I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain Chapter 59

Even Mariel was surprised at how cold Sienna’s tone was.

 

“The thief who stole our Yurika’s things. Are you here to steal other things too?”

 

While Lizzie trembled at the unexpected reaction, Sienna turned her gaze to Mariel with an indifferent expression.

 

“Why are you accepting guests the day after the banquet? I think Yurika must’ve woken up from all the noise.”

 

Sienna blinked as if it were no big deal and shrugged her shoulders.

 

“Then I’ll be having lunch with Yurika. You can come back after you finish your business. Yurika wanted to see you and Jayden.”

 

So Sienna turned her back without any hesitation and walked away from them.

 

There was a moment of silence.

 

Tears began to fall from Lizzie’s eyes as she looked at Sienna’s back.

 

“I… I just wanted to see my mother… That’s all I wanted.”

 

Lizzie looked at Mariel and said pitifully.

 

“I always missed my mother. And of course, the rest of my family too.”

 

“Ah…..”

 

“I always imagined how nice it’d be to have an older sister… I’ve always envied those with sisters.”

 

Lizzie, wiping away her tears, blinked her pink eyes and asked Mariel cautiously.

 

“Since you are the head of Medes now, you won’t kick me out, will you?”

 

“Hmm…”

 

Mariel answered calmly.

 

“It’s true that I’m in the position of the family head, but I haven’t officially received the duke title yet.”

 

To be precise, the inauguration ceremony was not held because the war had ended and Mariel’s fate was uncertain.

 

Regardless, Mariel hadn’t reported the death of the Duke of Medes and continued to maintain her status as the ducal lady.

 

“So, I can’t make all the decisions on my own.”

 

It wasn’t common for Mariel to draw a line like this.

 

The atmosphere in the mansion sank into awkwardness.

 

Even the servants were whispering, unsure of what to do, saying Mariel seemed like a different person.

 

And Jayden, who couldn’t stand the heavy air, spoke quickly.

 

“L-let’s go inside, everyone.”

 

Normally, if someone cried, Mariel would comfort them with all her heart. But now, she was cold and indifferent.

 

Even if it had been a stranger’s child crying on the street, she would’ve been kinder than this.

 

Jayden quickly resolved the situation even though he felt that Mariel was a little strange.

 

“Let’s go in and talk.”

 

He sighed and opened the living room door, not wanting to show that situation to Yurika.

 

* * *

 

After watching Mariel, Jayden, and Lizzie enter the living room, I slowly walked toward my room.

 

The maids glanced at me nervously and subtly stepped aside.

 

There weren’t any maids who disliked me, but it was a very awkward situation to say anything anyway.

 

‘I’m so glad.’

 

As I opened the door to my room, I let out a breath of relief.

 

‘Because I know I’m the real one.’

 

If I didn’t know anything, I would have left this mansion quietly first because I hated this atmosphere so much.

 

Because I’d feel there was no reason to stay.

 

With that thought, I opened the door— And froze on the spot.

 

“Oh….”

 

My room was filled with flowers, balloons, and gift boxes. There was even a letter on top of each gift box.

 

“What is all this….”

 

As I stood frozen in the doorway, one maid cautiously spoke up.

 

“Lady Mariel and Count Jayden stayed up late decorating it themselves yesterday.”

 

“What….?”

 

Among nobles, it was common to send small gifts and letters to express interest in building connections.

 

Especially after a banquet like last night, people would often send invitations and presents to those they felt a connection with.

 

Of course, I didn’t expect to receive any gifts.

 

Because of the temple’s earlier manipulation, my reputation had been wrecked—and last night only reinforced that.

 

If anyone sent me a gift, it would be because I was Yohan Hyrad’s partner and wanted to get in line.

 

I walked over to the letter as if in a trance, opened it, and read it.

 

[Yurika! You looked so pretty at the banquet.]

 

[We’re already close, but let’s get even closer.]

 

[You are a proud member of the Medes family.]

 

[Your worth is known by those closest to you.]

 

They were handwritten letters from Mariel and Jayden.

 

Inside the boxes were all kinds of gifts—from dolls a child might like to expensive jewels.

 

There was no way Mariel and Jayden knew what was going on with me.

 

They probably just saw that I looked down and thought, ‘Ah, people must be gossiping about her again,’ and prepared all this.

 

To show me that even if no one else wanted to be close to me, they would embrace me with even more love.

 

“Hah….”

 

I let out a soft laugh, my shoulders slumping.

 

“Really….”

 

‘No, with this… even if I really was a fake, I wouldn’t want to leave.’

 

And now, my desire for revenge against the temple that made me this way burned even brighter.

 

Even though the content was not sad, but rather warm, my eyes filled with tears.

 

As I continued opening gift boxes and reading the letters—

 

“Yurika?”

 

There was a cautious knock.

 

“Can I come in?”

 

It was Mariel’s voice, calmer than ever.

 

“I have something to say….”

 

I wiped away the tears that had gathered and slowly stood up.

 

“Yes.”

 

Now was the time to really step forward. I couldn’t just let the bait that came in on its own two feet go.

 

“Come in, Sister.”

 

I smiled and opened the door myself.

 

“I have something to say, too.”

 

It seemed like it was going to be a pretty long conversation.

 

And after that conversation, we hugged each other for a long time without saying a word, tears falling down our faces.

 

* * *

 

Rumors spread throughout the capital that a woman believed to be the ‘real Yurika’ had entered the Medes Duke’s house.

 

Her name was Lizzie Estoni, and she was a maid who worked for Baroness Berini.

 

It is said that Baroness Berini lived in seclusion on the outskirts of the capital during the entire war, unaware of what was going on in the world.

 

However, after attending the victory banquet, she was surprised to see that Yurika’s appearance resembled Lizzie’s so much.

 

After hearing that the lost daughter of the Medest family looked just like her, she sent Lizzie to the Medes duchy.

 

“There are rumors going around that the maid is the real Lady Yurika Medes.”

 

The rumor spread among the servants and circulated among the noble families throughout the capital.

 

“They say she had the clothes she wore as a baby.”

 

“I heard that Count Jayden apparently recognized her.”

 

“But the poor duchess didn’t recognize her… Seems like she still thinks the adopted one is the real Yurika.”

 

As the day went by, the rumor that the maid named Lizzie might be the real Yurika began to spread as a more true story.

 

Because the rumor was that, instead of being kicked out of the Duke of Medes’s mansion, Lizzie was given a very nice room.

 

“They probably gave her a room because she really might be the real one, right?”

 

“They say the adopted girl even caused a scene? Denied it to the end, but after meeting Lizzie alone, she was found collapsed on the floor.”

 

Actually, that was a bit of an unfair rumor for Yurika.

 

The first person to ask Yurika for a private conversation was Lizzie, and Lizzie just fell down on her own there.

 

But then Lizzie said to the maids, with the sweetest expression, “I just tripped… Really! I just stumbled over a stone or something…”

 

Of course, there was no such stone in the room.

 

It was obvious how the maids would interpret that scene.

 

And that night, there was a huge commotion because the baby clothes that Lizzie had brought went missing.

 

The next morning, the torn clothes were found buried on a path Yurika frequently walked—dug up by a dog.

 

It was a situation where anyone could see that Yurika was the culprit.

 

“Well… they say the adopted one was always a bit wild. Must’ve driven her mad when the real one returned.”

 

“I’d be scared too, honestly. From orphan to noble lady in one step—who’d want to give that up?”

 

Anyway, it was exactly two days after Lizzie entered the Medes Duke’s residence.

 

A carriage bearing the seal of the Duke of Medes crossed the street, heading towards the Duke of Hyrad’s residence.

 

And while everyone was watching, a fully dressed Yurika got down in front of the main gate of the Duke of Hyrad’s residence.

 

Soon after, the front door opened and Yohan himself ran out. In fact, Yohan, who had not been contacted at all for a while, looked as if he were dreaming.

 

“Yu-Yurika? What are you doing here…?”

 

When he asked her in a bewildered expression while hurriedly escorting her, Yurika smiled and said.

 

“I ran away from home.”

 

“What?”

 

Clinging to the bewildered Yohan, Yurika asked confidently.

 

“So, can I stay here for a few days?”

 

The onlookers probably didn’t expect it at all, but for Yurika, it was her first return in a long time.

 

* * *