I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain Chapter 101

At that moment, Paul was quietly looking at Trevor, who was eating mushroom soup with a complicated expression on his face.

 

Trevor was eating his soup diligently when he suddenly felt his son’s gaze and pulled the bowl closer to him.

 

“I won’t share it.”

 

“I won’t take it away….”

 

Paul sighed and shook his head.

 

“And besides, what’s the harm if your son takes a little? Here in the Duke of Medes’s estate, they’ll always give you a bowl of mushroom soup whenever you want.”

 

“Exactly,”

 

Trevor said with a grin.

 

“This place is heaven. Let’s never leave.”

 

Then he looked at Paul’s face and added:

 

“I like the way you look today. It’s nice to see you so full of worry.”

 

“What on earth does that mean?”

 

Paul muttered irritably. How could it be a good thing for his face to be full of worry?

 

Paul responded with a dissatisfied look, but carefully covered Trevor’s lap with the blanket again.

 

Trevor said nonchalantly.

 

“Until now, your face had that look of someone who’d already made up his mind.”

 

“What decision?”

 

“The decision that the moment you met Yohan Hyrad—duke or lunatic, whatever— you’d leave this place no matter what. That expression you had made me uneasy…”

 

Paul was startled and coughed.

 

Trevor was right — his plan had been to meet Yohan Hyrad and then leave immediately.

 

Trevor asked with a grin.

 

“But now you’re hesitating, aren’t you? You want to stay longer, don’t you?”

 

“…….”

 

“Have you changed your mind after seeing that he’s a high-level idiot?”

 

Paul lowered his eyes and thought for a moment.

 

Then he muttered quietly.

 

“Actually, it wasn’t because of the Duke of Hyrad…. but after meeting the Lady of Medes…”

 

“Oh, isn’t she really pretty? Her golden hair sparkles in the sunlight!”

 

“No, not her. Someone else.”

 

Paul continued speaking slowly, buttoning up Trevor’s loosened pajamas.

 

“I originally really disliked the Medes family. They were people who didn’t know anything and didn’t keep their old loyalty.… I admit they are kind, but I thought they were an irresponsible family.”

 

His eyes sank deeply.

 

“But now, there’s this young Lady Medes… someone I can’t help but want to trust.”

 

The image of Yurika, who had just offered a formal apology while politely bowing, kept coming to mind.

 

Even though he had been stubborn and unpleasant, and even though she had already gotten everything she wanted from him, she still offered a genuine apology.

 

And though late, she seemed determined to make everything right anyway?

 

“I’m starting to wonder if it might be all right to give her that. After all, both you and I are getting old, and the line of the Viscounty of Olteva ends with me.”

 

“What are you talking about? Of course, you should give it to her. It originally belonged to the Medes!”

 

“They probably wouldn’t even know how to use it. And for now, as long as it’s in our possession, it’s ours,”

 

Paul retorted with a heavy heart, then muttered gloomily again.

 

“But… something tells me that young lady would find a way to put it to good use…”

 

“You’ve got a soft heart. You weren’t even born back then, yet you’re still bitter about old grievances. Don’t let pointless resentment make you greedy, or you’ll go bald.”

 

“…I barely have any hair left as it is, Father. That’s cruel.”

 

“Oh, really?”

 

Trevor looked at Paul again and smiled wryly.

 

“I guess I never noticed, since you’re always such a cute son in my eyes.”

 

At those words, Paul sighed softly and patted Trevor’s hand.

 

‘Yohan Hyrad didn’t seem like such a good person after all… no, more like a lovestruck fool blinded by some woman who liked to flaunt her favors.’

 

Still, thanks to him, Paul could spend more time with his father — and for that, he was grateful.

 

“Anyway… I will think about giving that item to Lady Yurika.”

 

“Then until you’ve made up your mind, we can stay here, right? In this mushroom-soup paradise?”

 

“Yes. We’ve nowhere else to go, so let’s stay a little longer.”

 

In truth, he simply wanted more time to observe Yurika.

 

Paul smiled happily as he watched Trevor laugh out loud, saying, “It’s really good.”

 

“Anyway, thank you for doting on me, Father.”

 

At that, Trevor smacked Paul on the head with his spoon.

 

“No matter how cute you are, I won’t give you mushroom soup, you punk!”

 

* * *

 

That night, I received a letter from Lean

 

After all, she sent a letter in a hurry, saying that she was worried because she heard that I and Yohan had become real lovers.

 

Of course, knowing I might get annoyed, she had included another matter in the same letter.

 

[An intruder just broke into the temple but was spotted by the Imperial Knights and fled.]

 

After rescuing the tiger from the temple, the very first thing I did was station the Imperial Knights there.

 

The justification was solid — after all, it wasn’t anyone else but the High Priest himself who had tried to assassinate the Crown Prince.

 

Up until now, I had placed the less capable Hyrad Knights there instead, to track the people sent by Rivena.

 

And now it was necessary to prevent Rivena’s limbs from even stepping foot in the temple.

 

‘They probably don’t even realize we’re protecting Father.’

 

In any case, since the royal knights directly under Roymond are deployed, it will be difficult to attempt an invasion now.

 

‘And at the same time, Rivena will be desperate to get Theodore out.’

 

It was a good method in many ways.

 

Below that, every word of Lean’s letter was filled with worry.

 

[People hate nothing more than having something given to them and then taken away. If, after making the Duke of Hyrad so happy, you change your mind even a little (and this includes putting yourself in danger), do you think he’ll just sit quietly?]

 

‘As if I’d be crazy enough to put myself in danger on purpose.’

 

I sighed and skimmed through the rest.

 

[The wizard race is a very evil race. The moment they feel they’ve lost control, they’ll throw all sense and law aside — even imprison you to keep you forever. They won’t consider your feelings or will at all…]

 

‘What are you talking about, there’s no way Yohan—’

 

I was about to chuckle, but then a strange sense of unease made me frown.

 

‘Wait… if I just swap “the young lady” with “Mariel,” isn’t this exactly how it went in the original story?’

 

In the original, Mariel was so kind that she kept giving Yohan all sorts of openings. Yohan genuinely believed she had been stolen away from him.

 

‘And this part… again… If I swapped “Yohan” with “Theodore,” it was exactly the same as my current situation.’

 

Theodore also thought that I had been stolen from him, even though it was absurd, and he was so obsessed with me.

 

‘Anyway, Yohan’s not like that.’

 

Folding the letter again, I pushed away the unpleasant feeling.

 

The moment I decided to be with Yohan, I had—whether I said it aloud or not—chosen to trust him.

 

Not as a wizard, but as a man.

 

So I planned to trust my lover until the end.

 

* * *

 

It had been about a month since Rivena met Theodore again.

 

This time, she still had to slip quite a few gold coins, but it was easier to get in than the last time.

 

“Oh,”

 

Theodore smiled at Rivena.

 

“You’re finally here.”

 

Confined to the palace by his movement ban, Theodore now gave off an even more dangerous aura.

 

Without even bothering with a greeting, he asked,

 

“Is the experiment going well?”

 

Rivena looked at Theodore and sighed inwardly.

 

He’d clearly done nothing during his confinement except obsess over getting Yurika.

 

The fact that the very first thing out of his mouth was about the experiment made his intentions obvious.

 

Still, he was the only powerful figure she could hold onto, so she had no choice but to keep cooperating.

 

“Roughly… It’s going well. It’ll take a little more time, but for now, we’ve secured a good amount of materials.”

 

Since then, she hadn’t been able to enter the temple again.

 

After the temple’s ceremony, Roymond himself stationed his knights there.

 

She had tried sending her subordinates in several times, but all attempts to get inside had failed—though at least the escape attempts succeeded.

 

“If the research goes well and other conditions can be adjusted, let’s kill Roymond early.”

 

Theodore spoke arrogantly.

 

“So that I can become crown prince faster.”

 

‘Wow.’

 

Rivena was amazed again.

 

‘Does he think I’m his errand girl?’

 

She almost laughed out loud at how ridiculous it was.

 

‘Wizards really are…’

 

Her distrust of wizards only deepened the more she dealt with Theodore.

 

Still, she had to stay on the same side as this villain—there was too much she could use him for.

 

Rivena tried to suppress her disgust and spoke calmly.

 

“The Emperor’s birthday hunting competition, a long-awaited event, will be held soon. The movement ban will be lifted then, won’t it?”

 

“It’s just one day after all.”

 

“I’ll try to have it lifted permanently starting that day.”

 

“Oh?”

 

Theodore knew Rivena wasn’t the type to make empty promises.

 

He raised an eyebrow in interest, but Rivena continued, expressionless.

 

“And from that day on, there’s something I’ll need Your Highness to do.”

 

“What is it?”

 

His tone made it clear that if he didn’t like it, he wouldn’t do it.

 

However, upon hearing Rivena’s words, Theodore’s eyes immediately lit up.

 

“Entangle yourself with Yurika Medes as much as possible and provoke Yohan Hyrad.”

 

* * *