The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella

"It's too early for detoxification. Purification abilities are inherently more advanced than healing."
That made sense.
Elodie recalled the time she had rushed over upon hearing that one of the knights from the beast hunt had been gravely injured.

Using her external healing abilities, she had managed to completely close the gaping wound in his stomach, leaving no trace of it behind…
‘But he had been poisoned by a weak toxin, causing fever, chills, and hallucinations, and I couldn’t detoxify any of it.’
That level of poison could be neutralized with an antidote even without using the Ratson family’s abilities. The knight had simply taken the medicine and recovered immediately.

"I can perfectly heal external injuries, but I can’t even detoxify something so minor!"
[My dear child, this is only the first step. Didn’t Lord Maximilian write ‘First Step’ in his notes as well?]
"……."

[Now, be good, alright? You’ve finished herbal medicine and anatomy, so it's time to open your first book on psychology.]
"……."
Elodie opened the book with an expression like she was being forced to swallow a bitter pepper she absolutely didn’t want to eat.

Psychological treatment required too delicate a process.
One cannot erase the wounds of the past. The process requires careful guidance, allowing the patient to approach those memories while maintaining present stability, ultimately integrating them into their life.
Ugh.

This was already difficult.
Elodie was much better at proving things through results rather than theory.
"Tch..."

Pouting her lips, she diligently continued reading, but the text made no sense, and her face scrunched up in frustration.
[My dear child, once you get through this part… hmm?]
It was then.
Inferno had been about to nag her again when suddenly, he looked around warily.

"What is it?"
[I feel external interference.]
"Interference?"

[It feels like someone is banging on the wall.]
What?
Elodie startled, but the fire spirit waved his stick-like hands dismissively.

[But there’s no damage here. This is a divine space, after all.]
"Phew, well, that’s a relief—"
[It’s just that someone is trying to break through the wall you passed through.]

That person wouldn’t be able to reach here, of course.
Inferno added this last bit as if it were nothing, but Elodie shot to her feet.
Someone was trying to break through her room’s wall?!

What kind of lunatic intruder was this?!
Strapping the hammer to her back, she bolted toward the wall, burst through it in a flash, and immediately shifted back into her human form.
Now with the sacred hammer fitting snugly in her grip, she raised it high.

"Whoever you are, I’ll smash you with this holy hammer—!"
At that moment, her eyes met with a child gasping for breath, clutching his chest tightly.
Karon Valkyrisen.

"……."
Elodie froze in place, still in the stance of preparing to swing her hammer.
His unfocused red eyes drifted toward her as if they were floating on water before finally locking onto her.

Wait, what?
Hadn’t he pushed her away the last time they met?
But now, he had come looking for her on his own.

This translation is the intellectual property of .
She had been °• N 𝑜 v 𝑒 l i g h t •° minding her own business, taking a step back for his sake, even studying psychology, of all things!
"……."

Karon stared at her for a long while.
Elodie, ever so slowly, lowered her hammer and hid it behind her back.
I mean, I didn’t know it was you…

So this was why people said you should put yourself in someone else’s shoes.
Now she understood why Karon had thrown something at her the moment he saw her last time.
Well, there were probably other reasons too, but attacking an intruder first did seem pretty reasonable.

"Uh... hi."
Elodie, unable to bear the suffocating silence and his intense gaze, was the first to break it.
She even greeted the intruder politely.

"You’re alive."
Why was that his response?
Karon never returned greetings like a normal person.

He really had no social skills and acted entirely on his own whims.
What does my survival have to do with anything all of a sudden?
The last time they met, she hadn’t been bedridden, she hadn’t been spreading deadly toxins, and he definitely knew by now that his poison didn’t affect her.

It made no sense.
But after mumbling those words, Karon leaned against the wall and covered his eyes with his hand.
No matter how one looked at it, he seemed deeply relieved.

Had he had some nightmare where she died or something?
"What were you doing?"
"Whaff? (What?)"

"Inside the wall, your presence... "
"My pwethenth? (My presence?)"
He could sense that?

‘Come to think of it, Eagles did say something like that.’
Elodie recalled how Eagles had once mentioned that the Ratson bloodline carried divine energy, making them feel special to beastfolk.
Something about awakening an instinctive survival urge—wanting to be under divine protection, or something like that.

So it made sense that her presence would feel different to them.
‘But still, how does someone actually sense another person’s presence?’
As she turned to inspect the wall, she gasped.

Anyone would react that way if they found their bedroom wall half-destroyed.
‘So that’s why he was gasping for breath!’
Inferno had warned her, but she hadn’t expected this level of destruction.

Wait a minute.
‘Wasn’t Sera’s room on the other side of this wall?’
Elodie immediately sobered up.

She had been surprised to see Karon, with his delicate, doll-like face, display such gorilla-like strength. But ultimately, it wasn’t that shocking.
She could break walls too, after all.
Besides, the walls she broke automatically repaired themselves.

But Karon’s walls… didn’t.
"Mowe. Bweak it mowe. (More. Break it more.)"
"What?"

"Make da hole biggew an' connect da woomth. (Make the hole bigger and connect the rooms.)"
Might as well take this opportunity for some expansion work and start sharing a room with Sera.
Karon, who had been rubbing his tired eyes, went still.

His expression turned ice cold as he glanced between Elodie and the ruined wall before muttering under his breath.
"…Pervert."
Pervert?!

She had always shared a room with Sera when she was a harvest mouse! But ever since coming here, she had been stuck sleeping alone!
And lately, Sera had been so busy studying that they barely had time to see each other!
‘Of course he wouldn’t understand.’

He had never shared a room with anyone. Probably never even shared a space or a building with someone.
The more Elodie thought about Karon’s unfortunate circumstances, the more solemn she became.
So, she decided to just let it go.

"As long as you didn’t get buried under the rubble, it’s fine."
"That’th thcawy... (That’s scary…)"
Was that really what he thought had happened?

Burying people in walls sounded like something straight out of a horror novel.
‘Then again, if he sensed my presence, that’s the only conclusion he could’ve come to.’
After all, he wouldn’t have imagined that she had been inside the Sanctuary of Healing.

Karon, having seemingly finished whatever business he had, turned to leave without another word.
Naturally, Elodie did not let go of his sleeve.
"…Wet go. (Let go.)"

"Nuh-uh. Even if yo' cwothth wip, I won't wet go. (Nuh-uh. Even if your clothes rip, I won’t let go.)"
He had always been difficult to find, always ran away the moment they locked eyes—yet here he was, coming to her on his own.
Did he really think she’d let him go so easily?

Elodie’s pitch-black eyes gleamed with determination.
"You bweak da waww. (You broke the wall.)"
"……."

"Take wethponthibiwity. (Take responsibility.)"
"You liked it."
No! If he was going to break it, he should have broken it completely and connected the rooms properly!

What was she supposed to do with this half-finished mess?!
"I won't wet go tiww you teww me why you came hewe. (I won’t let go till you tell me why you came here.)"
"……."

Karon tried to ignore her and walk away, but when he heard the sound of his shirt’s stitching tearing, he finally stopped.
He clenched his gloved fists tightly.
Seriously? Did it bother him that much?

He was clenching his fists over this?
Should she just let it go if he really didn’t want to talk?
She was still debating when—

"Basilisk…"
Huh?
To her surprise, Karon himself had just admitted to his origins.

Elodie barely had time to register her shock before he continued speaking.
"Two years ago, I heard that it was the Basilisks who kidnapped the Lady of the Ratson family…"