The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella-Chapter 98

Elodie quickly turned to look at Karon, startled.

"Are you okay?"

"Mm-hmm."

Looking down, she saw the boy trembling his eyelashes slightly. He clutched his neck and furrowed his brows, clearly trying to suppress a cough.

"Ugh, I told you to keep warm. Even yesterday...!"

He was sensitive to the cold, yet he’d gone wandering around outside in just a shirt in the dead of winter. She had known this would happen.

And he had been sitting in front of her door, waiting helplessly.

What would he have done if she hadn’t opened the door after sensing his presence? Had he planned to stay like that all night?

Elodie opened her mouth to scold him but immediately swallowed her words.

She couldn’t say that in front of others.

If she said it, people would know that Karon had visited her room in the middle of the night.

It was actually nothing unusual; he had just slept in his snake form, but wasn’t the situation itself a bit strange?

Her grandfather had even warned her about this.

The child cleared his throat awkwardly and finally muttered, "Anyway, you didn’t listen to me, so now you caught a cold."

What is she supposed to do with him?

Elodie scolded Karon as she walked toward the corner of the infirmary, pulling out some cold medicine from the neatly organized shelf for the patients who might come to visit.

"Here, take this."

She kept an eye on Karon to make sure he took the medicine, but suddenly, Geno appeared in her line of sight.

He couldn’t seem to close his mouth.

What’s he doing?

"Wow... no way..."

He kept muttering in disbelief.

Geno pointed at Karon and said, "He’s totally a fox spirit."

"Black mamba."

"I thought it was a baby snake."

Which one is it?

"Was ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) he always like this? He’s been holed up in the annex, so I never had a chance to know."

"..."

Karon stared directly at Geno’s pointed finger, then grabbed it immediately and twisted it backward with a quick, precise motion.

It was like snatching prey—so fast.

"Ow! Hey!"

Elodie was horrified when Geno’s finger snapped cleanly.

Without saying a word, she looked at Karon with a pleading gaze, silently asking for an explanation.

"...He was being rude."

Well, it wasn’t polite to call someone a fox spirit or snake, then point at them like that, but...

"Still, you broke his finger! He’s your brother!"

It all happened so quickly that she almost thought she was hallucinating!

Elodie quickly set Geno’s dislocated finger back in place.

Thanks to her, his swollen, bent finger gradually returned to its proper shape.

"You can’t just break people’s bones relying on my healing skills."

"I didn’t really need to fix it."

Karon muttered quietly.

"What does that even mean?"

You don’t do that to your brother...

Elodie was left pondering how to address the deep emotional gap between the two brothers.

In that moment, Geno, unable to hide his mixed feelings, casually draped his arm around Elodie’s shoulder and said:

"Forget it. You really think of me as a brother, huh? Don’t bother expecting anything. I never did, so just give up."

Elodie looked up at the boy who had his chin resting on his shoulder out of habit.

"Doesn’t it hurt?"

"Wouldn’t it hurt?"

"But you didn’t even scream once."

"I’m used to it by now."

What kind of life had they both lived?

Breaking each other's fingers casually, then accepting it just as easily...

‘Actually, maybe they’re kind of a good match?’

Elodie suddenly thought that, but then Geno nonchalantly waved his hand dismissively at Karon.

"Anyway, as your honorary older brother, I can’t let you hang out with that sneaky snake. Get away from him now."

At that, Karon didn’t hold back.

"Was my finger twisting not enough...?"

Until now, he had only shown a calm demeanor, so it was surprising to see that the black mamba blood really did show up in moments like these.

When Geno appeared, it was like the temperament of the black snake the servants had warned about started to surface.

"Stop both of you!"

Elodie shouted loudly, finally managing to get both of the boys to calm down, then said:

"Karon, once your treatment is over, we’ll finally be able to live together in the main palace, with everyone—Grandfather, Edmund, Zenovia... and me."

"..."

The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.

"Now, as a proper member of House Valkyrisen, you’ll be able to live with your family normally. I hope you don’t keep pushing me away. If you didn’t push me aside, there’s no reason to push them away either, right?"

"..."

After a moment of silence, Karon nodded quietly.

His face, devoid of expression, almost made him seem like a statue as he spoke.

"Please take care of me from now on."

"..."

"...Brother."

M-Madness.

Geno stepped back, visibly horrified, a chill running up the back of his neck.

Was it really that awful?

Elodie had tried to build a bridge between them, but seeing Geno’s reaction just from hearing the word "brother," she realized that perhaps it was still hopeless.

And while all of this happened, someone was quietly observing.

Edmund Valkyrisen.

A young man who resembled Eisen in his youth, smiled softly and said:

"Karon, are you feeling better now?"

The question wasn’t just about Karon’s physical condition.

Edmund had been worried about him ever since he came to Valkyrisen, always wandering without being able to connect to anything.

Especially after the Duke and Duchess of Valkyrisen’s untimely deaths.

"I was really worried."

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

At Edmund’s words, Karon’s face—previously showing an ominous glint toward Zenovia—showed a brief flash of surprise.

He had realized that Edmund’s words were completely sincere.

‘That guilty human again...’

Elodie clicked her tongue inwardly, shaking her head.

Maybe he couldn’t show warmth in front of someone genuinely worried for him?

Or was it because recalling all the times he ignored Edmund’s greetings and messages had made him feel guilty?

Karon, who had previously called Geno "brother" in a nonchalant way, now replied with a more awkward tone.

"...I’m okay now."

"Good, I’m glad."

Edmund patted Karon’s head lightly, but the boy immediately jerked his head back, like an untamed cat.

"Mm... Is this still too soon?"

From Karon’s expression, it seemed like this would probably be a lifelong struggle...

But it was still a heartwarming scene.

At that moment, a brief knock echoed, and Squirrel opened the door to Elodie’s infirmary.

"Young master, we got a reply from Lady Bluewood."

"Ah!"

At those words, Elodie’s dark eyes sparkled as if they had gathered a galaxy in a bucket.

"Give it to me!"

"I expected you’d want to reply right away, so I’ve already called for a courier."

"I’ll be back in a moment."

Elodie quickly jumped off the chair and dashed after Squirrel.

The three men were left alone in the room.

"I’ve got some paperwork to catch up on, so I’ll leave first."

Edmund smiled warmly, gently patting Geno and Karon’s shoulders before heading out.

Geno, making a face of utter distaste at his brother’s touch, suddenly smirked at Karon.

"You’re gonna die when that guardian comes back."

Finally, Karon showed some interest in Geno’s words.

"Guardian?"

"You’ve heard of him, right? She’s always saying Seraphina’s name."

"Ah..."

Karon, who had been avoiding people, only ever saw Seraphina in passing.

And when he was staying by Elodie’s side in his snake form, he was already long gone to the academy.

The boy vaguely remembered a faint image of a blonde-haired woman who had been next to Elodie.

There was something about her, but...

"Don’t you know? I heard she lives in the room next to Elodie."

The room next to hers.

At those words, Karon reacted.

"So, that time I asked to have the wall broken down..."

"Wall?"

Karon didn’t bother elaborating and simply shut his mouth tightly.

"Anyway, if you act up in front of that woman, you’ll be skinned alive and thrown out, so just quit it."