I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain

As soon as Jayden arrived in the capital, he immediately went to the Duke of Medes’s house. And then he ran into Mariel at the front gate, who was about to go out. “Mariel!” “Ah, uncle.” Mariel greeted Jayden with a bright smile, though she looked a little surprised. “You came so quickly! I thought it would take a few more days.” “That, I’m so worried….” “Don’t worry. Everything has been resolved. Haven’t you heard any news?” Mariel said, patting the back of Jayden’s hand. “I have officially broken off my engagement with Duke Yohan Hyrad, and the Duke of Medes now owes nothing to the Duke of Hyrad.” “Are you really free of entanglements now?” “Probably? I mean, he was the one who demanded an unconditional break-off of the engagement first.” At Jayden’s suspicious face, Mariel tilted her head and answered. “He may be strange in many ways, but he’s not a terrible person, right? If he didn’t want to get married, he could have at least asked for money.” “There is no one bad by your standards, so I can’t trust that evaluation.… Anyway, where are you going?” “Oh, His Highness the Crown Prince called me.” Mariel smiled shyly, her cheeks slightly blushing. Mariel’s maid, who had been following behind her, chimed in happily. “Perhaps he’s planning to ask her to be his partner for the victory banquet?” Jayden crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes. “Hmm… So he called you to the palace for that?” He subtly hinted that if the prince wanted a partner, he should come in person. Mariel smiled and playfully replied. “Ah, uncle. It’s natural for a superior to call a subordinate.” “…Still, even a prince isn’t good enough for you.” Jayden responded grumpily. “Your father would’ve been even worse.” “Oh, really?” “Of course. You and your sister wouldn’t have been able to go on a single date. He would’ve challenged every guy who looked at you to a duel.” Mariel giggled at his expression, but Jayden raised his eyebrows seriously. “Do I look like I’m joking?” “Yes!” “You agreed way too cheerfully.” “And as for His Highness calling me… Actually, we have guests coming to our residence almost every day these days. His Highness the Crown Prince said that it is not politically good for the two of us to be seen together.” “Let me ask you something very important here.” Jayden’s expression turned serious. “That ‘guest’—is it really Duke Yohan Hyrad, like the rumors say?” “Yes!” Mariel once again answered cheerfully. “It seems like he and Yurika have joined hands for some political reason. If what Yurika said is true, then the social world is really starting to get serious after the war.” “…So, does that mean that the only reason he goes to Duke Medes’s residence is to meet Yurika?” “Maybe?” Jayden, with trembling hands, showed Mariel the newspaper he had collected about Yohan Hyrad. The collection was quite substantial, and most of it contained stories about Yohan being a troublemaker. “Look at this. Is all of this true?” Mariel carefully read through everything before nodding brightly. “Yes. There is nothing wrong with that.” “Are you sure he and Yurika are only political allies?” “Ah, Uncle, is anything in this world ever certain?” Mariel shrugged and answered. “But I must say, he really puts effort into dressing up. Every day, he came in well-dressed and flirted with Yurika shamelessly. It’s amusing to watch, especially considering how much of a jerk he was before. Does he think batting his eyes a little will change anything—” “What? That sly bastard is flirting with her?” So, Jayden quickly rolled up his sleeves and barged into Yurika’s room. * * * The atmosphere in the room instantly froze as Jayden barged in. Jayden had no idea that Yohan would be in my room. “How dare you—” It was when Yohan muttered slowly and eerily. “Uncle?” I stood up awkwardly and spoke. “Are you here already?” I was a little taken aback by the sudden visit, as I thought it would take a few more days to arrive. Meanwhile, Yohan had a fierce expression on his face, but at the word “uncle,” he immediately adjusted his demeanor. “Hello. I am Yohan Hyrad.” Jayden, despite cherishing both Mariel and me dearly, was, above all else, a highly capable leader of a merchant guild. In other words, he was quick to grasp situations and even quicker to adapt. “I’m Jayden Abert, Duke. Please feel free to speak comfortably.” Although he loved his niece very much, he quickly realized that he could not treat Yohan, a war hero and Duke of Hyrad, lightly. “No.” Yohan rolled his eyes and spoke politely. “I’m not really that much of a bastard.” “Well, that….” “Of course, I have been causing some trouble here, so I figured I should be extra polite to avoid the reputation of being a complete disgrace.” It was an oddly logical argument, as if he were saying, ‘I took one, so if I give one back, it balances out.’ Of course, Jayden was just as quick to adapt. He politely slammed something down on the table. “Hm? What’s this?” I picked up the bundle of papers that Jayden had put down and looked at them with interest. They were newspapers circulated among merchants, usually published in various regions to report on central political affairs. Most of them contained articles about ‘Yohan Hyrad’s disgraceful behavior.’ “Ahem. Uncle, this is a bit… There’s a misunderstanding here,” I said, carefully choosing my words. In fact, Yohan had become known throughout the empire as a ‘man of two words’ by granting my request to request a victory celebration in the temple. But since I couldn’t reveal that I was the Divine Beast, I also couldn’t explain that I had asked him to investigate the temple. “Yohan is actually a much better person than people think…” Of course, Runart looked at me with a look of disagreement, but he didn’t really interfere. Jayden said with wide eyes. “So does that mean all of this isn’t true?” Coincidentally, where Jayden was pointing, there was a text written: [Duke Yohan Hyrad imprisons his stepmother and half-brother in the underground prison] It’s true,” Yohan answered calmly. He also showed no reaction to another headline: [It is a hot topic that Duke Yohan Hyrad fired all his servants without giving them even a single letter of recommendation] “But there was a reason for all that…probably!” Since I couldn’t say that I saw it myself when I was a divine beast, I was looking through the newspapers that Jayden had brought to make up other excuses. Then, I spotted something odd. Among the clippings about Yohan Hyrad, one had mistakenly been included from a different article. It seemed that two pages had been stacked together and cut incorrectly. [Regarding Prince Theodore’s Engagement – Is His Fiancée from the East?]  Theodore is an illegitimate child who becomes the Crown Prince’s half-brother. As the second prince, he joined hands with Yohan to keep the crown prince in check, but they later became enemies and betrayed each other. But that wasn’t the point. ‘In the original story, Was there an engagement or anything?’ [The lucky woman is the daughter of the Count of Sevs, a rising noble family in the east, Rivena Sevs] ‘Rivena Sevs? Count Sevs?’ [It was revealed that they met during Prince Theodore’s secret recovery trip.] Since this article had been mistakenly included among Yohan’s clippings, there wasn’t any further information. As I started to look through it more, Jayden said, “Are you interested in Prince Theodore’s engagement? That news was only reported in that single newspaper for some reason.” Jayden had come from the East, so it made sense that he had access to Eastern news. But there was another crucial detail there. No one in the capital knew that Prince Theodore had gone away for recovery. ‘He had been staying in the capital for quite some time, so when had he left?’ ‘It’s an imperial engagement, so I didn’t expect the capital to be this quiet.’ Although I hadn’t been actively involved in high society, I had been gathering all sorts of information, yet this was the first time I had heard about it. “Could this be just a rumor?” “Hmm… I’m not sure. That newspaper was shut down right after publishing this story, so no follow-ups were ever made.” ‘There was definitely something strange. If they had exclusively reported the prince’s engagement, it would have been a big issue, but it was more suspicious that they immediately shut it down.’ ‘Dismissing it as a mere rumor didn’t sit right with me—how could such an impactful rumor simply disappear without a trace?’ ‘Rivena Sevs…’ Now that I thought about it, Prince Theodore had always opposed the crown prince and sided with the temple. Yet, this time, he hadn’t objected to the royal banquet being held. That was odd as well. ‘If this is true, then the star of the victory banquet will be….’ I thought about it for a moment, then quickly made up my mind. “Yohan.” If there were such variables, I couldn’t afford to play it safe this time—I had to take a risk, no matter what. I set the clipped article back on the table and looked into Yohan’s eyes with a smile. “I know that the victory banquet could be a big variable in your political position,….” Just as Yohan furrowed his brows slightly and was about to say something, I reached out my hand. “But this time, will you be my partner?”  * * *