I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain

“Yes, come in.”

 

At my cheerful voice, the door opened slowly and a maid came in pushing a tray.

 

“Here’s the sandwich you requested.”

 

At those words, Jaden tilted his head and asked.

 

“A sandwich…?”

 

“Yes!”

 

I answered cheerfully and placed the plate directly in front of Jayden.

 

“I heard you didn’t have a good dinner.”

 

“I’m fine—”

 

“I made it myself! Just for you, Count.”

 

Actually, I just put the bread on top, but I shamelessly smiled as if I had worked hard.

 

“Hmm….”

 

A trace of hesitation flickered across Jayden’s face.

 

That’s understandable because the sandwich contained a thick slice of steak.

 

It felt a bit too heavy for a normal night snack.

 

“I put in extra meat, thinking of the times at the orphanage when I couldn’t eat properly.”

 

Reluctantly, Jayden took the sandwich, although he clearly didn’t want to eat it.

 

Well, he hadn’t touched meat for almost a week, so it was understandable.

 

But I had another plan.

 

I said brightly, picking up the exact same sandwich I had placed in front of Jayden.

 

“Please eat quickly. Actually, I didn’t eat dinner properly either. My sister and the Count were waiting, so….”

 

Eventually, Jayden took a big bite of his sandwich without saying a word.

 

‘I’m sorry I took advantage of you because you’re a good person.’

 

I thought to myself, asking for forgiveness.

 

‘But it’s all for your own good, Count.’

 

No matter how much he kept refusing to eat, I figured that based on what I briefly observed about Jayden’s personality, he wouldn’t refuse a midnight snack I made for him.

 

Especially if I mentioned that I hadn’t eaten either. Even if he hated it, he’d feel obligated to eat it.

 

And just like that, we managed to finish the sandwiches together. 

 

Jayden couldn’t ignore the sincerity I put into making it, so he didn’t even leave any leftovers.

 

“Thank you for your concern.”

 

After finishing the sandwich, I calmly spoke.

 

“But I really like both Mariel and Sienna… even if I have to leave, I want to at least see Sienna become healthy before I go.”

 

Jayden didn’t respond, only letting out a faint sigh as he stared out of the dark window.

 

We sat in silence for a while, and his side profile cast a shadow. A quiet tension lingered between us.

 

“By the way, Count….”

 

After a little time passed, I carefully added, gazing at Jayden, whose expression seemed complicated.

 

“Is it because you’re really waiting for young lady Yurika?”

 

Jayden’s eyes narrowed sharply at me.

 

“Why do you think that?”

 

I paused for a moment before quietly responding.

 

“You don’t call me Yurika… and it seems like you want to leave a place for her.”

 

Another heavy silence settled in the room.

 

Jayden’s expression looked a little more complicated than before, no longer sharp.

 

He sighed, running his hand through his hair.

 

It was quite a beautiful sight, as if he was a person from a family blessed with stunning looks.

 

“Mariel doesn’t know this, but I was the one who guarded Yurika when she went to the temple to get baptized.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yeah. My brother-in-law, the Duke of Medes, was already out on a mission… and my sister refused to let Yurika be baptized, saying she would take her back to the mansion. It’s a well-known story that the second child of the Medes family occasionally disappears.”

 

Jayden’s voice sank low, and he scrunched his forehead in self-pity.

 

“But I…I insisted we go. I said we should hire the best mercenaries and go. In wartime, when my brother-in-law can’t protect us, we need to do everything we can….”

 

“And on that journey, Yurika was really kidnapped…”

 

I sat still, swallowing dry saliva.

 

Because Jayden’s expression looked more miserable than ever.

 

“Yurika was kidnapped because of me. Of course, no one blames me, but that’s what I think, so if there’s no hope that Yurika will ever come back, I can’t stand it.”

 

I nodded as if I understood.

 

With that mindset, it was only natural that Jayden would feel uncomfortable with me being called Yurika.

 

Since he probably believed that the real Yurika was still alive somewhere, it must have felt like I was taking her place.

 

“I admit that you are a smart and good child. Now that I’ve come here, I understand why Meriel relies on you and why my sister likes you.”

 

Jayden continued calmly.

 

“But my sister is mentally unstable, and in fact, Mariel doesn’t even remember Yurika. If I don’t even remember the real Yurika, I don’t think she’ll really come back.”

 

I read the deep guilt on his face, so I answered sincerely as well.

 

“I understand, Count. So don’t worry about me.”

 

I couldn’t honestly tell him, ‘I’m a possessed squirrel, and I need to stay by Mariel’s side to prevent the fall of the Medes family.’.

 

“Anyway, this is my personal issue.”

 

Jayden quickly returned to the original topic.

 

“Don’t worry about Mariel being poisoned or anything like that right now. Because unless there’s a significant benefit to it, it’s not easy to plan an assassination.”

 

“But you never know what could happen…”

 

I stared at him for a while before asking again.

 

“Then, Count, aren’t you worried about things like assassination?”

 

“Me?”

 

Jayden pointed at himself as if he found it absurd, then laughed out loud.

 

Then he continued speaking calmly.

 

“I have no enemies. No one has anything to gain by killing me.”

 

“So, even if a poisoning attempt is discovered right now, you have no one to point to as a suspect?”

 

“Of course. Even poison is hard to obtain outside of a temple, isn’t it? I’m not even involved with a temple.”

 

I nodded slowly.

 

Well, Jayden was poisoned, but in the end, they never caught the culprit.

 

As Jaden said, no one really benefited from his death.

 

And in this world, poison was really hard to come by. Doctors only kept a very small amount on hand for research purposes.

 

“Well, in this situation, you’re the one who’s going to benefit the most.”

 

“…..?”

 

It was an unexpected comment. I widened my eyes, and Jayden smirked before responding.

 

“The closest heir is Meriel, but now that you’re a Medes young lady, you’re the legal heir now. Mariel might belong to another family, so legally, my inheritance would go to you.”

 

“Oh, my god….”

 

“If that happens, maybe you could take care of my niece’s medical expenses.”

 

“Huh? Your goddaughter?”

 

“Yes. I have a goddaughter on the estate. Her name is Seili Linishite, and the doctor says she will be sick for the rest of her life.”

 

‘Seili Linishite?’

 

The name caught me off guard.

 

If it was Seili Linishite, she would have been the villainess in the original story. She was jealous of Mariel, who was loved by the crown prince, and betrayed her.

 

“Lady Seili, I heard you were acquainted with Mariel. So please, secretly deliver this letter to Mariel. If you go, Duke Hyrad will not be suspicious.”

 

The male protagonist, the crown prince, gives an important task to Seili, who is close to Mariel, but of course, Seili does not deliver it.

 

In this way, Seili separates Meriel and the Crown Prince for a long time.

 

‘And…Seili wasn’t sick in the original story, was she?’

 

But earlier, Jayden had said,

“She’ll be sick for the rest of her life.” 

 

I suddenly had a hunch.

 

‘I guess…’

 

While I was surprised, Jayden said jokingly and cheerfully.

 

“If it were Mariel, she would have calculated all the medical expenses for her entire life since she didn’t know what would happen to her anyway, but I think you would be a bit more cautious.”

 

Of course, Mariel, in the original story, would have donated everything, but she would have surely given a huge amount as lifetime medical expenses for Seili.

 

‘Hmm, I feel like I might be able to catch two birds with one stone.’

 * * * 

In the middle of the night, the Western Front where Johan was had just finished fighting and everyone was exhausted and out of breath.

 

“Haah, haa…”

 

They hadn’t been expecting an attack, thinking they were far enough behind, but an enemy ambush came unexpectedly.

 

And just when everyone thought, ‘I’m going to die here’, magic poured down like a miracle.

 

The magic that fell from the sky instantly turned an entire mountain into scorched land and annihilated the enemy forces.

 

“Ma–magic…?”

 

“Young master Hyrad? You can use magic?”

 

The soldiers, dumbfounded, looked back. There, standing and panting, was Yohan, his purple eyes gleaming.

 

* * *