There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 109

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State Guest House Reception Room.

Philomell readily agreed to meet her.

‘That guard dog is giving me such a dirty look.’

For some reason, Elencia glared at Philomell’s guard, who gave off a familiar vibe.

“Meow.”

Philomell’s cat was playing with a stone carving on the armrest of the chair. Elencia felt like even the cat was glaring at her.

Thinking, ‘Like mistress, like cat,’ she opened her mouth.

“Is it you?”

Since it was already obvious that she was someone else inside, there was no need to hide her true personality anymore.

Philomell shrugged casually.

“What about me?”

“Did you take all my items?”

“Items? I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

She almost fell for the completely clueless expression. But she wasn’t that stupid.

‘That damn bitch!’

Elencia gritted her teeth.

She wanted to get rid of this woman right away.

But Philomell is different from Rosanne. Not only would it be difficult to assassinate her, but even if she succeeded, the Emperor would never let it go.

‘I would have done it sooner if I could have.’

She had been annoying from the start. She wanted to get rid of her. The woman who had taken her place as if it were the most natural thing in the world!

Elencia barely suppressed her rising hatred.

‘If Philomell is really a transmigrator [someone who has been reborn in another world] and has a higher favorability than me, I need to be careful.’

The best course of action was to win Philomell over first. Then, she could deal with her when she let her guard down.

Elencia lowered her head and deepened her voice.

“I’m sorry.”

The corner of Philomell’s right eyebrow rose.

“For what?”

“I apologize if I’ve upset you by being so hostile towards you. I’m sorry.”

“……”

“I guess I just felt competitive whenever I saw you. I was upset. It felt like Dad liked you more than me.”

It wasn’t a lie. To be exact, she was more angry than upset.

“When you disappeared, Dad only looked for you. He didn’t even care about me, whom he had just met.”

That wasn’t actually the case, but it was almost the same. Because that’s how she felt.

Elencia continued.

“The teachers only praised you, Nasar seemed to like you more. And Dad…”

“Excuse me.”

Elencia’s words were cut off just as she was getting emotional in her acting. Trying to contain her annoyance, she asked, “What?”

“Are you talking about His Majesty the Emperor when you say Dad?”

“Well, duh…”

“He’s not your dad.”

“Then is he your dad?!”

Philomell chuckled at Elencia, who couldn’t hold back her outburst.

“I never said he was my dad, did I? He’s Elencia’s dad.”

Looking at Elencia’s hardened expression, Philomell said,

“Do you know that what you’ve been saying is strange?”

She stirred her tea with a teaspoon. It was an elegant gesture.

“Why do you talk as if you’re the real Elencia?”

“…Because I am Elencia now.”

“Just because you’ve taken over that child’s body doesn’t make you Elencia.”

This was a statement she couldn’t let pass.

Elencia slammed the table hard with both hands.

“I am Elencia!”

“Even after I saw your memories yesterday…”

“The Emperor treats me no differently than Elencia, right?”

“Excuse me?”

“What’s the difference? The Emperor doesn’t know the real Elencia anyway!”

Philomell was silent. She seemed to be trying to grasp the gist of what she had said.

Elencia explained carefully.

“I’ve been inside this body since the first time I met the Emperor. This body was born between him and the wife he loved. This face looks just like his wife.”

“…So?”

“The important thing is not what’s inside, that’s what I’m saying.”

Philomell still looked like she didn’t understand.

“What does it matter who the soul in this body was before? The Elencia the Emperor knows is me.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Think about it. The reason the Emperor loves Elencia is because she’s his daughter. It’s an external reason. It’s not because he likes her personality or soul.”

“So it’s okay if the contents are completely different?”

“That’s right. What does it matter if the soul changed in the middle and the daughter he knew disappeared?”

Philomell sighed and tapped her temple with her finger.

“Okay. Let’s say His Majesty is like that, but what about the others? Katrin or the villagers know about the real Elencia.”

“Are those people important? Katrin is a criminal, and the villagers are people we’ll never see again.”

“They’re precious people to the real Elencia.”

Elencia scoffed.

“Oh, really? Too bad. But what can you do? That Elencia is gone now.”

“…You really don’t feel even a tiny bit sorry for the real Elencia.”

“I feel bad for her. But why should I feel sorry? Did I forcibly take someone else’s body? You saw my memories, so you know.”

She died in an accident. And when she opened her eyes, she was inside Elencia’s body.

“Still, your attitude is too brazen. At least respect the people that child loved…”

“Stop it! This isn’t the time for us to be arguing over these issues.”

“…Haa, okay. You seem to have something you want to say, so go ahead.”

Philomell’s arrogant behavior was extremely annoying, but Elencia tried her best to sound gentle.

“There’s no reason for us to be enemies.”

“I think you were the one who antagonized me first.”

“…I’m sorry about that. I apologized earlier. Ordering you to steal was a bit much.”

“Okay. Keep talking.”

“I was just jealous of you, I didn’t have any real animosity.”

“Really?”

“Of course. I haven’t done anything seriously wrong to you, have I? I only ordered the theft because I wanted to get my book back quickly.”

“Hmm.”

Elencia was getting anxious as Philomell showed an ambiguous attitude. She decided to appeal to her sympathy.

“Don’t you feel sorry for me? I died horribly and was dropped off alone in this strange place.”

Philomell, who had been closing her eyes, lifted her eyelids.

“If you tell me just this one thing, I’ll think about it positively.”

“Okay, okay. What is it?”

“What is ? Is it a novel you wrote based on the game?”

Since Philomell had already seen her memories, this was an undeniable truth.

“…Yes, that’s right.”

“Why did you write such a novel?”

Elencia desperately tried to figure out the intention behind the question.

‘Does she not know the background of how that novel was created? Then is she a user who played the game lightly?’

It was hard not to know if you were a fan of ‘The Dazzling Court Life of the Returned Princess.’

‘No, was she really a transmigrator and not a character from the start?’

Her head was spinning. She felt like she was wandering in a fog without finding out anything about Philomell.

Elencia barely managed to pick out a suitable answer.

“That was my job. To write the official novel of the game.”

Philomell gave her a look as if she was gauging her true intentions. Impatience rose in her heart.

“Huh? Please. Just give me back my book and items.”

“Is that all you want back? You don’t want anything else from me?”

“Of course!”

“Really? If I give them back, will you not bother me like before even if I stay in the Imperial Palace?”

Elencia was momentarily speechless.

‘Doesn’t she have any shame? What is she doing, trying to freeload as a fake? Could it be… is she planning to accept the Emperor’s adoption proposal?’

Absolutely not! The thought of becoming sisters with such a fake made her skin crawl. There could only be one beloved princess.

Hiding her trembling fists, Elencia spoke carefully.

“Wouldn’t that be a bit uncomfortable for each other? I want to live my second life happily if possible.”

“So you want me to leave?”

“It’s not that I necessarily want you to, but it would be better for you to find your own life. What’s the point of being here?”

“That’s true.”

Elencia’s face brightened.

“So you’re leaving? And you’ll give me back my items and book?”

A bright smile appeared on Philomell’s face.

“I refuse.”

Elencia’s expression crumbled.

“Why?!”

Philomell leisurely took a sip of her tea.

“I don’t trust anything you say. If you didn’t have any animosity towards me, why did you spread bad rumors about me through a loudspeaker?”

“Th, that’s…”

This was a disaster. She never thought this woman would have figured that out.

“At the time, I had already left this place on my own. There was no reason for me to bother you.”

“I told you! I was jealous because people only looked for you.”

“So you make someone the enemy of the entire nation? If I had been caught by the people who hated me so much back then, I might not be here right now.”

“Don’t exaggerate…!”

Elencia tore at her hair in frustration.

“Can’t you understand me a little? While you were living comfortably under my dad, I was being mistreated by your mom.”

The injustice she had buried in her heart burst out.

“So it’s possible that I was overly jealous, right? It’s possible that I wanted to erase your existence quickly, right?”

“That’s the real Elencia’s situation.”

“I am Elencia!”

“Your claims are all mixed up. One moment you act like you don’t care about the real Elencia, and the next moment you pretend to care about her very much. And you’re also equating yourself with Elencia.”

Philomell’s face was filled with blatant contempt.

“Don’t bring up that child’s situation only when it benefits you.”