The Harvest Mouse Exits the Fairytale Together with Cinderella

"That child should be dead."
"Haha…"
The man claiming to be Cassian smiled bitterly.

"I actually lost my memories."
"How convenient. And predictable."
Eisen didn’t look even remotely convinced.

Well, of course not.
How many people had come to him over the years, trying to deceive him?
The Duke of Valkyrisen’s nephew had gone missing during the war at the age of twelve.

And the only person who could verify his identity was Eisen himself.
Eisen’s prosopagnosia wasn’t publicly known, so scammers wouldn’t necessarily be aware of it. But even if they did know, it was an ideal setup for deception.
It was no wonder countless opportunists had tried to swindle him.

That was probably why he was handling this family reunion out here near the gates instead of somewhere more private.
He was only listening for a moment before he planned to throw him out.
"I grew up under a serf, raised as his son, not knowing who I really was. Then one day, I found this locket by chance… and when I saw it, all my memories returned."

As he spoke, the man removed the locket from around his neck and held it out.
"Inside, there was a portrait of my parents."
"And?"

"This locket—it was a gift from you, Uncle. I asked my parents to place the portrait inside, but when my memories returned, I knew exactly where it came from."
"……."
"I didn’t come here expecting anything. Everyone I remember from my past is already gone from this world…"
"I only wanted to see your face again."

Cassian added, looking as though he were about to break into tears.
"What else do you remember?"
"That you used to call me 'runt'? Haha…"

"What else?"
"That I hated corn. Though, of course, I eat it just fine now—I even grew it myself."
"……."

"And…" Cassian hesitated, then continued, "My father always disapproved of me. But in his final moments, he turned his back to the enemy and told me to run."
"……."
"My mother hid me inside a crate. My last memory was listening to the screams outside until I lost consciousness."

That much detail—
He must have known something.
The household staff, who had been watching him with the same skeptical gaze as Elodie, now looked uncertain.

This man was different from the frauds who had come before.
Eisen, silent for a long moment, finally exhaled a deep sigh.
Then, placing a firm hand on Cassian’s shoulder, he spoke.

"Look me in the eye and say that again."
"Ah, my apologies. It's a habit."
"You used to scold me often about keeping my head up when I spoke."

Cassian added, smiling faintly.
"I truly missed you."
"……."

Eisen narrowed his eyes, then finally let out a long breath.
"Come inside. We’ll talk there."
***

Eisen had a younger brother.
And that younger brother’s only son was Cassian.
His brother had inherited the title of count but lost his life in a war against a neighboring lord.

Eisen had been too occupied fighting in the Great War to react immediately.
By the time he rushed to his brother’s territory, his entire family—along with all the household staff—had already been slaughtered.
Cassian’s body had never been found.

That was the story.
But now, supposedly, the nephew had survived all this time, unable to return because of memory loss, and had finally regained his memories—coincidentally seeking out his prosopagnosic uncle.
Isn’t that just a little too convenient?

It’s way too suspicious.
"It’s way too suspicious."
Wait—had she said that out loud?

Elodie lifted her head in surprise to see Zenovia fuming in frustration.
"How does it make sense for him to show up now, claiming to be the Duke’s nephew?! He’s obviously a fraud!"
"Agreed."

"Hey, you can turn into a mouse, right? Sneak in and spy on him. If he’s alone, maybe he’ll slip up and reveal his true colors."
"Didn’t ya say ya hated rats?"
"T-that was…! I’m sorry…."

She actually apologized.
Elodie blinked in surprise.
She hadn’t even pushed for one, yet Zenovia had apologized on her own.

Shrugging, she responded.
"He hasn’t slipped up."
"What? That’s impossible. Wait—so you already checked?"

"Not just me."
Where do you think we are?
This was Duke Valkyrisen’s estate.

There were eyes and ears everywhere.
Especially when someone was already under suspicion.
Just as Elodie had snuck in as a harvest mouse, other small beastfolk had surely done the same.

But no matter how much they observed, Cassian never changed his behavior.
Timid, clumsy, hesitant.
That was all he ever displayed.

This translation is the intellectual property of .
If he was a fraud, he was either incredibly skilled or… he really was the missing nephew.
There was only one way to be sure.

Eisen himself had to determine the truth.
Suddenly—
"Woof!"

"What the—?"
"Woof! Woof woof woof!"
Zenovia turned toward the window, confused.

Outside, a large, fluffy white dog was barking ferociously at Cassian, who happened to be passing by.
"N-nice dog… easy now…,"
Cassian backed away in terror, sweat beading on his forehead.

Grrr…
But the dog wasn’t backing down.
Baring its teeth, it let out a fierce snarl before lunging straight at him!

"AAAAAHHHH!"
Cassian dropped everything in his hands and bolted.
Even when he tripped over a stone and fell flat on his face, he scrambled up, whimpering, and kept running for dear life.

"Pfft—!"
Zenovia burst out laughing at the sight.
She pointed at Cassian, howling with laughter, then turned to Elodie.

"Hey, I’ve never seen anything more pathetic in my life—wait, what are you doing?"
Elodie, who had been sitting across from her, was now crouched under the table.
With an oddly calm expression, she said—

"Don’t mind me."
"How am I supposed to ignore that?"
"I just… felt like being here."

"Who the hell just feels like crawling under a table?!"
Was this some mouse thing he couldn’t understand?
Zenovia stared at her suspiciously before realization dawned.

"Wait. Are you afraid of dogs?"
"…No."
"That’s a lie."

"Woof! (Hello there!)"
Right then, the massive white dog that had been chasing Cassian propped its front paws up on the windowsill and barked cheerfully at them.
Elodie flinched so hard she jumped in place.

So much for pretending to be unaffected.
"Ah, Butler Dogren! That was quite the performance."
"Woof woof. (Did I entertain you?)"

"Why don’t you go ahead and bite his ass next time?"
"Whimper… (But we don’t even know if he’s really His Grace’s nephew…)"
"Come on, what’s the big deal? I’ll take responsibility."

"Woof. (That’s how you get yourself exiled.)"
Zenovia grinned as she tried to coax Dogren into mischief.
But the dog refused to budge, turning his head away with a firm stance.

She really can talk to dogs…
Elodie was speechless.
Had she already started preparing for her mad dog villain future by learning their language?!

Of all the animals in Valkyrisen estate, she just happened to learn how to talk to dogs?
Her fate was practically set in stone.
Now it made sense why she spouted nonsense every time she got drunk in the future…

"Woof, woof woof! (Young Miss! A pleasure to meet you!)"
At that moment, Butler Dogren spotted Elodie and wagged his tail eagerly.