I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain – Chapter 130

Author: Chewyy

It had been Yohan’s desperate voice.

Just as Rivena said, from the moment my consciousness began to return, I had indeed been “brainwashed” in a sense.

Rivena’s attempt to go back to the past had failed— Yet in some moments of the past, it still produced the result she had wanted.

‘And the so-called original story I believed in was…’

I looked down coldly at Rivena.

The original story, in which Yohan becomes obsessed with Mariel and acts like a villain, leading to the downfall of Medes, was the curse of Rivena.

Unbelievable. She had even cursed Runart, simply because he developed the drug that turned me into a squirrel.

And she had spoken so specifically about Jayden dying—as if she had known about the incident where I saved his life.

‘…It was Rivena’s curse. Though it seems she didn’t want to hand the throne to Theodore in the process.’

Judging from the conversation, Rivena hated Theodore.

So even while cursing everything else, she had granted Roymond and Mariel a happy ending.

Because the fulfillment of Mariel’s love was an unbearable tragedy for Yohan in the curse.

In any case, the curse hadn’t contained Yohan’s magic, so it failed to brainwash me.

Instead, it had clung to my past consciousness and made me mistake it for the “original story.”

‘Hah….’

I sat up and sighed.

“So the ‘original story’ was just Rivena’s imagination. Yohan never even acted that way in reality.”

I couldn’t tell how much time had passed.

Still, I was the only one conscious, so I started to get dressed.

Anyway, I was glad I didn’t have to make the embarrassing mistake of changing clothes in front of other people.

I was fully dressed, so I kicked Rivena’s leg, which was pinned against a pillar and unable to move, and then ran to Yohan.

I recalled the conversation between Rivena and Yohan.

Every word Yohan said was deeply moving.

He had been willing to relive that horrific past again—just to get engaged to me.

And the warmth he showed toward my family…

My chest swelled with emotion.

“Yohan, Yohan! Wake up.”

When I shook his shoulder, he slowly opened his eyes.

“Yurika…?”

His voice was hoarse.

“I thought… we were going back… to the past…”

“Oh, that’s not true.”

I helped him up and spoke brightly.

“But it is true that you created this present.”

“Huh…?”

“Thank you, Yohan.”

He looked confused, but I pulled him into a tight hug.

“Because of you, we get to live this day together.”

He still looked dazed, but he wrapped his arms tightly around my waist and buried his face against my neck.

His face seemed to be filled with gratitude just to be alive.

“I’ll explain,” I whispered in his arms.

“I understand everything now.”

And I began telling him everything.

* * *

I left Rivena lying unconscious. She was trapped under the massive pillar, so she wouldn’t be able to move anyway.

We held hands and cautiously walked back towards the temple together.

The earthquake had already stopped, and the mess inside was being repaired.

Looking at it, it didn’t seem like much time had passed.

As I was looking around, holding Yohan’s hand, someone quickly approached me.

It was Jayden.

“Yurika! I’ve been looking for you for quite some time. Are you okay?”

“As you can see. Are you alright, Uncle?”

“As you can see.”

Jayden and I looked at each other and smiled. He shrugged and said,

“And Prince Theodore has been arrested.”

“What? Why?”

“I reported him. He practically confessed everything himself.”

Jayden explained, counting on his fingers.

“The fact that Rivena created a potion that could turn Duke Medes into a tiger, the fact that Rivena was looking for you two, and the fact that she knew you were the biological child of Duke and Duchess Medes.”

“Wow.”

“That alone is enough for the Medes family to request a formal investigation. Didn’t His Majesty promise to fully cooperate in investigating what happened to the Medes family? So he was arrested immediately.

Yohan and I immediately applauded Jayden.

He had handled everything perfectly while we were gone.

“The imperial knights guarding Prince Theodore heard everything,”

Jayden continued proudly.

“They’re loyal to the imperial family—not to Theodore personally. They testified exactly as they heard.”

“Then there’s one more thing,” I added.

“If you go through that entrance, Rivena is unconscious inside. Please have her arrested too.”

“Oh, good.”

Jayden excitedly grabbed one of the passing royal knights and began to explain, pointing to the entrance we had come out of.

The incense that had agitated the wizards earlier must have worn off—none of them lunged at me anymore.

As I blinked my eyes in curiosity, Yohan whispered.

“It’s strange. Maybe because I exhausted all my magical power… I feel completely empty. I can’t even sense your calming effect.”

“Ah, is this the first time you’ve unleashed your magic like this?”

“Of course. I didn’t even know I could use up all my magical power before. I don’t know what Rivena did to you, but it just kept absorbing it endlessly. It was completely different from usual.”

While we were whispering, Jayden finished explaining the situation to the royal knight.

“Well then,” he grinned,

“From here on, we can leave everything to your father. Once it goes to trial, he’ll handle it. Politically, he never loses. He’ll uncover every truth and strip those criminals bare.”

“Yes, I think so.”

I smiled and nodded.

Everyone said I resembled my father.

If he truly had a personality like mine— Then everything was already over.

“Mariel is fine, too. Thanks to His Highness the Crown Prince, she received good treatment.”

“Thank god.”

I looked around and asked.

“But where are Mother and Father?”

“Ah, well… over there…”

We looked in the direction Jayden was pointing.

In the central garden, there was a mother and a tiger together.

I had already returned to being human, but it seemed like my father hadn’t returned to being human yet.

“Don’t worry. They say he’ll turn back into a human after some time passes,” Jayden said brightly.

“Runart said so.”

“Runart?”

“Yeah. He’s a genius. Don’t you think he would’ve taken good care of my brother-in-law while he was a tiger? Looks like he’s been researching it this whole time.”

Although obscured by the tiger’s massive form, a closer look revealed Runart as well.

Runart nodded at me.

“I have to go.”

I held Johan’s hand and started walking towards the central garden where my parents and Runart were.

Perhaps because of the fire, the central garden was in a state of disarray. Almost all the grass had been burned away, and debris lay scattered everywhere.

On one side of the central garden, the tiger sat like a painting.

As I approached, I could see what the tiger was sitting on: a pool of alit grass, filled with holy water.

The very handful of grass Theodore had ultimately refused to burn, intending to use it as bait to lure me.

“Father…”

Just as I was about to greet the tiger and tell him he had worked so hard all this time—

“Grrrrrr… Rrgh!”

The tiger, who had been sitting calmly, suddenly bared his teeth at Yohan and growled aggressively.

“Grrr!”

It was obvious hostility. Then, my mother, who was next to the tiger, slapped its buttocks.

“Oh my, come to your senses. Don’t just rely on instinct!”

‘Ah…’

He had pretended to be so generous to Yohan. He’d acted warm and welcoming, saying he accepted him as family—but was this how he truly felt?