I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain Chapter 122

Everyone started to murmur at Oscar’s words. It was such a shocking revelation.

 

Of course, the most flustered person was the emperor.

 

He wanted to get the situation over with as quickly as possible, only to be dismissed as a formality, but he had drawn everyone’s attention.

 

“Duke Medes.”

 

The emperor cleared his throat softly.

 

“I didn’t know you were thinking like that… We know there have been many problems at the temple, so why not ask Roymond to conduct a formal investigation?”

 

In other words, he had no intention of digging any deeper here and now.

 

“Especially since the temple has now come under imperial jurisdiction—surely that’s fortunate. If you’ve been wronged in any way, Duke Medes, we’ll be able to clear everything up.”

 

At the same time, he made remarks that subtly praised the royal family and Roymond.

 

“Yes, thank you.”

 

Oscar replied calmly, without showing any particular reaction.

 

“However, due to various circumstances, I believe that Yurika, who is currently staying at my house, is my real missing daughter.….”

 

Everyone’s eyes were focused on Yurika.

 

Half of them had faces like, ‘Really?’ and the other half had faces like, ‘Wow, she’s really gone so far as to completely take over the Medes family.’

 

“If all the truth is revealed,”

 

Oscar said with a somewhat cold expression.

 

“Not only will those responsible for this incident pay the price for my daughter’s past life, but those who continued to belittle her without cause even after she returned to Medes will also have to be prepared to face the consequences.”

 

“Yeah, that’s right.”

 

Eager to end the situation as quickly as possible, the Emperor answered at once.

 

He believed himself to be completely uninvolved in the matter.

 

In fact, the Emperor considered Duke Medes’s talk of a temple to be half nonsense.

 

“Your Majesty, having only just barely returned from the battlefield, I humbly request—”

 

Oscar raised his eyebrows and spoke to the Emperor.

 

“Please allow those responsible for the tragedy of the Medest family to be judged by Medes’s own hand.”

 

“As you wish. I’ll allow you to handle it as thoroughly as you desire. I promise.”

 

The emperor answered without hesitation.

 

He didn’t really care about that matter and thought he wasn’t responsible for it.

 

Rivena, who was quietly watching the scene, couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.

 

‘Oscar Medes is really expanding the scope of this.’

 

Honestly, it wasn’t welcome news.

 

But it also wasn’t something she couldn’t handle. After all, everything would end today.

 

‘After all…’

 

Rivena’s gaze sank coldly.

 

‘You were my experimental subject too. And the most textbook-successful one at that. I can’t forget that.’

 

She had already expected Oscar to step forward personally today.

 

Parents of the Medes family—who cherished their children to an extreme—would never push their child out in front of them.

 

Oscar turned his head toward the boy High Priest standing beside the Emperor.

 

“Yes. Then, as a symbol of a new beginning and trust, may I ask the High Priest for a small favor?”

 

The boy who had become the new High Priest nodded, flinching slightly, as if frightened by Oscar’s massive presence.

 

Oscar said with a soft smile.

 

“As I mentioned, my wife seems to be ill due to the former High Priest’s plot. Could she possibly get help from the temple?”

 

“I–if it’s something I can do…”

 

“It’s simple. Just give me some holy water.”

 

The high priest boy instinctively looked at the emperor’s face. The emperor gave a small nod of approval, and Oscar offered the high priest a small bottle of water he had prepared.

 

The boy immediately drew water directly from the nearby fountain and softly recited a prayer.

 

The blue light entered the bottle, swaying and seeping in.

 

“Our family doctor says this method is recorded in the books.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“They say that if you sprinkle holy water on the alit grass and then collect it directly with blood relatives, it will become a cure.”

 

“Ah… I think there is something like that.”

 

“Can I take some of the alit grass from the garden?”

 

“Yes. That should… probably be fine.”

 

The boy reluctantly answered, keeping an eye on the emperor, but Oscar smiled as if satisfied with that and stepped back.

 

And as if all his business was over, he bowed to the emperor and came down from the podium.

 

‘As expected. I knew it would turn out like this.’

 

Rivena smiled confidently.

 

Meanwhile, the Emperor quickly dismissed Oscar and gestured for the proceedings to continue.

 

“Now, here’s the most important reason why this event was held today. Theodore, please come forward.”

 

Theodore, who had been standing next to Rivena, went up to the podium with a bright smile.

 

In fact, Theodore had no intention of leaving for the frontier.

 

However, he trusted Rivena and allowed the matter to develop to that point.

 

At the same time, Theodore didn’t trust Ribena completely.

 

That was why he personally reviewed every experiment report.

 

Whenever something seemed even slightly off, he questioned her relentlessly—enough to exhaust Rivena.

 

“Hm. So when it comes down to it, you need my magic at the critical moment.”

 

Theodore wasn’t a scientist, but he was a wizard, so he could roughly understand how it worked.

 

“You’re saying that once Yurika turns into a squirrel, she’ll never be able to return to being human.”

 

“Yes, this is the plan for that day.”

 

Rivena’s plan was quite elaborate.

 

“There’s Runart at the Duke of Medes. With Viscount Olteva and his son in their clutches, they’d undoubtedly recognize Sienna’s similar symptoms. And naturally, they’ll try to cure her.”

 

An illness caused by the temple must be cured by the temple. After all, everything originated there.

 

“Since everything will change if we turn back time anyway, we don’t need to look to the future. It’s a situation that’s unconditionally advantageous to us.”

 

Rivena spoke confidently to Theodore.

 

“Because the temple was originally my space.”

 

Of course, at that time, Theodore frowned and worried.

 

“It’s been a while since Roymond conquered the temple. And yet, you can still call the temple your space? There isn’t even a single person there who’s on your side.”

 

In some ways, it was a valid point.

But Rivena simply smiled quietly.

 

The temple was where she was secretly born and raised, and she knew every hidden mechanism there—secrets even the high priest was unaware of.

 

‘The Medes family has always ruined everything with their pointless devotion to family.’

 

Rivena thought with a grin.

 

‘I’ll let them ruin it again this time.’

 

Her gaze turned to Yohan.

 

Her final key, the key to this plan that she had not told even to Theodore.

 

It had been worth summoning all the Wizards; Yohan was radiating displeasure from every inch of his body.

 

‘And you should get hit on the back of the head too, Yurika Medes.’

 

‘It won’t be too late to realize how foolish it is to believe in a wizard.’

 

* * *

 

Obtaining holy water and permission to gather grass was not a difficult task.

 

First of all, the emperor, who held real power, was not particularly wary of the Medes’ family.

 

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, but that made me feel more anxious.

 

As I was looking at the podium with an anxious face, Yohan quietly took my hand.

 

“Don’t worry, Yurika.”

 

He whispered quietly to me, as if to soothe me.

 

“Everything will be fine. Your whole family is here together.”

 

‘Yes… My family was all there.’

 

I tried to swallow my anxiety and smiled at Yohan.

 

“Yes, including you.”

 

“Including me?”

 

“Yeah. We’re going to be family, after all.”

 

With the wizards constantly casting lingering glances at me, Yohan’s nerves had already been stretched thin.

 

He didn’t show it outwardly, but it bothered him far more than it would an ordinary person.

 

“Yurika, I… Even now, I want to kill all those damned wizards who dare look at you. I hate even the thought of their eyes touching your body. If I could, I’d take you away and lock you in my carriage right now.”

 

Yohan muttered bitterly.

 

“Of course, I can’t do that. But every time this happens, I worry that I might become your misfortune. I love you too much—and if I ever find a way to sever this damned wizard bloodline, then…”

 

I could roughly guess what he was thinking.

 

Unlike before, he now held onto hope that he could escape the fate of being a wizard.

 

So after time passed—after he found a clue from my father on how to lift Hyrad’s curse—he likely wanted to propose properly, with confidence.

 

Or perhaps…

 

Perhaps he was simply losing confidence in himself.

 

The more he came to love me, and the more people gathered around me—

 

The more he feared becoming obsessed, afraid he might follow the path of Hyrad’s tragedy.

 

All this time, Yohan had been the one to step closer to me when I was the one lacking confidence.

 

So if I was going to take a step forward for him, now was the right moment.

 

When he’s at his worst, when the world is against him, and when he’s feeling unsure of himself.

 

I smiled and whispered.

 

“Shall we get engaged tomorrow?”

 

* * *