She's Not Our Daughter! Ch 98

Not a Dream, But the Truth

Her gaze sharpened as she locked her eyes onto Philoes.

[Amille] "You can't accept this either, is that it?"

Perhaps......

Philoes disagreed firmly, staring back at her.

[Philoes] "The Crown Prince's command is absolute. I merely obey it."

She let out a hollow laugh at the mechanical response. He belonged to the Crown Prince completely. The Philoes she knew always behaved this way.

He muttered as if offering a word of advice to Amille.

[Philoes] "So why did you displease the Crown Prince?"

Every event unfolded exactly like the timeline she already knew.

Don't give up, Amille. Sierra is still alive.

Would she fail to seize this opportunity again?

Amille bit her pale purple lips harder, staring intensely at Philoes.

[Philoes] "I have no idea what kind of suspicious woman she is to make the Crown Prince intervene personally."

[Amille] "That is……"

Philoes bound her hands, keeping his mouth set in a firm line.

[Philoes] "It is not a matter for me to discuss with you."

He acted purely as the Crown Prince's tool. Any lingering hesitation or mercy the prince might show to a subordinate he intended to discard ended here.

Right at that moment, Amille quietly spoke his name.

[Amille] "Philoes."

She refused to fall into the same trap twice. Remembering her hidden preparations, Amille offered him a sharp smile.

[Amille] "You are searching for your parents, aren't you? Since you are an orphan."

[Philoes] "How did you know that?"

Philoes believed his search remained a total secret. As his face hardened from the unexpected blow, Amille smiled bitterly inside.

Amille made a tactical mistake in front of the Crown Prince. However, she had long arranged many things for this exact moment. She understood everything about Philoes's family background, including secrets Philoes himself didn't know.

Philoes, I know everything about the Crown Prince's inner circle, not just you. I have prepared for a very long time.

The Crown Prince remained the sole variable.

Amille maintained a rigid expression, waiting for Philoes's next words. His ears flushed red. As the flustered man bit his lip, she spoke as if granting a favor.

[Amille] "In fact, I have seen the people claiming to be your parents."

[Philoes] "Are you…… trying to escape this situation now?"

[Amille] "No."

[Philoes] "I am not curious at all. It must be a lie."

Despite his words, he failed to hide his shaking pupils. Wearing an uncomfortable expression, he locked Amille inside the dungeon.

Watching Philoes retreat, Amille prayed she could escape her confinement before it was too late, so she could rescue Sierra and Hanael.

She refused to let her oblivious younger sister become a sacrifice this time.

---

A few days flew by like arrows.

Sierra lacked sharp senses, but Cassius possessed a keen knightly intuition. He accurately deduced that the number of suspicious figures surrounding the tent had increased.

They had spent days carefully organizing their plan after discovering Hanael's ability to command monsters. However, the Crown Prince might have already noticed the messenger bird's presence. The mere thought brought sheer suspense, making their palms sweat.

[Hanael] "Cheep."

[Sierra] "Yes."

[Hanael] "Cheep?"

Cradling Hanael, who had returned to her bird form and tilted her head, Sierra lay down on the tent bed. She shaped her lips to murmur that she would sleep for a while.

Cassius stared at Sierra from within the tent.

It felt strange.

A gentle touch brushed through her hair. Sierra wondered if it belonged to Cassius, but the touch lacked the familiar coldness of his hand. She closed her eyes as if sinking into a dream. As sleep claimed her, a faint voice echoed, asking if it should offer help. Sierra dismissed it as a mere hallucination.

Initially, the dream brought sweet comfort. It opened with a young Amille and Sierra celebrating a party.

[Amille] "Sierra, I received a personal request from the Crown Prince. He has been steadily sponsoring me since my time at the Magic Tower."

[Sierra] "Wow, a complete reversal of fortune! My sister is the best!"

[Amille] "But I have no idea why he suddenly wants to sponsor me."

The image of her happy sister flashed past rapidly, like a beautifully rendered painting.

Afterward, whenever Sierra met Amille, her face grew increasingly haggard. Yet the Sierra inside the dream paid no attention, assuming Amille was simply busy with work. Above all......

[Cassius] "Sierra."

[Sierra] "……Yes."

[Cassius] "Let's get married."

Sierra felt thrilled by the proposal from Cassius Ideos, whom she met at the academy.

[Cassius] "I want you to become the Duchess."

They wedded after fierce opposition, even rewriting laws to make it happen. Cassius loved and cherished Sierra deeply throughout their lives. The pregnancy, though filled with morning sickness and abdominal pain, eventually led to childbirth......

[Cassius] "It's our baby."

A lovely child with blonde hair and green eyes.

[Sierra] "What should we name her?"

[Cassius] "Hanael. Let's name her Hanael."

They obtained their only child, Hanael.

It stood as a perfect dream.

Until a mysterious attacker—no, Amille—suddenly kidnapped Hanael...... And it required little time before the devastating news of Hanael's death arrived.

Weeping sorrowfully, Sierra snapped her eyes open. She finally escaped the dream. She placed her hand against her forehead. While cold sweat didn't drench her entire body, a thin layer of sweat beaded on her brow from the intense tension.

Yet thank goodness, Hanael's death was not real. Holding her hand over her rapidly beating heart, Sierra slowly took a deep breath.

Everything was a dream. Hanael is not dead.

Could a dream be this vivid? Hanael had just been right in her arms.

Cassius sat on a chair, awkwardly stroking Hanael while staring at Sierra.

[Cassius] "Sierra, what's wrong?"

Sierra captured both Cassius and Hanael within her vision. Hanael flapped her wings excitedly. Sierra swallowed hard and called his name.

[Sierra] "Cassius."

[Cassius] "Yes."

[Sierra] "Hanael…… she's alive, right?"

He looked at Sierra, his gaze filled with a strange intensity, as if protecting a fragile piece of glass.

[Cassius] "Why? Did something happen?"

[Sierra] "I had…… a nightmare."

Cassius stood up and strode directly to her bedside. Perched on the back of his hand, Hanael chattered first.

[Hanael] "Cheep! (I'm not dead!)"

Thank goodness, Hanael was alive. It was just a dream—a dream that felt far too vivid.

Sierra opened her tightly shut mouth and spoke.

[Sierra] "Hey, can you call a mage? I have something to ask."

If she summoned a mage, could she uncover the truth behind these recurring fragments of illusions and dreams?

Would it leave her with nothing but confusing thoughts, just like when she summoned the medium?

Sierra closed her eyes, then opened them wide. An unusual certainty continued to take root in her mind.

---

[Sierra] "I summoned you because I have something I am curious about."

She remained alone inside the tent with the mage—the same timid mage who had previously examined Hanael.

Naturally, Hanael and Cassius had refused to leave easily, with him taking an especially firm stance. Yet they couldn't override her determination. Cassius had absurdly decorated the area around her bed with defensive magical tools, yet he still stood guard outside the tent with an anxious face.

Lying down, Sierra touched the defensive tool beside her and let out a chuckle.

I actually summoned a mage over a bizarre premonition. Ah……

It was just a dream. Thinking herself foolish for being held captive by such a dream, Sierra shifted her gaze from the mage and stared at the ceiling.

Right then, a husky, chilling voice that sounded like scratching a blackboard cut through the air.

[Mage] "Don't regret this. There must be a reason you summoned me."

It was strange. The man didn't display the timid demeanor of the mage from before.

[Sierra] "……Pardon?"

The mage standing before her looked deeply bizarre. Goosebumps broke out across the back of her hands. The mage maintained a thin smile, staring fixedly at Sierra.

[Mage] "You must be curious about the true nature of the dream you had today."

[Sierra] "How do you……"

The mage offered a dark smile and spoke.

[Mage] "Everything you just recalled is entirely real."

[Sierra] "What did you…… just say?"

Shocked, she locked her gaze onto the mage. His eyes looked completely crazed. Looking down at Sierra, the mage mocked her briefly.

[Mage] "Have you ever considered that another world exists, one you know absolutely nothing about?"

[Sierra] "I have no idea what you are talking about."

[Mage] "What if the stories you already experienced in that world are leaking out into your dreams?"

Sierra felt double-flustered, first by his sudden personality shift, and second by his piercing words.

If that mage suddenly spoke like that under normal circumstances, I would have ignored him. However……

Too many matching pieces of evidence had accumulated.

Sierra looked away from the mage and bit the inside of her cheek until it bled. While she fell into thought, the mage suddenly offered a gentle smile.

[Mage] "Why do you wear such an expression?"

He acted like someone waking from a spell.

Utterly bewildered, Sierra blinked, her face full of confusion.

[Sierra] "……?"

The mage looked equally confused.

[Mage] "What did I just say? I feel as though I just walked in……"

The mage returned to his original, innocent self.

Sierra clarified quickly.

[Sierra] "I must have misheard."

No. It didn't feel like a simple auditory hallucination. She narrowed her brow. Strangely, the world kept throwing hints at her repeatedly.

A story I experienced as another version of myself in a world I don't know?

Then that was not a dream, but the truth?

Even amid the chaotic confusion tangling her mind, Sierra understood the implications. If this stood as the truth......

She murmured, as if speaking to herself.

[Sierra] "Hanael is my daughter……"

It was an absurd claim. Yet another logic-defying event occurred immediately.

The door popped open, and a tiny bird waddled inside. Surrounded by the bright light filtering from outside the tent, Sierra watched Hanael fly slowly toward her. She ran forward with a brilliant grin.

Excited for some unknown reason, Hanael dove straight into the bed where Sierra lay. Sierra blinked in bewilderment. Hanael leaned close to her ear and whispered.

[Hanael] "Cheep! (I heard everything from outside.)"

[Sierra] "……Heard what?"

[Hanael] "Cheep! (Can I call you Mommy now?)"

Hanael's eyes sparkled with light. Because of that dream—or perhaps that real story—a powerful premonition urged Sierra to nod.

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