Baby Squirrel Is Good at Everything-Chapter 69

‘It’ll work out.’

Recalling her friend’s encouragement, Beatty steadied herself and spoke again.

“Can’t you drink it?”

“W-What? What kind of nonsense is that? Why would I drink your medicine?”

For someone who was simply refusing because it wasn’t meant for her, Pirina was trembling far too much.

The Duke, noticing her excessive reaction, furrowed his brows.

‘Could it be...?’

Up until now, no poison had been detected in their investigations.

Not just poison—nothing harmful to the human body had been found in the potion. That was why he had entertained the faint hope that it might actually be a cure for his daughter’s illness.

‘Foolish of me to expect anything.’

Clicking his tongue at himself, the Duke gave a curt order.

“Bring the ‘potion.’”

At his command, a subordinate quickly retrieved the vial from where it had been stored for examination.

As soon as she saw the familiar bottle, Pirina visibly stiffened in anxiety.

“Here, Aunt.”

Taking the potion from the soldier, Beatty held it out confidently.

“Drink it.”

“......”

“It’s strange. If it’s truly medicine, shouldn’t you have no reason to hesitate?”

Pirina’s lips pressed tightly together as she shook with fear.

‘No, absolutely not.’

She wasn’t foolish enough to think that refusing wouldn’t raise suspicion.

But she couldn’t trust Mama.

‘If I drink that... she might decide I’m disposable and kill me outright!’

From the start, she hadn’t expected to be thrown into prison like this.

The Mama she knew was someone who would ruthlessly eliminate any trace that could implicate her—she wouldn’t hesitate to poison a subordinate who had been exposed.

Pirina’s eyes darted desperately before she suddenly blurted out,

“T-This is the only one! If I drink it, then Beatty, you won’t have any left!”

“Oh.”

“This is a rare, precious elixir! I can’t just waste it by drinking it myself—hahaha!”

Pirina forced out a laugh, but her trembling lips only made it look grotesque.

Her bloodshot eyes gleamed with triumph, as if she had struck a decisive blow. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The Duke, unimpressed, gestured for a soldier to take the vial from Beatty and bring it to Pirina instead.

“Y-Your Grace? D-Didn’t you hear me? This is the only one! If you destroy it, then—”

Pirina’s eyes pleaded with him, but the Duke only deepened his scowl.

“If it’s truly medicine, we’ll simply request more from the royal family.”

Even as she frantically tried to talk her way out of this, her story about the potion’s origins hadn’t changed. That meant the part about it coming from the royal family was likely true.

“B-But what if the royal family refuses?! This is an incredibly rare elixir—I went through so much to obtain it—”

Desperately scrambling backward [N O V E L I G H T] on the ground, Pirina clung to her excuses.

“That’s impossible.”

The Duke cut her off with a single, dismissive statement.

The royal family, no matter how powerful, could not ignore House Aslan.

And right now, they were particularly indebted to Aslan.

According to royal law, noble families were only obligated to serve in the military for three months at a time.

If a war dragged on past that, the royal family was required to compensate the participating families.

During the last great war, the debts the royal family owed to House Aslan had piled up so high that even the king himself had to tread carefully around them.

‘They’d probably be eager to use this as repayment.’

The Duke snorted at the predictable greed of the royal family.

“S-Stop!”

Pirina shrieked as she saw the vial being tilted toward her mouth, thrashing violently.

“F-Fine! It’s poison! I admit it!”

A stunned silence fell over the dungeon.

“...!”

“She really tried to poison the young lady...?”

Crack.

The sound of the Duke grinding his teeth echoed ominously through the prison.

“I confessed! I told you everything! Now just—just get rid of that thing!”

“Ack!”

Thud!

Overcome with desperation, Pirina flailed with such force that even the burly soldier holding the vial lost his grip.

The uncapped bottle rolled onto the floor, spilling its contents everywhere.

‘I’m saved!’

Seeing the poison vanish before her eyes, Pirina’s face lit up in euphoric relief.

But her victory was short-lived.

“How dare you...”

Her panicked resistance only further fueled the Duke’s wrath.

“You tried to force such a deadly poison onto my child?”

His golden eyes gleamed with a merciless, predatory light, locking onto her like an unbreakable chain.

Beatty, meanwhile, simply watched with a calm expression.

She had never expected anything from Pirina in the first place.

So there was no disappointment. No anger.

Just confirmation of what she already knew.

Shink.

The cold sound of a blade being drawn sliced through the heavy silence of the underground prison.

“There’s no need for poison.”

Poison was merely a crude tool of snakes.

When a lion ended its prey, it did so with its own claws.

“H-Hiiiik...”

Pirina, overwhelmed by the killing intent pouring out of the Duke without the slightest restraint, began drooling in terror.

It felt as if that gleaming blade was about to fall on her neck at any moment.

This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.

Just before the Duke’s sword could swing—

“Ah. Wait a moment!”

A soft touch stopped his arm mid-air.

It was, of course, Beatty.

Pirina, whose head had nearly been lopped off, didn’t even spare a grateful glance at the niece who had just saved her life. Instead, she looked humiliated, as if she had just been insulted.

“Little one. This woman is a criminal unworthy of mercy.”

“That’s true.”

The Duke spoke in concern.

He worried that his daughter, feeling soft-hearted, might make an overly lenient decision.

But Beatty had no intention of defending her aunt.

‘Mercy? What a luxury!’

Not a single speck of compassion crossed her mind.

Tap.

Stepping forward, Beatty began counting on her fingers.

“First. Embezzlement of my inheritance.”

“W-What?”

“Second. Falsification of documents.”

“...What are you...”

And there were many more.

Beatty carefully recited all the charges she had gathered, folding down her last finger.

“And now, attempted assassination.”

“......”

Each time the child listed another crime in her clear, bright voice, Pirina’s expression twisted further in disbelief.

“So what? Do you expect me to kneel and beg for your forgiveness?”

“No?”

Beatty tilted her head at Pirina’s venomous outburst.

“But you’re already kneeling, aren’t you?”

“Ugh...!”

Pirina’s face turned crimson with shame.

It was only then that she realized her disgraceful state—crawling on the filthy ground after having thrashed around in desperation.

‘But that’s not the important part.’

While Pirina was preoccupied with her humiliation, Beatty had no real interest in mocking her.

Instead, the young girl’s small hands dipped into her ever-reliable golden acorn pouch and pulled something out.

“Hm, hm.”

Unfolding a crumpled piece of paper, Beatty carefully read through it to ensure she hadn’t forgotten anything.

‘Property... title... noble pension... Good, I wrote it all down.’

Mimicking her friend’s voice in her mind, she even gave herself a small mental compliment before lifting her head.

With the most confident, logical, and intelligent expression she could muster—the face of a skilled merchant—she declared,

“For all the crimes you have committed, Aunt, I will be receiving compensation in gold.”

There was a wonderful system in place called damages and restitution.

If you wronged someone, you paid for it.

Relying on this just system, Beatty had spent the past few days carefully calculating the amount Pirina owed for her many crimes.

Aether helped a lot.

Perhaps because he was her brother’s friend, he had been the one to offer assistance first.

And Brother was there too.

While reviewing reports and documents with Aether, Brother had remained by her side.

...He wasn’t particularly helpful with the paperwork, but still—he had been there!

While Beatty was reflecting on the support she had received, Pirina, who had been blankly staring, suddenly snapped back to her senses and burst into laughter.

“Gold? Hah! Are you running out of money? I didn’t know the Duke’s household had fallen on such hard times.”

Her mockery of House Aslan, one of the most respected families in the North, made the knights in the room bristle in anger.

“Fine, how much do you want? If you let me go, I’ll open the vault in my estate immediately.”

“Ah! About that.”

As Pirina rattled the chains on her shackles with a sneer, Beatty blinked her round eyes and answered,

“The Viscount’s estate doesn’t seem to be doing so well.”

“...What?”

“The gold in your vault alone won’t be enough for compensation, so I’ve listed some other assets to convert into coin.”

Beatty held up the paper, reading aloud in an orderly fashion.

“First, your townhouse in the capital.”

Pirina, who had just offered her vault as ransom, looked utterly bewildered.

“You also have some land near the capital. And this villa, plus your basic noble pension...”

One by one, Beatty went down the list.

“...And lastly, your viscount title.”

“What?”

“You’re no longer a noble.”

Beatty’s round eyes locked onto her aunt’s stunned expression, and she kindly repeated herself, just in case Pirina had missed it.

The words struck Pirina like a bolt of lightning.

She, who had always clung to her noble status with an iron grip, suddenly felt her world collapsing.

Her widened eyes darted around in disbelief.

“What? W-What are you saying? That can’t be...”

A terrible premonition crawled up her spine.