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Chapter 2
“Aaaah!!! Aaaah!!!!”
The Count could do nothing but scream in terror.
What an overreaction.
A bite from a field mouse wouldn’t even hurt. If anything, it would only tickle.
Then again, he always did have an extreme hatred of mice.
The psychological shock must have been enormous.
Having accomplished exactly what she intended, Elodie felt deeply satisfied.
“Eeeek—!! A m-mouse!!!”
The eldest daughter, Rose, wasn’t much different from the Count.
“What are you all standing around for?! Get that filthy rat off him this instant!”
The second daughter, Daisy, who had managed to regain her composure first, barked orders at the panicking maids.
After hesitating for a moment, several maids rolled up their sleeves with determined expressions and rushed forward.
Hmph.
Elodie merely scoffed.
She had been destined to die anyway.
If she could vent her anger before the end, she actually felt much better.
I wish I could have done the same thing to the Prince’s nose.
Just as one of the maids finally managed to grab Elodie’s body tightly enough to nearly crush it—
“Stop! Stop!”
Sera suddenly shouted, causing the maid to freeze.
Everyone stared at her in astonishment.
The girl who had always lowered her head obediently no matter how unfairly she was treated had suddenly rebelled.
Even Elodie was shocked.
You can’t get involved!
She was so startled that she accidentally released the Count’s nose.
Taking advantage of that moment, Sera snatched the field mouse away from the maid and hid it protectively in her hands.
It was obvious to anyone that she was trying to protect it.
Sera shouldn’t even know me yet.
That’s why this bold act caught Elodie completely off guard.
She had never imagined Sera would protect a mouse that had just bitten her father’s nose.
Objectively speaking, Elodie was nothing more than a crazed mouse afflicted with some terrible disease.
Even someone like Sera, who loved animals and even befriended insignificant little mice, should have run away.
And yet…
You save me again.
Because you could never ignore someone smaller and weaker than yourself.
Sera… you’re such a fool…
While Elodie worried about how much Sera would suffer for protecting her, she also found herself wondering…
How could anyone ever stop loving this girl?
Was such a thing even possible after death?
“Hah.”
The Count of Bluewood, who had been staring at Sera in disbelief, finally reacted.
“What exactly do you think you’re doing?”
“This child did do something wrong, but I’ll… I’ll make sure to teach her properly.”
“Teach her? Ha! You’re going to lecture… a mouse?”
“She isn’t sick. I’m certain of it. Field mice are timid creatures that stay cautious even when food is right in front of them. It’s strange that one would suddenly risk its life to bite a person. There must be some reason—”
“Enough. Be quiet. You’ve lost your mind.”
“Y-You don’t have to kill her.”
“So you’re defending that filthy rat that attacked me until the very end?!”
“She isn’t filthy! Field mice live in meadows, sleep inside flower buds, and eat only grains and pollen. They’re clean wild mice. They aren’t even supposed to appear inside a mansion, so there has to be some reason she’s here!”
“W-What?”
Perhaps he had expected her to apologize and beg for forgiveness immediately.
Instead, Sera stubbornly continued defending the mouse.
The Count stood there in stunned silence for a moment.
Then, just like the bite marks across his nose, his face turned bright red.
His expression twisted with uncontrollable rage.
“You truly have gone insane!”
At last, he raised his hand.
His calloused palm looked ready to strike Sera’s small cheek at any moment.
The sight was so vivid that it felt permanently engraved into Elodie’s eyes.
She froze.
This was never what she wanted.
Regardless of her intentions, this was how things had turned out.
I… put Sera in danger.
Her heart dropped straight to the pit of her stomach.
Elodie threw herself through the gap between Sera’s fingers.
It wasn’t a conscious decision.
It was pure instinct.
At that exact moment—
Smack!
The enormous hand struck her tiny body instead.
Elodie flew all the way into the wall with a loud crash before sliding down onto the floor.
“…!”
An impact so overwhelming that she couldn’t even squeak tore through her entire body.
It felt as though every bone had shattered.
Her mouth hung open as her tiny body convulsed uncontrollably.
“Ugh…”
“How disgusting…”
Seeing the repulsive mouse writhing on the floor, everyone frowned in unison as if they had rehearsed it beforehand.
The maids even began silently waiting for someone else to volunteer to throw it away.
“No!”
Only one person—
Only Sera let out a short scream and rushed to Elodie.
“No… You can’t die…”
Terrified of hurting the tiny creature even more, she couldn’t bring herself to touch her carelessly.
Her trembling hands shook helplessly before she hurriedly pulled an old handkerchief from her pocket and gently wrapped Elodie inside it.
What should I do? Should I find a physician?
But no one would ever waste a healing potion on a mouse.
Sera’s face had gone deathly pale as her mind raced.
Maybe I should deliberately wound my own hand and ask for a healing potion.
No one would care if Sera herself got hurt.
But if she injured her hand, she wouldn’t be able to work properly.
Perhaps then they’d have no choice but to give her one.
“Seraphina Bluewood!”
Just then—
Following the furious voice, a middle-aged woman strode toward them.
It was the Countess of Bluewood.
Sera’s stepmother.
Like Cinderella’s wicked stepmother.
She grabbed Sera by the collar without hesitation.
“What trouble have you caused this time?!”
The Count, who had been staring at his own hand with a displeased expression, clicked his tongue.
“You’re late. Instead of asking questions, discipline your daughter properly.”
Defending a mouse.
She had truly gone mad.
Looking utterly disgusted, the Count left the drawing room.
The Countess remained silent for a moment before muttering in a chilling voice.
“So because of a worthless thing like you… I have to hear insults like that?”
“M-Mother…”
“You’re revolting.”
Without loosening her grip on Sera’s collar, she dragged her away.
The place she stopped was a storage room that was all too familiar to Elodie.
Whenever Sera displeased her stepmother, she was always locked inside this room and given absurd punishments.
Tasks no one could possibly finish alone.
Then she would be locked inside for three or four days until she collapsed from exhaustion.
This time was no different.
The Countess pulled a dagger from her clothes and slashed open several sacks filled with beans and wheat.
Grains poured out, covering the entire floor of the storage room in an instant.
“This is your punishment. Separate the beans from the wheat and put them back into the sacks.”
Bang!
The door slammed shut.
The sound of the key locking echoed through the room.
“Mother! Mother, I’m sorry! Please open the door!”
Sera pounded desperately on the door, but the footsteps outside faded away without the slightest hesitation.
“…”
Silence filled the storage room.
The hands wrapped around Elodie slowly opened like a flower blooming.
The tiny creature trembled faintly.
Barely alive.
I want to save her.
But how?
She couldn’t even escape this storage room by herself.
This mouse was going to die.
Because Seraphina had no power to save even a single injured mouse.
“Sniff…”
A large, warm teardrop fell onto Elodie’s body.
“What should I do? I’m sorry… I’m so sorry.”
“…”
“You got hurt because of me… and I can’t protect you.”
“…”
“Why am I so weak…?”
Sadness.
Helplessness.
Anger.
Countless emotions welled up inside the young girl’s eyes before spilling over as tears.
Breathing with difficulty, Elodie looked up at Sera.
Why are you blaming yourself?
I’m the one who charged in.
The ones at fault were her father, her stepmother, and her sisters.
I’ve always been the one you saved.
Even after time had turned back.
But she was still nothing more than a mouse.
A mouse that couldn’t even wipe away Sera’s tears, much less comfort her.
Nothing has changed.
If anything, things were even worse than before because she had dragged Sera into trouble.
She had only grown older mentally.
She was still just a mouse living off Sera’s kindness.
I’m so pathetic.
I made her cry again.
Is this really how I’m going to die?
Even when given another chance, she couldn’t protect even a single precious person.
But even so…
She desperately wished Sera wouldn’t cry because of her.
Summoning the last of her strength, Elodie raised one tiny paw and placed it on Sera’s thumb.
As though trying to comfort her.
“…You’re strange. It’s almost like you understand what I’m saying. Have I finally gone crazy?”
Sera whispered softly, as though sharing a secret.
“You bit Father’s nose… because you were angry for my sake, weren’t you?”
“…”
“To be honest… it felt satisfying. I’d never seen Father scream like that before. The whole mansion nearly shook.”
“…”
“I’ve never met a mouse as brave as you.”
Sera forced a smile.
The corners of her lips trembled.
Then, with tear-soaked lips, she gently kissed the little mouse’s face.
It was the kind girl’s final farewell.
“May I give you the name Elodie?”
The moment she heard those words…
It felt as though time itself had stopped.
Memories from years ago resurfaced with perfect clarity.
Back then, she had been just as badly injured.
You deliberately wounded your own hand to obtain a healing potion for me… and then pretended nothing had happened in front of me.
Her embarrassed sideways glance.
The bandages wrapped around her hand.
The faint scent of blood.
Her flushed cheeks.
Her excited voice after making a new friend.
“I named you after the heroine from my favorite adventure novel. She’s a mouse too. Somehow… you remind me of her.”
“…”
“Even if our time together was short… I’ll remember you.”
The tears Elodie had been holding back burst forth all at once.
A filthy mouse.
A disgusting mouse.
A worthless mouse.
Even if every other human treated her the same way…
Sera always found her.
Always reached out her hand.
She had called the desperate struggle of a meaningless little mouse…
Brave.
Being Sera’s Elodie once again filled her with overwhelming joy…
And unbearable sorrow.
Closing her eyes tightly, Elodie cried together with Sera.
Because of that…
She never realized what was happening.
“H-Hic… T-to me… y-you’re only Sera… Y-you’re my whole world…”
She wasn’t making the squeaking cries of a mouse.
She was sobbing.
Speaking like a human.
“Th-That’s… why I came back… I wanted Sera… to be happy… I wanted… to see you smile…”
A brilliant white light instantly engulfed Elodie.
Her shattered bones knit themselves back together.
Wounds that should have killed her healed in an instant.
And she grew.
No longer small enough to fit in Sera’s palm, but just the right size to be cradled safely in her arms.
She was no longer a mouse.
She had become a completely human little girl.
