The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella

“How did you find out?”

“The person Packer dealt with—their description and the way they handled things—it all felt too much like a Basilisk.”
Edmund gestured toward his own head before continuing.
“I wrung the memories out of Packer.”

Oh…
Elodie paused, briefly imagining what had gone on in the interrogation room, then decided against it.
So, there was a mastermind behind everything.

And that mastermind had outsourced the work to the Basilisks, who took on any job as long as the price was right.
The orders? Kill the Duke and Duchess of Valkyrisen and brainwash their son.
And then the Basilisks, in turn, had subcontracted yet again—to Packer.

All while thoroughly concealing their identity.
‘This… This is exactly like my own disappearance.’
Back then, abducting a child had been a simpler job, so there hadn’t been as many layers of subcontracting.

The one who kidnapped Elodie and cursed her had also used the Basilisks.
‘Then…’
A chilling thought crossed her mind.

What if the mastermind behind all of this was the same person?
‘If the culprit is the same, then the extermination of the Ratson family and the downfall of the Valkyrisens might not be separate incidents.’
If that were the case, then she was finally starting to see a thread of connection.

Every event seemed to lead back to the Basilisks.
Which meant—if she could just investigate the Basilisks properly, she might be able to uncover the mastermind.
Even if the person pulling the strings wasn’t the same in both cases, following the Basilisks’ trail would surely lead to the perpetrators of each crime.
‘Yes, healing Karon as soon as possible is the best course of action.’

But then…
‘Wait a minute. Is that why Karon ran away?’
Because during Packer’s interrogation, suspicions had arisen that a Basilisk had planted a spy?

‘If that’s the case, then the Third Prince must not have known.’
If he had known, he wouldn’t have participated in the interrogation.
And if he had known, he wouldn’t have turned pale and fled as if terrified.

Was he scared of being suspected because he himself was a Basilisk?
In hindsight, it was the most natural reaction.
Elodie glanced at Edmund.

‘So, Edmund knows that Karon is a Basilisk.’
Judging by how he had rushed after the fleeing Karon in such urgency.
And considering their ages, there was no way he wouldn’t know that Karon had been adopted.

Back when she had asked Edmund about Karon’s illness, he had simply dismissed it as an infectious disease, but his expression had suggested otherwise.
He had also looked visibly troubled when she announced she would be heading to the Serenity Palace.
For someone from the Ratson bloodline, an infectious disease would never be contagious—he had to know that.

‘Hmm…’
Piecing it all together, Elodie felt a complicated tangle of emotions in her chest.
‘How do I approach this?’

The Valkyrisens had taken Karon in as the Third Prince despite knowing he was a Basilisk.
Which meant… they had chosen to believe in him.
That he wasn’t a spy.

Or, even if he was, they had decided to accept him regardless.
‘Just look at Edmund’s expression.’
There wasn’t a shred of suspicion in his warm golden eyes—only concern.

At that moment, the boy, who had been idly ruffling his bangs with a troubled expression, finally spoke.
“For now, I’ll report what I’ve learned to Grandfather.”
“Okay.”

“My apologies for not being able to spend more time with you, despite your visit.”
Why is he apologizing for that?
“No, um…”

Elodie had been about to push him toward the door when she hesitated.
‘Should I say it?’
In the end, she reached out and grabbed the hem of his clothes just as he was about to leave.

“The one who kidnapped me… was also a Basilisk.”
“…What?”
Edmund’s eyes widened in shock before his face darkened with seriousness.

He was deep in thought.
Since he had already figured out that there was another mastermind behind the Basilisks, there was no longer any reason to hide it.
Edmund wasn’t as foolish as Zeno—he wouldn’t blindly call for the extermination of all Basilisks.

He would take a careful, calculated approach until they could grasp the mastermind’s identity.
‘And if our enemy is the same, there’s even less reason to keep it a secret.’
If they could cooperate with the Valkyrisens, all the better.

She couldn’t tell her parents, though—if she did, they would drag her back to Ratson territory immediately.
She had assumed the Valkyrisens would be the safest place, but it had turned out to be the heart of danger instead!
Shriek, snap! Seize her at once!

She had only imagined it, but she could almost hear their voices ringing in her ears.
Just in case, Elodie decided to make one thing clear.
“Don’t tell Mom and Dad.”

“But, Elodie—”
“If you tell them, they’ll summon me right away. Then we’ll never see each other again.”
“…Never again?”

“Yeah.”
Since the Ratson family had fallen and the Valkyrisens were doomed to follow, they really wouldn’t be able to see each other again.
With that thought in mind, Elodie nodded firmly.

For once, Edmund did not offer the usual logic—that she was just a five-year-old child and should leave these matters to the adults.
“Well, I’ll be going now.”
Elodie figured that, for now, she needed to focus on carrying out her healing abilities, so she waved her hand lightly.

But this time, it was Edmund who stopped her.
“Why?”
“Elodie.”

He hesitated, as if struggling to say something.
“The sins of a person do not flow through their blood.”
“Hm?”

And then, after another brief pause, he said something completely out of the blue.
Was he talking about guilt by association?
“No matter what kind of environment a person is born into, it is not their choice, nor is it their fault. That’s what I wanted to tell you.”

“……”
Elodie immediately understood what he meant.
‘He’s worried I’ll hate Karon once I find out the truth about him.’

But she already knew.
“If you ever come across someone like that, I hope you can look past their family name, just once, and truly see them for who they are.”
Since I am, after all, someone who is always hated.

The boy muttered bitterly.
Elodie gave him a look as if he had just said something absurdly obvious.
“Of course.”

If someone’s parents were bad, did that automatically make their child bad?
By that logic, Sera, who was born into the Bluewood family, should have been just as vile as the rest of them.
She should have turned into a complete scoundrel, beaten her wretched stepmother and sisters with a broom, and driven them out.

…Actually, that didn’t sound so bad.
While she entertained the amusing thought of Sera being a shameless troublemaker, Edmund let out a sigh of relief and smiled faintly.
It was simple.

Born into a criminal family?
Not your fault.
Knowingly participated in their crimes?

Same as them.
Brainwashed or forced into it?
A victim of those criminals.

Elodie wanted to make that distinction crystal clear.
Were they the same as their predecessors, or were they victims?
Even if they had knowingly taken part, was it still possible to turn them onto a better path because they were young?

She was only human, after all. When a face that looked just like Nyx Basilisk’s occasionally flashed through her mind, it still made her chest tighten.
“For now, yeah.”
Right now, Karon was constantly running away, making it impossible to have a proper conversation with him.

But if he ever stopped avoiding her…
If he ever opened up enough to share his side of the story…
Whether he turned out to be a bad kid or a pitiful one…

“For now, I’ll make sure to hold him tight.”
***
“So…”

Sera said with a bright, smiling face.
“Young Lord Zenovia Valkyrisen, is it?”
Unlike his usual self, Zeno sat completely stiff, his posture rigid.

At first, he had been lounging in his usual arrogant slouch, but at some point, he had straightened up and neatly folded his hands in his lap.
“I hear that despite your busy schedule, you’ve been spending quite some time playing with our dear Elodie. I’m always grateful for that, Young Lord.”
“Oh, uh… yeah. I should be the one thanking…”

The gratitude on his face was anything but genuine.
His eyes darted nervously, unsure how to react.
“And I also heard that during the recent commotion with that shady physician, you ended up lashing out at Elodie with some harsh words?”

“Well, that, um…”
“Oh, I’m not blaming you for it. After all, you’re a victim too, aren’t you?”
“I-I suppose. I’m a victim…”

“Even though you drank some unverified medicine from a complete stranger without bothering to check, and then proceeded to call Elodie a ‘rat,’ a ‘spy,’ and even a ‘murderer,’ among other things.”
“I-I did… say some harsh things…”
At this point, Zeno looked completely lost.

He was repeating Sera’s words like a parrot while sneaking glances at Elodie.
His expression seemed to ask: Are you seriously not going to stop her?