I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain [EN]: Chapter 117

After the Medest family meeting, Johann, escorted by Yurika, boarded the carriage to the Hyrard ducal residence.

Duke Medest, Oscar’s awakening was shocking to him as well.

But what was more shocking was Oscar’s expression of gratitude.

After that, he not only treated him as if he were acknowledging him as family but even gave him sincere advice.

In fact, telling him to refrain from using magic for about a month was a suggestion that reflected his experience.

Johann had never experienced an elder in his family giving him such advice before.

Perhaps that’s why the subtly warm atmosphere of that drawing room lingered in his mind.

In fact, he didn’t expect Oscar to treat him well.

It was because he had shown so much hostility towards him when he was a tiger. He thought it wouldn’t be strange if he immediately cursed and kicked him out.

Well, not only Johann but also Roymond hated him extremely, so he didn’t have much emotion about it.

Johann also thought that if there was a man who flirted with him and Yurika’s daughter… he wouldn’t want to let him live either.

After first encountering Oscar, Johann was overcome with strange emotions.

His world was all about Yurika, but it felt like Yurika already had a perfect world.

He felt like he was just a foreign substance in between.

Just like his childhood growing up between Tezen and Ella.

“Your father won’t even worry about you.”

Ella told him that throughout his childhood.

“Because to the Hyrards, children are just tools to carry on their power. That’s why your father thought he would be dragged into the war, so he quickly married me and had Tezen.”

Whenever that happened, the eyes of the boy Johann darkened.

Ella was now locked in the underground prison. She could no longer have any negative influence on him.

But childhood was different. The words Ella said in pain were etched into his bones and remained vividly.

“Anyway, there’s a higher probability that two will produce a better magician than one. All that matters to the Hyrards. So, after I sent a letter saying that you were sickly and had no aptitude for magic, your father doesn’t even ask me how you are anymore.”

Johann was a little shocked when he first heard about the history of Medest.

To cast out the Artear baronial family because they couldn’t use their descendants. If it were Hyrard, they would have pushed their children forward.

And to study how to calm his magical powers in order to live like an ordinary human being, and eventually pass on that life to his descendants.

It was a choice that truly desired the happiness of his children rather than the power of the family.

Hyrard had walked the opposite path, so he was even more unfamiliar with such a family.

He had always wondered why Yurika was so devoted to her family.

In the end, the Medest family lost her.

But after seeing them today, he felt like he knew roughly. In a way, even though it was their first time meeting, it was obvious that Oscar loved his daughters unconditionally.

Is that natural for Medest? Is that kind of family love passed down through blood?

Although it was a family that was evaluated as weaker than Hyrard in many ways, he still hoped that if he formed a family, it would be in that shape.

“You won’t be able to have a normal family either. Especially if you love the other person. You know what happened to your mother, right?”

Ella’s words followed him like a curse every time he went to the underground prison, and those words stuck darkly in Johann’s heart.

But while he was sitting in the drawing room as if he were a member of Medest, he didn’t think of those gloomy words at all.

He was so grateful to Yurika, who remembered his words that ‘being a magician is like a curse’ and was working hard to solve it, and to Oscar, who was sincerely worried about him and gave him advice.

Of course, he occasionally saw the eyes of a tiger that said, ‘I can’t give my daughter to such a heinous magician like you!’

It was then. Suddenly, the carriage stopped.

Johann frowned, and a servant carefully knocked on the door.

“Duke.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Suddenly, a child gave me a note and disappeared… I thought you should take a look at it, so I’m giving it to you.”

Johann took the small note from the servant.

[Lady Yurika will be loved by many people.]

In a way, it was nothing special.

Even if he chased the child and investigated the background, it was such a trivial matter that he couldn’t even make it public.

However, Johann vaguely knew who sent this note.

Since Rivena failed to achieve her goal at the hunting competition, she would definitely set a trap. Perhaps Sienna might even be involved.

The hidden meaning behind that note was probably, ‘But Duke, you don’t like that fact, do you? I know all about it.’

Johann handed the note back to the servant. And he ordered in a low voice.

“Deliver this note to Lady Yurika Medest. Explain the situation now.”

Even if Rivena’s words were true, he had no intention of being swayed by them at all.

“Also, tell her my opinion that it seems to be related to the next trap.”

In a way, it was no different from revealing his ugly inner self to his lover, but Johann’s voice did not waver.

He was just lost in thought to deduce the trap that Rivena and Theodore would have prepared next.

One thing was certain.

Johann Hyrard was included in the trap that Rivena was digging to harm Yurika Medest.

To be exact, Johann Hyrard, a terrible magician who wanted Yurika more desperately than anyone else and wanted to monopolize her.

* * *

The rumor that the missing Duke Medest had returned swept through the capital.

The details were not revealed, but it was said that he would recover soon and go to greet the Emperor immediately.

Rivena also heard the rumor in a secretly prepared underground laboratory.

“Damn it…”

Of course, it was very bad news for her.

Duke Medest, Oscar Medest, was completely different from Meriel. It was a considerable burden for him, who was smart and quick to judge situations, to return as the head of Medest.

Oscar would have definitely heard everything that had happened so far from his family, and his fierce pursuit would obviously follow Rivena.

“If Oscar Medest even wakes up, there’s no chance of winning…”

Without Patre and even the temple not backing her up, she felt like she was constantly being cornered.

She looked at the laboratory with a miserable face. Now, the only thing she could expect was the success of this experiment.

She could no longer conduct additional experiments with Oscar’s blood.

“…I have no choice.”

It was a somewhat incomplete experiment, and she didn’t even have confidence, but she had no choice now.

“I can only hope it works well…”

Rivena was a great talent, but dealing with the variable of time was not easy. This was the first time she had such an uncertain experimental result.

Oscar’s appearance made her, who was already being cornered, impatient. Rivena slowly fiddled with the experimental equipment.

‘There’s no time to hesitate now. If I don’t end it this time, I’ll end up getting caught. Even if there’s something… something unsettling about my experiment, I have to take a risk because I don’t have time.’

Rivena muttered, panting.

“Yurika Medest.”

The culprit who made all this go wrong.

“Let’s end it completely this time. Whether it’s you or me.”

In the end, this plan she planned was a final duel.

And the plan was already proceeding smoothly.

By Theodore, who believed without a doubt that Rivena’s experiment was perfect.

* * *

There was one more person who was not very happy about the official announcement of Duke Medest’s survival.

It was the Emperor.

Until now, he had not thought much about the Medest ducal family. This was because the head of the family, Meriel, was docile and did not assert her opinions well.

Of course, he was always concerned about it because it was a great family, but he was somewhat relieved when Roymond and Meriel got engaged.

It was difficult for a member of the imperial family to continue to serve as the head of a great family, so he thought that if he put a little pressure on her, the head position would go to the second daughter, Yurika.

However, Yurika was decisively an adopted daughter. Since she did not have the legitimacy of Medest, there was no way she could properly lead the family.

The fact that Medest, one of the high-ranking noble families, lost its power in that way meant the strengthening of imperial power.

So, he was only paying attention to the Hyrard ducal family, but suddenly Oscar Medest returned.

Moreover, at a time when people were gradually forgetting the war.

While the Emperor was postponing Duke Medest’s audience day after day, Theodore’s confinement order was lifted not long after.

This was because Theodore expressed his intention to voluntarily enlist in the frontier.