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~Chapter 12~
“W-what… do you mean by that?”
Instead of responding, Vice-Chancellor Lattson froze stiffly as if broken, stammering.
“Could it be that this place isn’t enough for you? Did your father disappoint you? Speak freely. Whatever you want… I’ll do anything for you…”
“No.”
That couldn’t be it.
Compared to the time she lived in a rat hole, this place was nothing short of a paradise on earth.
Even if it were just a ramshackle house built of planks rather than a grand cathedral, Elody would have been reasonably satisfied.
At the very least, she wouldn’t have to struggle for her life every day.
Yet, the reason Elody had decided not to stay at the Lattson household was different.
“It’s not that… I just like Serra very, very much…”
Elody replied calmly.
“If something happens to Serra, I’d be devastated.”
Of course, the words themselves weren’t calm at all.
“W-what…!”
“I promise.”
“P-what do you mean…?”
“I’ll make sure Serra is always happy.”
Everyone fell silent for a moment at Elody’s bold and heartfelt confession.
Serra seemed momentarily taken aback by the sudden words, but then smiled as if she owned the world.
“Elody, you don’t have to do more. I’ve already gotten a dreamlike opportunity thanks to you.”
She added, gently, as if soothing a child.
“Not being able to stay together doesn’t mean we’ll be apart forever, does it?”
“No… if our bodies are apart, our hearts drift apart too.”
“…Where did you learn that?”
Before Serra could ask, Elody had already set the mood herself, holding Serra’s hand tightly.
Then, with a steady gaze, she looked up at Serra and lowered her voice.
“And I’ll keep any promise I make, no matter what.”
“…!”
Even if her short tongue mispronounced some words in an attempt to sound cool…
Serra bit her lip.
Elody’s awkward words were both cute and amusing, but more than that, a warm, gentle feeling welled up in her heart like rising bubbles.
She couldn’t bring herself to refuse.
“Mm…”
Instead, she unconsciously nodded, her cheeks flushed.
Vice-Chancellor Lattson, watching this with a bubbling mix of frustration and emotion, clutched the back of his neck in exasperation.
“My child!”
“Pull yourself together, Your Highness!”
Our daughter has already met her destined partner.
Well, meeting early had allowed the curse to be broken, so she was a benefactor—but still, this was far too soon.
“You haven’t even held her in your arms yet… and she’s not staying a bit longer with me…”
Elody watched him mutter miserably, a complicated expression on her face.
In truth, she didn’t want to leave the Lattson estate immediately either.
But…
‘Mom, Dad, are you hiding something from me?’
Elody had to test them.
Because, no matter how she looked at it, something felt off.
‘Why hasn’t anyone returned to human form even for a moment?’
Even though it had been two years since she last saw her missing daughter.
‘Or… is there a reason they can’t come back?’
Just like Elody herself.
At that moment, Mrs. Lattson, who had been silently lost in thought, finally spoke.
“…Then let’s do this. You’ll stay with the Valkyrisen family for a while.”
“Honey!”
“The Valkyrisens won’t tolerate even the smallest conflict in their neutral territory. You’ll be safe there.”
“This… isn’t too sudden?”
Vice-Chancellor Lattson hesitated, trying to object.
But it was brief. Mrs. Lattson gazed at him quietly, and he broke into a cold sweat, rolling his eyes.
All eyes then turned to the Valkyrisen Duke, Aizen.
He stood holding a staff-shaped sword, raising his eyebrows slightly as he replied.
“I expected this.”
Expected it?
Elody narrowed her eyes.
“Will it be difficult for you?”
“Well, I won’t stop someone who wishes to come… but are you certain?”
Mrs. Lattson only smiled faintly.
She held Elody’s fingers, kissed them, and spoke as if entrusting her with something.
“Only for a while. When your mom and dad call, you must come back. Understand?”
Even Vice-Chancellor Lattson, grumbling all the way, reluctantly agreed.
“…I’ll call you back soon.”
His expression betrayed that he was heartbroken to let her go.
Elody observed her parents in silence, as if watching them carefully.
‘As expected.’
And she gained one certainty.
Her parents were also cursed and unable to return to human form.
If Elody were truly five, she might not have noticed.
‘But I can’t be fooled.’
It was already strange that only authorized people could enter the Lattson estate.
For an ordinary noble family, that might make sense.
But not for the Lattsons—they were the family producing the divine emissaries of Animalnolia.
Yet in the grand cathedral, apart from the field rats, no other species of beastfolk could be seen.
Could it make sense for the entire beastfolk world to worship a rat god?
Of course, the cathedral should be enormous enough to accommodate all beastfolk, located in the capital at the heart of the continent.
‘They must be hiding because they’re under serious threat.’
Elody was barely five.
She had only just miraculously returned to their side.
Sending such a child outside the estate…
‘It must mean Valkyrisen is far safer than here.’
Protection must be the purpose.
Elody felt the excitement of meeting her parents slowly cool.
Soon, the Lattsons would lose the vice-chancellor position to another family.
The reason she hadn’t immediately thought of the Lattson family was clear.
In the future she had heard of, the vice-chancellor of Animalnolia wasn’t a rat.
‘Because I went missing, the Lattson family had no heir to continue their powers, and they were slowly declining.’
But if the Lattsons, along with their estate, were cursed…
This wasn’t decline.
It was destruction caused by someone else’s malice.
Then, what happened to the previous life of the Lattson family?
‘They must have perished without breaking the curse…’
Until this moment, Elody hadn’t given the curse much thought.
She couldn’t have.
She was not a rat but a beastfolk, and she had a family waiting and a supportive household.
She could dream of a lifetime with Serra.
She had already experienced miracles one after another.
So she could only remain excited.
‘But all that… was originally mine to have.’
Of course, it was a rare miracle she would never have again.
A fairy grandmother had turned back time, and Serra had broken the curse to restore it.
But the misfortune that wouldn’t have existed without the curse remained an unchangeable fact.
Elody tightly suppressed the rising surge of murderous intent and anger.
‘Basilisk.’
Ten years later, they would become the vice-chancellor of Animalnolia.
It had been a scandal that a venomous snake family had been selected as vice-chancellor, spreading even to Teranolia across the continent.
At first, many were displeased, but soon they cheered for the Basilisk family’s brilliance, rivaling even the former Lattsons in healing power.
Was the culprit this vice-chancellor?
Or the entire Basilisk family working together?
At present, there was no way to know.
But it was definitely worth investigating.
Whoever had done this to the Lattsons, she would find out.
She would break the curse and…
‘Make them pay.’
Exactly, nothing more, nothing less.
‘I’ll make them pay in full.’
