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~Chapter 10~
“Ye?”
“It’s been two years since then, so now you’re barely five.”
Elodie blinked her big eyes.
“Do you know what my grandson said when he saw me at that age?”
“What did he say?”
“He looked at me with his tiny, bun-like face and asked, ‘Who is this grandfather, and why is he in our house?’”
“Even though he’d only seen me once as a baby…”
Edmund spoke with slightly reddened cheeks, his voice tinged with resentment.
“……Let’s stop. I think I’ve heard that line over twenty times already.”
“Then hear it ten more times.”
Elodie wondered if he had been deeply shocked by it.
Aizen sharply cut off his grandson’s complaint and looked down at Elodie again.
“Who remembers something from when they were three? Even if someone did, it’s an extremely rare case. No one expects that of you, Lady.”
“…….”
“Just being alive and well like this is already a miracle to them.”
The duke’s enormous hand hovered above Elodie’s head.
Thunk.
Contrary to the rough, intimidating impression he gave—like he’d treat even a child harshly—he was unexpectedly delicate.
He saw through her instantly.
Is this what experience feels like?
Elodie was dazed by all of it, but she felt a little reassured by his blunt kind of comfort.
“Really… am I my daughter?”
“You even spoke on the phone. What parent doesn’t recognize their child?”
“…….”
“Those who are worse than beasts should be buried in the ground to become fertilizer. At least then, they’d serve some purpose. Don’t you think?”
The Duke of Valkyrisen asked the Bluewood Count with a steady gaze.
Could it be that the little pest is meant to be fertilizer?
The count’s face, still haunted by the memory of the little critter, went pale, even turning blue.
“H-Her… grandfather!”
There was nothing he wouldn’t say in front of the child.
Flustered, Edmund quickly took Elodie from the duke’s arms and returned her to Cera’s embrace.
“I’m free.”
Just like that.
Standing tall on two legs.
“Yes, on two legs!”
Now I can walk upright.
“With Cera by my side!”
What a miraculous thing this is.
Elodie still vividly remembered her past life.
She wouldn’t have to attack humans on sight anymore.
She wouldn’t have to hide or run.
She could stand proudly beside Cera.
“Hmm? Elodie, what’s up?”
Cera asked, noticing Elodie fidgeting with her legs in fascination.
Cera’s heart ached at the sight but she also found it endearingly cute, and she smiled softly.
“Want to try walking on your own?”
Elodie hesitated for a moment, then nodded.
Since becoming human, she had always been carried; she’d never walked on her own.
Her first steps into the world…!
Crash—!!
“E-Elodie!”
Cera gasped and hurriedly scooped up the fallen Elodie.
Elodie looked at her palms, which had been scraped but healed instantly, and shivered.
‘I can’t stand beside Cera…’
The reason being that she couldn’t walk.
It was frustrating not being able to speak fluently because her pronunciation faltered.
‘Do I have to start learning to walk from scratch?’
How humiliating.
How could she ever become someone Cera could rely on like this?
“This won’t do, Elodie. I’ll have to carry you forever…”
Damn it, she had made Cera say that.
Instead of being a support, she was turning into a burden!
‘Hmph. No choice.’
She would learn to walk in just two days.
Elodie clenched her fists, her determination blazing.
Once she safely returned to the Latson family, walking practice would be her first priority.
But she never expected such a trivial plan to hit a roadblock from the start.
Really.
“The location of the Latson family is strictly concealed. Only authorized people may enter, so transportation by carriage only reaches Valkyrisen,”
Elodie had no special thoughts while the duke explained, adjusting the bracelet he wore.
‘Oh, so I really am from a prestigious family?’ she thought, full of excitement.
The continent is divided into human lands and beast lands.
Terranolia, inhabited solely by humans.
Animanolia, inhabited solely by beastkin.
And the Valkyrisen territory sits on the border between these two continents.
In other words, one must pass through the Valkyrisen territory to travel between the continents.
‘I heard the inspections are very strict…’
Who could stop the Duke of Valkyrisen himself?
Naturally, they passed through without delay.
Immediately after, they used the artifact embedded in the duke’s bracelet to travel directly to the Latson family.
The scenery shifted in an instant.
‘This is the Latson estate…!’
But beyond the dense forest and expansive sky, there was nothing else.
Elodie looked down slowly, half-expecting what she saw.
The Latson estate existed there.
She was speechless at the combination of its grandeur, bustling activity, and yet charming compactness.
‘It’s… small!’
The whole estate could be seen at a glance.
Elodie, looking aghast, observed it.
The field mice, startled by the sudden appearance of humans, froze stiffly before scurrying about in panic.
It felt like being a giant.
‘This is the Latson estate?’
Of course, from a field mouse’s perspective, this was huge and vast.
‘From the perspective of field mice,’ that is.
For reference, the average field mouse is about 5–6 cm long.
So in that context, one could grasp the Latson family’s wealth somewhat.
But…
‘If I try walking here, I’d destroy the whole estate!’
Was this okay?
Then what about my plan to live peacefully with Cera?
This couldn’t happen.
If the estate is designed for field mice, there’s no way she could live there with Cera.
No human could live in a mouse house—not even in a doghouse.
While Elodie froze in dismay at the unexpected problem…
“Good heavens…”
Cera sighed.
Her eyes sparkled like a lake’s surface, her cheeks tinged with a rosy glow.
‘We’re doomed.’
Having known Cera for fifteen years, Elodie could read her thoughts perfectly.
‘She’s probably thinking I’m cute.’
Having become the only daughter of a noble family, Cera had planned to show off all kinds of impressive acts, making Elodie rely on her like the prince in her previous life.
She had planned to showcase the luxurious estate and lands, saying, “All of this is yours; let’s live happily together forever.”
She had intended to promise that Elodie could enjoy everything.
But…
‘We can’t enjoy any of it!’
An estate scaled for field mice was useless.
While Elodie tugged at her hair, groaning, Aizen spoke to the guards standing on the walls—high enough to easily step over.
“We’ve come to see His Excellency.”
His Excellency?
‘One of my parents… was a High Minister?’
What is a High Minister?
A High Minister is the leader of a continent’s main religion.
In Terranolia, their authority rivals even the emperor.
History records that at times, they even controlled the emperor like a puppet.
Elodie’s jaw dropped, overwhelmed by the power of this figure.
‘I vaguely remember hearing that the daughter of the former Animanolia High Minister went missing as a child…’
That was me.
In the beast world, power is inherited through blood, so the family with the strongest healing abilities becomes the High Minister.
And that’s a family of field mice?
