I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain [EN]: Chapter 26

“Oh my, even Uncle…”

“We didn’t find a body. He might come back someday.”

Meriel smiled faintly, as if even empty hope sounded good.

Watching her, Jayden muttered suspiciously.

“…There’s no way you could have come up with that idea… did you perhaps change your tutor? But even if you changed your tutor, I don’t know if that would do it…”

It was a statement that would have offended anyone else, but the kind Meriel waved her hand with a smile.

“No, it’s not that… I just got some advice.”

“Advice?”

“Yes.”

Meriel nodded her head vigorously.

“Yurika. That child really helps me a lot.”

“…That adopted daughter you speak of?”

He had heard that Siena had lost her mind and was calling the unknown girl she brought from the orphanage ‘Yurika,’ saying that her real daughter had returned.

And that everyone in the mansion was humoring her for Siena’s health.

“Yes, she’s out right now, saying she’s going to investigate the actual conditions while sponsoring the children at the orphanage, but she’ll be back in a few days. I think Uncle will like Yurika too!”

“Hmph! What nonsense!”

Jayden snorted in disbelief.

“Yurika will come back someday. I won’t believe it unless I see the body myself! Why would I like the child who’s taking her place?”

Just then, there was a knock on the drawing room door, and one of the knights entered with courtesy.

“Princess, this is a letter from Miss Yurika at the orphanage. Along with a report on embezzlement of funds, she has sent the director under arrest.”

“Embezzlement of funds?”

“Yes. It seems they used all the increased support from the Princess for personal purposes and didn’t even provide proper meals for the children at the orphanage.”

Meriel accepted the report the knight handed her with surprised eyes, and Jayden sighed and looked at the report with her.

Meriel smiled slyly as she saw Jayden’s narrowed eyes.

“See… Yurika is really smart, isn’t she?”

“How old is she?”

In fact, Meriel didn’t know how old Yurika was, but outwardly, she had matched her age to that of her younger sister, who was one year younger than her.

She seemed too young to handle all this so well… But she couldn’t say she didn’t know, so she had no choice but to state her assumed age.

“Fifteen.”

“Hmm.”

Jayden, who she thought would jump up and down as if it were absurd, surprisingly had an expression of understanding.

“Your father also overhauled the territory laws at that age. She’s not too young.”

That was only possible because Duke Medest was excessively talented… Meriel swallowed a hollow laugh and simply nodded.

It was when I arrived at the Duke’s residence after diligently buying Meriel’s gifts.

The maid who had rushed to attend to me as soon as I got out of the carriage immediately reported.

“Princess, you have a guest.”

“A guest?”

“Yes. Earl Jayden Aberth has arrived.”

The maid whispered as if giving a hint.

“He’s been here for a week, saying he needs to see the Princess.”

“Ah… is that so?”

I had arrived with plenty of time before Meriel’s birthday, so I had actually been staying for quite a while.

Originally, he frequently visited the Duke’s family because he didn’t trust Meriel and was worried about Siena, but seeing him stay this long, it seemed to be because of me, as the maid said.

“He’s not the easiest person. He’s the Madam’s brother, but his personality is completely different, so you should be careful.”

And the maid’s whisper soon turned out to be true.

Before I could even answer, a person popped out of the Duke’s residence.

“Are you that adopted daughter?”

With brilliant blonde hair and blue eyes, he was a distinctly handsome young man.

I had heard that there was a big age difference between him and Siena, but he had a striking appearance in his mid-twenties.

And I could understand why he called me ‘adopted daughter.’

It must have been difficult for him to attach the name ‘Yurika,’ the second niece, to me.

“Hello, Earl Aberth. It’s nice to meet you.”

I greeted him politely.

According to etiquette, I should have said my name as well, but I omitted it because I didn’t want to say it to someone who didn’t want to hear it.

He stared at me intently and suddenly got angry.

“Why are you wearing such thin clothes! Is this family trying to let you catch a cold?”

It was true that my clothes were thin because I had been to the south.

And the capital had suddenly gotten chilly in the past few days. But was that something to get so angry about?

As I blinked in bewilderment, he immediately took off his coat.

“Put it on quickly! Children get sick easily! Have you eaten? Did you eat properly while traveling!”

In an instant, I was wrapped up in his scarf, and I blinked in confusion.

Who is this person?

“Yurika!”

Just then, I heard a voice welcoming me. It was Siena.

Siena approached me with Meriel’s support and hugged me tightly.

“Did you have a good trip? I was so worried, dear.”

These days, Siena had gained a little weight, and her complexion was much better than before.

The doctor said that she had stabilized and was recovering quickly because she felt at peace thinking she had found her lost second daughter.

‘At this rate, she’ll be able to hold on until Renat grows up to be a great doctor!’

I hugged Siena tightly in her arms.

“How are you feeling, Mother? My sister gave me a lot of escort knights, so I wasn’t in any danger at all!”

As I asked kindly, Siena stroked my hair and replied.

“Still… I was worried that I might lose my baby twice. If I had been feeling better, I would have gone with you…”

And Jayden, who was watching Siena and me, sighed deeply.

Because his sister Siena was acting like that, he couldn’t say ‘you fake’ to me.

But from Jayden’s point of view, it was understandable that he was wary of me.

Meriel was the Duchess of Medest and the only heir, but her position was quite unstable.

This was because her marriage partner was set to be a war hero.

That person could completely swallow the Medest Dukedom, or he could just take Meriel and disappear to a foreign country, and there would be nothing to say.

In the latter case, the Medest Dukedom would be left floating, and the only remaining direct descendant of Medest would be me.

‘And without going that far… If I were a really bad kid or had been instructed by someone else, I could poison Meriel. Well, even so, poison is hard to get.’

This was a world where it was very difficult to get poison. The temple was in charge of drug research, so it was very difficult for ordinary people who were not doctors to use poison.

But if I coveted Medest, I didn’t even need to use poison.

I could gently coax Meriel and say, ‘Transfer all your inheritance rights to me before the war ends. What if the person who becomes your husband eats up all of Medest!’

Thinking about it, I was lucky that I was so kind.

If I had had bad intentions, Medest would already be in my hands.

“Mother missed you a lot. I want to have tea time with Yurika, whom I haven’t seen in a while, but how about spending some time with Mother first?”

Meriel smiled and winked at me. It was a signal to get away from Jayden for now.

Jayden wasn’t scary at all, but I really wanted to spend time with Siena.

I nodded my head vigorously, wrapped in Jayden’s coat and scarf.

***

“Her condition has really improved a lot.”

As Siena fell asleep holding my hand, the doctor approached and said.

“After all, when the mind is at ease, the body follows. Especially since she has always suffered from guilt and longing…”

“Still…”

I sighed and asked carefully.

“Still, she can’t recover like this and be completely cured, can she?”

At my question, the doctor quietly looked at me and nodded slowly.

“…Probably not. First of all, we don’t know the exact name of the disease, so the treatment is not certain either…”

Renat was a famous doctor who cured all incurable diseases in the original work… Maybe he can save Siena.

Even though she regards me as her real daughter due to mental confusion, I liked Siena’s warm embrace.

It’s a really funny thing to say, but when I was in Siena’s arms, I strangely felt like I had found something very longed for.

I stroked Siena’s hand once more as she slept. It was logically impossible to explain why I liked Siena.

If Renat even cures Siena’s mental confusion, and Siena looks at me with cold eyes like Jayden and says, ‘How dare you take the Medest name?’ and kicks me out…

Well, that might be a little sad…

Anyway, I hoped she would get better.