The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella

Elodie had initially imagined a warm, comforting figure—someone with the presence of a kindly physician—when she first heard the name.
However, the moment she learned that this person had given Geno a suspicious drug, her perception shifted drastically.
‘Is Edmund alright?’

She had been too preoccupied with handling Geno's imminent expulsion from House Valkyrisen to consider the matter properly.
"If I had to find the true cause of my parents' deaths, it wasn't the beastfolk—it was me."
"…Stop it."

Edmund left after saying that.
No matter how calmly he spoke, he would never have said such a thing if he had been in a normal state of mind.
A growing sense of unease took root in Elodie.

Was he reaching his psychological limit?
And the fact that he had been receiving sleep treatment from the very same physician who had handed Geno a potion…
‘There is no time a person is more defenseless than when they’re asleep.’

If he had approached Edmund under the guise of treating nightmares, then even someone as strong as him would have no way to resist…
Elodie extended her hand toward Geno.
"Give me the potion."

"What? What are you going to do with it?"
"Confiscating it. You’re not drinking this anymore."
Geno, momentarily taken aback by her abrupt demand, hesitated before glancing at her warily.

"Is this because I annoyed you?"
Did he seriously think that?
Of course not.
She was asking because it was far too suspicious.

Elodie, watching Geno shrink back with a ridiculous expression, thrust her hand forward again.
"Hurry."
"Alright… It’s in my room. You can just come with me to get it."

At least all the effort she had put into getting closer to him wasn’t in vain.
For someone who had acted like a rabid dog, he was overly concerned about her opinion now.
Elodie followed him to his room and collected every single vial of medicine that had been given to him by Physician Packer.

***
As soon as she secured the vials, Elodie immediately rapped her Holy Hammer against the ground, opening a path to the Sanctuary of Healing.
"You want to analyze the ingredients by drinking it yourself?"

[“Drinking is a strange way to put it. But yes, if my flames touch it, I can get a rough idea of the origin of the power it contains.”]
Well, they had plenty of the substance to work with.
Elodie tossed one of the vials toward the area where Inferno’s mouth seemed to be.

The fire spirit flicked its tongue—a shimmering tendril of flames—and tasted the potion.
Then, it suddenly recoiled, sputtering out embers in disgust.
[“This… This is not an ordinary medicine.”]

"I already knew that. Is it some kind of drug? Or a magic potion?"
[“That’s not the problem. This contains a forbidden power—one that has not been sanctioned by the gods.”]
"What do you mean?"

[“It’s heretical.”]
Heretical?
"What do you mean, heretical—?"

[“The supreme deity of Animallia is Lord Penerus, right? Think of ‘the supreme deity’ like an emperor. This potion contains a power that does not belong to the emperor.”]
At first, the term heresy sent a chill down her spine.
But once Inferno likened it to an emperor’s authority, it clicked.

"So you’re saying it contains power that either refused to submit to the emperor, escaped from his domain, or was exiled?"
[“Exactly. Typically, these entities are powerful enough to be deities themselves, but they were deemed too dangerous and rejected by the supreme god.”]
"So… Physician Packer is part of some kind of cult?"

She had already suspected him of being a villain.
But a cultist?
How was she supposed to deal with something like that?

Would the inquisition come and arrest him if she reported it?
This translation is the intellectual property of .
[“More importantly, the only one allowed to grant power to humans is the supreme deity himself. I have no idea how this person managed to obtain it.”]

Inferno murmured, its voice carrying a weight of unease.
It seemed that not only was this heretic unsanctioned, but they had also found a way to cheat the system—a particularly foul kind of blasphemy.
"What kind of power does it grant?"

[“Hallucinations, brainwashing, amnesia—the unholy trinity of powers you should avoid at all costs. No wonder the supreme god rejected it.”]
"…!"
Hallucinations, brainwashing, and amnesia.

Amnesia!
If someone induced hallucinations, then brainwashed their target, and finally erased all memory of it—
It was far worse than she had imagined.

Elodie shot up in horror.
‘Wait… Physician Packer…’
She finally remembered where she had heard that name before.

‘He was once accused of murdering the previous Duke and Duchess of Valkyrisen…’
She couldn’t recall the exact timeline of the incident.
But she had definitely seen it in a newspaper.

There had been speculation that the previous Duke and Duchess of Valkyrisen hadn’t died in a carriage accident, but had actually been assassinated.
A deliberate, premeditated murder.
And the prime suspect?

Physician Packer.
However, before a proper trial could even be held, the case had abruptly vanished from public discourse.
No—vanished wasn’t the right word.

It had been buried.
The key witness, who had initially testified that the Duke and Duchess had been murdered, suddenly changed their statement.
They claimed they had been so distraught by the tragedy that they’d hallucinated the idea of foul play, leading to a false testimony.

After that, the case was dismissed.
The whole thing had been reduced to a minor footnote in the papers.
Shortly afterward, the massacre at Valkyrisen took place.

Then the war broke out.
And eventually, Valkyrisen was destroyed…
"But if Physician Packer erased the witness’s memories and planted a false one using hallucinations—?"

Then Edmund…
Right now…
He was receiving treatment from the very person who had murdered his parents.

No—not treatment.
Brainwashing.
"Edmund!"

Elodie bolted out of the burrow.
Not since nearly dying at the Bluewood estate had she run with such desperation.
***

Every night, Edmund was trapped in the same nightmare.
"Ed."
"Yes. What is it?"

"You really came all the way here just to read something like that?"
Liana Valkyrisen.
She plucked the book out of the child’s hands and flashed a teasing smile.

"I brought you outside to take a break from running around like a restless squirrel inside the estate, but all you do is study?"
Restless squirrel…
Edmund stretched out his short arms, trying to retrieve the book, his face set in a stubborn pout.

"Nope. Confiscated."
Liana giggled as she poked at his chubby cheeks, thoroughly enjoying herself.
"Why are you in such a rush?"

"Because I will inherit House Valkyrisen. No matter how much I train, I can never be—"
"Oh, please. I inherited my title too, and I never lived as stiffly as you do."
"But I’m the eldest. No matter how hard I work, it will never be—"

"It’s admirable that you want to set an example for your siblings, but do you really think they care?"
She struck right where it hurt.
Thinking of how each of his younger siblings was growing up with their own eccentric personalities, Edmund could only sigh.

"Being selfish isn’t always bad. But a child like you needs to learn how to live for yourself."
Live for himself.
Edmund always found his mother’s words difficult.

She never told him what to do—only what not to do.
But because it was his mother saying them, he listened.
"You're actually listening to me?"

Liana started to say something strange—something about how he should try rebelling against her for once.
"Leave him alone."
In the end, she only stopped after her husband, Benjamin, stepped in.

"I’m just worried because Edmund is too diligent."
Liana rested her chin in her hands and studied her son.
"Whatever happens, never live a life solely for others. Because when you do, you’ll cease to exist."

And then—
The carriage suddenly lurched.
A chilling silence fell, thick with tension.

Liana’s playful expression vanished.
Her hand was already on her sword.