I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain [EN]: Chapter 56

“What? Are you very sick?”

Meriel widened her eyes and immediately grabbed my hand.

“Should we call the Imperial Palace physician? Where does it hurt? No, instead of that, let’s just go together now.”

Meriel’s pink eyes, so like mine, were filled with worry.

Even though she doesn’t know I’m her real sister, Meriel has always cared for me a lot. Thinking about that made my heart feel strange again.

But I couldn’t say anything here. I haven’t sorted out my feelings yet.

“I’m just feeling a bit under the weather. I’m not used to places like this.”

I smiled and gently removed Meriel’s hand from mine.

“You should enjoy yourself a bit more, Sister. The Crown Prince’s partner shouldn’t abandon her post so early. I think I’ll just go back to the mansion and ask Renat for a headache pill.”

“Don’t worry, Lady Yurika.”

Yoann, who was standing next to me, chimed in tactfully.

“I will escort you back to the mansion.”

Even if the temple is targeting me, with Yoann by my side, there’s no need for any more guards.

Yoann was a great wizard who could end wars in an instant.

Meriel continued to express her concern several times after that. But when I insisted on going home with Yoann, she couldn’t stop me any longer.

Jayden also made a fuss, saying he would go back with me, but I stopped his enthusiastic farewell with the words, ‘If there are any inquiries about artificial leather, Uncle needs to answer them.’

Jayden followed my instructions without asking anything, not even knowing why I was wary of Libena.

Just because he trusts me as his niece.

Jayden… so Jayden is my real uncle.

Ironically, I found out I was Yurika on the day I heard the words, ‘You are precious even if you are not Yurika.’

And so, I left the banquet hall with Yoann.

Yoann escorted me politely and spoke slowly.

“Let’s talk in the carriage.”

He was conscious of the many ears listening here.

Well, from his point of view, I had turned into a squirrel and cried my eyes out, then hadn’t said a word since, so he must have been curious about what was going on.

Somehow, I ended up telling Yoann about my identity before my family.

“But Yurika.”

As if there was a question he couldn’t wait to ask, Yoann touched my forehead and said,

“Are you really sick? Is it very painful? Perhaps….”

“No, I’m really okay.”

I smiled and replied.

“I just… I just want to go home. That’s all.”

And after getting into the carriage, I told Yoann everything on the way to the Duke’s residence.

* * *

After hearing the whole truth, Yoann was silent for a while.

Not because he had nothing to say, but because he wanted to say too much.

He wanted to ransack the temple and make it disappear from the world right away, but according to Yurika, Duke Medest might be inside the temple.

“Um, Yoann.”

Yurika asked with tearful eyes.

“Can’t we just get rid of everyone except my father… or something like that?”

Yoann shook his head miserably.

Global settings that kill all the beasts are possible.

But there was no magic that could destroy everything except for one person who didn’t even know where or how to exist.

Yurika smiled as if she knew that would be the case and continued.

“No, but I have to keep them alive to find out about the situation anyway. I was just asking.”

For a moment, Yoann had to agonizingly consider why magic could only produce physically destructive power.

He wanted to get rid of Theodore first, but wizards couldn’t use magic on the imperial family due to their oaths.

Yoann felt helpless for the first time in a long time.

And in the meantime, Yurika wiped away her tears and quietly gritted her teeth.

“I will reveal the truth.”

And with a determined face, she suppressed her sadness and muttered coldly.

“I will reveal everything they did to the Medest family. I will find evidence. I will never let them get away with it.”

With tears in her eyes, she tried to suppress her sadness and somehow regain her reason.

Well, how miserable she must feel, as if her entire life had been taken away. Yurika’s pink eyes turned to Yoann.

“In the end, I have to force this adventure again at the temple event.”

Yurika wiped away the tears in her eyes and said.

“At that time, I will somehow save my father and blow up the temple.”

Yurika was never one to make empty promises. She would probably achieve her goal no matter what.

Just like how she managed to become human.

“Yoann, I’m sorry… Please help me a little more… I beg you.”

She grabbed his hand with a trembling voice and bowed her head.

“Please. Please. I’ll pay you back somehow….”

Before, she had moved with an uneasy heart just to survive, but now, every syllable was filled with revenge.

“Yurika.”

Yoann looked at her and said in a low voice.

“I will do my best to help you. Sincerely.”

In fact, Yoann had been trying to seduce Yurika at this banquet.

He practiced several times to make himself look like a man and create a subtle atmosphere.

But it didn’t seem like the time for that now. Yurika had lost her entire life.

It felt like a betrayal to say ‘I actually like you’ to Yurika, who was trembling all over with revenge and anger.

That’s how shocking the truth was to him as well.

“I’m always….”

So Yoann comforted her with all his heart.

“…on your side.”

He hoped that he would always be with Yurika’s plan and that he could save her from danger.

Or that her path would be a little easier.

That’s when they arrived at the Medest Duke’s residence.

Siena, wearing a shawl, was sitting quietly on a chair in front of the garden and stood up with a delighted expression.

“Yurika!”

“…Mother?”

Yurika widened her eyes as soon as she got out of the carriage and faced Siena.

“Why are you here?”

“Just… I was waiting.”

Yoann stepped back and watched the mother and daughter, who were already holding hands.

She had returned much earlier than scheduled, so how long had Siena been waiting for Yurika?

“My daughter, was the banquet fun?”

Siena asked, stroking Yurika’s cheek with a soft touch.

“Actually, I kept thinking about the day I lost you… so I couldn’t just wait in my room.”

“If you had sent someone, I would have come a little earlier….”

Tears were already welling up in Yurika’s eyes again.

“But it’s your first banquet.”

Siena replied with a smile.

“My worries are my own, and I just wanted my daughter to make beautiful memories with a wonderful young man.”

Yurika hugged Siena tightly.

“Mom….”

It was the first time Yurika had ever acted spoiled. She added, sobbing.

“I really missed you….”

“Oh, you went to the banquet and came back in less than two hours.”

Siena patted Yurika’s back and smiled.

“Thank you, Mom….”

Yurika finally started to sob.

“…For waiting for me.”

“Didn’t I tell you? I didn’t even wait two hours.”

The night was getting late. Yoann watched the scene quietly for a long time.

* * *

Meanwhile, Meriel, who remained at the banquet hall, expressed her concerns to Jayden.

“Doesn’t Yurika seem a bit strange?”

In the banquet hall where Theodore and Yoann had left, Meriel, the Crown Prince’s partner, was receiving a lot of attention.

So she couldn’t openly chase after Yurika and could only sigh.

“Well, it would be difficult for her to be okay….”

“Hmm….”

“People are spreading strange rumors behind her back.”

Meriel couldn’t understand why Yurika had suddenly said she was leaving the banquet hall.

She could only guess that Yurika had left because she was upset by the malicious rumors.

Jayden was no different, and he was restless, not caring about the fancy banquet.

“That’s what I’m saying. I think we did something wrong.”

Jayden frowned and replied.

“No matter how okay Yurika says she is, we shouldn’t have let those rumors spread….”

And Roymond, who was listening to their conversation from the side, gently interjected.

“If you’re so worried about Lady Yurika.”

Crown Prince Roymond had been close to Meriel for a long time.

He knew better than anyone how much Meriel cared for Yurika like a real sister.

He even vaguely sensed that Yurika was trying to connect Meriel and himself.

According to imperial law, the Crown Prince did not participate in wars.

The imperial family had defensive abilities that even wizards could not attack, and there was a founding myth that the capital would be safe as long as the direct line of the imperial family stayed in the capital.

Conversely, it meant that the Crown Prince could not become a war hero.

In fact, he was very anxious when Yoann Hyrard ended the war.

He had his eye on Meriel and secretly hoped that the war hero would be a woman who had everything.

However, Yoann Hyrard was a young noble man who did not have a base in the metropolitan area… and there was no reason to reject Meriel at all.

In that situation, Yurika said, ‘I’ll take care of Yoann,’ and actively stepped in to prevent Meriel from marrying against her will.

Roymond was not the type to look down on someone just because they were a commoner, so he couldn’t help but be grateful to Yurika.

“Why don’t you give her a surprise gift?”