She’s Not Our Daughter! - Chapter 26

Chapter 26

It’s only been a week since then. As the Princess intended, all kinds of rumors spread throughout the salon.

In addition to the rumors about Sierra’s existence, specific information about her being a commoner with blonde hair and green eyes also spread. Even the bizarre rumor that the arrogant and high-nosed commoner would soon enter the salon as the corrupt wife of the Duke of Ideos.

The Princess calculated that Sierra, a commoner, would soon participate in all the parties.

However, a henchman approached the gloating Princess.

“Your Highness, something serious has happened.”

The henchman’s expression was cruel.

She intuitively realized that what he had to say was bad news.

“What’s going on?”

The Princess frowned as she heard the urgent breathing of the henchman.

“Nothing to be surprised about.”

A man with one eye covered appeared behind her back.

It was the Duke of Colne, the upper lord of Colne, the de facto owner of all salons in the Imperial society. He was also nicknamed Duke One Eye, and was nevertheless notorious for ruling all social circles.

The Princess hid her irritation and gestured toward him.

“Duke of Colne.”

“I greet you, Your Highness.”

“What’s going on?”

“Looks like that loyal henchman ran into something while he was doing his extracurriculars” He smiled softly at the Princess and bowed his head, but those words felt hard.

‘What is it?’

The Princess nodded at the henchman. He rushed to speak. “All the salons of the capital were sold.”

“…Yes, I sold all the salons to the head of the House of Ideos.”

The people’s eyes widened.

Crash!

A sharp sound of glass breaking could be heard. In short, it meant that Duke Ideos had bought the salon.

The Princess gritted her teeth as she looked at the Duke of Colne. In this case, contrary to her intentions, the social circle of the Empire would be overturned by the Duke of Ideos.

Needless to say, the Duke of Colne held a great amount of authority over the salons. The nobles’ tea parties and proms were sometimes held in their mansions, but mostly in salons at the capital.

All nobles had a salon that they frequently went to, and in the case of a large group of aristocrats, the whole salon was rented and operated.

It was the Duke of Colne who led fashion in the social world and dominated the salon as a whole. Now…

Cassius Ideos and his godmother bought the salons boasting such authority. Even a competent host who was in charge of the salon had to be attributed to the duke’s mansion.

Of course, there was a way to set up a new salon for gatherings in the capital, but it would take a long time to build, and it was difficult to find a host to manage the salon.

“What the hell is this?”

“Duke of Ideos, why do you have to pay double the price to buy the women’s group salon…?”

“What is the problem…?”

Even as the people murmured among themselves, nothing would change the fact that the salons was already owned by the Duke of Ideos.

The Princess put down the fan with a hard expression.

Others did not know about the Duke of Ideos’s expedition, but she did.

‘As long as the salon belongs to Ideos, no one can threaten her in the salon.’

The Duke of Colne was a free man. The stories between aristocratic women and the stories circulating in the salons had not been touched.

Perhaps the Duke of Ideos would be similar. However, if Sierra’s story circulated, it was highly likely that the Duke’s eyes would actually penetrate the salons of the capital.

‘…Because it is still under Andante’s orders.’

Since this happened, he had no choice but to focus on Andante.

She turned around, glaring at the Duke of Colne. They still had a few more cards to draw Sierra out without violence.

* * * 

Around that time, in the Ideos estate, Sierra, Cassius, Hanael, and the godmother, who were sitting opposite each other in the hall inside the mansion, were enjoying a small tea party.

“…I was surprised that Cassius bought the entire salon that day.”

Sierra shuddered as she remembered what Cassius had done the day she received so many invitations from the nobles.

However, the godmother responded calmly, as if it was natural.

Unlike Sierra, who was still dumbfounded, Hanael laughed while holding a well-baked salmon papillote that served as his share.

“Eat well!”

Sierra stroked Hanael’s hair and tried to take a sip of black tea.

If only she hadn’t listened to the low-pitched muttering of the godmother while looking down at Hanael who was whistling excitedly…

“The baby looks a lot like you, Sierra.”

“Pooh, pooh!”

The black tea she was about to drink dripped down. It was a clear disrespect, but no one pointed out Sierra.

“Are you sick?”

Sierra pressed her throat and muttered in a low voice.

“Kuk…kuk. No, because she’s not my daughter.”

Sierra muttered as if testifying in front of a lawyer, she had also activated the recording artifact she had kept in her pocket just in case.

‘Even if it turns out that Hanael is not my daughter, I am gathering all evidence so that we cannot be sued for deception.’

After turning off the recording device she hid and put it in her pocket again, she covered her mouth with a handkerchief that Cassius quickly handed her. barely stopping their conversation.

The godmother, who looked at her with pitiful eyes, began to talk.

“Yeah, okay. So let’s get to the point now.”

Since it was such a normal day, Sierra didn’t know there was a topic that they needed to talk about.

The godmother stared down at the discarded invitation with a hard expression.

“This is Andante’s invitation.”

Sierra nodded thoughtlessly. She lived with her older sister, an archmage, and was sick with the evil of the world. They were being too calm about it.

With the right of command of power, the nobles were able to force the common people. Of course, slaves functioned on a level of common sense, not forced labor.

‘If the nobility executes a compulsory order, the commoners would have to obey it unconditionally.’

Among the common people, nobles are famous for their evil methods, but in fact, it was now obsolete. After all, they were living in a completely different world from the common people.

In a way, touching the commoners directly undermined the authority of the nobility. But Andante was using the right of command.

‘I can’t even protect Cassius this time, because if one nobleman uses the command, the other nobleman can’t interfere.’

Sierra nodded her head, wondering if she would come back after being insulted.

But the godmother only smiled sweetly like a spring breeze. “Child, don’t worry.”

“Yes?”

“Cassius has taken care of everything.”

She glanced at Cassius, who then smiled picturesquely. Her anxiety spiked.

‘At this point, I’m more worried about what Cassius will do, not Andante…?’

Sierra set the teacup down on the table.

“How did you solve it…?”

There was no way a humble commoner like her would be able to handle the command of the nobility.

Hanael dangled her feet and held her plump cheeks with both hands.

“You don’t know about that either?”

“…?”

‘What, am I the only one here who doesn’t know? Not even Hanael told me.’

“What?”

“You’ll find out later. So eat a lot, Sierra.”

“Baby, you’ll be alright.”

“It can’t be…”

Sierra paused.

At Sierra’s words, Cassius put on a painful expression.

“Do not misunderstand me again!”

“I don’t mean that.”

The godmother muttered as she showed me the pile of chocolates in front of me.

“Try a little of this. These are precious chocolates.”

Chocolate! Sierra tried to reach for it, but the godmother interrupted her.

‘Oh, I’ve been so shameless. I should have thanked her first!”

Sierra, who blamed herself, opened her mouth to say thank you. The godmother first picked up the chocolate and placed one into her slightly open mouth.

“Umph.”

Then he looked at Sierra with a happy expression on his face.

“How about it? Does it taste good?”

Chew, chew.

Sierra’s lips froze even as they were open, but everyone was watching with an amicable expression on their faces.

“You eat so well, my child.”

The godmother smiled gently, as though she was a hen looking at her chick, or a mother with her daughter.

Then, Hanael puffed up her chubby cheeks and clenched her little fist that was as soft as honey pancakes.

“My mom is mine! Grandma can’t take her away!”

“I’m not taking her away, Hanael.”

Cassius smiled at Hanael.

“Hmph!”

Hanael turned her head away with the grumpy sound. The four of them must have looked like a beautiful family portrait.

‘Ha… Goodness, it’s like I’m being tamed by the healing power of this happy, beautiful family.

Sierra munched on the chocolate, trying to immerse herself in this feeling.

But of course… she hesitated.

‘No no. This isn’t my family. I’m meant to be thrown out.’

The godmother smiled kindly, then whispered to Sierra.

“Come to think of it, the paternity test will be conducted soon.”

…And so their happiness and their smiles were washed away as soon as the words ‘paternity test’ were uttered.

Even so, this overwhelming goodwill felt kinda nice.

‘I wish I was born a noble,’ Sierra muttered as she munched on chocolate.

“Tha–nk yew…”

Everyone else in the room had smiles on their faces as they watched Sierra, as though they were captivated by her completely.

* * * 

The incident of the Duke of Ideos buying all the notable salons in high society happened, yet the Duke himself and the godmother were unbothered.

However, in a remote building at the estate…

It was a peaceful annex building where the doctors from the Hippo Kingdom resided as they were invited to the estate.

“Is the paternity test going along smoothly?”

“Yes. We’re a bit behind schedule because we had to settle a few other things, but I think we can work it out according to the schedule.”

The wary Hentel, who was looking at the twin doctors, frowned.

“The paternity test is our top priority.”

“Of course.”

“Yes, Teacher!”

As he sat down, the doctor analyzed the contents of the enchanted video clip that showed the magical wavelengths of Hanael, Sierra, and Cassius.

“Hm…”

The range of Hanael’s mana wavelength was approximately 10, while Sierra and Cassius were both 15.

They were quite similar.

“The colors are similar, too. It’s blue.”

Beyond the video clip, all three mana wavelengths flashed blue.

Mana wavelengths could be classified into categories: black, white, red, orange, yellow, green, and blue. Among them, countless wavelengths could be derived depending on the brightness and saturation.

But here…

“There’s a low saturation… They’re a similar shade of blue.”

Hentel looked intently at the video, then tilted his head to the side, thinking that there was something missing.