She's Not Our Daughter! Ch 22

Rain and You

The atmosphere in the ducal mansion remained peaceful.

However, Cassius' reaction upon entering the mansion and habitually receiving the report on Sierra proved far more violent than expected.

[Cassius] "......She left?"

[H. Butler] "Yes, she mentioned finding something interesting for a moment."

[Cassius] "When......."

His vision flashed a dizzying white. He frantically searched the mansion. However, she was nowhere to be found.

[H. Butler] "She said she would return shortly....... Your Grace?"

[Cassius] "......Where is she?"

The Ideos family's head butler rolled his eyes.

Sierra clearly stated she would 'be right back.' And the head butler clearly conveyed that exact fact. However, Cassius currently tuned out his words entirely.

Cassius bit his lip with an anxious expression. He closed his eyes unsteadily and brushed past the head butler. His steps nearly faltered, but he forced himself upright.

The nightmare he dreamed of every single day started turning into reality.

Heavy rain poured outside the window, but he lacked the mental capacity to care. He sprinted madly down the stairs without an umbrella or a raincoat.

Every servant in the mansion stared at him in utter bewilderment.

Meanwhile, Hanael played a fun game of jacks with the older maids in the first-floor lobby. The playful Hanael loved the marble-floored lobby, so she intentionally chose this spot.

Playing jacks tap-tap with the maids using her small, bun-like hands, she tilted her head at the suddenly shifted atmosphere.

[Hanael] "Come here.......! Huh?"

[Maid] "......Ah, Little Miss."

[Hanael] "Huh? What is it......?"

Hanael widened her eyes. Cassius' figure rushing and stumbling toward the door entered her view.

It's the foolish mister, isn't it? Where is he going like that?

A strange sensation washed over her as she watched the foolish mister, who always treated her so well, suddenly sprint away.

Where is that bad mister going without an umbrella? He didn't even acknowledge Hanael!

She blinked in confusion for a long time, her round eyes wide.

As Hanael stood still, the maids also fidgeted nervously. One brave maid among them hastily stood up and fetched the head maid.

[H. Maid] "Little Miss."

The head maid, having rushed down to the first floor, carefully offered Hanael a suggestion.

[H. Maid] "Little Miss, shall we head inside? It's raining. Playing jacks inside your room would be....…"

[Hanael] "......I don't want to."

She vehemently refused.

Standing up from the floor, Hanael tightly hugged the plush toy she had carefully placed beside her. The little girl patted her way over and paced around the doorway.

If he goes out there, won't he get hit by the rain......? Getting rained on makes you sick.

The foolish mister went nowhere. He simply stood still in the rain, staring into the distance. He stared fixedly at the gates where the carriage would enter.

However, watching Cassius step outside without caring about the rain stirred a persistent, tender ache in her chest. Hanael bumped her chubby, cotton-candy-like head against the wall and thought.

Tch, no. Get a grip, Hanael! Think about Mom!

Hanael spun around.

Right at that moment, the Grand Madam, who had stepped out of her room and joined them at the massive mansion's doorway, whispered like a sigh.

[G. Madam] "It's starting again......."

Her low sigh tickled Hanael's ears.

What does 'starting again' mean?

A small question filled Hanael's mind. Did this happen more than once or twice? What in the world happened?

Her hand holding the plush toy wriggled.

[Hanael] "What's starting again?"

[G. Madam] "It's nothing, child. You'll catch a cold if you stand in the cold wind."

[Hanael] "Yeah......."

Hanael absentmindedly touched her beautifully tied hair and dragged out her words.

The Grand Madam spoke quietly to her.

[G. Madam] "The bad mister is paying for his sins."

[Hanael] "But still......."

Hanael looked down at her plush toy. The bad mister gifted her this doll. A while ago, she secretly met the bad mister behind Sierra's back while Sierra busily crafted potions.

The bad mister handed Hanael an ugly pink rabbit doll. Stray threads stuck out everywhere, and its black bean-like eyes sat way too low. In short, the doll fell far below Hanael's aesthetic standards.

[Cassius] "Hanael, what do you think of this doll?"

[Hanael] "I hate it. It's ugly."

He awkwardly hid the hand holding the doll behind his back.

[Cassius] "I made it myself....... It's really ugly, isn't it?"

[Hanael] "You don't look like someone who makes things like that, bad mister."

She carefully scratched her cheek.

[Hanael] "Huh? When did you make this, mister?"

He stroked the plush doll's ears and offered an awkward smile.

[Cassius] "A few years ago. While thinking about you and Sierra. It lacks quality, right?"

She slowly moved her hand and accepted the ugly rabbit doll.

[Hanael] "I'm not taking it because I like you, bad mister, so go away."

The plush doll he gave her felt quite fluffy, stuffed with a massive amount of cotton.

Well, I'm going to leave this house with Mom later anyway. One memory should be fine....…

Hanael acted quite maturely.

The bad mister acted incredibly wicked and mean, but his eyes held such loneliness back then that she couldn't refuse it.

Hanael gripped the plush doll tightly and spoke.

[Hanael] "......I like the rain, Grandma."

[G. Madam] "Do you?"

[Hanael] "Yeah. So I'll put on my raincoat and keep watching the rain."

The Grand Madam looked down at Hanael with a complex gaze. Thus, a subtle standoff continued between Hanael, Cassius, and the Grand Madam.

---

It rained just like this on that day, too.

Leaning against an old, dead tree, Cassius closed his eyes and recalled the day he accepted his absolute separation from Sierra.

He waited for a long time in front of her empty house. Standing in the rain, just like today.......

[H. Butler] "I apologize, but it's raining, Your Grace....... I worry about your health."

He issued a low warning toward the head butler, who fidgeted while offering an umbrella.

[Cassius] "I am fine, so go inside."

That night, he waited in front of Sierra's house until dawn. Hoping she would return. However, despite his long wait, she never returned.

Forever.

That night, he collapsed from the aftermath of standing in the cold rain. A severe fever tormented him. Even within his fever dreams, Sierra appeared. She wore a resentful expression. Her eyes demanded to know why he never came looking for her and their child.

Throughout his fever, crushing guilt made him grow increasingly haggard.

A few days later, after recovering his strength and sporting a pale face, he returned to the front of her house. Right then, a woman calling herself Sierra's friend approached him.

[Amille] "Hmm."

[Cassius] "......What is it?"

Cassius showered Sierra with endless affection, but he possessed no inherent kindness. Watching his abrasive expression, the woman rested her chin on her hand and whispered seriously.

[Amille] "You're definitely looking sickly. Is it the pain of a broken heart?"

[Cassius] "Get lost."

He lacked the peaceful state of mind required to hold a useless, lengthy conversation with a woman. Regardless, he had to wait for Sierra or go find her if she never returned.

[Amille] "You're looking for Sierra, right?"

A flash of color returned to his pale complexion, drained by his battle with illness. Desperate enough to grasp at straws, he glared at the suspicious woman.

He locked eyes firmly with her green irises. Cassius flinched. Those eyes perfectly mirrored Sierra's.

[Amille] "Sierra went to raise her kid. So you won't find her."

Was this some sort of warning?

The cold-looking woman with a pink hippie perm scrunched her face and chuckled.

[Cassius] "What do you mean, she went to raise her kid....…"

[Amille] "I mean exactly what I said."

[Cassius] "Wait, what are you......."

The woman who knew Sierra's location was clearly a mage. She vanished instantly, likely using teleportation. If not for the tiny hairpin she accidentally dropped on the ground, he would have believed he suffered a hallucination.

Naturally, he tried to dismiss her words as lies.

A child?

However, raw power laced the departed woman's final words. A faint ember of doubt ignited.

So he waited for Sierra.

Even when heavy rain poured, he waited without an umbrella. Even at night, with fireflies as his backdrop, he waited for her.

He lacked the power to defy the Emperor's order commanding him to serve his ducal duties. If he departed for the battlefield, he wouldn't see Sierra for a long time.

All sorts of chaotic thoughts jumbled together and scattered through his mind. The fiery passion of a twenty-year-old youth dictated such actions.

[Cassius] "She will come today."

Perhaps, for a long time. He waited in that exact spot.

She will come today. Sierra left a note saying she would return. She promised.......

He brushed his wet uniform back and smiled quietly.

Eyes watched his every move. The Grand Madam, who observed him standing tall in the rain for a long time, stumbled and gripped the windowsill.

Hanael tightly grabbed the stumbling elder's arm and whispered carefully.

[Hanael] "Grandma......?"

[G. Madam] "Child."

Her hand slumped down. Hanael tilted her head in confusion.

[Hanael] "Why is the mister crying in the rain?"

[G. Madam] "It's because it's raining, child."

[Hanael] "No, Hanael is sure. The mister is crying."

[G. Madam] "......."

Sierra had merely been gone for a few hours.

However, in just a few short hours, a deeply sorrowful atmosphere completely swallowed the mansion.

---

Sierra rode the carriage back in an incredibly happy and refreshed state.

The enchanted four-horse carriage proved utterly magnificent. Plump and warm, she could easily live inside it forever without exaggeration.

[Sierra] "Today was a meaningful day, right?"

Sitting in the carriage and fanning herself breezily, she offered a soft chuckle.

[Hentel] "Yes, the future of this Empire shines brightly."

The doctor sitting opposite her also scratched his sideburns and smiled back.

[Hentel] "Furthermore, a sudden shower poured, and I expected to get drenched, yet I remained perfectly dry. As expected from the power of magic."

Damn it, speaking of magic, why does a certain nuisance come to mind?

It made sense.

The mention of magic instantly brought her older sister to mind. She ground her teeth at the thought of her Great Archmage sister.

Sierra swore absolute revenge. The moment her sister showed up, she would twist her nose right off.......

[Hentel] "Yes, but the mansion's atmosphere feels peculiar."

His words shattered her thoughts.

Their carriage entered the ducal mansion's grounds. However, regardless of the heavy rain, not a single servant wearing a raincoat or holding an umbrella roamed the gardens or paths.

She narrowed her eyes and stared out the rain-streaked window.

[Sierra] "You are right. Doesn't the mansion's atmosphere give off a gloomy vibe today?"

She blankly stared at the massive tree near the main building's entrance in the distance. She flinched upon spotting something resembling a corpse standing beneath its branches.

[Sierra] "I think I just spotted a ghost....…"

[Hentel] "What a terrifying thought....... That...... can't be."

The two of them tilted their heads in confusion, staring at the mansion submerged in inexplicable gloom.

Finally, the carriage halted.

Thanks to a servant shielding her with an umbrella, Sierra stepped out comfortably and entered the mansion.

Hanael, who had stood frozen at the doorway, launched herself into Sierra's embrace.

[Hanael] "Mom!"

Her lace socks dripped wet. Furthermore, the corners of her lips pointed downward.

[Sierra] "Who dared to......."

Bully my daughter?!

She screamed internally. Sierra hurriedly bit her lip.

My goodness, I am being brainwashed into calling her my daughter.

Sierra cleared her throat and spoke again.

[Sierra] "Who made our Hanael upset, huh?"

Hanael dropped her shoulders and muttered.

[Hanael] "You know, D......ad, I mean, the bad mister is acting weird!"

The bad mister?

Did she mean Cassius?

Sierra swiftly turned her gaze.

Only then did the servants lining the hallway, wearing expressions drenched in deep gloom, enter her view.

What is with this atmosphere......?

Did multiple people die or something......?

---

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