I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain [EN]: Chapter 38

Meanwhile, Renatt and Meriel were having tea in Meriel’s office.

With Johann and Yurika gone to talk, the remaining two had no choice but to wait.

“Johann Hairad, I don’t really like that guy.”

Meriel sighed and shrugged.

“He was much worse in person than the rumors suggested. So arrogant and rude. I’m so glad the engagement was called off. It’s great that Yurika won’t be involved either.”

“Indeed. It’s a relief.”

Renatt replied slowly, barely touching the food.

He was so worried about Yurika that he couldn’t think straight.

‘That potion isn’t supposed to be strong enough to make someone stagger like that…’ Meriel continued.

“How is your mother doing? She seems to be much better.”

“She has improved a lot. The mental confusion hasn’t returned… I’m thinking of starting active treatment for that soon. Yurika being by her side is a great help for her psychological stability.”

Meriel swirled her teacup, smiling faintly.

“Really… I’m so glad Yurika is here.”

To her, Yurika was like a precious younger sister. Although adopted, Meriel never thought of her as a stranger.

Even if everyone pointed fingers at Sienna, saying she had finally gone mad, Meriel thought it was a good thing if Sienna was happy and her health improved because of it.

Besides, Yurika was a great help to Meriel, from social events to political movements and managing the estate.

‘It’s really strange…’

Meriel smiled, thinking of Yurika.

‘Since Yurika came to the estate, it feels like Father has come back to life.’

The Duke Medest that the people of the estate remembered was just like Yurika: cold, intelligent, and aloof, without emotional ups and downs.

Thinking of Yurika, Meriel looked at Renatt and said with concern, “By the way, Yurika didn’t look too good earlier.”

At Meriel’s words, Renatt’s face visibly hardened.

It was something he had been concerned about.

The medicine Renatt gave Yurika had almost no side effects.

‘The unusual thing is that it affects magic power…’

It was a bit different from ordinary medicine since it made something that wasn’t painful feel painful.

Even so, touching that much magic power shouldn’t cause such severe symptoms.

But this medicine was a reagent that Renatt alone knew about and hadn’t released to the world yet… No matter how much he believed in his genius, he couldn’t help but feel anxious.

“Princess, I think I may have prescribed the wrong medicine.”

Renatt put down his teacup and said seriously.

“So… that seems to be the case.”

Renatt, who had barely managed to speak, realized that his hands were trembling.

He had made a name for himself as a prodigy since entering the academy and grew up to be an excellent doctor, but he had never felt such emotional turmoil before.

That was probably because Yurika was very precious to him.

He couldn’t express how happy he was when she first appeared at the orphanage, promising support and reaching out her hand.

After graduation, he turned down numerous offers and went to the Medest estate, and his heart fluttered slightly when he saw Yurika as an adult.

Although she was the Medest’s princess, Yurika never forgot that she was ‘an adopted child occupying the second position.’

That’s why she was an eternal benefactor who was an unreserved friend to him, a mere doctor from an orphanage.

The closer they became, the more Renatt worried about Yurika.

If something happened to her—who was calm, cynical, but secretly warm-hearted—because of him….

While Renatt was fidgeting, Meriel blinked in surprise.

“Medicine?”

“Well… Yurika said she wanted to look a little sick, so I gave her a reagent that makes her look pale. I think that’s why.”

“Really? She looked really bad. The effect is very good.”

“But it’s not supposed to make her look that bad…”

After confessing, he became even more anxious about Yurika.

“Yurika said she was okay, but… I can’t help but worry. I want to check on her as soon as possible.”

“Oh, then you should see her right away. Don’t trust her when she says she’s okay.”

Meriel jumped up at Renatt’s words. Seeing Meriel’s hardened face, Renatt hesitated and said,

“But Duke Hairad…”

“What does that man have to do with it? He has no connection with our family anymore. Let’s go quickly.”

“Still, Yurika said she wanted to be alone…”

“She needs to take better care of herself. She’s been taking care of me, so now it’s my turn to take care of Yurika!”

Meriel firmly grabbed Renatt’s arm.

Renatt grabbed his medical bag and hurriedly followed her.

***

“Kyu-gu-gung…”

What an absurd situation. Suddenly, my head was spinning, and everything looked huge.

‘Am I… am I a squirrel now?’

I reached out to check, and sure enough, a squirrel’s small forepaw came into view. I sighed and rubbed my forehead.

‘No, what is going on?’

In fact, I didn’t even know how to become a squirrel again.

No, in the first place, I had never imagined that I would return to the form of a divine beast after becoming human.

Anyway, what was done was done, and while I was dumbfounded by the situation, I quickly turned my head.

Renatt said he gave me a medicine that slightly disrupted my magic power.

‘It might not matter to ordinary people, but it must be a bit fatal to divine beasts.’

I had lived as a human for too long, and since my ego was human even when I was a divine beast, I didn’t even think about the possibility of turning back into a squirrel.

As I was lamenting, my body was carefully wrapped in a large hand and lifted.

“Momo?”

Johann was holding me in his hand, making eye contact with me. Seeing him like this, I realized anew that Johann had grown a lot compared to a few years ago.

I was remembering Johann from my perspective as a squirrel when he was a child.

His long eyebrows had become darker, and his sculpted face, which had shed his boyishness, had a strange sexiness.

‘Really…’

I straightened my tail and thought to myself.

‘He’s gotten handsome…’

He was also much taller, his shoulders were much broader, and the haggard energy caused by an unbalanced nutritional state had disappeared.

But that wasn’t the important thing right now. I shook my forepaws and corrected Johann.

“Kyu-gu-gung. Kyu-gung.”

‘I’m not Momo. Not that awful name. It’s Yurika.’

Johann frowned and stared at me for a while, then widened his eyes as if he understood.

“Ah, you want to become human again?”

No, in what context?

But thinking about it, that was more important.

“Okay. Take my magic power.”

Johann narrowed his eyes and smiled. I wondered for a moment if his smile had always been so seductive.

And I came to a conclusion.

‘He was always a bit seductive in this way.’

He was just a skinny boy, so his lethality was weak. Now he has leveled up surprisingly.

“Kyu-gung.”

Anyway, since I couldn’t do anything in the body of a squirrel, I nodded while looking at Johann.

Johann carefully held me in both hands and brought his forehead to mine.

‘Anyway, he has a face that’s harmful to the heart.’

I put my forepaw on his smooth forehead and accepted his magic power as before.

And the familiar churning began to fill my body.

‘Ah, it’s working! It’s working!’

When I confirmed that the reagent Renatt gave me had disrupted my magic power and suddenly turned me into a squirrel, and that I could become human as usual,

suddenly, an idea flashed through my mind.

According to Renatt, this reagent was not commercially available.

Then this is a reagent that even the temple doesn’t know about, so now I can freely switch between human and squirrel forms?

‘Wait a minute.’

And in a fleeting moment, I realized a new fact.

It was a variable that I hadn’t thought of at all because it happened so suddenly and I hadn’t had a chance to become human.

‘Clothes! What about my clothes!’

Before I could react, light brown hair scattered into my view.

‘No!’

I was in danger of covering Johann without a single thread on my body.

Unfortunately, time did not stop, and I, who had become human, overlapped with Johann’s body with wide eyes.

“D-don’t look!”