I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain [EN]: Chapter 32

Meriell began to look at me with hopeful eyes.

Because I had solved so many problems for her, Meriel often showed an expression of infinite trust when I took the initiative like this.

“Really? But… still, this is an old imperial promise. Medest has definitely benefited from the exemption from military service, so we can’t break the contract first, no matter what.”

“Of course. We are not in a position to intervene directly. Tampering with the contract is even more impossible.”

“Then…”

“We have to find a way to work around the contract. Let me think about the original story for a moment.

Johann first met Meriel because of the imperial order to marry the Medest heiress, and he fell in love at first sight.

His twisted nature felt saved by Meriel’s existence, which was like bright sunlight.

And because he was so…difficult, he became obsessed with possession, regardless of other people’s happiness or intentions, and drove Meriel into a corner.

But as far as I’ve seen, their first meeting has already gone off-script.

And thanks to me, wouldn’t he have grown up a little better? As a kind young man with dreams and hopes…

Even though he’s a villain, the premise that ‘no one cared for him in his childhood’ has disappeared.

I even helped him get rid of the pain that had been tormenting him.

If physical pain has a big impact on a twisted personality, then there was hope for him too.

Even though he was the villain in the original story, he was a kind and gentle boy when I first met him.

He could have grown up to be a very sensible, good, and normal young man.”

I slowly turned my head, recalling Johann’s innocently sparkling purple eyes.

“First, send a letter to Johann Hাইল라드 [pronounced Hillaerde, likely a noble family name].”

“Me first?”

“Yes. Write what I tell you.”

Meriell quickly sat down at her desk and picked up a pen.

Her eyes sparkled with hope that she might not have to marry Johann.

I slowly dictated the contents so she could write them down.

“To Johann Hাইল라드, congratulations on your victory. As a member of the Empire, thank you for ending the long war.”

So far, it was just a common, flattering greeting.

It was probably something Johann had heard more than a thousand times by now.

“Do you remember the imperial decree issued by His Majesty seven years ago? The marriage of the war hero and the Medest heiress.”

Now it was the main point.

I had to write it as plainly as possible, as if it were just passing by without any thought.

“I am contacting you to confirm your understanding of this decree, and to invite your thoughts on the matter. Please reply to this message at your convenience. From Meriel Medest, heiress of Medest.”

Meriell tilted her head after hearing my words that followed quickly.

“Meriel Medest, heiress of Medest? I don’t usually write like this… The formal notation is a little different.”

“Just write it like that anyway. Johann probably didn’t receive this kind of formal education, so he likely wouldn’t know the difference.”

Of course, *I* was educated.

The first thing I received after becoming the adopted daughter of the Medest family was etiquette training.

Originally, I didn’t even know how to write, and I didn’t have basic etiquette or common sense.

But everyone seemed to understand because I was from an orphanage in a remote territory.

So I studied with the tutors Meriel assigned to me, and the result was…

I was praised as a genius and became a graceful noble lady that anyone could see.

Even my best friend these days, Renat, praised my perfect etiquette.

He said that I was definitely different from him, even though we were from the same commoner background.

He was not the type to make empty remarks, so it was quite believable.

‘I’m good at everything.’

I almost regretted the days when I lived as a squirrel.

I erased the unnecessary thoughts and continued.

“And send it with the Medest family seal on it.”

“…Isn’t this just stirring up trouble? What if we’re reminding him of something he doesn’t even remember…”

Meriell bit her nails anxiously.

“It doesn’t matter. We just need to get a reply confirming it.”

I answered nonchalantly.

“The imperial order was… for the war hero and the Medest heiress to marry, and that’s what we need to confirm.”

“Um… What are you talking about, Yurika?”

Meriell frowned and scanned the letter I had dictated again.

I smiled knowingly, as if to say, ‘Did you notice?’ and added.

“The Medest heiress who is promised to marry the war hero… is not just one person anymore.”

Meriell’s eyes widened.

“…Oh my.”

“There’s no law that says the Medest heiress has to mean *your* sister, so even if he marries me, he can’t say anything.”

“R, really?”

“If we have evidence that he confirmed the contents himself, then there’s no way out.”

That’s why I subtly hid the fact that ‘Medest heiress’ meant Meriel Medest in the letter.

If you read it without thinking, you can’t help but think that the Medest heiress *is* Meriel Medest.

Because I wrote ‘Medest heiress, Meriel Medest’ at the end.

Meriell hesitated but honestly voiced her concerns.

“But it’s too…underhanded…”

“The best compliment for a trick. Thank you very much.”

It’s been five years, so I don’t know if Johann will recognize me, who has grown up so much, but if he has eyes, there’s a high possibility that he will.

If I meet him later, I can say, ‘I’m your benefactor, why are you trying to force me to marry you?’

As long as I meet him, unless he grows up to be a complete jerk who doesn’t know gratitude, I’m the boss anyway. I saved his life.

I was planning to make a big deal out of it.

Since he didn’t seem to be very fond of Meriel anyway, maybe he could free the Medest family.

“But what if… what if he really *wants* to marry you…?”

“We can think about that then. Don’t worry. It’s important for your sister, the head of the family, to be free first.”

“He, he probably won’t just break off the engagement, will he?”

“I don’t know. I don’t think it’s easy to break off the engagement right now.”

I shook my head, thinking about various possibilities.

“First of all, it’s good for Hাইল라드 to be tied to the Medest family, even if it’s just an engagement. Medest is such a big family.”

To be exact, there was no reason to break off the engagement with the Medest family, which was about to collapse but I had successfully revived.

“Besides, this was an imperial order. No matter how welcomed Johann Hাইল라드 is as a war hero, it would be burdensome to disobey the Emperor’s order right away.”

In the original story, Johann was an intelligent person who looked five or six moves into the future and calculated.

So he was not the kind of person who would do us a favor.

Even if I prevented his blackening thanks to me, his natural judgment would not change. He could become kind, but he couldn’t become stupid.

I twisted the original story and saved Johann, but he became a war hero anyway.

“Even if he *does* break off the engagement, he will likely delay the announcement for a year or two, citing personality differences. That’s what we’re aiming for.”

Anyway, Johann had been rolling around on the battlefield for five years.

And now that he has returned to the capital and is about to take over the Hাইল라드 dukedom and dominate the political world, he needed a solid foundation.

Because he had never socialized as a child.

So, in order for him to let go of Medest, we had to rely on surprise and launch a surprise attack…

‘There’s no need to show my hand. There’s no reason to let him know that I’m Momo first.’

The superior strategy was to get a promise to break off the engagement while he was stunned and dazed when he saw me.

People are prone to saying nonsense when they are surprised.

And actually…

‘Well, there’s no reason to break off the engagement… If he grew up to be as kind and pretty as he was back then, he wouldn’t be a bad match for me.’

Even as a child, he was handsome enough to seduce a squirrel, so I didn’t think I needed to push him away.

‘I even… kind of miss him?’

He was the one I saved and the one I kept alive. So it was natural that I wanted to see him alive and well.

There was also a time when we relied on each other in the desolate and barren Hাইল라드 castle.

His magic allowed me to transform into a human twice for a short time.