I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain Chapter 43

Yohan looked down at Yurika’s small hand reaching out to him.

 

For a moment, it felt like his breath had stopped.

 

That’s what he originally wanted to ask.

 

To ask if she would be his partner for the victory banquet.

 

In fact, she could have been his life partner, but he had thrown away that opportunity himself.

 

“I will try harder to help you too.”

 

Yurika said, her pink eyes shining firmly as if making a proposal.

 

Yohan forced himself to suppress the thumping of his heart and smiled as best he could.

 

“What do you mean, try harder?”

 

And then, without hesitation, he grabbed Yurika’s hand. Of course, he didn’t forget to give Runart a look of victory.

 

“It’s my honor.”

 

As he lightly placed his lips on the back of Yurika’s hand, sharp gazes from Runart and Jayden pierced his cheek.

 

But it didn’t matter.

 

Yohan knew very well that his proposal and Yurika’s proposal were completely different.

 

To Yohan, Yurika was absolute, but to Yurika, he seemed to be just a reliable ally to cooperate with.

 

Just like when they met every night at the Duke of Hyrad’s castle, using each other for their own benefit.

 

He calmed down the rampant magical power, and Yurika gathered the magical power to become human.

 

It was clear that Yurika still felt a bond with him from those days, but their reunion didn’t go as Yohan had expected.

 

Yohan always thought that when the war was over, he would find Yurika and they would be together again. They would be each other’s only and precious person.

 

But in those five years, Yurika had found another family. A space so tight that he couldn’t even wedge himself in.

 

Saying he wasn’t jealous would be a lie, but he had to be grateful to those who had cherished her for those five years.

 

Besides…

 

‘I need to make a good impression. If I ever want to bring up marriage again…’

 

So Yohan was also very polite to Jayden.

 

‘Of course, even if our marriage had gone through back then, it would’ve just been a typical political marriage.’

 

Yohan was quick-witted. He had already noticed where Yurika’s attention was focused.

 

It’s the temple.

 

He didn’t know what on earth she was going there to check, but right now all her attention was definitely focused on the temple.

 

Considering that temple people had chased her all the way to the Duke of Hyrad’s castle to harm her, it wasn’t unreasonable for her to be on guard.

 

‘So if I suddenly suggest dating now, it’ll just backfire.’

 

Yurika still saw him as a trustworthy ally.

 

And honestly, for now, just being able to stay by her side as an ally was fortunate enough.

 

She had no choice but to rely on his help, and he considered that the greatest stroke of luck.

 

“Then let’s quickly put together a scenario.”

 

Yurika spoke with shining eyes.

 

Rather than an expression of excitement at the romantic nature of the banquet, her face looked like she was plotting something.

 

By the time she had asked him to be her partner, she had probably already calculated every possible outcome.

 

Of course, that meant he hadn’t even heard the names of the second or third partner candidates, but perhaps that was for the best.

 

Because if his magic ever went out of control, he might ‘accidentally’ hurt them.

 

“I’m sure there will be a lot of talk about how I ended up being your partner. After all, you’re a war hero and the star of the banquet, while I’m just an adopted daughter from an orphanage.”

 

Even at the Duke’s castle, it was clear that Yurika was sharp, intelligent, and quick to assess situations.

 

But there was something that Yurika didn’t know.

 

Yohan was also quite skilled at devising strategies.

 

Rushing to tell Yurika something like,

 

‘I actually wanted to live with you again. Now that I see you fully human, I like you even more… So will you officially go out with me?’

 

Was never a good strategy.

 

Instead, the best strategy was to seduce her with everything he had.

 

If she only saw him as a colleague now, then he needed to create plenty of moments where she would start to see him as a man.

 

So Yohan nodded with a big smile.

 

“Okay, let’s get on the topic.”

 

Beside him, Jayden was muttering something like, “Yurika, what do you mean, ‘just an adopted daughter’…?”

 

But Yohan ignored him completely and continued.

 

“How about this? Listen.”

 

“What is it?”

 

“When I went to the Duke of Medes to break off the engagement,… I fell in love with you at first sight.”

 

At his words, Yurika’s round eyes widened slightly.

 

“That’s why I’ve been coming and going to the duke Medes’s house every day to see you.….”

 

“Hmm.”

 

“And in the end, after relentlessly chasing you, we became a couple. What do you think?”

 

Yurika, looking serious, asked back,

 

“So, you’re saying we should pretend to be lovers in front of people?”

 

“Well, we could say it’s a one-sided crush on my part too.”

 

In fact, it was a good suggestion that also served as an excuse for Yohan to come see Yurika every day.

 

Until now, Yurika had been vaguely telling Runart and Mariel that ‘I knew Yohan a long time ago.’

 

Mariel, knowing that Yurika had once been the divine beast of the Duke of Hyrad, nodded as if it made sense and didn’t ask further.

 

“I think it’s a good idea. It has quite an impact.”

 

Yurika said, frowning slightly but nodding.

 

Looking at that, Yohan thought that even if he had married her under the pretext of a political marriage with the Lady of Medes, their relationship might not have been much different from now.

 

So maybe, meeting as individuals who now possessed many things and slowly developing into lovers was the better approach.

 

But after thinking about it carefully, Yurika added:

 

“Then it would be better to say that you are considering engagement.”

 

At the word ‘engagement,’ Yohan momentarily felt greedy and asked in a regretful voice,

 

“…Is it not a good idea to just get engaged now?”

 

“Oh, that won’t work.”

 

Yurika shook her head with shining eyes.

 

“There’s a better timing for that.”

 

She spoke as if she had already calculated everything. Then, she turned her gaze to Jayden and asked,

 

“Oh, did you happen to meet Sister Mariel on your way here? I heard she was going to the palace.”

 

“We met at the main gate.”

 

Jayden grumbled.

 

“I think His Highness the Crown Prince summoned her to ask her to be his banquet partner… Ugh, I don’t like it.”

 

“Why?”

 

“It’s just… Instead of asking in person, he calls her over just to make the request—it’s kind of…”

 

It was Yohan who quickly cut off Jayden’s sulking words.

 

“That’s actually quite romantic. A partner request made in one’s own domain is the most thrilling kind, don’t you think?”

 

“Ah.”

 

It was only then that Jayden realized that Yurika had also called Yohan and asked him to be her partner.

 

“Yes. Since ancient times, you had to call someone to ask to be your partner. Isn’t that right, Runart?”

 

Runart reluctantly nodded.

 

After all, if Yurika had planned something, there must have been a reason behind it.

 

And indeed, Yurika had been thinking about many things.

 

One of them was that the main character of this victory banquet should not be Prince Theodore.

 

The rightful main character should be Yohan, and the most talked about had to be Mariel.

 

This was a time when Mariel had to let everyone know that she was the crown prince’s worthy match.

 

This was an opportunity to solidify the Medes Duchy’s position in high society.

 

But if Theodore were to announce his engagement to that woman, Rivena, on that day, the victory banquet would be completely buried in their issues.

 

Especially since no one even knew who Rivena was.

 

The first major issue in post-war social circles was crucial.

 

The social circles in the capital city were completely dead at the moment and were just starting to emerge, so it was necessary to establish a good position from the beginning.

 

“Rivena Sevs…. What kind of person is she?”

 

Jayden responded calmly to Yurika’s muttering.

 

“Well, she’s the daughter of a new noble businessman. She must have a lot of money.”

 

No one knew that Prince Theodore had ambitions for the throne except for Yurika, who knew the original story.

 

For now, Theodore had a kind and gentle reputation, charming people with his soft demeanor, and at this point, even Crown Prince Roymond did not suspect him.

 

But originally, money was the most important thing in politics.

 

And for someone aiming for the throne, securing financial backing was only natural.

 

‘Maybe it was a temple. Then the engagement itself could be a trick.’

 

One way or another, Yurika had to find out during the banquet whether Rivena was connected to the temple or not.

 

‘If she really is from the temple, then I’ll have to act under the assumption that they’re also suspicious of my identity.’

 

Yurika’s pink eyes turned cold.

 

‘Whatever they’re planning, I won’t let things go their way.’

 

She had already calculated everything.

 

“And uncle….”

 

Yurika said with shining eyes.

 

“I have a favor to ask of you, uncle.”

 

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