I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain [EN]: Chapter 39

“H-Hey, I hope nothing bad happened?” Meriel bit her nails, pacing anxiously outside the door.

When she asked if it was okay to come in earlier, it sounded like a complete disaster was unfolding inside the drawing room.

“W-Wait a minute! Sister, just a moment!”

“I-I wish you could wait just a little longer!”

Meriel had never heard Yurika sound so desperate before.

Moreover, Johan’s voice had also completely lost its composure.

From what she had seen earlier, he was a very stoic person. He was even the hero who ended this massive war, but she couldn’t even guess why he sounded so flustered.

“I can’t stand it.”

Renat, who had been pacing anxiously beside her, rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward.

“I think we need to go in right now. Leaving aside manners and etiquette, it seems like an emergency.” He knocked on the door with a firm voice and shouted, “Lady Yurika, I’m coming in!”

Meriel looked at Renat for a moment, her eyes widening even in that brief instant.

She had never known that Renat, who was always calm and composed, had this side to him.

Seeing his determined eyes, it seemed he was completely consumed by worry for Yurika.

She had seen him often because of Sienna’s treatment, but it was the first time she had seen him make such an expression.

Normally, it would be absurd for someone with only the title of Baron to intrude on the Princess’s private space without permission.

But to Renat, Yurika was truly a benefactor.

She had stopped the abuse at the orphanage and sponsored him so that he could develop his talents.

‘Renat would probably do anything for Yurika…’

So, putting aside status and everything else, he was trying to go in with a heart that sincerely cared for Yurika.

Even as Meriel was thinking about Renat’s steadfast loyalty, Yurika’s shrill scream was heard from inside the room.

“Aaaah! Just a moment, just a moment! I’m really okay!” “I’m coming in.”

In the meantime, Renat threw open the door from which the screams had poured out.

‘Really… Ah, thank goodness.’

I gasped for breath, looking at Renat and Meriel, who had rushed in with worried expressions.

Since they made such a fuss about coming in at the worst timing, there was no time for either of us to be embarrassed about being in Johan’s arms in a state of undress.

I had to quickly put on my clothes, and even then, I needed help from Johan to fasten the back buttons.

At that time, Johan… his hands were shaking terribly.

Even his whole body was red, and it felt like he was burning up just by touching his fingers.

‘He’s more inexperienced with women than I thought. Well, that’s why he fell in love with Meriel at first sight in the original work.’

It seemed like the back button was a mess, but I had no choice but to let my hair down to cover it.

So, when Renat and Meriel rushed in, we were standing apart like children caught doing something wrong.

I was fanning myself and buried in the sofa, and Johan was staring at the window with his ears red.

“Lady Yurika, are you really okay? I was so worried…”

* * *

“Yeah, I’m fine. Really.”

I answered, sweating coldly, to Renat’s worried question.

“It’s true that I wasn’t feeling well, but I’m really better now.”

“I’ll do a check-up first. I’ve been bothered that I couldn’t examine you properly earlier.”

While Renat opened his medical bag, Meriel sat next to me and stroked my arm worriedly.

“Really… Are you really okay? Yurika, I’m so worried. Renat gave you a drug that hasn’t even been released yet.”

It was a bit embarrassing, but in some ways, it was fortunate that they had rushed in.

If they hadn’t made a fuss about coming in, how would I have dealt with the atmosphere with Johan?

We were both so embarrassed that we hurriedly put on our clothes, and it seemed like that was a less embarrassing way to get through this situation.

“Hmm…”

In the meantime, Renat finished my examination and said, lifting his glasses.

“It seems like you’re really okay. You seem normal now. But your complexion was really bad earlier…”

In fact, after accepting Johan’s magic and transforming into a human, my condition was completely fine.

“Renat.”

I said with a serious face.

“That reagent… can you give it to me? What kind of reagent is it?”

“As I explained, it’s a drug that slightly disrupts magic power. It has a slight effect of making you feel unwell, but usually, that level of magic power fluctuation recovers quickly, so there shouldn’t be a big impact…”

Renat carefully took out the reagent from his medical bag.

“I’m sorry, Lady Yurika. I think I was too arrogant. I still don’t know why such a reaction appeared in Lady Yurika, but I will research it further.”

I took the unremarkable reagent bottle and said seriously.

“No, there’s no need to research it again… Can you give this to me? As much as possible.”

“It’s not a difficult drug to manufacture, so it’s not difficult, but… why…”

“Just because. I think I’ll need it.”

After listening to Renat’s explanation, I came up with a hypothesis.

So, this was a drug that only had a fatal effect on me, who was a divine beast.

Even a slight destabilization of magic power would turn me back into a squirrel, and the way to become human again was to accept magic power again.

In other words, I could now switch between squirrel and human at any time as long as I had this reagent and someone who could supply magic power.

Of course, it wasn’t that I wanted to live as a squirrel from time to time. I had desperately wanted to become human from the moment I was possessed.

I was just not forgetting.

The temple had come to the Hyland family to catch me. It meant they were after me, but I didn’t even know why.

It would be nice if I could live well as Yurika Medest for thousands of years, but at this point, the temple was an unknown risk factor for me.

They might suspect my humanization.

And I always wanted to prepare for such a situation in the future.

It was just that the temple had been such a closed space that I couldn’t use any means.

“Anyway, if you’ve all confirmed that I’m okay, can you leave now?”

I said, looking at Renat and Meriel.

“I have something left to say to Johan…”

“Lord Johan?”

Meriel’s eyes turned to Johan, who was standing by the window without saying a word.

Johan was even pressing his forehead against the window and panting.

“… Lord Johan doesn’t look very good? Yurika, did you poison him so that he can’t mess with Medest again? It would be difficult to get poison…”

It was obviously a joke, but Johan’s complexion looked so bad that no one could laugh.

It seemed like he was still shaking his hands.

“Oh my… I think Renat, you should have done the examination over there.”

Meriel said seriously.

* * *

Johan was struggling to even breathe.

He had hurriedly helped Yurika put on her clothes, but the afterimage of her kept flickering in front of his eyes.

Moreover, the thought of the skin that brushed against his fingers when he fastened the back buttons made his head spin.

‘Am I really losing it…’

Even in any situation during the war, his thought circuits had never stopped like this.

Johan just stood there like a fool, watching Yurika chase Meriel and Renat out.

He still didn’t like that pale-faced doctor who was trembling in front of Yurika, but he couldn’t even glare at him because his heart kept beating so fast.

And when Yurika and he were left alone in the drawing room again, Johan almost stopped breathing again when he saw Yurika looking back at him.

“Johan.”

But Yurika didn’t seem to be shaken at all. As if the chaos just now had no effect on her.

She even had a very serious expression. She asked seriously.

“Could you help me with something?”

“…Help you?”

He was about to answer that he could help her, of course, and even do more than that, but Yurika frowned and said.

“I think… I need to know the truth.”

“The truth?”

Yurika’s pink eyes were shining seriously.

“You have to go to the temple for the celebration, don’t you?”

“…I canceled everything.”