I Became A Squirrel Seeking For The Villain

The second event was that the family doctor, who had long served the Medes family, finally retired.

 

The doctor, who was very capable but had always wanted to retire due to his old age, happily submitted his resignation as soon as a new doctor was appointed.

 

The new doctor of the Medes family was none other than Viscount Runart.

 

“Runart! You’re really amazing.”

 

Runart was an orphan boy sponsored by Yurika in the past. He was a genius doctor who not only ranked first in the medical academy but also achieved remarkable research results and was even given the title of Viscount.

 

When Runart graduated, the academy begged him to take on both a research position and a teaching role, but he refused immediately, saying that he had somewhere else to go to repay the favor.

 

Naturally, the place that Runart headed to was the Medes family.

 

As promised, Runart, who had come to take care of Sienna’s illness as the family’s personal doctor, had grown into a fine young man.

 

‘I knew he was a genius, but I didn’t know he had the potential to earn a title on his own.’

 

Yurika welcomed him happily.

 

“Thank you for keeping your promise. I know it’s shameless, but I’ll leave it to you to take care of my mother.”

 

“Shameless? No, I studied hard to keep my promise to you, young lady. I’ll accept your gratitude after I’ve cured the Duchess.”

 

With his silver hair tied back short and wearing round glasses, Runart still had the gentle and kind impression he had when he was young.

 

Yurika nodded vigorously, holding Runart’s hand.

 

“Please take care of her. And since we are no longer in the position of sponsor and sponsored, let’s be friends. Don’t make it too awkward.”

 

Because Runart had such an affectionate and kind personality, he adapted easily to the Duke of Medes’ house.

 

With his Viscount title, there was no issue in forming close relationships. Soon, he became close not only to Eureka but also to Meriel.

 

As he began to take better care of Sienna, her condition began to improve significantly.

 

‘I guess I’m doing a good job of changing the original story, right?’

 

Yurika thought as she watched Sienna, who, unlike the original story, did not leave the world even after the war ended.

 

‘Everything… will be fine, right?’

 

At first, everyone had murmured about Yurika’s great fortune when she suddenly appeared.

 

There were also quite a few opinions that the girl who seemed somewhat cunning might take Mariel’s place and hasten the downfall of the Medes family.

 

Now, there are quite a few people who are evaluating that the Medes family has finally fallen into ruin.

 

They also speculated that the orphan girl must have someone backing her up, and that she would take a big profit and then disappear.

 

However, ever since that girl became Yurika Medes, surprisingly, the Medes family’s fortunes began to slowly recover.

 

In the Medes territory, taxes began to be collected more efficiently, and corruptors were fired one by one.

 

Even Sienna’s younger brother, Jayden, was able to escape the danger of being poisoned after learning the truth about his goddaughter’s family who had been deceiving him for so long.

 

“Isn’t it true that luck lies with the Medes family?”

 

“I saw her briefly; she was really cute, but sharp as well.”

 

“She’s different from Mariel. She’s not easy.”

 

“Rumor has it she is no ordinary person. They say she has become the center of attention in high society.”

 

“Count Jayden says she’s quite clever. He seems to be obsessed with his new niece these days.”

 

Yurika was always on good terms with Mariel and was also very close with her maternal uncle, Count Jayden.

 

It didn’t take long before everyone began to call her Yurika Medes.

 

By that point, Yurika had already changed a lot from the original story.

 

On Mariel’s birthday, after Yurika had been adopted, she gave Mariel a truly special gift.

 

“Sister, this is your birthday present. I went all the way to the Estan region to get it.”

 

“There is a legend that if you have a music box from the Estan region, your love will come true.”

 

At that moment, Mariel’s face turned bright red.

 

Noticing that Mariel was currently building a relationship with the male lead, the crown prince, Yurika smiled and added,

 

“Everything will be fine.”

 

“But….I’m destined to be devoted to the war hero.”

 

Mariel muttered while fiddling with the music box that Yurika had given her.

 

That fact was a huge obstacle for her.

 

“That war hero might actually be a good person, though. Someone who respects your wishes and doesn’t force anything on you.”

 

Yurika felt a little uneasy as she spoke. The personality of the war hero she spoke of was the complete opposite of the Yohan from the original story.

 

But Mariel answered with a bright smile.

 

“Yeah, I hope so.…thank you, Yurika. This is actually the gift I needed the most.”

 

Yurika nodded, seeing Mariel’s smile.

 

And, just like in the original story, when five years passed and the war hero appeared, Yurika again hoped that she had successfully changed the story and had influenced Yohan for the better.

 

* * *

 

“The war is over.… ” 

 

Mariel’s pupils trembled as she received the letter announcing the end of the war.

 

Having become the head of the Medes family after reaching adulthood last year, Mariel managed to force a smile and continue, 

 

“It’s a good thing… a really good thing. Finally, many sacrifices will come to an end.”

 

But I knew why the corners of Mariel’s lips were trembling.

 

The reason Meriel was able to avoid enlistment was because of the negotiation with the royal family that

‘the war hero would marry Lady Medes.’ 

 

However, during that time, Mariel had already fallen in love with the male lead, the crown prince.

 

Therefore, there was only one thing that Meriel and the Crown Prince were hoping for now.

 

The war hero is a very generous woman without any men in her family or a faithful man with a family who has no interest in Mariel.

 

But Yohan Hyrad was now a twenty-one-year-old young man, and he had long been deprived of his family estate by his stepbrother and stepmother.

 

No matter how prestigious his family was, he had no political power in the capital, so he had no reason to refuse a marriage proposal from the Medes family.

 

Everyone expected that Yohan Hyrad would naturally marry Mariel.

 

“I can’t even begin to explain how relieved I am…The war ending is really a good thing. Everyone’s so happy….”

 

Mariel continued to mutter to herself as if to encourage herself.

 

Of course, mumbling such an obvious thing meant that she was brainwashing herself.

 

“Be honest.”

 

I sat across from Mariel and slowly put my teacup down.

 

“You don’t want to marry Yohan Hyrad?”

 

“Yurika…”

 

By now, I had become the perfect Yurika Medes.

 

Sienna still cherished me, calling me Yurika, as if I were her lost daughter, and so everyone in the house also referred to me as the second young lady.

 

Though my background as an orphan was well-known, I kept my social life minimal, but everyone knew that the fake second daughter of the Medes family existed.

 

And Mariel, all this time….

 

“Yeah, that’s true.”

 

She had treated me as if I was her real younger sister. 

 

Even the servants sometimes discussed serious matters with me first, and Sienna and Jayden treated me as if I were the true Yurika, caring for me.

 

Mariel, being so kind-hearted, never once showed jealousy or suspicion; from beginning to end, she was always warm towards me.

 

‘Ah, really…When she told me everything with such pure intentions, I felt…’

 

“But there’s nothing I can do about it. Who would want to marry a man they’ve never had a proper conversation with? We’ve never even met except for one family dinner a few years ago.”

 

‘I want to protect her somehow.’

 

Mariel was incredibly kind and pure, but she had no sense of politics. 

 

She didn’t know how to use tricks or schemes.

 

And because of that, the Medes family had faced many dangers. But every time, I was able to defend the family and overcome the crises.

 

Whenever the vassals tried to climb the ranks with various excuses, I was able to put them in their place.

 

When the empire demanded excessive taxes, I was able to negotiate a fair compromise.

 

If there were any attempts to tarnish Mariel’s reputation in social circles, I supported her from the sidelines.

 

‘Honestly, I can do that as a second daughter in the family. Really.’

 

The wealth of the Medes family that I protected is probably greater than my inheritance rights.

 

‘Well, I was just saying. If the real Yurika comes back, of course, I’ll have to step down.’

 

‘Whenever I felt proud, I carefully pulled myself together.’

 

“And…”

 

Without even knowing what I was thinking, Mariel continued to whisper in a soft voice.

 

“I like the crown prince… But these feelings would only be a burden to both of us. The crown prince can’t break the empire’s promises, after all. Right?”

 

Her forced smile had disappeared by now, and the corner of her lips was now drooping in sadness.

 

“Since I haven’t fulfilled my military duty… I’ll have to fulfill other responsibilities.”

 

‘In the end, I have to step in again.’

 

“You want to marry the Crown Prince, not Yohan Hyrad, right?”

 

“Uh, yes?”

 

“I’ll make that happen for you.”

 

‘Huh, here we go again.’

 

* * *