I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain

“Ah…” 

 

I slightly opened my mouth as I looked up at the portrait. It had a stronger impression compared to Sienna and Mariel.

 

“Although there is a big age difference, I treated my brother-in-law like an older brother. He was truly someone to admire.”

 

Jayden said bitterly.

 

“So, when he went missing during the war… I just couldn’t accept it. I kept telling myself that he would definitely come back.”

 

I didn’t really know anything about the Duke of Medes. I just knew that Mariel couldn’t keep up with his abilities.

 

As I quietly nodded, he looked down at me and spoke.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“If it weren’t for you… I really almost died.”

 

‘He wouldn’t have just “almost died” — he would’ve actually died.’

 

But I hid my thoughts and smiled faintly.

 

“I didn’t really do anything… It was all just a coincidence.”

 

In reality, everything had been set up to look like a coincidence. The doctor who examined Jayden even said he’d report this case to the medical academy.

 

It was practically proven that Runart’s hypothesis had been correct.

 

Jayden continued, smiling quietly.

 

“If you hadn’t worried about my meals, if you hadn’t forced me to get examined because you were sick, I wouldn’t have known that poisons were still building up in my body.”

 

“Well… that’s true, but—”

 

“It’s all because you cared for me like family.”

 

The word ‘family’ made me feel slightly confused, and I fiddled with my hair for no reason.

 

A family? I never thought I’d hear those words come out of Jayden’s mouth.

 

“Well, anyway, I’m glad it ended well.”

 

Then, after glancing at him cautiously, I added, 

 

“But… you must still feel bad, right?”

 

Although they were criminals whose faces I didn’t even know, from Jayden’s perspective, it was a betrayal by his family and he had even paid for her medical expenses.

 

Indeed, Jayden wiped his face and sighed.

 

“Well, that’s right.”

 

He looked very tired and sad.

 

“Maybe I already knew deep down… that something was suspicious. But when I was in front of Seili, who is similar to Yurika, I just turned a blind eye to everything. That was the problem.”

 

“I let myself get so caught up in the past that I let it affect my present and future. And in the end, I was just a fool who was used by them.”

 

Jayden looked at me and smiled. It was a somewhat sad smile.

 

“It was stubbornness that did no good for Mariel or my sister. And it was unfair to you, who saved me.”

 

“Thank you, Yurika. Really.”

 

My eyes widened. It was the first time he’d ever called me “Yurika.”

 

At that moment, I felt like I knew what he was thinking.

 

But Jayden sighed with an apologetic expression on his face and grabbed my hand.

 

“I will never forget for the rest of my life that I owe my life to my second niece.”

 

‘Second niece…’

 

I looked at Jayden, dumbfounded.

 

“It happened because I was stuck in the past and couldn’t see the present. I’m trying not to make that mistake again.” 

 

“Uh, hm…”

 

“I kept denying reality and only thinking about what I wanted to believe.”

 

A deep regret began to form in his eyes.

 

“Just because a body wasn’t found doesn’t mean someone must still be alive… There’s a reason why everyone else thinks they’re dead. I wasn’t being rational.”

 

He was firmly convinced that the Duke of Medes and his second niece were still alive somewhere.

 

Both of them went missing and their bodies were never found, so it seemed like there was hope, but in reality, no one thought the two of them were alive.

 

Even Sienna before she completely lost her mind.

 

It was a time of war and it was quite common for the bodies of warriors not to be found.

 

What’s more, the kidnapping of a child… there had never been a case of finding children who had disappeared from the Medes family.

 

“Now I’m going to stop clinging to my hopeless expectations and do my best for the people who are here now.”

 

When he said “people here now” he meant me.

 

He smiled faintly and said.

 

“If I’d died a few years later as the Linisit family had planned… I’d have been gone, but Mariel wouldn’t have had a single relative left to protect her. She’d have suffered a lot after that.”

 

It was an accurate assessment of the situation.

 

As I smiled awkwardly, he tightened his grip on my hand.

 

“As a result, you’ve done a truly good thing for the Medes family. Thanks to you, my sister has also gotten much better…Thank you so much.”

 

Since it was true, I didn’t bother pretending to be humble. I simply replied quietly

 

“I…I want to stay in the Medes family in the future. Of course, just as you said, the position has its disadvantages along with its advantages, but I don’t wish for anything else. I just want to stay here.”

 

I couldn’t explain the reason clearly either.

 

Honestly, I felt confident I could adapt and live well anywhere, even if I attended a commoner academy. But strangely, I wanted to stay in the Medest family.

 

It wasn’t because I desired the wealth or honor of the Medes family, nor because I liked the status of being a noble.

 

For some inexplicable reason, I felt a sense of responsibility for Mariel, as if thinking, “I’d better take care of her.” And every time I saw Sienna, my heart felt strange, making me want to stay by her side.

 

“I… I don’t know why I feel this way, either. Maybe it’s because of my mother.”

 

Out of habit, I referred to Sienna as “mother,” but I suddenly froze and glanced at Jayden, startled.

 

Since I was only an adopted child, I wondered if it might bother him that I called Sienna “mother” as if I were truly the second daughter. 

 

Jayden stared at me and spoke in a pretended stern voice.

 

“Uncle.”

 

“…..?”

 

“Don’t call me Count, call me Uncle.”

 

I blinked and met his eyes.

 

His blue eyes were as cool as ever, but strangely enough, they held a little warmth.

 

“Why is my sister ‘mother,’ but I’m just the count? Hm?”

 

He lifted his big hand and stroked my hair. Then he smiled slightly and said, 

 

“The reason I brought you to the hallway myself was to show you my heart.”

 

“Oh….”

 

If Mariel or Sienna had brought me here, I wouldn’t have thought much of it, because they both like me so much.

 

But with Jayden, it was a different story. He really came to me as if he was accepting me as family.

 

“There is no portrait of Yurika, and she is missing anyway, but I promise in front of my brother-in-law’s portrait, whom I always believed to be alive, I will not forget your kindness.”

 

For a moment, a strange warm sensation spread throughout my body.

 

It was only later that I realized that this strange feeling was actually joy and excitement.

 

From the moment I first became possessed by a squirrel, I felt alone in this strange world.

 

Although I had saved Yohan and grown close to him, I knew he was just a boy who would soon be drafted into war, so I never thought we’d stay together.

 

Even when I came to Mariel, my only goal was to successfully transform into a human.

 

“Let’s do our best, Yurika, until the Medes family can stand strong again. It’s great to have such a clever ally by my side.”

 

Now, I had people who believed in me and stood by me. 

 

Smiling softly, I nodded. 

 

After that, I looked at other portraits with Jayden in the hallway.

 

“Uncle, by the way….”

 

There wasn’t really anything to talk about, but I noticed something strange and asked out of curiosity.

 

“Why are there so many animal pictures in the hallway?”

 

In the hallway, there were not only portraits of the previous heads of the family, but also many animal paintings displayed between them.

 

Jayden answered as if it was no big deal.

 

“Ah, I think it’s because there’s a legend that Medes’s ancestors were beasts. I don’t know more about that.”

 

A legend… Well, it was just a legend. After all, even the royal family claimed to have inherited the blood of dragons.

 

And in the original story, Mariel never turned into an animal either. I had never heard anything like that.

 

“If you’re curious, ask Mariel later. I’m not a Medes, so I don’t know.”

 

‘That made sense.’

 

I nodded and left the hallway, escorted by Jayden.

 

* * *

 

As time passed, many nobles in the capital became accustomed to Yurika Medes, the newly adopted daughter of the family.

 

There is now no one who does not know the cute little girl with the fierce expression, standing between Sienna and Mariel.

 

And five years later…

 

Two significant events occurred in the Medes family.

 

The first was that the tedious war, which had swept through the South, finally came to an end.

 

Surprisingly, there was a person who ended the war that had been going on for a long time.

 

As soon as the temple developed the Potion, a 21-year-old young hero, Yohan Hyrad awakened as an extraordinary wizard and brought the war to a decisive end.

 

* * *