ushernet Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Elodie had completely forgotten her sorrow when Seraphina suddenly said something unexpected.
Beastfolk can transform into animals or possess animal traits.
But in the end, they were still a human species.
‘I’m a beastfolk?’
...Am I even human?
Through her tear-blurred vision, Elodie saw Seraphina fiddling with her hair.
Hair?
Elodie, with hands as frantic as autumn leaves, grabbed her own hair tightly.
“Ouch!”
“My goodness, be careful, you'll hurt yourself!”
It hurts!
Look at all this tangled hair!@@@@
If it were fur, it wouldn’t have grown this long!
Elodie touched her cheek.
Instead of short, dense fur, she felt the soft, smooth skin of a human baby.
Staring blankly at her hand, she saw short, plump fingers and round nails.
What is happening?
“I... I can’t be a beastfolk.”
Ugh, my tongue’s not working properly.
Having just gained the ability to speak for the first time in her life, Elodie let out a grunt as her words muddled together.
It seemed the structure of a human mouth and language felt strange to her.
Like a foreigner trying to pronounce a new language for the first time.
“Hmm, why do you think that?”
“I... I’ve never been a human...”
She had never once transformed into a human.
How could she be a beastfolk?
Beastfolk had animal traits and the ability to transform into animals.
It wasn’t like they couldn’t ever turn back into a human.
That was odd.
Of course, there were suspicious circumstances.
She had lived beyond the usual lifespan of a harvest mouse beastfolk, which was only 2 years, and she had an intellect no different from that of a human.
Still, the essence of a beastfolk was human.
She had never once been in human form, so she could only think of herself as an exceptionally long-lived and intelligent mouse!
“But Elodie, beastfolk can transform into animals, but animals can’t turn into humans.”
“That...”
“You’re a beastfolk. If you’ve always thought you were a rat, there must have been some other reason for it.”
Seraphina pressed the point.
“This is the magic of the fairy godmother, isn’t it?”
“Fairy godmother’s magic?”
Yes, wasn’t this the magic of the fairy godmother?
Like Cinderella’s glass slipper.
A mirage that would disappear when the clock struck midnight.
The way she had bitten off the Count’s nose so easily.
‘I heard that beastfolk with unique abilities are from noble families.’
Could it be that I’m noble?
A harvest mouse... noble?
‘Ha, how pathetic...’
She didn’t even remember hearing about such families in the future.
She was most likely a powerless, insignificant minor noble.
‘And besides, the fact that no one is looking for me doesn’t guarantee that my family is still intact.’
It might have been destroyed by some conspiracy.
But what could she do?
Hope, that intense emotion, bubbled up inside her like an erupting volcano.
‘If I get my family back, will there be a place where I can stay with Seraphina?’
Maybe she could take Seraphina out of the Bluewood mansion.
Yes, that would be enough.
In her past life, Seraphina had chosen the prince because her life had been so miserable.
So in this life, Elodie would not let her be bullied.
She didn’t need to hold the prince’s hand—she would give her a future where she could stand on her own, a future full of happiness and peace.
Elodie urgently shouted.
“Seraphina, run away with me!”
“Huh?”
“This is wrong. The way they treat you, worse than a servant, constantly tormenting you—it’s wrong. It’s not right.”
“...”
“You know that, right?”
It seemed that Seraphina hadn’t expected to hear such words from a child no bigger than half her size.
Seraphina shuddered in surprise.
But Elodie didn’t back down.
“You’re strong, Seraphina.”
“No, I’m...”
“No, you are. You knew you’d be punished, you knew you’d get hurt, but you still saved me.”
Only doing what you could win at?
Who calls that courage?
“Seraphina, you’re strong. Stronger than anyone.”
“...”
When Elodie spoke with sincerity, Seraphina’s pale eyes trembled slightly.
“I... I have some kind of strange power. I might be noble. But maybe not.”
“...Mm.”
“Even so, with this power, I can earn money, and I can survive outside. Seraphina, you can be with me...”
And then, in that moment.
A sudden burst of light poured into the pitch-black warehouse, barely distinguishable from the dimmest of light.
The warehouse door, which Elodie had thought would remain sealed for at least three more days, swung open.
It was the moment she had been hoping for, but not now.
The people from this house likely hadn’t come to punish Seraphina further.
They were definitely here to do something worse.
“Just as the head of the household said! Immediately capture that rat beastfolk and kill her!”
Alfred, the butler, pointed at her and shouted.