She's Not Our Daughter! Ch 67

Kiss and Thriller

[Cassius] "There is no way it is over now."

His lips pressed against hers again with deep hunger. His tongue tapped the teeth his fingertips had brushed earlier.

No, a real kiss.......

A small gasp escaped the panicked Sierra, parting her lips further. Capitalizing on that exact moment, his breath invaded her mouth, tickling the roof of her mouth. Stroking the sensitive skin softly, he entangled her breath. His sheer skill completely overwhelmed Sierra, pulling her deep into the embrace.

I-I can't breathe.......

Breathing through her nose offered a solution, but this eternal kiss rendered it impossible. Her toes curled as a sharp tremor ran through her body. She desperately tapped his shoulder a few times. Yet he didn't stop.

They exchanged frantic breaths and heat relentlessly. Sierra gripped his hair with trembling hands, desperate to escape him as he consumed her lips completely. This kiss—soft lips meeting, hot breaths intertwining—felt like something she would never grow accustomed to.

As if trying to steady her trembling, his arm gently cupped her chin. Only then did she finally break free from him.

[Cassius] "I am sorry. I lost control."

A silver thread of saliva stretched from her swollen lips. He wiped his mouth roughly with the back of his hand and murmured.

[Cassius] "Forgive me for acting like a beast."

He cast his gaze downward, humbly awaiting her scolding. But Sierra stared blankly at his lips before curling her mouth into a smile.

[Sierra] "T-Thanks to that."

[Cassius] "Thanks to that?"

[Sierra] "Every other thought vanished completely."

The worries filling her mind disappeared in an instant. Her mind went entirely blank, like a clean sheet of paper. At this exact moment, even thoughts of her sister failed to surface.

I can finally get a good night's rest today.

She rubbed her heavy eyelids and spoke again.

[Sierra] "I will leave now."

She needed to soothe her burning face and take a freezing shower to clear her head. Finishing her sentence with difficulty, she bolted upright to flee.

His gaze followed her movements lazily, measuring her current state.

[Cassius] "Shall I escort you to your room?"

He questioned her with a lazy expression and voice.

Offering an escort to her room was an etiquette strict enough to put ancient conservative nobles to shame. Sierra refused, quickly forcing a confident tone.

[Sierra] "No! It is fine. I will go by myself."

Her voice trembled despite her confident front. Still, it remained a remarkably rational response for someone who had just kissed a man she couldn't stop thinking about. Sierra rushed toward her room.

[Cassius] "I can no longer endure this."

Left alone in an instant, he visualized her retreating and ran his tongue over his lips.

The kiss had likely overwhelmed Sierra, prompting her flight. Yet his thirst persisted. A mere kiss would no longer suffice. He clearly recognized that her emotional pace clashed sharply with his own, yet impatience intensified within him.

He lazily rubbed his lips with the back of his hand to linger on her warmth.

---

Sierra returned to her room after her conversation with Cassius.

This is complete madness. Utter madness.

Without even changing into pajamas, she dove onto the bed. The plush mattress supported her perfectly, protecting her from injury despite her violent slide.

No, Sierra. This is nothing. Calm down.

Burying her face in the feather pillow, she struggled to banish the lingering images. Yet the moment she tried to forget everything, an echo reverberated in her mind.

There is no way it is over now.

Sierra smashed her forehead against the pillow repeatedly.

This is driving me crazy. Forgetting pain with more pain is pure torture.

She had lost count of how many times she admitted it, but she had to face reality now. Cassius occupied her mind intensely. She lacked knowledge of whether this feeling meant affection or if it would bloom into love, but.......

That kiss was something else.......

Ruffling her hair wildly and letting out a silent scream of pure emotion, her mood lifted.

She stood up firmly. It was time to search the drawer, as an undiscovered clue might hide inside.

Right at that moment, a bizarre discord in the room forced her to turn her gaze stiffly to the side.

The interior looked identical to its usual state: the familiar desk, the medicine storage room, the bed, the canopy, and....... an altered drawer.

What on earth is going on?

It defied logic, but the drawer stood open.

I was too distracted to notice. Was it open when I first walked in?

She racked her brain frantically, but her memory failed her. She couldn't recall if the drawer had been open or shut. Walking toward the drawer as if approaching a phantom, she peeked inside.

[Sierra] "Why is this......"

Another undiscovered letter rested inside. Her expression froze completely. Reaching her trembling hand into the drawer, she slowly lifted the letter tossed carelessly on top.

[Sierra] "The wax seal is perfectly intact, so why?"

Her hands shook violently as she attempted to break the seal, the tremors preventing her from opening the paper immediately. Before pulling it apart, her eyes scanned every corner of the drawer.

Nothing else changed.

How did this letter materialize out of nowhere?

Sweat slicked her palms, nearly causing her to drop the paper. Biting her lip firmly to maintain her composure, she surveyed the massive room.

[Sierra] "Are you here?"

Her voice trembled terribly, but she forced the words out.

[Sierra] "I know you are here!"

Her voice echoed through the massive room. Squeezing her eyes shut, she unleashed her anger.

[Sierra] "Are you here? Are you playing games with me? You son of a bitch!"

Regrettably, absolute silence answered her. Only her curses swirled through the empty air.

Squeezing her eyes shut against the darkness, she let out a long sigh.

This is terrifyingly maddening.......

She seriously contemplated whether to open the letter.

What kind of entity possessed the audacity to infiltrate the Duchess' room—protected by a dragon's direct barrier—twice just to leave a letter?

They undeniably defied ordinary classification. Perhaps they rigged the letter with a magical trap.

Should I hand this letter to Cassius right now?

She closed her eyes and opened them again.

But this might contain news about Sister.......

An intuitive certainty gripped her that she must read the letter first. Driven by an absolute instinct to review the contents alone, she carefully broke the wax seal and read the very first line.

[Sierra.]

Whether the lack of meaning in the opening line brought fortune or misfortune remained unclear. She cast her gaze lower. Scribbled handwriting filled her vision.

[Stop right there. Don't think of uncovering anything more. Your sister is already dead.]

Goosebumps erupted across her entire body. Biting her trembling lip firmly, a curse escaped her lips.

[Sierra] "Cut the crap, you psycho."

An unstable voice rattled from her throat.

I must check the rest.

With palms slick from tension, she flipped the page.

[Don't involve yourself in the Icarus Murder Case.]

Her gaze slid downward. The words written in black cursive script declared:

[If you interfere, both you and Hanael will die.]

Sierra read the final lines. The concluding words appeared heavily faded, as if written in a desperate hurry. Scowling, she traced the crisp surface of the paper. It carried the texture of an old document.

[Don't interfere. Under no circumstances.]

The underlying motive remained a mystery, but it served as an absolute warning.

A red warning light flashed inside her mind. Forcing her panic beneath the surface, she closed her eyes and opened them again.

What on earth is this?

Something definitely lurked here—something completely beyond her knowledge. Stunned by shock, she froze in place.

[Sierra] "I don't care how malicious you are, I will hunt you down."

Dancing to the tune of an unknown letter-writer felt completely repulsive, but a warning of this scale suggested a definitive reason.

Sierra decided to pause her investigation into the Icarus Murder Case temporarily. A temporary halt, not total abandonment.

I won't dig into it directly with my own hands. Especially since Sister might be entangled.

Sierra tore off a piece of note paper and scribbled on it with a quill.

[I have no intention of digging into the Icarus Murder Case. Satisfied? Now tell me, who are you?]

She crumpled the note into the drawer and murmured with a sense of relief. Whether an answer would materialize remained entirely unknown. Regardless, a new task lay before her.

[Sierra] "I must find out who you are."

People left far more traces on letters than they realized, so she resolved to analyze the document. Determination flared in her gaze.

I should brew a chemical reagent.

It would unlock the secrets within the letter, revealing exactly when and in what region it was written.

It will deliver a clue to track the culprit who sent this.

If the culprit wasn't her sister, that person likely held the absolute key to her sister's survival.

---

Sierra stayed inside the Duke's estate over the next few days, waiting to uncover the intruder. She took sick leave from the pharmacy where she worked daily.

Within days, word arrived that Lily and the other pharmacists searched for her desperately. But work held no importance now, so Sierra hardened her heart and rejected all their pleading letters.

I must uncover what kind of bastard is behind this.

Sierra scowled. However, Cassius had launched a massive investigation. Fortunately, the power of the Ideos family proved formidable. Within a few days, a complete screening of every maid in the household and every visitor to the estate over the past week concluded. And.......

[Cassius] "The investigation concluded, but no one entered your room. Not a single soul."

Despite the extensive search, a clue regarding the sender's true identity remained out of reach. Sitting across from Sierra, he spoke with a faint scowl.

[Cassius] "But that would mean your claim is incorrect. So I reflected deeply on the matter, and a thought struck me last night."

[Sierra] "What kind of......?"

Her eyes sparkled with curiosity.

[Cassius] "The architect who designed your room."

Cassius habitually stroked her hair, absorbing the warm, cozy, and thrilling texture of her smooth strands against his hand.

The architect who designed the room?

Turning the thought over seriously, she suddenly froze in brief embarrassment as his hand touched her hair. It felt like an absolute case of déjà vu from a few days ago.

[Cassius] "If it is the architect, they might possess a way to enter completely undetected."

She stared at him and swallowed hard, her throat tightening in sync with her chaotic emotions.

---

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