I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain Chapter 72

The day Lizzy came claiming she might be the real Yurika, the person who acted most strangely was Mariel.

 

That’s understandable because even though she brought the baby clothes that Yurika had been wearing on the day she went missing, Mariel remained calm and kept her distance.

 

It was not like Mariel, who was kind and gentle to almost everyone.

 

I wanted to tell her right away that I was the real Yurika, now that I knew the truth.

 

But I hesitated. Saying “Actually, I’m the real one” without any proof at that moment would’ve just sounded ridiculous.

 

Besides, Lizzy had more convincing evidence backing her claim.

 

“Yurika.”

 

But as soon as Mariel entered my room, she hugged me tightly.

 

“You’re not feeling so well, right? But this isn’t about Miss Lizzy… There’s something I want to discuss.”

 

Then she revealed something shocking.

 

“His Highness the Crown Prince told me… that there’s a secret study belonging to His Majesty the Emperor. And apparently, inside are books containing weaknesses of various nobles…”

 

That was something I had never heard before.

 

I blinked and nodded cautiously.

 

“There’s a record in there claiming the Duke of Medes family is cursed.”

 

“Yes?”

 

“And on that page… there were drawings of a squirrel and a tiger.”

 

As someone who had once been a divine beast in the form of a squirrel, I couldn’t ignore that.

 

Mariel, who had known my divine beast form, must have found it strange as well.

 

Of all things, why would a squirrel be drawn on the page about Duke Medes?

 

“Um, I’m not that smart, and I don’t really have the skills to piece this together logically, so I don’t know how this will sound but….”

 

Mariel glanced around and continued speaking slowly.

 

“You said that I have a lot of magical power strangely refined in my body. When I think about it, I wonder if there is some secret in our family that I don’t know about.”

 

I swallowed dryly and nodded.

 

“There’s also that old legend about the founder of Duke Medes being a beastkin.”

 

Mariel smiled faintly as she watched me remain silent.

 

“And if you’re somehow connected to that secret… maybe we’re actually a lot closer than we thought.”

 

‘Closer…’

 

Did she mean what I thought she meant?

 

I blinked, and Mariel quickly added,

 

“Of course! I don’t have solid evidence or anything. But just, when I look at all the little things together, my gut tells me it’s you, not Lizzy. I mean, she only showed up with just a baby’s clothes.…”

 

Tears are welling up in my eyes.

 

Of course, there were many logical leaps in Mariel’s words.

 

But it was the truth. Even if I didn’t know everything myself, it matched what I had overheard.

 

And when she said “I just feel like it’s you,” something inside me ached.

 

It was a more touching statement because it was illogical.

 

Just like… how Mother had believed I was her daughter from the very beginning, without any evidence.

 

To be honest, it wasn’t a good idea to say this without any evidence, but I still wanted to say it.

 

Because we were close.

 

Because—even if I hadn’t realized it—we were a real family, who had been together all along.

 

So I opened my mouth slowly.

 

“I have something to tell you, too. But I don’t know if you’ll believe me.”

 

“I will believe whatever you say!”

 

“But… it’s exactly the kind of thing I want you to believe completely, no matter what.”

 

“Completely?”

 

“Yes. Something happened at the banquet, and… I believe I’m the real Yurika. And if that’s true, then Lizzy is the fake, right?”

 

“Yes….”

 

Mariel nodded with a somewhat surprised expression, as if she hadn’t expected the words ‘I’m real’ to come out of my mouth.

 

Well, it might have been a bit absurd from her perspective.

 

Five years of silence, and only now that Lizzy appears do I suddenly claim to be the real one.

 

“So… what exactly happened at the banquet?”

 

Thankfully, instead of pressing, Mariel asked gently, and I nodded.

 

“Yes. I actually overheard Lady Rivena and Prince Theodore having a secret conversation.”

 

Saying it out loud made it sound even more flimsy.

 

That was true, but it seemed so absurd to me.

 

There is no physical evidence, and even the person is too high-ranking to be questioned.

 

“At the temple… they kidnapped me.”

 

I continued speaking slowly, my heart pounding.

 

“They turned me into a divine beast and sold me off. Maybe it’s connected to the strange abilities in the Medes family—things even we don’t know about.”

 

Mariel looked at me intently.

 

Seeing her expression when she looked at Lizzy earlier, I felt even more self-conscious.

 

Would I now look like I was just after the title of a noble daughter?

 

Although Mariel had directly said that we were ‘close’, I wonder if she is doubting me at this moment.

 

Intentionally or not, the temple presented me with the worst possible timing.

 

Even this moment, when I say this is true, makes me feel so pathetic.

 

I slumped my shoulders with an unsure expression.

 

Then it happened.

 

“Th-those… those…”

 

Mariel clenched her fists and let out the harshest words she could manage.

 

“Those evil people deserve divine punishment!”

 

“What…?”

 

It sounded absurd to talk about the temple receiving divine punishment, but Mariel’s eyes were brimming with tears.

 

“They are such bad people!”

 

Mariel began to breathe heavily and blurt out the harshest words she had ever spoken.

 

“How can anyone do something so cruel?!”

 

Then she started wiping her flowing tears with her sleeve.

 

Mariel mumbled through hiccups.

 

“Mother… Mother recognized you.”

 

“M–Mariel?”

 

Seeing tears endlessly fall from Mariel’s eyes, I was the one more flustered.

 

“But… there’s no evidence….”

 

“It will come out soon enough! You’re you, after all!”

 

I stared at her for a moment, then hugged her tightly.

 

I felt something warm welling up in my heart.

 

Meriel said with confidence in her voice.

 

“I trust you, Yurika.”

 

Tears began to well up in my eyes too.

 

If I were in Mariel’s place, I would never have believed someone like me.

 

Because the timing was bad, there was no evidence, and it was just empty words.

 

Even if I had been helpful to her before, immediately saying “I trust you” wasn’t easy.

 

But that absolute warmth—so different from mine—was exactly what I needed right now.

 

That’s why I liked Mariel.

 

It’s been like that from the beginning.

 

“Thank you for trusting me…”

 

I cried for quite a while while hugging Mariel.

 

Come to think of it, Mariel has understood everything I say since I was a squirrel.

 

The person who perfectly understood my hand signals that even Yohan couldn’t understand.

 

Maybe it was all possible because we were family.

 

It was on the day of the banquet that I realized I was the real Lady Medes, but it was at that moment that I truly felt fulfilled.

 

That moment when I hugged Mariel and cried.

 

But I reminded myself that this wasn’t the end.

 

I couldn’t let things end like this.

 

So I barely managed to swallow my tears and said,

 

“Then, should we take this opportunity to reveal that Lizzy is a fake and find out who is behind the kidnapping?”

 

Mariel was slightly surprised by my words and asked.

 

“B-behind it? Not interrogating Lizzy?”

 

“No.”

 

I wiped my tears and gave a smile.

 

“I don’t go after small fry. I aim big from the start.”

 

“B-big, if it’s something big…”

 

“And since the enemy of my enemy is my friend… I want to get the Crown Prince’s help too. Of course, His Highness the Crown Prince will gain a great achievement from this incident as well.”

 

“What? You’re dragging His Highness into this too?”

 

“Yes. Even if we fail, we have nothing to lose. And His Highness the Crown Prince is already crazy in love, so he listens to everything my sister says.”

 

“Th-that’s true, but…”

 

So my plan was carried out smoothly.

 

I left the house, gave Lizzy her freedom, and while I was at it, I opened up a secret space for her… all to feed her false information.

 

To provoke the temple, I even gave Crown Prince Roimond a hot-button issue to bring up at the state council meeting.

 

Fortunately, Roymond was a man who could protect himself well, so this plan was possible.

 

Even if the plan failed during the process, it didn’t matter.

 

All I had to do was carry out the predetermined steps.

 

“Surely someone high up will get caught. Maybe even….”

 

I continued speaking, raising the corners of my lips.

 

“Maybe even the High Priest.”

 

At my words, Mariel opened her eyes wide and questioned.

 

“The High Priest? You’re going to have the High Priest arrested? Then what happens?”

 

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