Translator: Yonnee

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Chapter 46 – Even So, She Really Must Go To The Imperial Palace

“What’s on your mind, Sierra?”

“Huh?”

She had been staring out the window for a long time because she had spotted that familiar stranger, but she finally came back to her senses as Cassius spoke to her.

Neither Cassius nor Abel were looking at her with strange gazes, so Sierra smiled, scratching the back of her head.

“It’s just… I think it’s strange.”

Sierra said it like she really thought so. And since she said it like that, it was no question that they would ask what’s strange.

“…What is?”

…But she couldn’t say anything in return. Averting her eyes, she decided to skirt around the matter.

“Hanael’s mom is missing… so I’m at a loss.”

Sierra looked back at Cassius, then recalled the shocking revelation about her sister’s disappearance, making her whole body stiffen. She had intended to find her sister right away after getting a clue about her whereabouts, then come clean to Cassius.

‘Now that she’s nowhere to be found, what if he doesn’t believe me?’

But Sierra soon remembered her sister’s second letter. As the carriage rattled, she thought about how rumors were circulating that Hanael was her daughter despite her older sister’s disappearance.

She might fall short, but she needed to solve this misunderstanding first. With a somewhat heavy heart, Sierra took out the letter from her pocket.

「 Hanael is my daughter, not Sierra’s. Please take good care of them both. 」

After reading the concise letter, Sierra was left speechless for a moment.

‘What’s this? The letter’s so short. Why isn’t there any evidence?’

Sierra was baffled, and she stared at Cassius then Abel once. The two of them looked at her inquisitively as she hurriedly took out the letter after rummaging through her pockets.

Cassius was brusque as usual, but Abel, who knew what the letter was about, gulped.

‘If you just say it like this and expect people to belie… Wait a minute.’

Sierra frowned at the letter. She grew up without her parents ever since she was a child, so her handwriting was more similar to her sister’s, like they were mirror images.

In other words…

‘…Now that I think about it, isn’t this my handwriting?’

Sierra and Amil’s handwriting were closely similar. No, it wasn’t enough to say that they were similar. It was better to say that they were the same.

‘If I show this, I’ll look more suspicious, what are you thinking, Amil! Why didn’t you change your handwriting?!’

After seeing this letter, Sierra’s worries only deepened.

‘…I have to rescue my sister quickly so that she can write this again. Ahh, this is driving me nuts……’

“What’s written in that note?”

“No, it’s nothing. It’s a receipt for a snack that I bought before.”

“……?”

It wasn’t a believable excuse, but it wasn’t like she could show this letter to anyone.

She needed to find her sister because that was the only way all the misunderstandings would be cleared. If Amil was here, it would be easy to just run a biological test to prove Hanael’s real birth mother.

‘But even as I’m being misunderstood, Amil’s life is in actual danger right now.’

Sierra sighed and placed the letter back into her pocket.

‘Somehow, I ended up in a situation where I’ll need to save my sister.’

Her sister always just saved herself. Sierra was facing something unprecedented, but one thing’s for certain.

‘Whatever it is, my sister is the key to solving everything. So I’ll have to find you no matter what.’

Sierra’s eyes changed as her resolve hardened. As she focused on her thoughts, she didn’t notice how Cassius’ eyes had narrowed as he observed her.

* * *

That night, Sierra sent Abel to the Imperial Palace. After half a day, he returned, and could only sigh.

“Sister, I tried to get into the Imperial Palace, but… I don’t think I can.

“Why?”

“That’s…”

Abel frowned, and handed something unexpected to Sierra—it was a detailed map of the palace. Sierra’s eyes widened, but Abel spoke first.

“Actually, it was difficult to get this map, too, but…”

“This map?”

“Yes.”

Sierra squinted and pointed to the other papers that Abel brought along with the map.

“What are the other documents in your hands?”

“These aren’t much, but I thought these could help. They’re job openings, but not for anything important.”

He was carrying several pamphlets rolled up in a bunch. From imperial doctors to pharmacists, professors in the academy and servants at the palace… Upon taking a quick glance at the pamphlets, Sierra nodded in agreement.

“Alright. Let’s look at that map first.”

But before checking the old parchment, Sierra paused, then said.

“Why were you hesitating so much earlier?”

Abel’s command over information was astounding. Not just anyone could get their hands on a map of the Imperial Palace, which is considered a matter of military secrecy.

However, even though he did quite a good job, Abel’s forehead was wrinkled as he frowned. Sierra didn’t know what to expect. It was the first time she saw this lovely puppy look so annoyed. Full of questions, Sierra’s eyes were squinted.

“What’s wrong? Tell me.”

“…There are several magic tools around the palace. Plus, there’s a lot of powerful magic circles there just to prevent unauthorized people from doing any magic.”

Then, Abel hurriedly plucked out a few strands of his hair. Sierra was startled by this for a moment, but then the boy sighed heavily as he showed the tip of his hair strands.

“Sister, look at this! Because I only sneaked in, I was attacked by a magic tool like this…”

When she saw Abel’s burnt hair, Sierra exclaimed and said ‘Oh, no!’ But when she thought about it, Sierra recalled how she saw something like this with her sister.

“Then this leaves us no choice but to go to the Imperial Palace and search it secretly, right?”

“Yes…”

Sierra was lost in thought.

‘Cassius is the only one who’ll be able to help me to enter the palace directly.’

But how would she explain this situation to him? And apart from that, if something would go wrong, Cassius could get wrongly involved in this.

He was already treating her kindly enough, so how could she possibly say ‘I want you to take a huge risk just so I can rescue my sister’? Even if a person is naturally shameless, there should be a limit.

‘Is there anyone other than Cassius who could help me? I also need someone to look into the Imperial Palace’s affairs sneakily. And I’ll also need to go in and out of that place often.’

There was no choice but to involve herself with a person from the palace who could leak information to her. What’s ideal would be a servant who knew the palace well, but where could she possibly find such a person?

No, even if she found someone like that, how could she establish a connection?

Sierra’s worries only grew.

“Cheer up, Sister. Why don’t you ask the Duke or the Godmother?”

“I can’t ask Cassius for any more favors. Let’s try to find a way for ourselves first. If that doesn’t work, then let’s ask for the Godmother’s help. As a last resort, I’ll have to reveal my sister’s identity to her.”

Sierra thought about all the possibilities. As he listened to her, Abel placed a finger over his temple and murmured in confusion.

“Alright then, Sister. Let’s do that first. Of course, Miss Amil told us not to reveal her identity at any given time, but…”

“…Yes, I’m hesitant, too. But if the situation calls for it……”

“We’ll have to reveal everything. I trust your judgement, Sister.”

Abel and Sierra’s gazes met firmly. After folding the map and tucking it away, Sierra was lost in thought as she took the bunch of pamphlets in his arms.

* * *

That night, Sierra rolled around in bed, restless as she mulled it over.

‘How will I be able to find the person who’s threatening my sister’s life at the palace?’

Sierra thought about this realistically. First of all, if she went to an information guild that was open to accepting commoners as clients, then she’ll have to reveal many secrets about the palace, the magic tower, the archmage and her situation.

There was a high probability that it would backfire. Such places that do legal exchanges would trade only ordinary information.

‘I could try going to a back-alley information guild, but I might not even be able to make a request. I might not even get out of there alive.’

Sierra sighed deeply.

‘And I can’t exactly tell Cassius that my sister is actually an archmage…’

In serious conflict, Sierra buried her head into a pillow and muttered continuously, sounding as if she was sobbing.

“How can I sweet talk people over so that I can use them as my source?”

Hanael, who tilted her head to the side, grabbed Sierra’s hand tightly and whispered.

“There’s only one way to do that.”

“Huh?”

“You have to do what you’re good at!”

Hanael whispered excitedly as Sierra poked Hanael’s cheek like it’s soft flour dough. Sierra’s eyes grew wide at the child’s unexpected words.

“…Huh?”

Sierra was taken aback, but Hanael’s smile grew wider.

“Hanael is so cute that Hanael makes people happier just by dancing!”

“Really?”

“Yeah!”

“Then what’s a good thing I can do to get people on my side…?”

Sierra’s gaze gravitated towards the map and pamphlets on the table. Then, one of them caught her eye—’Imperial Palace Pharmacist Selection’.

“…If I become an imperial pharmacist, I can establish connections with people at the palace, and at the same time, I’ll be able to search inside without drawing suspicion. It’ll be like killing two birds with one stone.”

Hanael nodded vigorously as she watched Sierra considering this.

“See, did Hanael help?”

Poking the cute cheeks, Sierra whispered in return.

“Yes, of course! Hanael helped a lot!”

“…That’s great!”

Hanael’s eyes glimmered as she snuggled deeper into Sierra’s arms. Sierra patted Hanael, then braided her hair.

“That’s a relief! Then, what else?”

“Ah, that’s right. The doctor told us to get ready again because we have another examination!”

“Huh? When?”

At Sierra’s sudden words, Hanael’s tiny lips opened and closed like a baby bird’s beak.

“Tomorrow! Mom will be there, too.”

Sierra visibly became more cheerful. As she stroked Hanael’s hair, she thought about how this could solve one of her problems at least. There must be only one reason why the doctors were calling them: it’s time for the second stage of the paternity test.

‘Come to think of it, time passed so quickly. The second stage is already tomorrow.’

She was so preoccupied with her sister’s whereabouts that she forgot about the paternity test completely.

Sierra nodded and smoothed out Hanael’s hair.

“Now, should we get ready for bed?”

“Yeah!”

To borrow Hanael’s words, they brushed their teeth as well as they could and then lay in their soft bed to sleep. Sierra, who had a hard day, fell asleep quickly. But Hanael, who waited for Sierra all day, couldn’t fall asleep so easily.

“…Sleeping?”

“……”

Hanael tossed and turned, but eventually snuggled into Sierra’s arms. She looked closely at Sierra’s angular nose, her long eyelashes, and red lips in the dark.

“Good night, Mom.”

Hanael just stared at Sierra’s face, thinking that she didn’t want the other person who she should call ‘mom’ to come.

It’s actually been a while since Sierra said a word about that person to Hanael. Maybe she couldn’t find her.

Hanael hoped she couldn’t find that person forever.

That way, she could stay with Sierra longer…

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