She's Not Our Daughter! Ch 101

The Crown Prince's Master Move

He frowned, tilting as if pondering an unsolvable riddle. The Crown Prince stared fixedly at Amille and Philoes in that state before speaking.

[Prince] "Can an animal actually possess mana?"

Murderous intent colored his chilling expression. Even though people constantly compared him to Duke Ideos, the prince had studied imperial politics since childhood.

Amille gasped sharply at the question that struck the exact mark.

[Amille] "That is......"

[Prince] "Answer me, Amille."

[Amille] "......I have never heard of animal mana. It exists only as a rare exception, if at all."

That assertion was wrong. Animals possessed absolutely no mana. Still, Amille cast her eyes downward and prayed that this crude distraction tactic would work.

The answer thoroughly displeased the Crown Prince, who narrowed his brow further. He was in a foul mood. Whenever the prince acted this way, torture or slaughter followed.

Wishing to avoid the impending wrath after a brief silence, a mage from the Magic Tower who accompanied Amille spoke up suddenly.

[Mage] "Your Highness, in my humble opinion, perhaps a human has transformed into an animal. The established theory dictates that animals possess no mana."

Doubt filled the Crown Prince's face at this new hypothesis. Forgetting his rage, he stepped toward the mage.

[Prince] "Are you daring to suggest right now that a human can transform into an animal?"

[Mage] "It is rare, but it is not completely impossible."

Amille anxiously bit her lip. The mage spoke the truth. Sierra had clearly transformed Hanael into an animal. Changing into an animal made it difficult to detect the flow of mana. For this very reason, she had harshly trained Sierra to master brewing the potion that transformed humans into animals.

You should have cleaned up the feathers properly, Sierra. Why did you do that......?

If the Crown Prince discovered Hanael's identity now, she would die. Just like the original ending......

Meanwhile, ignoring his surroundings and failing to recognize Amille's panic, the Crown Prince muttered quietly to himself.

[Prince] "Why did they transform into an animal? To hide this powerful mana? For fun? Or was it a mistake, or done by force?"

Since the question required no answer, everyone in the room remained silent. The Crown Prince fell into deep thought. A long, silent period passed where no one disrupted the prince's concentration. The gate remained frozen, and the energy of the blue mana slowly faded from the feather.

[Prince] "I figured it out."

A faint smile touched his lips. Amille intuitively gathered that the Crown Prince had deduced more than half of Hanael's identity. Finally, wearing an expression full of pure delight, he spoke.

[Prince] "Duke Ideos, that bastard knows."

[Mage] "Pardon, Your Highness?"

The mage, still failing to grasp the situation, raised his voice in confusion. Yet the Crown Prince completely ignored the mage's words. He chattered busily, pacing back and forth with a continuous chuckle.

[Prince] "He uncovered the secret of blue mana! That is why he found a human with that mana and is using them. Pretending to be so noble, yet he rushed to exploit the secret the moment he learned it! Pathetic bastard."

[Mage] "So, Your Highness means...... Duke Ideos is using the power of the blue mana to......"

The mage tried to add something, while Amille wisely maintained silence.

It was a split-second decision. As a consequence of that choice, the Crown Prince grabbed the mage in his excitement, forcing the mage to listen to his frantic shouting.

[Prince] "Yes! That must be why he forcibly transformed someone with the blue mana into an animal and brought them along to close the gate. Though I have no idea why he disguised them as an animal."

[Mage] "Gasp......"

The mage's face turned pale.

[Prince] "Either way, the owner of this feather is human. And a highly powerful one at that......"

Growing anxious at the word powerful, the mage pressed further.

[Mage] "Then will this person not bring a terrible influence upon your future, Your Highness? If Duke Ideos exploits that person!"

The Crown Prince smirked, stroking the bluish energy flowing around his arm.

[Prince] "That might be true. However, Duke Ideos made a massive mistake."

Unlike the bewildered mage, Amille bit her lip hard. Yes, it was true. Duke Ideos should have hidden the identity of Hanael, the child with the blue mana, at all costs.

[Prince] "Unlike the past, I have grown strong, and His Majesty the Emperor stands behind me."

[Mage] "Which means......"

[Prince] "I need to find where Duke Ideos hid that human and claim them as mine."

The Crown Prince chuckled with absolute delight. The mage nodded in awe, feeling secretly relieved. Amille stood as the only person in the room who couldn't endure anxiety piercing her chest, wiping her dry face.

[Amille] "However, Your Highness, you must not overexert yourself. The power you currently possess remains highly incomplete......"

The Crown Prince's expression twisted at her dampening words. Glaring at Amille, he spoke.

[Prince] "Do you dare say the word 'incomplete' to my face right now?"

Incompleteness, lack, inferiority. All of these served as a sheer trigger button for him.

[Prince] "It is only because I still lack a single fragment of power. According to the oracle, there is someone who possesses the purest blue mana......"

In the oracle that only members of the imperial family could hear, God declared that a single human possessed the greatest power to establish order in a chaotic world, holding the authority to rule and control the monsters. The oracle had also proclaimed that this human possessed the blue mana.

That was why the Crown Prince resolved to kill that human and steal their mana. He had tirelessly researched methods to slaughter humans and strip them of their mana, operating in the shadows like a monster.

[Prince] "Ah, wait a moment."

Amille watched in agony as the Crown Prince slowly pieced the clues together.

[Prince] "Closing this gate requires a massive amount of blue mana, does it not?"

He moved abruptly. The mage nodded blankly in response. Seeing the mage's clumsy nod, a brilliant smile spread across his lips.

[Prince] "If the human that bastard exploits is powerful...... they might just complete my power."

Pure joy and ecstasy filled his face.

[Prince] "We must kidnap that human as quickly as possible."

If he kidnapped the human Cassius Ideos was using, everything would conclude perfectly.

The Crown Prince gripped his trembling hand with the other, blankly suppressing his chilling expression. Now was the time to maintain composure at all costs.

It is similar to the past, yet different.

Until now, Amille had fought desperately to make Sierra flee. She deployed all sorts of tricks to send warnings to Sierra. She had wished with deep intensity that Sierra would never approach the Crown Prince. Even if other victims appeared, Amille forced herself to endure. But Sierra was different.

Because it seems she has resolved to confront the Crown Prince......

Stopping Sierra was clearly impossible. Come to think of it, Sierra had possessed a stubborn nature since childhood. She would execute whatever she set her mind to, even at the cost of her life. And though Sierra would never admit it, despite possessing a frail body, she held a strong sense of justice... she could never stand by and watch anyone get hurt or oppressed.

In that case, the only thing I can do now is create a rift within the Crown Prince's faction.

Amille knew the future. She understood perfectly how the Crown Prince had persecuted and slaughtered Hanael. She knew exactly how Hanael had perished in the Crown Prince's grasp because of that wretched oracle......

The Crown Prince offered a brilliant smile, and Amille also smiled brightly for someone hiding a blade inside her chest. Perhaps a faint path to survival was finally revealing itself.

---

After returning from the gate, the Crown Prince immediately called a meeting. The most urgent task was to monitor Duke Ideos's movements. Naturally, information regarding Duke Ideos's movements fell easily into his hands.

[Subordinate] "Duke Ideos closed the gate and returned to the ducal mansion."

Reviewing the reports brought by the incompetent spies planted near the ducal mansion, the Crown Prince bit his pipe and whispered.

[Prince] "Whatever that bastard treasures must naturally be inside the mansion."

If he stole what Duke Ideos treasured, the game would end.

He stared at the smoke from his pipe, trying to read the future. Of course, it remained as chaotic as the swirling smoke......

[Prince] "I must launch a raid on the mansion. A real man pushes forward decisively in matters like this."

[Vassal] "However, Your Highness, you can't do that. The backlash will be......"

The cautious vassals tried to hold him back. But the hot-headed Crown Prince ruthlessly dismissed their words.

[Prince] "Backlash? I have no time to waste on trivial worries."

[Vassal] "The risk is too high, Your Highness."

[Prince] "This is a winner-take-all game. The victor claims everything."

Even Amille, who thoroughly detested the Crown Prince, had to agree with his logic. Since he had already initiated the battle, this game would be won by whoever possessed the greatest amount of blue mana.

[Prince] "By the way...... isn't he absolutely foolish?"

[Vassal] "Pardon?"

[Prince] "I mean Duke Ideos. Why did he make the mistake of exposing his hand to me?"

To drop a bird feather, no less. And a snowy white one that stood out sharply, completely mismatched with that dark cave.

As the Crown Prince grinned broadly, a cautious vassal spoke up suddenly.

[Vassal] "Could there be a possibility that he did it intentionally? He is a highly deceptive man, after all."

The Crown Prince narrowed his eyes. However, he immediately dismissed the idea.

[Prince] "There is no reason for him to do that. It must be a hand he can't afford to expose."

Concealing one's most precious asset was the fundamental rule of tactics. Resting his chin in his hand, the Crown Prince envisioned a bright future where he conquered the entire empire.

---

Of course, his assumption was wrong. This entire situation progressed exactly according to Sierra's designs. That day, she observed one of Hanael's feathers fall to the ground while the child flapped her wings enthusiastically. Then, she plucked a single feather from Hanael's back.

[Hanael] "Cheeewp! (My magnificent feathers......!)"

Hanael shrieked in utter shock, unlike a tiny bird. But Sierra couldn't help it. This stood as a minor sacrifice for the greater picture, indeed.

Leaving the dropped feather behind on the floor, they departed from the cave where the gate was tightly shut. Cassius and Sierra held hands warmly, continuing their conversation about the actions the Crown Prince would likely take moving forward.

Yet shockingly, the situation rapidly spiraled toward a deeper extreme. Despite the gate closing, the Crown Prince declared martial law. It was completely devoid of any justification or meaning, but because the Emperor tacitly approved the decree, the imperial troops finally began to mass near the capital.

In particular, the area surrounding the Ideos Ducal estate stood densely crowded with deployed soldiers.

---

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