She's Not Our Daughter! Ch 112

How to Deal with a Villain (2)

At his words that they could open the door and rescue Amille, Hanael chimed in briskly.

[Hanael] "That's right! I can open the door. In my dream, I tried super hard to open it!"

Sierra stared quietly at Hanael. The child blurted out those words and smiled brightly, asking for praise. How could Sierra praise such an action?

Trying so hard to open the door in a dream meant that the Hanael in that dream suffered just as much. Looking at the child smiling with steamed-bun cheeks...... reliving those memories must have been painful, even if Hanael showed no outward sign.

How could Sierra dismiss it with empty praise? Her heart ached.

While Sierra quietly bit her lip, Hanael extended a hand toward Cassius. Instead of clinging to Sierra, she slid smoothly down to the floor and smiled brightly.

[Hanael] "Follow me!"

Sierra grabbed the back of Hanael's neck as the child scampered forward, pulling Hanael into her embrace.

Thanks to the weight-reducing magic, the light body lifted easily. Hanael kicked her feet frantically, puffing out her lips, but Sierra had no choice. Even if she was a genius, a child required protection in such a dangerous situation.

As Sierra thought this, Hanael whispered into her ear.

[Hanael] "I told you to follow me."

Even in a time like this, she is just an adorable bundle of bossy desire.

Glaring affectionately at Hanael, Sierra nodded vigorously.

[Sierra] "Right, I understand. I will follow you. Let us go together."

[Hanael] "Okay!"

[Sierra] "Still, I will handle dangerous tasks. A leader inherently receives protection."

As Sierra whispered with a solemn face, Cassius, standing beside her, let out a soft laugh.

Finally, Sierra stared intently at the wall Hanael pointed out. A faint sound echoed from this tightly sealed wall......

---

While they located the hidden space, the deep room of the palace lay submerged in cold darkness.

The Crown Prince remained with Amille. Keeping her confined in a cell, he tested her condition.

[Prince] "I heard you were quite a clever mage, but you amount to nothing special."

He acted as if he were meeting Amille for the first time. Staring down at her with a cold gaze, he choked her neck.

[Prince] "Is it thanks to the brainwashing spell...... You are entirely helpless."

[Amille] "Kuhk."

She opened her eyes wide, struggling to regain sanity. Yet because the delicate brainwashing curse bound to her mind had not lifted, her body refused to move.

Amille couldn't attack an entity her mind recognized as her master. She clenched her fist, but her strength vanished every time. She tried to chant an attack spell, but as usual, the effort proved futile.

Meanwhile, the thing wearing his face cackled, muttering like speaking in tongues.

[Prince] "How dare you judge that a demon possesses my body?"

[Amille] "K-Kugh......"

[Prince] "How dare you!"

At his chilling rage, Amille bit her lip and let out strangled gasps. His hand exerted terrifying strength, choking her neck. She couldn't resist. The brainwashing curse still bound her, and her magic no longer affected the Crown Prince.

[Amille] "Ha, hahk, hahk."

Her consciousness began to fade from a lack of oxygen.

[Prince] "Well, if I become a demon...... dragging you down into the mud with me is only proper courtesy."

His state shifted abruptly. Strangely, he transformed as if a demon possessed half his form, or a demon took root inside him.

What would become of the empire's future now? And what would happen to Sierra, Hanael, and Cassius?

Could it be...... that Sierra's plan, which Amille trusted without fully knowing, had failed without her knowledge?

Choked by the Crown Prince's hand, barely breathing like a wild animal, Amille thought with resignation.

Perhaps this will be the end of everything.

The moment that thought ended, her mind sank into darkness. Her eyes turned blank and empty.

A deep groove carved into the corner of his lips as he glanced at Amille. Anyone could recognize it as the smile of a victor.

[Prince] "Ah, I will rule this empire soon enough, but......"

Hearing his raspy, metallic voice, Amille wore a despairing expression. Yes, she had seen that face before the regression as well. Back then, the Crown Prince smiled in that exact manner. Then the world fell into his hands, ruined, and Sierra and Hanael perished.

In the end, am I going to die like this in this life too, without breaking the brainwashing curse......

Every time her brainwashed mind briefly returned, the actions she secretly took against the Crown Prince's will vanished in vain. Only a barren wasteland remained.

Amille clenched and unclenched her fists. Was rejecting fate so difficult after all? Did she and Cassius turn back time in vain? Were Sierra and Hanael going to die again without seeing her?

In deep despair, she lost consciousness.

Right then, the door rattled open. It was clearly a hidden room, yet someone opened it. However, Amille had no time to verify it, as her vision had already blurred. But a breeze leaking through the gap in the door was real.

And then......

BOOM!

Along with a suspicious roar, a sound of something breaking through the gap in the wall resonated.

Were those intruders allies, or enemies?

Would I be able to return alive?

Harboring those questions, Amille lost consciousness completely.

---

Hanael found the method to open the door, but Cassius was the one who opened it.

Hanael pressed her hand against the dirt wall, feeling for a stone with an unusual texture. Then, Cassius drew his sword and struck the stone directly.

BANG!

With a loud boom, half the wall collapsed, sending acrid smoke swirling toward their noses. The smoke arose from the shattered wall. Sierra scowled, gripping Hanael's hand tightly once more.

The smoke slowly cleared.

After placing Hanael's hand into the hand of Cassius, who stood tall as if gauging the interior, Sierra took a deep breath. Then, before anyone could stop her, she stepped inside with heavy strides.

Sister is inside this room with that bastard. My intuition tells me so.

She distinctly heard a groan that sounded like her sister's voice. Though a long time had passed since she last heard Amille's voice, she knew. That was what sisters were.

And......

Did that bastard actually......

Amille lay limp on the floor like a ruined puppet before Sierra. Handmarks covered her neck where the Crown Prince choked her, and she lay sprawled, appearing dead.

The Crown Prince turned his body stiffly.

[Prince] "A rat slipped in."

His body crouched low, unlike usual. He differed clearly from his normal self. Yet Sierra cared nothing about the Crown Prince or whatever that bastard had become.

Her beloved sister was dead, or on the brink of death, so what did anything else matter? Rage consumed her completely.

Sparks ignited in her eyes before Cassius could stop her.

Without even looking at the Crown Prince, who stared intently in her direction, Sierra walked forward relentlessly. She cared nothing that her dress rustled with an odd sound, nor that the Crown Prince wore a grotesque expression. Her concern focused on a single person: Amille.

Sister, my sister.

She moved quickly toward Amille, who lay sprawled carelessly on the floor. Her trembling fingers brushed beneath Amille's nose.

Was she alive? Could they speak again......

An eternity passed in a fraction of a second, and the bridge of Amille's nose twitched. A faint, delicate breath brushed against Sierra's fingers.

What a relief. Amille breathed slowly. Only then did her tension drain, and she sank quietly onto the floor.

She is alive. Sister is alive.

Fortunately, her sister remained alive. Sierra stood up on her wobbly legs.

Cassius turned his attention forward first. The Crown Prince approached the wall, a chilling, creaking smile on his face. As if he had discovered something there.

The Crown Prince is different from before.

Their plan seemed to have succeeded completely. Now, the Crown Prince acted as a mere shell, occasionally regaining sanity, while a demon possessed his body.

I must kill him. Only then will we survive.

Sierra saw the beast-like Crown Prince groping the collapsed wall with bony hands. The foolish Prince had been swallowed by a demon due to his excessive greed for power. Yet half of his soul still coexisted with that demon.

They had to drag that demon out completely now. But before that, Sierra needed to rescue her sister while the Crown Prince remained distracted by the wall.

While Cassius and Hanael stood still, their senses razor-focused on Sierra and the Crown Prince, Sierra held her breath and quietly clenched her fists.

Moving silently without making a sound, Sierra looked down at her breathing sister and rummaged through her pockets. Now came the time to pour the potion into her sister's mouth.

Right at that moment, the Crown Prince turned his neck with a creaking sound. His gaze scanned the empty air before locking onto Amille.

Cassius slowly clenched his fist, producing a sharp snap.

The Crown Prince's gaze returned forward.

[Prince] "There is definitely something here......"

His bloodshot eyes rolled in their sockets.

Sierra hastily opened the potion bottle. She couldn't drop it with sweaty hands. If the potion bottle left her hand while under the invisibility potion's effect, the bottle would regain its physical form.

This is no time to be distracted by petty sentiment.

She parted her sister's lips slightly and poured the potion silently into her mouth. The potion trickled down Amille's lips.

Please, please......

She squeezed her eyes shut in prayer and opened them. Though much spilled, the potion trickled into the mucous membranes of her mouth. Amille's ragged breathing eased.

Sierra let out a quiet sigh and scanned her surroundings.

The Crown Prince's suspicious gaze was fixed on Hanael's position. He muttered under his breath, looking like someone split into two personalities. Muttering sinisterly with phrases like "This is what I was looking for," he resembled a mad fanatic.

Sweat slicked Sierra's palms. She knew Hanael was safe with Cassius, but their opponent was a demon and a vicious killer. If Hanael faced danger......

Clatter!

The moment she realized it, she rolled the empty healing potion bottle toward the Crown Prince. With a sharp scraping sound, the empty bottle rolled across the floor.

She gasped softly. Fortunately, the Crown Prince turned his body back toward the noise. And finally, the rolling bottle stopped near him.

Sierra bit her dry lips hard and stared at the Crown Prince. He bent his waist, contorting his body at a bizarre angle. His rough hand touched the smooth glass bottle, along with the label marked "For Healing."

[Prince] "There is more than one person hidden in here...... There are at least two, or perhaps three."

He stroked the bottle, cackling weirdly.

Staring at his grotesque form, Sierra thought: Since it has come to this, the first strike wins.

---

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