She's Not Our Daughter! Ch 76

Who Is the Real Culprit of the Icarus Case?

A few hours later, inside the Princess' palace.

[Ezel] "I heard you summoned me, Your Highness."

Iliena put on a listless expression and offered him a weak smile.

[Iliena] "You are here."

Ezel had never seen the Princess in such a state. A wave of suspicion hit him instantly.

What is going on? This makes me feel uneasy.

He worked in collaboration with Sierra to track the Icarus Murder Case.

I even delivered a recording device into Sierra's hands.

Remembering Sierra's serious face, a smile escaped his lips. Thinking of her always brought a smile to his face; she grew into an increasingly fascinating woman the more he thought about her.

Watching Ezel smile to himself, the Princess adopted a rare, troubled expression.

[Iliena] "This is no joke, Ezel. Listen to me carefully. That is, if you are entirely my person."

Ezel never considered himself Princess Iliena's man, but he didn't entirely dislike the Princess either. No information guild master hated a client who provided an endless fountain of money. Furthermore, whenever he played along and humored her, Princess Iliena spilled a torrent of entertaining stories.

Watching his playful expression, the Princess spoke quietly.

[Iliena] "To accept my request—no, that is not it. If you wish to survive, you must absolutely follow this rule."

Why did she look so intense? Curiosity sharpened his gaze. The Princess issued the same warning card from the past.

[Iliena] "Stay out of the Crown Prince's sight."

[Ezel] "Pardon?"

The Crown Prince again.

Yet despite his question, the Princess spoke boldly, as if she heard nothing. She whispered the core matter to Ezel.

[Iliena] "Even if I say this, it sounds like grasping at clouds. I know."

It certainly did. Ezel nodded without denial.

She pressed her hand against her temple and whispered.

[Iliena] "Speak honestly....... I mean the Icarus Murder Case."

Ezel resolved to save his words.

Studying his face, which feigned indifference, she chuckled and gestured.

[Iliena] "Tell me how much you know about that case."

[Ezel] "That is......."

Caught for words, he frowned. Because the Princess appeared to know everything, pretending otherwise was impossible.

[Ezel] "Since you ask, I shall answer. I suspect the second-in-command of the Magic Tower, the Great Archmage, is the culprit. But why do you ask about that?"

[Iliena] "That is……."

She looked flustered. Ezel pushed further, seizing the momentum.

[Ezel] "That woman and you hold no connection at all, do you, Your Highness?"

Saying this brought him a pang of guilt. Framing the second-in-command of the Magic Tower as a criminal required a remarkably strong heart. Doing so essentially meant making an enemy of the entire Magic Tower, a gathering of the strongest mages on earth.

[Iliena] "Ah, Amille……. I hear that name again."

Despite his disrespectful words, she merely chuckled. His sharp senses instantly caught a suspicious detail. A realization flashed through his mind: if Amille were the real culprit, Princess Iliena would never react this way.

[Iliena] "With your information network, I expect you already know that the Great Archmage disappeared."

Guilt stung his heart once more. Ezel forced his expression to clear and looked at the Princess. She seemed to ponder her own words, completely ignoring his presence as she muttered to herself.

[Iliena] "Amille...... that woman...... disappeared because someone framed her as the culprit of the Icarus Murder Case."

Ezel looked dazed for a moment.

What? I thought the Great Archmage was the culprit!

Had he been accusing an innocent person all this time? Panic sent a cold sweat down his forehead.

Was I barking up the wrong tree? That can't be true. The evidence is so clear...... Yet the Princess doesn't look like she is lying.

His gaze sharpened.

Watching Ezel, the Princess' dreamy expression suddenly turned grave. She looked directly at him and issued another warning.

[Iliena] "If you keep digging into that case, you might end up...... just like Amille."

He spoke slowly.

[Ezel] "Then who is the real culprit?"

[Iliena] "Everyone who knows the secret is dead. ......Except me."

Watching her body tremble, Ezel looked dumbfounded. Of course, he had exploited this noble Princess to some extent in the past. But strictly speaking, she was the sole Princess of the Empire. For such a woman to turn pale with terror meant this matter was entirely serious.

Does this make any sense?

Staring at Ezel, the Princess snapped out of her daze and forced a cheerful voice.

[Iliena] "So you can make a human expression after all. You usually just wear an elegant or greasy look."

She left a hollow joke and spoke.

[Iliena] "I have warned you, and this is my final warning."

[Ezel] "Your Highness."

[Iliena] "If you dig into that case any further, I can't protect you."

This differed completely from her usual attitude, where the Princess allowed him to cross certain boundaries if she deemed him one of her people. Ezel instinctively sensed the deep danger surrounding this case.

And just as his expression hardened completely, the Princess delivered a quiet but firm order to leave.

[Iliena] "You may leave now."

Her tired expression accompanied a highly suspicious tone. Even an outsider would easily notice it and harbor doubts.

[Ezel] "I understand, Your Highness."

He began to review the information gained through the Princess. The Icarus Murder Case. This ongoing incident where children kept dying......

She said the Great Archmage isn't the culprit. This is a massive case that even threatens the Princess, and it's not a simple child kidnapping and murder case.

Exiting the Princess' palace, Ezel tilted his head repeatedly and whistled. The whistle lacked its usual playful, lighthearted melody; instead, it carried traces of anxiety and worry. He shook his head internally, lost in thought.

If I keep digging into this matter, it might even threaten my life.

Regardless, some massive figure was clearly involved.

He stopped whistling, smirked by pulling up one corner of his mouth, and chuckled.

Well, well...... this just became far more thrilling.

However, since things turned out this way, he could no longer stop. He secretly hid the fact that the Princess' statements made him even more curious about the case.

If the Great Archmage is a victim framed as the culprit rather than the actual perpetrator...... then tracking her traces first is the logical next step.

The Princess' intervention deepened his curiosity regarding the Icarus Murder Case. However, at this exact moment, he had to be careful since he had received a direct warning from the Princess.

Someone might target him. Therefore, he must not get directly entangled in the murder case right away. His mind raced. Only one answer existed.

It seemed his only option was to disguise himself as if accepting another request, infiltrate the Magic Tower, and search the interior.

I must find a request related to the Magic Tower first.

Making a firm resolution, he ground his teeth and walked away. He intended to head to the Magic Tower.

---

At that time, someone had already infiltrated the Magic Tower before Ezel. It was Cassius, whom Sierra had requested to investigate the Great Archmage.

Thanks to the absence of the Tower Master, Cassius easily infiltrated the interior of the Magic Tower. Infiltrating the Magic Tower proved easy, and ascending to the top floor was easy enough to feel unsettling. The reason was likely because the Tower Master and mages had mostly vanished.

Something happened to the Magic Tower; this is quite strange.

He immediately stepped into the Great Archmage's residence right below the top floor. File folders littered the floor. This place, so messy that no one could even touch it, looked similar to a typical eccentric mage's room at a glance. But one detail stood out: traces that looked as if Amille had left in a hurry.

He opened the drawers one by one, assessing Amille's past. An ordinary person wouldn't store important documents carelessly inside a drawer, but just in case. The interior of the drawer was full of all kinds of request forms Amille had received.

It was at the exact moment he flipped through a file of request documents that didn't look very important. Sierra's voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

Honestly speaking, I like you.

Because her voice kept flashing through his mind, his cold, frozen expression instantly brightened. To think her confession returned so vividly even while flipping through unremarkable documents. It was a severe condition.

His worry and anxiety for Sierra accelerated even further. Following minor anxieties like what if she left while he was gone, unexpected anxieties like what if she lost her health also surfaced. Perhaps this feeling was the emotion called love.

Right when he stood silently looking down at the name on the file folder, experiencing his own emotions, watching the mountain of imperial requests piled inside the drawer, his brow furrowed.

She must have accepted requests from other places too. Why are only imperial requests visible?

However, it was at that exact moment.

A rustling sound and tiny footsteps began to echo nearby. The footsteps were quiet enough that another person wouldn't hear them, but the highly sensitive Cassius caught them instantly.

Normally, he wouldn't recognize an opponent's footsteps. Surprisingly, the current Cassius could identify who it was from those footsteps alone. Because Ezel was a fellow who had been severely getting on his nerves for some time now.

His gaze suddenly darkened. A deeply annoying man he wanted to remove from his sight in many ways. It was Ezel, who operated an information guild.

No one would know even if I disposed of him here.

As the footsteps neared rapidly, he weighed options to handle Ezel but stopped. Ultimately, the man Sierra chose was Cassius himself. There was no need to waste mental energy on someone like Ezel. Furthermore, he held a noble position, having come to execute 'Sierra's command'.

Cassius resolved to hide his presence and tail Ezel. If he engaged in even the slightest suspicious behavior, Cassius planned to tell Sierra how dark that fellow's hidden intentions were. To do that......

I must hide first.

Unlike someone who resolved to hide, he scanned the surroundings lazily. And the moment the door opened, he concealed himself behind a massive blackout curtain. Amille's space instantly plunged into silence, as if absolutely no one had ever been there.

---

Meanwhile, Ezel let out a sigh and stepped inside the Great Archmage's room.

It's terrifying, like a thief broke in, but at least no one is here right now.

Suspecting Amille as the culprit in the murder case, Ezel had investigated her a few times before. He had also searched the Magic Tower, Amille's primary base, several times.

Though it's the first time the Magic Tower had been empty like this.

Because he felt increasingly bewildered, he failed to detect the presence of Cassius, who suppressed his aura. Ezel paused while looking down at the requests scattered carelessly on the table in the Magic Tower.

[Ezel] "What on earth is this......"

The atmosphere differed completely from when Ezel had hurriedly infiltrated and escaped in the past. Back then, a sense of neatness lingered beneath the mess, but now, household items littered the floor as if a thief had ransacked the place. Someone had undeniably searched this location.

A deep dismay marred his gaze. Checking the papers inside the Magic Tower with a flustered expression, determination filled his eyes.

At this exact moment, the sight filling his field of vision...... dozens, hundreds of request envelopes from the imperial palace. Of course, much of the content had been destroyed to maintain secrecy, leaving the pile full of empty envelopes, but......

Come to think of it, it's strange. Why are there so many letters from the imperial palace?

Naturally, an honest request name indicating someone from the imperial palace was not written as the sender. However, looking at the envelopes, this was the high-quality paper used exclusively by the imperial palace.

I passed over it carelessly when I searched in the past......

After hearing the hint that someone in the imperial palace was involved, it seemed perfectly visible now. His expression turned fierce instantly. Convinced that something he knew nothing about existed, a thrill ran through him, curling his toes and wetting his palms with sweat.

---

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