I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain [EN]: Chapter 19

Siena was stroking Yurika’s baby hair, her thoughts heavy with the loss of her second daughter.

In the Medest Duchy, a phenomenon akin to a curse occasionally occurred.

When two or more children were born into the main family, one would sometimes mysteriously disappear. This also happened, though less frequently, to children from collateral branches with Medest blood.

It was difficult to label it a simple kidnapping because the children who vanished were, quite literally, missing without a trace.

They never reappeared, and no ransom was ever demanded.

‘It is because the ancestor of Medest incurred the wrath of God,’ the temple priests would invariably tell the Medest Duchy.

‘If you perform many good deeds or make generous donations, you may someday be forgiven.’

Siena had never imagined that the curse would manifest in her generation. As a result, she had only been able to raise her second daughter, Yurika, for a little over a year.

She had felt inexplicably anxious and deliberately kept Yurika from going outside, but the child had vanished so futilely on the way to her baptism…

“Yurika…”

Siena could feel her health rapidly deteriorating in recent days.

According to those around her, her mind was also occasionally wandering. She deliberately acted strong in front of Meriel, but deep down, she didn’t feel like she would live much longer.

Her body had always been weak, and the thought of joining her missing husband didn’t scare her much, but she desperately wanted to see her second daughter just once before she passed.

To know if she was alive and well, and if so, how she was growing up…

Just then, a tapping sound came from the window, sending a chill down her spine.

“…This is the fourth floor,” Siena swallowed hard and muttered.

“Could it be that God is already trying to take me…?”

She took a deep breath and looked up at the window with a determined expression.

Her eyes widened in surprise as she looked outside. “…A squirrel?”

A squirrel with a tiny ribbon around its neck tapped on the window again, its eyes bright and inquisitive.

Siena chuckled at the cute gesture and slowly got up to open the window.

“Meriel has been raising a squirrel lately, so that must be you.”

The squirrel scurried in and climbed onto Siena’s shoulder. Siena staggered and lay back down on the bed, and the squirrel tilted its head next to her, placing its tiny front paw on her forehead.

Meriel hadn’t told her mother that the squirrel she was raising was a divine beast, fearing that the Hyland Duchy might find out and try to reclaim it. She didn’t know how she had erased the seal, but Meriel was determined never to return the squirrel to Hyland.

And she had no intention of telling Siena the truth, especially since Siena’s mind was slightly wandering these days. If Siena accidentally revealed the squirrel’s identity to someone, she would have to return it without a doubt.

So Siena never suspected that the squirrel that came to her was a divine beast.

“Ever since she came back from the Hyland Duchy, Meriel has been singing about squirrels… and she finally brought you in.”

The squirrel just stared at her with its clear eyes. Then, it pointed to Yurika’s baby hair on her bed.

“Kyung?”

“What is this?” Siena tapped the squirrel’s head gently and replied, “It’s our lost Yurika’s baby hair… It’s the only trace left of that child.”

“Kyugung.”

“She was a pretty child with light brown hair and warm pink eyes. She was so bright.”

“Kyung.”

“…That child looked a lot like the Duke… I wonder if I can see her once before I die…”

“Kyugung.”

The squirrel leaned against her arm as if to comfort her.

Siena suddenly felt comforted by the small heartbeat throbbing in its chest.

It was a small movement that reminded her of Yurika’s heartbeat from a long time ago, a memory that had now faded. The warmth of the fidgeting squirrel was comforting, and it made her feel more stable.

“I don’t know what I’m saying to you. I’m sorry.”

The squirrel stared at her, then spun around and revealed its belly.

“…Belly?” The squirrel guided her finger to its belly. “…You want me to touch it?”

“Kyugung.”

The squirrel nodded with a solemn face, and Siena chuckled for a moment, stroking the squirrel’s plump, white belly.

Indeed, she felt much better, and a smile naturally crept onto her face. The sight of the little squirrel eagerly trying to do something proactively was amusing and heartwarming…

“When Meriel is busy, will you come to see me sometimes?” Siena whispered as if asking for a favor, as the presence of the squirrel rolling around on the bed was subtly comforting.

“I’ll fill this room with sunflower seeds and acorns.”

The squirrel nodded its head enthusiastically as if it liked that idea very much.

Life at the Medest Duchy was truly the best.

I absorbed Meriel’s refined mana every day.

Meriel’s mana was quite abundant, as much as Johan’s, but it wasn’t expressed at all, and she didn’t even know about her own mana.

‘This is really amazing. Is it the heroine buff [a plot device that favors the main female character]?’

There was no mention of Meriel being a mage in the original story either. It was certain that she had no magical abilities, as there was only a description that she was ‘pretty, kind, but somewhat incompetent and weak, and easily swayed by those around her.’

Unlike the Hyland Duchy, the Medest Duchy was not a family skilled in magic for generations. The Medest Duke, who was missing in action, was also said to be a warrior skilled in spear throwing.

Well, that’s none of my business anyway.

‘It’s much sweeter than absorbing Johan’s mana.’

At this rate, I would soon be able to stably transform into a human.

I tried going to Siena as an experiment, but I couldn’t feel any mana from her at all.

‘I just went out of curiosity… but I ended up attending every day.’

After visiting Siena once, I went to her room every day. Siena was bedridden, so she seemed really happy when I went.

So whenever I was bored, I would visit her, get a lot of love, and eat my fill of acorns.

‘Alright, this is for the mood. This isn’t easy, you know.’

I felt sorry for Siena, who looked sickly, so I diligently showed her my belly. When I flopped down, Siena would slowly stroke my belly with her weak fingers.

Whenever I saw a smile on Siena’s face, even a prickly guy like me felt warm inside.

For some reason… she was someone I strangely wanted to protect.

‘I’ll be transforming into a human soon, so I’ll play with you until then.’

That’s how I did my best to show my belly.

And while showing my belly, I thought.

…

Johan also loved touching my belly.

Frankly, I didn’t think Johan would grow up to be a cunning mastermind villain. In fact, he was more of a fragile kid who was very lonely and often whined, so I wondered if he was doing well.

‘Hang in there a little longer, Johan. It’s really not long now.’

I recalled the contents of the original story and rubbed my eyes with my front paws. ‘Soon, I’ll be able to escape the Hyland Duchy and go to the battlefield.’

The life in the tower was long.

Johan was spending more tedious days than ever. Every day felt incredibly long.

Where and how was his squirrel doing?

The pain was much less than before because he had calmed his mana as much as possible before leaving. Nevertheless, Johan’s time went by much slower than before.

Especially at night, even though the squirrel that used to come was not there, he had a habit of waiting for someone by the window.

“Momo…”

As the squirrel had warned, a warm soup was served on Johan’s diet the next day.

It was really strange compared to the past when they never gave him warm food.

If the squirrel hadn’t told him, he would have eaten it without any suspicion.

Until now, Ella had at least not tried to poison him.

‘I was wrong. That woman just really needed a Hyland who only existed like a doll.’

After the Hyland Duke died in the war, one Hyland had to go to the battlefield in his place anyway. Meriel Medest, who was famous for her captivating beauty from a young age, was a very unusual case.

‘Well, she wasn’t that beautiful. She even seemed a bit dim-witted.’

Anyway, Ella had always been thinking of harming him. As soon as she was able to obtain a potion from the temple that would erase his ego without evidence and only leave his existence, she immediately put it into action.

‘If it weren’t for Momo, I would have already been in a state where I couldn’t even think for myself.’

The next day, a warm meat stew was served on his diet again.

Johan only ate the chilled food and the rough, cold rye bread that the servant secretly brought him, and kept glancing at the window.

He knew it, but no matter how much he looked at the window, there was no trace of the squirrel that used to come and tap on the window every night.

‘I miss you…’

So Johan was not at all sad when the news of the Hyland Duke’s death came one day and his enlistment was decided.