~Chapter 05~
“Rat beastkin? You’re saying kill it on sight?”
Elodie had lived long enough to die of old age.
Which meant she had survived all her life among humans who wanted to exterminate her kind just for being rats.
Before she could even process what was going on, Elodie moved.
Poof! — she transformed into a rat and darted between the piles of goods stacked in the warehouse.
After changing into a human once, she could now switch between her two forms as naturally as breathing.
She felt free.
As if she had finally broken free from a lifetime of chains.
“Don’t let it escape! If you lose it, you’ll die with it!”
The butler’s voice was hoarse with rage — the family’s very future was at stake.
“What are you doing! Get away from Elodie right now!”
Sarah’s voice trembled with terror, but no one paid her any attention.
The butler and the knights he had brought were frantically trying to stomp the rat to death.
Elodie barely managed to slip between flying boots and into a mouse hole.
The warehouse was full of cracks and patched-up walls — perfect for hiding.
“Damn it! Tear the wall apart!”
“Yes, sir!”
Tear the wall?
All this, just to kill one rat beastkin?
How did they even find out I’m a rat beastkin? And why do they want to kill me?
She had no idea.
But one thing was certain—
If they catch me, I’ll die.
Using her claws and tail, Elodie climbed up the wall with desperate speed, searching for another room to escape to.
Crash!
A sword blade suddenly pierced through the wall right beside her.
She gasped and darted in the opposite direction—
Crack!
But another sword stabbed through that side as well.
The knights didn’t care if their blades broke; they grunted and forced their swords straight through the wood, determined to rip down the wall entirely.
“There’s an axe here!”
“Good, use it!”
Elodie squeezed her eyes shut.
Can I even survive this?
She had finally been able to help Sarah…
I can’t die here. I can’t leave her behind.
And then—
“What are you all doing, glued to the wall like that?”
A voice rang out.
It was neither high-pitched nor deep — a clear, cold boy’s voice.
The moment he spoke, the whole room fell silent, as if no one else existed.
Footsteps approached — light but firm, precise.
“Were you having a duel with the wall?”
“S-sir Edmund…”
“What a pathetic sight. Even the lunatic who charged at a windmill in that old novel would make a better knight than you lot.”
Though his words mocked, his tone was icy enough to chill the air.
The young man’s cold gaze swept over the knights clawing at the wall, then stopped on the butler —
—or rather, on the butler’s hand gripping Sarah’s wrist, keeping her from running.
Sarah’s face was pale as she struggled, shouting, “Let go of me!”
The boy tilted his head slightly toward her.
“She asked you to let go.”
“It’s a misunderstanding, young master. The maid is being insolent, I was simply disciplining her.”
“I see.”
“She’s a lowly servant — hardly worth your concern—”
“She said, let go. Are you deaf?”
“…”
The butler had no choice but to release her.
He couldn’t defy the heir of House Valkyrisen — Young Lord Edmund.
Freed, Sarah immediately dropped to her knees.
She didn’t know who this boy was, but she knew he was the only one who could save Elodie now.
“Young master, please save Elodie.”
“Elodie?”
“She’s my friend. A field rat beastkin. They’re trying to kill her right now—”
“T-that’s not true!”
The butler cut in frantically, sweat pouring down his face.
“That’s a ridiculous accusation! Why would we commit murder in front of you, sir — especially while you’re here investigating the missing beastkin case?”
“I was wondering the same thing.”
Edmund’s golden eyes, glowing faintly in the dim light, narrowed dangerously.
He glanced at the glass orb in his hand, then back toward the wall.
“It’s not what she says, I swear! The girl’s mistaken — there was just a rat, a common rat—”
“A rat?”
Edmund took a step forward.
The butler flinched and stepped back just as quickly.
His eyes darted around, then he used his heel to quietly block the mouse hole Elodie had escaped into.
Things were spiraling out of control — best to cover the only escape route.
The knights had damaged the wall, but the hole wasn’t big enough for anything to get out yet.
Maybe he could still talk his way out of this.
After all, it wasn’t the duke himself — only the young heir.
“We were using the servants to search for a field rat beastkin. A rat appeared, so we tried to catch it. The girl passed by and misunderstood.”
Sarah’s face twisted in fury.
“That’s not true! They were trying to—”
“Silence! You dare raise your voice? Step back at once!”
Sarah clenched her fists.
This wasn’t new.
The Bluewood household — master and servants alike — always treated her as less than nothing.
No one listened to her words.
She had long grown used to it — so used to it that it no longer hurt.
Even though she was the earl’s own daughter, he had never treated her as such.
Unlike her sisters, she had never earned his affection.
So being treated like a servant… had started to feel natural.
She had learned to submit. To endure.
“This isn’t right, you know.”
But that girl — she had told her it was wrong.
“Strange. Wrong. Sarah knows, right?”
She had told her it was strange, unfair — that they should run away together.
So now—
“My name is Seraphina Bluewood, youngest daughter of House Bluewood.”
This time, she refused to stay silent — even if they called her insane.
“They really were trying to kill a field rat beastkin, and she’s right behind that wall.”
“What nonsense! How dare you impersonate a lady of the house!”
The butler shouted over her, panic rising.
He was terrified.
Whenever important guests visited, Sarah was always locked away.
If by chance she was seen, he introduced her as a servant, and she would simply bow her head without protest.
She had never talked back — until now.
And of all times, now!
“Seraphina Bluewood,” Edmund murmured. “Can’t say I’ve heard that name before.”
Sarah’s face fell into despair.
The butler’s, on the other hand, lit up with relief.
“Exactly! You couldn’t have — she’s unwell, sir, mentally unstable! Please, pay no mind and let us escort you to the drawing room—”
But Edmund wasn’t finished.
“But at least the rest of what she said isn’t a lie.”
“What… what do you mean?”
The boy lifted the glass orb and held it before his eyes, gazing at the wall beyond.
Tiny specks of light shimmered within, pulsing toward a specific point.
“This magic orb tracks one individual’s location — specifically, the only daughter of House Ratson.”
“L-Lady Ratson?”
“But the young lady was cursed two years ago, transformed into an animal. Because of that, no magic could locate her. But today, for some reason, the curse broke — and the orb pinpointed her location… right here, in the Bluewood estate.”
Thanks to that, he had been able to teleport straight to the coordinates.
His voice was calm — unnervingly so.
“Of course, House Ratson couldn’t step into human lands themselves because of the peace treaty. So they asked my family, House Valkyrisen, to find their missing daughter.”
Then, a flicker of killing intent glimmered in Edmund’s eyes.
“And now, the signal showing Lady Ratson’s location overlaps perfectly… with yours. Care to explain that?”
