long, so the snake naturally coiled up by Elodie’s pillow.

That was all it was.

It was just an occasional thing, having it sleep beside her.

‘Maybe it came when the poison was stable and there was no fear of it leaking out.’

After all, Long-Long never acted out of the ordinary in Elodie’s room.

It would just stare at the fireplace and then go back.

Elodie paused to think for a moment, scratching her cheek, then spoke.

"Long-Long has to sleep alone if I’m not around."

"You’ve slept alone since you were younger, so what are you talking about?"

"But grandfather, listen. Long-Long gets lonely too..."

It would always try to stay close to her, never wanting to leave her side. And if she wasn’t around, there was no one else to stay by it...

The child already considered Long-Long to be family, like a pet and companion.

Eisen looked at Elodie with a complicated gaze, as if wondering what to make of it.

"Sometimes, you’re so clever, as if an adult is inside you, and then at times like this, you’re utterly clueless."

No, I’ve had sex education.

I know the differences between men and women!

Even if I was young, I understand that it’s strange for a man and a woman who aren’t siblings to share the same bed.

But Long-Long was just a snake to me.

Elodie felt terribly wronged but had no choice but to pout and nod.

Anyway, now that Long-Long would live as a human... No, she had no intention of sharing a bed with Karon.

‘That’s just impossible.’

No matter how much I once lived like a mouse, I now have common sense.

Grandfather is worrying about unnecessary things again.

Elodie pushed away the useless thoughts in her mind and focused back on treating Karon.

This content is taken from freёnovelkiss.com.

His condition was not something that could be fixed in just a day or two.

‘I can’t help but feel responsible for this.’

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

She should’ve grabbed Long-Long earlier and had him confess everything since she knew he was Karon.

The issue was that she had just kept her distance, thinking she’d respect his wishes to hide it.

How was she to know he’d be pretending like nothing was wrong while on the verge of dying?

As long as he stayed by Elodie’s side, his tolerance would grow quickly, and the poison would rapidly mutate into a more powerful form.

‘Why didn’t he tell me sooner...!’

Sighing, Elodie focused on injecting the poison she had absorbed back into Karon and asked.

"Does it hurt?"

"Not at all. It just feels a little numb."

Maybe it was because the poison had already been purified.

He didn’t even flinch.

In fact, he seemed to repeat opening and closing his hand in a strange expression.

"You need to get treatment every single day from now on, understand?"

"Yeah."

"I won’t let you run away this time. I’ll have grandfather drag you back if you try."

Elodie crossed her arms and gave him a stern look, and Karon blinked slowly, his pale lashes fluttering like wings before he obediently nodded.

"Yeah."

"...?"

It was a bit surprising how obedient he was.

With those dead-fish-like eyes, she thought he’d at least protest once, saying it wasn’t necessary for her to intervene.

That’s how it had always been with him.

To change so suddenly like this...

‘He’s just like Long-Long...’

The way he fixed his gaze on Elodie, no matter what was happening around them, with that blind, unwavering focus... especially that.

Well, of course, they were the same person.

But while there had been a sense of disconnect between them before, now it seemed like the lines between them had started to blur more clearly.

‘It’s in those eyes...’

His half-closed eyelids and long lashes that cast a shadow over his eyes still kept them from shining.

But even though his gaze had always been lost and gloomy, it now seemed like something had scratched across them.

The faintest trace of light, a light named hope.

It wasn’t glaring, but upon closer inspection, there were groups of faintly glowing stars hidden in his eyes.

Elodie found it so unfamiliar that it startled her.

Karon, who was no longer pushing her away or running off, but instead was obediently following her lead.

"Well, uh..."

She awkwardly responded, knowing she couldn’t just brush it off.

"Right, we have to prioritize your health recovery."

"Yeah."

"This winter is particularly cold, so be careful. Snakes can’t regulate their body temperature and hibernate in the winter, but since Karon can’t do that, you need to be extra cautious."

For beastfolk, their bodies were naturally more human-like.

Regulating body temperature? That wasn’t an issue.

Still, since their physical traits were influenced by the behaviors and habits of the animals they were based on, their bodies would be somewhat affected.

Even though Karon wouldn’t freeze to death like a snake, not hibernating would certainly weaken his immune system.

‘They say even a poison-born beastfolk died trying to overcome a poison-resistant state... if his immunity weakens, it’s not going to end well.’

With his body as weakened as it was now, keeping it as healthy as possible was a must. The best course of action was definitely to stay warm.

"Make sure to close the windows and doors tightly so the wind doesn’t get in. Keep the stove burning, and heat up some water, putting it in a large leather jug to sleep with...”

When Elodie gave these instructions, Karon seemed to be listening intently.

He never took his eyes off her.

She figured he’d agree to focus on his health, and that he’d listen to her as the healer.

But...

What in the world was going on now?

"How is it possible for you to be here and not follow a single piece of advice I gave you?"

Elodie couldn’t believe her eyes.

Karon was sitting right in front of her door, wearing only a shirt and pants, crouched down.

In the middle of this bone-chilling winter, what was he doing standing out here in the hallway like this?

Had he not heard a single word she said?

"You can’t be serious!" Elodie couldn't hold back her impulse to smack his back.

"Do you think I’m overdiagnosing? I’m holding back here! At this rate, you’ll die before even getting a chance to become poison-resistant!"

She slapped him with all her might, but Karon didn’t even flinch. He just looked up at her calmly.

It was Elodie who was losing her patience.

"My room is cold."

"It’s cold, so you came here without even putting on an overcoat and are doing this?"

"It’s not as warm as your room..."

"..."

"...Is that not okay?"