There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 117

“I, I… killed someone…”

Ellencia crawled away from the corpse. It looked the same as when it was alive, but the body that no longer breathed was unsettling.

A chill swept over her.

She shook her head violently.

‘No, it’s not a person! It’s a game character!’

It was no different from when she dealt with Rozanne. Only this time, she had done it with her own hands.

It felt absurd to feel guilty about a player killing a game character.

Ellencia rose and straightened her clothes. There was no time to lose her mind.

‘I need to clean this up quickly!’

The nanny died in an accident. The situation was already bad, and she couldn’t let it be known that she killed the nanny.

She roughly cleaned up the scattered objects and struggled to slightly change the position of the corpse.

The nanny, who had difficulty moving, was practicing walking when she fell and touched the paperweight on the desk. The paperweight, dislodged by the fall, struck her head—a coincidental misfortune.

It wasn’t a perfect excuse, but it was the best she could do for now.

After finishing all the preparations, Ellencia took a breath.

“Kyaaaa!”

Soon after, a terrified scream echoed from the princess’s chambers.

“Is anyone there? The nanny, the nanny…!”

* * *

Imperial Palace.

Philomel emerged from the corner after Ellencia disappeared.

She had gone to the front of the office, but waited nearby when she heard Ellencia’s scream. From what she could hear, the atmosphere between the two was extremely tense.

‘It seems like I’ve successfully driven a wedge between them, to some extent.’

Moreover, she had tied the fake Ellencia’s hands and feet to some extent.

This was all thanks to Cardin. He was the one who helped find the real Ellie.

Before leaving under Ellencia’s orders, Ellie contacted her family in her hometown from the imperial palace communication center to tell them she would be coming soon. Coincidentally, the magician who infused magic into the communication stone [a device for long-distance communication] that Ellie used was Cardin.

Even while dozing off, he overheard the content about ‘the vacation that the princess specially gave’ and informed Philomel.

At that time, Philomel had just received a concerning report from Emily.

“The princess brought a strange woman!”

Ellencia had placed the groaning woman in a remote room for some reason and thoroughly silenced the maids.

When Philomel asked if there were any other strange things, Emily recalled.

“…Well, now that I think about it, Ellie suddenly disappeared yesterday. Ah, Ellie is a maid who works under the princess, like me.”

A woman who suddenly appeared and a maid who disappeared around the same time.

It couldn’t be a simple coincidence.

With the information Cardin brought, Philomel’s conviction solidified, and Ellie was caught by Jeremiah at the gate she had to pass to go to her hometown. He often ridiculed his brother’s work as trivial, but….

‘When you think about it, it was a key position where you can sit still and grasp the trivial happenings in the imperial palace.’

Unlike nobles who carry communication stones, palace staff must use the communication center to communicate. So, Cardin’s information was valuable.

Under the condition of guaranteeing her safety from Ellencia, Ellie told the truth in front of the emperor.

Moving Ellie was easier than expected. She looked at Philomel and said shyly.

“I couldn’t properly thank you back then, but thank you for helping me.”

She meant the maid who was harassed by Count Kelton’s son was Ellie. Cardin was also the one who punched Count Kelton’s son, so this was entirely thanks to him.

When Philomel thanked him, he was noticeably pleased.

‘But….’

Even though everything was going well, she didn’t feel good.

“Welcome, Philomel.”

Facing the emperor who greeted Philomel in the office, her mood sank even further.

“It’s been a while, Your Majesty.”

Having dinner together before leaving to meet the World Tree was her last meeting with him.

Justis, who was looking at Philomel sitting down, said.

“You’re the real you.”

“…Pardon?”

“It’s nothing.”

After saying something incomprehensible, he stopped talking.

Philomel tilted her head.

‘The real me? Then is there a fake me too?’

The fake wasn’t Philomel, but the one he had just met. The person who believed that she was as good as Justis’s real daughter.

It was for this very reason that Philomel’s heart was uneasy. The fake Ellencia went back after spewing out all sorts of nonsense about hating her dad. The emperor would think that his real daughter resented him.

“How have you been lately?”

Perhaps it was just her mood, but the way he asked about her well-being seemed particularly lonely.

“I am spending each day diligently, thanks to Your Majesty’s grace.”

“I don’t know what my grace is, but I’m glad you’re doing well.”

Even while having a casual conversation with him, Philomel was troubled.

‘I was originally going to wait and see the situation a bit more before speaking….’

Her eyes went to the red bar floating above the emperor’s head.

‘92%’

The favorability rating had risen on this side as well while she hadn’t been looking.

‘Seeing things like this makes my heart weaken….’

Moreover, the favorability rating gave Philomel a strange sense of security. It seemed that even if she revealed Ellencia’s identity, the emperor would listen.

In the end, Philomel abandoned her original plan and reached into the pocket containing the recording stone.

Knock, knock, knock. But a hurried knock was heard.

“Your Majesty! I apologize for the suddenness, but there is something you must know!”

Count Polan requested an audience from outside the door. His voice had an unusual urgency.

At Justis’s gesture asking for consent, Philomel nodded.

As permission was granted, Count Polan entered the office.

“What’s going on?”

At the emperor’s question, he replied with a serious face.

“The nanny has passed away.”

Philomel was quite surprised.

The emperor’s brow furrowed as well.

“What happened?”

“Judging from the circumstances, it seems to be an accident, but Her Highness the Princess, who was the only one with the nanny at the time, hasn’t said anything, so I don’t know the details….”

“Ellencia?”

“Her Highness seems to be greatly shocked and is constantly crying and looking for Your Majesty. I think you should go.”

“…I understand. Leave.”

Philomel tried to clear her confused head.

It felt strange that someone she had spent a lot of time with in her childhood had died. But now was not the time to leisurely recall the nanny from her lifetime.

‘The nanny died in an accident?’

Her intuition whispered that this was not a simple accident. If so, what was it?

Ellencia returned in a great rage. According to Emily, she usually found the nagging nanny annoying.

‘And Ellencia was with the nanny when she died.’

If the possibility of an accident was ruled out, there was only one answer.

“Philomel, since the situation has become like this, I must go.”

“Wait a moment!”

Philomel stood up and grabbed the emperor’s sleeve. She felt that this moment was the right time to reveal the truth about Ellencia.

“I have something to tell Your Majesty.”

“If it’s not urgent, let’s meet next time….”

The emperor stopped speaking and stared at Philomel.

The yellow eyes were shimmering with a desperate light.

Once upon a time, on a day when it was raining heavily, he had regretted ignoring this child’s gaze.

The emperor sat back down.

“Alright. Speak.”

* * *

A room in the West Palace, the princess’s temporary residence that was suddenly prepared.

“Hic… hic….”

Ellencia sobbed and checked the surrounding reactions.

“Your Highness, you’ll get dehydrated if you keep crying like this.”

“Please, at least drink some water.”

The maids took care of her with worried faces.

Ellencia smiled inwardly. As expected, she was a genius.

‘To turn a crisis into an opportunity!’

Everyone pitied the princess who had witnessed the nanny’s death before her eyes. Pretending to like the nanny all along was helpful at times like this.

Now, only one person had to come. But the person she was waiting for had not yet appeared.

‘How long has it been since Count Polan left? Why isn’t he coming?’

It was then.

“His Majesty the Emperor has arrived.”

With the attendant’s words, the emperor entered the room.

“Dad!”

Ellencia ran and clung to the emperor’s arm. Tears streamed from her blue eyes.

“What should I do? The nanny… the nanny died….”

She continued, sobbing.

“Sob, I shouldn’t have put the paperweight in such a place…. It’s all my fault.”

Even if the emperor was a cold-blooded person and had argued with her a little while ago, he wasn’t the kind of person to drive his daughter, who was in shock, into a corner.

‘Naturally, he will feel sympathy.’

The decision to announce the matter regarding Sansalcho or freeze her assets might be withdrawn. No, she had to make it withdrawn.

But.

‘Huh?’

Ellencia looked up at the emperor and stiffened.

Coldness was evident in his gaze towards his daughter. Not the feeling of scolding or rebuking as usual, but something colder than that.

This was the first time.

“D, Dad…. Are you angry? If it’s because I acted rudely a little while ago, I’ll apologize….”

“….”

The emperor headed to the chambers that Ellencia originally used without saying anything.

Feeling uneasy, she trailed behind him.

The nanny’s body was still preserved in the room. Seeing her wide-open eyes, goosebumps rose on Ellencia’s arm.

She pulled on Justis’s arm.

“Dad, I feel so bad for the nanny. Like that on the cold floor…. Please close her eyes quickly. Huh?”

Whether it was burial or cremation, she just wanted that thing to be annihilated quickly.

The emperor replied in a voice that was difficult to read emotions.

“Don’t worry. I will make sure that the deceased’s resentment does not remain.”

Before Ellencia could ask what that meant, the emperor ordered Count Polan, who was next to him.

“Take responsibility and clearly reveal the cause of death and the circumstances.”

“I will obey your command.”

Following that, Count Polan instructed the attendants to seal off the scene.

Ellencia shouted urgently.

“Wait a moment! I saw exactly how the nanny died. I’ll explain from now on….”

The emperor stopped her.

“Regardless of your explanation, the investigation will proceed.”

“What investigation?”

“A person died, so of course, we have to investigate. Even to distinguish whether it was an accident or not.”

No way. She had to stop it by any means. She was not an expert in crime. If the investigation proceeded, there was a high probability that it would be revealed that it was not an accident but murder.

“I said it was an accident, so why isn’t it an accident! Don’t you trust me?”

“Is there a special reason why you want to stop the investigation?”

“N, no such thing! It’s just that I feel like I’m being suspected…. Dad, please don’t do this.”

Justis said heartlessly to her, who was shedding tears desperately.

“Stay in confinement for the time being. I’ll be on my way.”

At that moment, Ellencia looked above the emperor’s head. The red bar was flickering precariously.

‘80%’

The favorability rating that had never fallen below that until now, for example, the final line.

‘79%’

‘78%’

‘77%’

That line collapsed.