I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain [EN]: Chapter 25

“I should send a letter to Sister Meriel.”

Leaving the orphanage, I took the pen from the escort knight and said,

“Saying I’ll take the child I want to sponsor to the academy… and meticulously detailing the orphanage’s embezzlement.”

Meriel was excessively kind, but not foolish.

After learning about this incident, she would be alarmed and do her best to prevent similar cases.

‘It’s not good to be too forward. After all, Meriel is the heir, and I’m just a lucky adopted daughter.’

It seemed best to maintain this appearance.

I would handle things slightly from behind, and Meriel would finalize them.

‘Well… can she even be considered the heir?’

I sighed and looked at the sky. According to the original story, Meriel eventually ends up with the male lead, the Crown Prince.

And as a member of the Imperial Family, Meriel could not, in principle, be the heir to the Medest family.

In fact, around the time of her marriage to the Crown Prince, Meriel was no longer able to rely on the Medest family’s influence due to the surrounding circumstances and Johan’s schemes.

The Medest family, ruined without a single elder, could no longer function as a great noble family.

‘But this time will be different.’

Thanks to me, the variable Johan has disappeared, and the Medest family can prosper.

However, since the future has changed, I don’t know if Meriel will end up with the Crown Prince.

A couple without any major crises can break up over very trivial things.

‘The important thing is for the Medest family to stand tall. Meriel will be happier that way too.’

Rather than being saved by the Crown Prince with only love in the end, like in the original story, it’s better to be a duchess with everything.

“Anyway, it will be a little later than expected, but I should add that it won’t be delayed too much.”

I smiled and picked up the pen.

“Because it’s almost my sister’s birthday.”

Meriel’s birthday was indeed approaching.

Siena was sick, so we couldn’t have a big party, but I still wanted to celebrate her birthday in person.

‘Wait a minute…’

I frowned, suddenly struck by a thought as I was writing the letter without thinking.

‘If it’s Meriel’s birthday…’

It was a piece of information that was briefly mentioned in the original story, but there was a very important fact.

‘My uncle, Count Jaden, will also come, won’t he?’

Count Jaden was Meriel’s only remaining advisor, but he was famous for being very prickly.

He was always dissatisfied with Meriel for being too soft and not *cold-blooded* enough, and he was sure to be very unhappy about me being adopted.

‘Still, he was *cold-blooded* and capable, and a reliable support for Meriel…’

But that wasn’t the important thing.

‘He’s going to die later.’

He was poisoned around the same time Siena passed away.

“Princess?”

Renat quietly tilted his head beside me as I frowned anxiously.

His blue eyes were quietly fixed on me as if he was truly worried about me. I smiled and shook my head.

“Oh, just… thinking about Mother’s illness.”

“I see.”

Renat sighed softly and replied.

“I’ll study hard, Princess. So… I’ll make you smile.”

“Yes, Renat. You can do it.”

Renat looked like he couldn’t believe how I could trust him, who was just an orphan, but I added with a confident voice.

“I just have a feeling you can.”

The gentle-looking Renat smiled brightly. His already kind features looked even more affectionate and kind.

“But Renat, there’s something I wanted to ask you.”

I blinked and changed the subject.

“Do you know a lot about poison? I was wondering if my mother might have been poisoned…”

“Well, it’s hard to get poison except from the temple… Even a doctor would have a hard time having poison that could kill someone instantly. Unless it’s a long-term poisoning…”

“Really?”

I asked in a worried voice at Renat’s kind explanation.

“If it’s long-term… how do you poison someone?”

***

A few days later.

A guest arrived at the Medest mansion after a long time.

A luxurious carriage that could be recognized from afar stopped, and Meriel, who had been pacing in front of the main gate, ran out with a bright smile.

“Uncle!”

The carriage door opened, and a tall man stepped out with a displeased expression.

The man in his mid-twenties with blonde hair and blue eyes was Siena’s much younger brother, Count Jaden Aberth.

“Welcome. Mother will be happy!”

Meriel greeted Jaden with a bright smile, but his blue eyes were icy cold.

Even the coachman couldn’t take his eyes off Meriel’s angelic face, but Jaden didn’t hide his displeased expression and grumbled.

“Why are you rushing out so carelessly? As if I wouldn’t know how to get in on my own. Is this my first time here?”

Of course, Meriel smiled playfully at Jaden’s cold words.

“Hehe, but…”

Jaden didn’t react to Meriel’s smile at all.

He just took off the coat he was wearing with a cold expression and immediately put it on Meriel’s shoulders.

“How long have you been waiting? It’s chilly these days, are you in your right mind? The sicker your mother is, the stronger you need to be, right? Wear this!”

Jaden, with a grumpy face, even carefully fastened the collar of the coat and couldn’t help but burst into anger.

“I heard you caused another reckless accident this time? How can you adopt an adopted daughter so easily! Does the Medest name mean nothing to you?”

He shouted accusingly, glaring at her.

“If you act like that, the Medest family will be ruined in your generation! You can’t even manage the family properly, and you’re bringing in a complete stranger as family? Why are you so irresponsible?”

“Oh, Uncle…”

Meriel smiled bashfully and pulled on Jaden’s arm.

“Let’s go inside and get angry. As you said, it’s chilly.”

Jaden sighed and strode forward. He grumbled, looking at Meriel with cold eyes.

“You didn’t even wear gloves, geez…”

Jaden Aberth was not a great noble who greatly influenced the capital in terms of title, but he was the only direct descendant of the Aberth family, which owned many mines in the west.

Two years ago, he had a political marriage with a suitable noble lady from the region, but he still had no children.

In fact, he was very busy with business, so he spent very little time at the count’s residence.

“Have you had dinner? I told the chef to prepare a steak…”

“No. I don’t have much appetite these days, so I can’t eat meat well. And that’s not the important thing, I heard you allowed soldiers in the Mirinia territory again this time?”

Jaden, sitting in the drawing-room, said coldly as he took off his gloves. Meriel sat in front of him and answered carefully.

“But I couldn’t help it. I heard that the battle is taking place near the Neniva area…”

“You shouldn’t allow soldiers indiscriminately just because it’s a border area. If you do that, you’ll definitely have problems later. Your father would never have allowed it if he were alive.”

Jaden quite respected the Duke of Medest, his brother-in-law, who was much older than him.

And he vividly remembered when he managed the territory.

Therefore, it seemed even more heartbreaking to see Meriel steadily ruining the territory.

It was even more frustrating because he knew that Meriel wasn’t a bad kid.

The people around her were using her kindness to steadily destroy Medest’s wealth and honor.

Meriel widened her eyes and answered kindly.

“But how worried would the people of the territory be if the battle was taking place right next door? I couldn’t just stay comfortably in the capital and make the people of the territory tremble with anxiety.”

Jaden sighed at her easygoing words and was about to explain why he shouldn’t allow soldiers at will.

Meriel quickly added.

“But I set conditions instead. I raised the tax rate a little, and I decided to replace the tax that had been received in cotton with wheat.”

Jaden’s eyes flashed at those words.

The biggest problem with soldiers is that they can develop independent power and collude with other impure forces without the knowledge of their superiors.

… “The biggest problem is that you can’t reduce the soldiers you’ve allowed once… If you tighten the food supply, it will be difficult to maintain a large number. If they insisted on expanding the size of the soldiers because of anxiety, they will reduce the size on their own when the battle near them decreases.”

“You…”

“But if they have other intentions, they will maintain the size of the soldiers even by force… Then the people of the territory who can’t stand the famine will leave one by one. If such a problem arises, I can hold them accountable right away, so I’ve put in a safety device.”

Jaden stared at her after hearing Meriel’s clear words.

Jaden, who had been staring at Meriel for a while, carefully opened his mouth.

“Are you crazy?”

“Yes?”

“Or did someone else’s soul come into you?” “Yes?”

“Just now… I thought your father had really come back.”