I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain

Meanwhile, Runart and Mariel had tea time in Mariel’s office.

 

Since Yohan and Yurika left to talk, the others had no choice but to wait.

 

“Yohan Hyrad, that guy is really something else.”

 

Mariel sighed and shrugged.

 

“He was even worse than the rumors. So arrogant and rude. I’m so glad I broke off the engagement. And it’s even better that Yurika doesn’t have to get involved with him.”

 

“I see. That’s really a relief.”

 

Runart responded slowly, barely touching his tea and food.

 

In truth, he was too worried about Yurika to think about anything else.

 

That potion shouldn’t have been strong enough to make Yurika stagger like that.

 

Just then, Mariel continued.

 

“How is my mother? She definitely seems to be feeling a lot better.”

 

“She has improved a lot. But her mental confusion hasn’t fully gone away… I’m planning to start a more active treatment for that. Having Lady Yurika by her side has been a great source of emotional stability.”

 

Mariel swirled her teacup and smiled faintly.

 

“Really….How lucky I am to have Yurika.”

 

To her, Yurika was like a precious younger sister. Even though Yurika was the adopted daughter, Mariel never once thought of her as a stranger.

 

Even when others pointed fingers, saying that Sienna had finally lost her mind, Mariel believed that as long as her mother was happy and her health improved, that was all that mattered.

 

Besides, Yurika had been an incredible help to Mariel—from social events to political affairs and even managing the territory.

 

‘Really weird…’

 

Mariel smiled softly as she thought of Yurika.

 

‘Ever since Yurika came to this house, it feels like my father has come back to life.’

 

The Duke of Medes, as remembered by the people of the house, had a personality just like Yurika’s—cold, intelligent, and calm, without emotional ups and downs.

 

Mariel, who was thinking of Yurika, looked at Runart and continued speaking with concern.

 

“But, Yurika’s complexion didn’t look so good earlier.”

 

At Mariel’s words, Runart’s face hardened noticeably.

 

In fact, it was something he had been concerned about for a while.

 

The potion that Runart gave to Yurika had almost no side effects.

 

The only unusual thing is that it interacts with magic.

 

Since it induced pain where there was none, it was different from ordinary medicine.

 

Even so, there was no way such a minor interaction with magic could have caused such serious symptoms.

 

But that potion had never been released to the world—it was something only Runart knew about.

 

And no matter how much he believed in his own genius, he couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

 

“Lady, I think I actually prescribed the wrong medicine.”

 

Runart put down his teacup and spoke seriously.

 

“That must be the reason…”

 

Runart, who had difficulty speaking, realized that his hands were shaking.

 

He had been known as a genius since he entered the academy and had grown into a great doctor, but this was the first time he had felt such emotional turmoil.

 

That’s probably because Yurika is a very precious person to him.

 

He still remembered the joy he felt when Yurika first appeared at the orphanage, reaching out to him with a promise of sponsorship.

 

Even after graduation, when he rejected countless offers and chose to go to Duke Medes’s house, his heart started pounding a little when he saw the adult Yurika.

 

Although she is the lady of Medes, Yurika never forgets that she is an ‘adopted child who occupies the second daughter’.

 

Perhaps that’s why she didn’t hesitate to befriend someone like him–a doctor who grew up in an orphanage. She was an eternal benefactor to him.

 

She was calm and cynical but had a surprisingly warm heart. If anything ever happened to her because of him…

 

As Runart grew increasingly anxious, Mariel blinked in surprise.

 

“What do you mean, medicine?”

 

“That’s…I gave Lady Yurika a potion that made her look pale because she wanted to look a little sick. I think that’s why.”

 

“Really? Her complexion was really bad, so it must be working really well.”

 

“But it wasn’t supposed to make her look that sick…”

 

After he confessed, he became more worried about Yurika and became impatient.

 

“Lady Yurika said she was fine, but….I just can’t shake the feeling that something’s wrong. I want to check on her as soon as possible.”

 

“Oh, then we should go right away. We can’t trust her when she says she’s fine.”

 

At Runart’s words, Mariel jumped up.

 

Looking at Mariel’s hardened face, Runart hesitated and spoke.

 

“But Duke Hyrad—”

 

“That man has nothing to do with us anymore. He has no connection to our family anymore. Let’s go quickly!”

 

“But still, Lady Yurika said she wanted to be alone with him….”

 

“She needs to take better care of herself. She’s been looking after me all this time, so now it’s my turn to take care of Yurika!”

 

Mariel firmly grabbed Runart’s arm and pulled him along.

 

Runart followed her in a hurry, carrying his bag.

 

* * * 

 

“Kyung…”

 

‘What was going on?’

 

Suddenly, my head was spinning, and everything around me seemed huge.

 

‘Wait, am I… a squirrel now?’

 

I stretched out my hand, and sure enough, a little squirrel paw appeared in my field of view.

 

I sighed and placed my hand on my forehead.

 

‘No, what is going on?’

 

In fact, I didn’t even know how to become a squirrel again.

 

No, I never imagined that once I was humanized, I would return to the form of a divine beast.

 

Anyway, it had already happened, and while I was bewildered by the situation, I quickly thought about it.

 

‘Runart said he gave me a potion that would slightly weaken my magic.’

 

‘That might not be a big deal to most people, but it seems to be fatal to the divine beast.’ 

 

I had lived as a human for so long, and even when I was a divine beast, my consciousness was human, so I never considered the possibility of turning back into a squirrel.

 

As I was confused, I felt a large hand carefully lift me up.

 

“Momo?”

 

Yohan was holding me in his hand, looking directly at me. 

 

It suddenly hit me just how much Yohan had grown compared to a few years ago.

 

‘I must have remembered him as a child from the perspective of a squirrel.’

 

His long eyebrows became thicker, and his chiseled face now carries a very seductive aura.

 

‘Seriously…’

 

I thought to myself, my tail standing stiffly.

 

‘He’s really handsome….’

 

He was taller, broader-shouldered, and his once-pale, sickly appearance was gone, replaced by a healthier, more mature look.

 

But that wasn’t what mattered right now. I waved my front paw and corrected Yohan.

 

“Kyuungg, Kyung.”

 

‘No, it’s not Momo. It’s not such a bad name. It’s Yurika.’

 

Yohan frowned and looked at me for a while, then opened his eyes wide as if he understood.

 

“Ah, you want to transform back into a human?”

 

‘Wait, what? What context was that in?’

 

But when I thought about it, that was more important.

 

“Okay. Take my magic.”

 

Yohan narrowed his eyes and smiled. 

 

I paused, wondering if his smile was always this charming.

 

And I came to a conclusion.

 

‘He had been a skinny boy before, which made him less dangerous, but now…..he has leveled up amazingly.’

 

“Kyung.”

 

Anyway, there was nothing I could do in my squirrel form, so I nodded at Yohan.

 

He carefully held me with both hands and brought me close.

 

He then leaned his forehead toward mine.

 

His face, so perfect and smooth, was close to mine. I placed my front paw on his forehead and, just like before, absorbed his magic power.

 

And then a familiar tingling sensation began to rise inside me.

 

‘Ah, it works! It works!’

 

The potion Runart had given me had disrupted my magic flow and caused me to suddenly become a squirrel.

 

Suddenly an idea flashed through my head.

 

‘According to Runart, this potion was not commercially available. So the temple doesn’t know about this.’

 

‘It seemed that this potion allowed me to freely switch between human and squirrel forms!’

 

‘Wait a minute.’

 

In that brief moment, I realized something else.

 

‘This sudden turn of events, and the fact that I needed to transform into a human, made me completely forget about one crucial detail.’

 

‘Clothes! What should I do with my clothes!’

 

Before I could react, a light brown hair flew into my field of vision.

 

‘No!’

 

It was a crisis where I was about to fall on Yohan without even a single thread covering me.

 

Time, cruelly, didn’t stop. In my human form, I now found myself on top of Yohan’s body, staring into his wide eyes.

 

“D-Don’t look!”

 

Yohan, whose face turned bright red and whose hands began to tremble and he couldn’t do anything, couldn’t even give a proper answer.

 

At that moment, there was a loud knock on the door.

 

And a bright, cheerful voice rang out.

 

“This is Mariel Medes. May I come in with Runart for a moment?”

 

* * *