She's Not Our Daughter! Ch 53

I Must Uncover Ezel's Identity

[Unexpected luck arrives today!]

Sierra checked the note from the fortune cookie and shoved it straight into her pocket.

Luck, my foot.

She stood frozen, staring blankly down the dark alley where the old woman had vanished. The old woman had disappeared abruptly, as if she lacked anyone to carry her things, leaving Sierra standing alone in a daze.

To think it was a real celebration party and a kind old lady.......

Having unexpectedly gained three loyal subordinates and performed a good deed, Sierra walked out of the back alley.

Should I just go home for now?

The day overflowed with wonderful people and pleasant surprises. However, the exact moment she lowered her guard, a voice cut through the silence.

[Mercenary] "Young lady."

Three mercenaries with cocky expressions surrounded her. Sierra clenched her fists. Good, this time it was real.

Finally, they showed up.

The real kidnappers she had been eagerly awaiting finally stood before her. However, a problem disrupted her perfect plan to get abducted.

The knights mustn't see me getting kidnapped!

Cassius had undoubtedly stationed elite knights all around her. Although she used potions to put them to sleep whenever she spotted them, one could never be too sure.

She stepped right up to the mercenaries. Her sudden approach startled the men for a second, but they smirked after scanning her outfit.

[Mercenary] "Why walk right up to us, young lady?"

[Mercenary] "Shall we get going then......?"

[Sierra] "Huh? Where are we going?"

She blinked, acting like a completely clueless fool.

Emboldened, they grabbed the back of her neck roughly.

Grabbing my neck? You bastard, I'll cut off your wrist.

She played along with this pathetic kidnapping plot for a single reason: to secure evidence.

I need to find out why they kidnapped me, what they plan to do, and if my sister connects to any of this.

Sierra scowled at a familiar face among the men. She fully intended to discover why he had abducted someone trying to take the palace pharmacist exam. Ah, before that…….

Having swallowed a clarity potion beforehand, Sierra blinked. Finally, someone had sent men to abduct her. It had to be Ezel!

They pressed a white cloth against her mouth. The fabric surely carried a knockout drug. Sierra closed her eyes, obediently pretending to lose consciousness. The men whispered loudly.

[Mercenary] "Strange. She shouldn't have passed out this quickly."

[Mercenary] "......"

She silently prayed they would just shut up and move. Soon, they moved her like a piece of luggage into a small, secret room.

The abduction concluded flawlessly. However, the low-level mercenaries hired to kidnap Sierra found themselves in a difficult position. The girl watched them while trembling, her expression looking incredibly fragile. No matter how often they carried out crude abductions, this woman possessed a unique trait that stirred deep pity and sympathy.

Coughing repeatedly, they quietly loosened the thick rope.

I got kidnapped from the palace grounds, but who exactly ordered this? They don't seem to want me dead.

Sierra glared at the kidnappers and spoke.

[Sierra] "Who ordered this?"

[Mercenary] "If we told you that, w-would we even be kidnappers?"

[Sierra] "Right...... I understand."

Sierra spoke in a low voice.

A mastermind had definitely hired these clumsy mercenaries. Unless the kidnapper possessed an empty brain, he had clearly and deliberately abducted her out in the open to show someone.

Sierra addressed the mercenary carefully.

[Sierra] "I'm trembling so much. Can you loosen this a bit?"

She shook the tightly bound ropes. Naturally, acid would soon pour from the bracelets and anklets on her wrists and ankles. The ropes would dissolve, and these cursed mercenaries would face destruction by her hands. But freeing herself faster would be much better.

She looked at them with a tearful expression.

[Sierra] "Loosening one side shouldn't hurt, right? You can easily overpower me with one hand anyway."

[Mercenary] "She's a fragile woman. She must be caught in some romantic drama......."

Even without Sierra's interference, they had already spun a whole story in their heads.

Watching them with amusement, Sierra eventually let tears drip down.

[Sierra] "Sob, ugh......."

Biting her tongue to force the crying sounds, she watched the soft-hearted mercenaries bite their lips.

[Mercenary] "J-Just one arm, alright?"

[Sierra] "Thank you......."

As she spoke softly, the rope on her left hand slid loose. The exact moment she prepared to strike the back of their necks and extract the mastermind's name, the tightly shut door creaked open.

The door slid back gently, flooding the pitch-black room with bright light. Sierra blinked, adjusting to the sudden brightness.

[Ezel] "We finally meet, young lady. I require an explanation."

Past the fleeing mercenaries, a man strode inside with confident steps.

[Ezel] "Hello, we met before, right? My name is Ezel."

Sierra forced the corners of her mouth down and stared at him. Forcing her eyes into a sorrowful expression, she perfected a look that screamed fragility to anyone watching.

I must make him lower his guard before I strike.

Though no mirror existed in the room, Sierra had endured endless misunderstandings because of her looks. Pitiable, tragic, sorrowful. Her fragile, heartbreaking appearance could easily deceive elderly folks in their fifties or sixties who had seen it all. Tricking a young man in his twenties like Ezel was a piece of cake.

[Sierra] "......What?"

Just as she anticipated, he looked completely bewildered. She blinked her butterfly-like eyelashes and offered a tragic smile.

[Sierra] "Ah......."

[Ezel] "Why that expression? You look like a sick person."

[Sierra] "I suffered a kidnapping, so my body and mind suddenly feel exhausted."

She offered no further reply, half-closing her eyes to project deep sorrow. She blinked her eyelashes as if completely innocent.

Examining her pale face thoroughly, Ezel narrowed his eyes.

[Ezel] "What is this subtle contradiction......?"

[Sierra] "......?"

[Ezel] "I usually read people perfectly."

Sierra flinched inwardly, but she used her green eyes and slender build to her advantage, making her shoulders tremble delicately.

[Ezel] "You definitely look exhausted right now, but something feels off."

Shifting his confused expression instantly, he smirked. Sierra trembled open-mouthed, pretending to be heartbroken, and bit her lip hard.

He is quite a tough opponent.

In that case, she had a final tactic. She bit the inside of her cheek hard, forcing actual tears to drip down.

[Sierra] "What is off?"

She cleared her throat lightly. It was time to exploit her facial advantage. Exploiting it didn't mean using a honey trap.

[Sierra] "You...... t-torment me."

If anything, it was a sickly trap.

His gaze remained steady as he watched her. But giving up immediately wouldn't match her true nature. Regardless of his reaction, her voice trembled delicately.

[Sierra] "You hurt me......."

Her body shook violently. Of course, she was actually furious because this bastard's abduction caused her to miss the chance to inspect a precious thousand-year ginseng.

[Sierra] "And since you even doubt my true intentions like this......."

She delivered the critical hit, staring at him with tear-filled eyes.

[Sierra] "Sierra is sad."

This was the exact tactic Hanael used every time.

[Hanael] "Mommy always torments Hanael."

[Sierra] "W-When did I ever torment you!"

[Hanael] "When I said I wanted to wear a princess dress, you said no and made me wear something weird!"

[Sierra] "Well, you see......."

[Hanael] "Since you even doubt my true intentions like this, Hanael is sad!"

[Sierra] "I-I was wrong! Look, let's just wear the princess dress!"

[Hanael] "Hehe! Okay!"

Recalling the experience of getting knocked down by Hanael, the tactic seemed to work beautifully. Sure enough, Ezel's expression stiffened in embarrassment.

[Ezel] "I didn't intend to threaten you."

[Sierra] "You did threaten me."

[Ezel] "First...... I'm sorry. I know you're weak. I just have questions."

[Sierra] "Yes....... Sierra is cold."

This makes me sick.

Acting fragile didn't suit the practical Sierra at all. She quietly touched the necklace around her neck while he remained distracted. Ezel was too panicked to notice, but thanks to the dumb mercenaries who fell for her tragic storytelling, her left wrist had been free for a long time.

[Sierra] "I have something to say."

Her eyes welling with tears, she locked onto his gaze. The exact second Ezel opened his mouth, Sierra touched the pocket of her necklace. The moment arrived.

Taste my binding potion, you bastard!

Briefly charmed by Sierra's incredibly fragile appearance, Ezel paused, wondering if he had misjudged her. Her background check yielded perfectly ordinary results, aside from a few bizarre connections.

[Ezel] "What do you want to say?"

[Sierra] "That is……."

He stared down at her intensely. A few seconds later, a strange sense of wrongness struck him.

[Ezel] "Wait, why is your hand loose?"

Before he could react, the supposedly fragile Sierra rapidly sprayed a potion from her necklace pocket.

[Sierra] "Why do you think?"

Every movement froze instantly—except for his mouth.

[Ezel] "What is this?!"

He stood completely paralyzed. His hands stuck flat against his thighs, and his legs pressed tightly together. He looked as if he were simply standing still, but his entire body refused to move, frozen solid like glue.

[Sierra] "You let your guard down, didn't you?"

[Ezel] "Ha......."

The tables had turned. Ezel, who intended to interrogate Sierra, found the sudden reversal completely absurd. Now his entire body stood completely bound and restrained. He had merely taken a blast of her potion.

[Sierra] "I told you lowering your guard leads to trouble."

She shook off the rope that supposedly bound her hands and grinned.

[Sierra] "Hey, kneel first."

The moment she snapped her finger, Ezel's knees hit the floor with a thud. He glared at her with a dumbfounded expression and muttered.

[Ezel] "What on earth are you planning?"

But that didn't concern Sierra at all. She wanted to know his true identity.

[Sierra] "Why did you kidnap me?"

[Ezel] "Just to talk."

[Sierra] "I saw you near the Crown Prince's private estate last time too. What is your identity? Are you tailing me?"

A sense of injustice gripped Ezel. He had no idea Sierra was even at the estate back then.

His handsome face twisted. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sierra cut him off. She whispered with a sweet expression.

[Sierra] "Now, let's start by drinking a truth potion."

[Ezel] "What?"

She waved her free hand. A thumb-sized potion bottle rested in her palm. Ezel stared at it as if it were executioner's poison and scowled heavily.

[Ezel] "You're going to feed me a truth potion?"

[Sierra] "Yes."

She forced his mouth open, kindly pushed the medicine inside, and slid the empty vial into her pocket.

[Sierra] "The effects should kick in immediately."

She crossed her arms and grinned at him.

[Sierra] "Now, state your name and rank. What exactly is your true identity?"

Ezel scowled, looking utterly defeated. He tried to keep his mouth shut with superhuman willpower, but it proved impossible.

Finally, betraying his own will, his lips parted with immense effort.

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