I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain [EN]: Chapter 72

The day Lizzie arrived, claiming she might be the real Yurika, the person who found the situation most bizarre was Meriel.

Even though Lizzie presented the baby clothes Yurika had been wearing when she disappeared, Meriel calmly kept her distance.

This was unlike Meriel, who was usually kind and gentle to almost everyone.

I found it a bit strange too, and just then, Meriel came to my room.

I wanted to tell her I was the real Yurika as soon as I knew the truth, but…

Saying, ‘Actually, I’m the real one’ at this point, without any proof, seemed pathetic, so I hesitated.

After all, Lizzie, who barged in claiming to be the real one, had more convincing evidence.

“Yurika.”

But as soon as Meriel entered my room, she hugged me tightly.

“You don’t feel well, do you? But regardless of Lizzie… there’s something I want to discuss with you.”

Then she told me something very surprising.

“His Highness the Crown Prince told me there’s a secret library belonging to His Majesty the Emperor. And it’s said to contain books detailing the weaknesses of various nobles…”

That was news to me.

I blinked and nodded carefully.

“It’s said that the Medest Duchy is mentioned there as being cursed.”

“Pardon?”

“And on that page… a squirrel and a tiger were drawn.”

As a squirrel spirit, I couldn’t ignore that.

Meriel, who knew my spirit form, must have found it strange too.

For a squirrel to be drawn on the Medest Duchy’s page of all things.

“Um, I’m not very smart, and I don’t have the talent to logically connect these pieces of information, so I don’t know how this will sound…”

Meriel rolled her eyes and slowly continued.

“You said there’s an unusually refined amount of mana [magical energy] in my body, right? Considering that, I think there might be a secret in our family that we don’t know about.”

I swallowed hard and just nodded.

“The legend that the founder of the Medest family was a beast-person is also bothering me.”

Meriel looked at me, who was silent, and smiled faintly.

“And if you’re somehow connected to that secret… maybe we’re much closer than we think.”

Closer.

Could that mean what I think it means?

As I blinked, Meriel hurriedly added.

“O-Of course! There’s no solid logical basis. But just, when you put various facts together haphazardly, that’s the feeling I get! At least, compared to Lizzie, who suddenly appeared with just baby clothes…”

Tears welled up in my eyes.

Of course, there were many logical leaps in Meriel’s words.

But that was the truth. There were some facts I didn’t know, but I had overheard similar things.

And hearing her say, ‘I just feel like you’re more likely than Lizzie,’ something welled up in my chest.

It was even more touching because it wasn’t logical.

Like… how my mother believed I was her daughter from the start without any basis.

Thinking coldly, saying this without evidence wasn’t a good choice, but I still wanted to say it.

Because we’re close.

Because we’re a real family that’s been together for a long time, even if we didn’t know it.

So I slowly opened my mouth.

“I have something to tell you too, Sister. But I don’t know if you’ll believe me.”

“I’ll believe anything you say!”

“But… especially in a case like this, I want to gain perfect trust, Sister.”

“Perfect trust?”

“Yes. There was an incident at the banquet, and I think I’m the real Yurika… If that’s the case, then Lizzie is a fake, right?”

“……That’s right.”

Meriel nodded with a somewhat surprised expression, as if she didn’t expect the words ‘I’m the real one’ to come out of my mouth.

Well, it might sound absurd from her perspective.

After five years of silence, I’m saying ‘I’m the real one’ after Lizzie appeared.

“But… what happened at the banquet?”

Fortunately, Meriel asked cautiously rather than pressing me, and I nodded.

“Yes. I overheard Lady Libena Sevs and Prince Theodore talking secretly.”

Saying it made me feel pathetic again.

It was the truth, but it sounded too far-fetched even to me.

There was no material evidence, and even the people involved were too high in status to question.

“They kidnapped me from the temple…”

With a trembling heart, I slowly continued.

“They made me a spirit and distributed me. Maybe it’s related to the Medest family’s unique abilities? Things we don’t even know about.”

Meriel stared at me intently.

I had seen Meriel’s expression when she looked at Lizzie, so I felt even more pathetic.

Wouldn’t it look like I was now coveting the position of the real princess?

Even though Meriel had directly said we were ‘close,’ wasn’t she doubting me at this moment?

Whether intentional or not, the temple had given me the worst timing.

Even the moment I said I was real made me feel so pathetic.

I drooped my shoulders with an insecure expression.

That’s when it happened.

“Th-Th-Those….”

Meriel clenched her fist and said the worst curse she could.

“Those damned bad people!”

“……Pardon?”

The temple being damned was a bit of a stretch, but Meriel’s eyes were filled with tears.

“They’re very bad people!”

Meriel started to utter the harshest words she could, one after another, with rough breaths.

“How can people do that!”

Then she started wiping away the flowing tears with her sleeve.

Meriel sobbed and muttered.

“Mother… Mother recognized you.”

“S-Sister?”

I was more flustered by the endless tears welling up in Meriel’s eyes.

“Actually, th-there’s no evidence….”

“That’ll come out soon! Who do you think you are!”

I stared at Meriel for a moment and then hugged her tightly.

I felt something warm filling my heart.

Meriel said in a voice full of conviction.

“I believe you, Yurika.”

Tears started to well up in my eyes too.

If I were Meriel, I would never believe someone like me.

The timing was bad, there was no evidence, and it was just a far-fetched story.

Even if I had helped Meriel so far, it was difficult to say ‘I believe you’ so quickly.

But that absolute warmth, different from mine, was what I needed now.

That’s why I liked Meriel.

I always had.

“……Thank you for believing me.”

I hugged Meriel and cried for quite a while.

Come to think of it, Meriel had understood everything I said since I was a squirrel.

The person who perfectly understood my hand signals that even Johann couldn’t understand.

Maybe that was possible because we were family.

I found out I was the real Medest princess on the day of the banquet, but the moment my heart was truly full was that moment.

The moment I hugged Meriel and cried.

At the same time, I braced myself, knowing that this wasn’t the end of everything.

I couldn’t allow it to end like this.

So I barely swallowed my tears and said.

“Then, should we take this opportunity to reveal that Lizzie is a fake and aim for the mastermind behind the kidnapping?”

At my words, Meriel asked, slightly surprised.

“The, the mastermind? Not interrogate Lizzie?”

“Yes.”

I wiped away my tears and smiled.

“I don’t fish for small fry. We have to aim big from the start.”

“B-B-Big, as in….”

“And since the enemy of my enemy is my friend… I want to get help from His Highness the Crown Prince. Of course, His Highness the Crown Prince will also gain a great achievement from this incident.”

“What? You’re including His Highness too?”

“Yes. Even if we fail, we have nothing to lose. And His Highness the Crown Prince is already out of his mind in love, so he’ll listen to anything you say, Sister.”

“W-Well, that’s true….”

That’s how my plan was progressing.

I would leave the house and give Lizzie freedom, and in the process, open up a secret space… and leak false information to Lizzie.

To provoke the temple, I also gave Crown Prince Roimund an issue to stir up at the cabinet meeting.

Fortunately, Roimund was a warrior who could protect himself well, so this plan was possible.

Even if we failed in the process, it didn’t matter.

I just had to finish the scheduled routine.

“Surely a very high-ranking person will be caught. Maybe….”

I raised the corners of my lips and continued.

“The High Priest might get caught.”

At my words, Meriel widened her eyes and asked back.

“The High Priest? You’re arresting the High Priest? Then what happens?”