There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 122

Ellencia protested.

“Father, that’s Philomell’s lie. I really…….”

“I heard it clearly with my own ears. It was your voice recorded on the recording stone.”

“A recording stone? The Imperial Palace doesn’t allow unauthorized magical tools…….”

Come to think of it, Philomell’s biological father is the Master of the Magic Tower. And they seemed overly close for having met for the first time today.

They had been colluding from the start, deceiving her.

Instinctively sensing the Magic Tower Master’s involvement, Ellencia flatly denied it.

“Recording stones are a fabrication! They’re trying to frame me!”

“……Then, setting aside the recording stone, why did you kill the nanny?”

Her eyes flickered for a moment.

“M-Me, kill the nanny? The nanny died in an accident…….”

“The investigators who examined the body said the injuries were impossible given your explanation.”

“…….”

“It was clearly a murder.”

She desperately wracked her brain for an excuse.

“Actually, it was a maid who killed the nanny. But she cried and begged me to pretend I didn’t see it…….”

“Which maid? According to the investigation, all the palace staff working in the West Palace at the time were in groups of at least two, except for a maid named ‘Emily’.”

Without thinking deeply, Ellencia chimed in.

“That’s right! It was Emily!”

“That person was locked in a room with four others the whole time.”

The more she tried to make excuses, the deeper she felt like she was sinking into a swamp.

She had fallen into a trap. At this point, she had no choice but to admit that she had murdered the nanny.

“……That’s right. The nanny died because of me. But I swear I didn’t mean to kill her. The nanny said harsh things, and I snapped…….”

Justis let out a sigh that felt like a thousand pounds.

“I’m tired of listening to your excuses now.”

Ellencia clung to Justis’s feet.

“I was really wrong! I’m begging you like this. But I am your daughter!”

“I’ll ask you just two things.”

She took it as the Emperor giving her a chance and readily replied.

“Yes! Ask me anything!”

“Do you value your parents’ birthdays?”

“Of course! That’s why I was going to Father’s birthday banquet today…….”

“Then, when is Katrin’s birthday?”

“……Pardon?”

“You should know the birthday of the mother you’ve lived with for over a decade.”

Ellencia tried to recall all her memories of Katrin. But there was no way she would remember the birthday of a minor character in the game.

“J-Just a moment. I know it, but it’s not coming to mind right now…….”

“Just tell me what season it is.”

First of all, it wouldn’t be winter. She had spent the winter with Katrin, but she hadn’t heard anything about a birthday. Similarly, spring was unlikely, leaving summer and fall…….

“……It’s summer.”

The last choice was left to chance. But unfortunately, luck was not on her side.

“It’s winter. Until you became strange, we celebrated her birthday together every winter.”

The Emperor lowered himself to meet Ellencia’s gaze.

“I didn’t want to admit that I had been deceived by a fake all this time. When my real daughter is in a state of being deprived of her body.”

Blue flames flickered in his blue eyes.

“Give me back my daughter.”

Ellencia could only gasp for breath as she felt the murderous intent crushing her whole body.

Justis firmly grabbed her arm and dragged her away.

“I’ll make you want to get out of that body by any means necessary.”

Ellencia’s hairs stood on end at the sight of being seen as less than a bug.

A loud warning sound echoed in Ellencia’s head.

‘I have to avoid being dragged away like this……!’

The Emperor would not give her any freedom as long as his daughter’s body was not harmed.

She would be treated as less than human. She hated it, even if it meant death.

“S-Shop…….”

And there was only one way for her to escape.

Ellencia uttered the familiar phrase she had often said.

“Shop, enter.”

Whoosh!

A dazzling pink light enveloped her body.

The Emperor sensed something was wrong and tried to restrain her, but it was a futile effort.

* * *

Ellencia opened her eyes in front of the small shop.

After looking around several times, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She had aged ten years in that moment.

“Welcome to the shop, Player!”

Even the mascot fox’s tiresome greeting sounded welcoming.

Ellencia took a breath and muttered weakly to herself.

“What do I do now?”

This place isn’t entirely safe either. Besides herself, there was one other person who could enter the shop. Moreover, even if she excluded Philomell, she couldn’t stay here forever.

“But if I go outside the shop now, I’ll be caught by the Emperor.”

After pondering for a moment, Ellencia opened the inventory window.

Soon, a scroll was in her hand.

“I wanted to save it as much as possible, but I have no choice…….”

A teleportation scroll. If you tear it while thinking of the place you want to go, it’s a magical item that allows you to teleport anywhere.

She had previously bought all the stock in the Starlight Shop in preparation for emergencies.

“Ugh…….”

A groan of regret escaped Ellencia’s lips.

Originally, she could use teleportation magic without wasting a scroll if she used the Ring of Crimson Flame. However, her divine power hadn’t been working well for some time now, perhaps because of her poor physical condition.

‘If I had known this would happen, I would have charged the ring with divine power in advance……. No, let’s regret it later.’

Right now, the priority was to escape to a safe place and plan for the future.

But at that moment when Ellencia was about to tear the scroll.

“Welcome to the shop, Player!”

The fox’s greeting, exactly the same as before, was heard.

“Ah!”

Before Ellencia could turn around, someone pounced on her.

Ellencia looked at the figure on top of her.

“Philomell……!”

* * *

Philomell left the ballroom and searched for a place where the Emperor and Ellencia might be.

Then, she saw a flashing pink light in the distance.

The light that appeared when entering the Starlight Shop. It was a sign that Ellencia had entered the shop.

Philomell took out a piece of stone from her pocket. It was a piece cut off from the corner of the Meteorite Rock.

The fox had said before.

“Please come again, Player. If you use the game system, you can enter the shop from anywhere.”

But no matter how many times she tried, she could only move to the shop when she was near the Meteorite Rock. After pondering the reason for this, Philomell came to the conclusion that she was not a formal ‘Player’.

When the fox first met her, it had wondered for a long time whether she was a bug or a player.

‘An ambiguous existence, neither player nor not.’

Thinking that way, the questions she had felt so far were resolved.

The affinity bar that appeared and disappeared frequently as if it was unstable.

The Starlight Shop that can only be entered through the Meteorite Rock.

For some reason, Philomell was a half-player.

‘Then what about Ellencia?’

If Ellencia, unlike herself, was a complete player, she would be able to enter the shop from anywhere.

In fact, according to Emily’s report, she had taken the Elixir of Wisdom from an ordinary bathroom.

‘Can’t I do that too?’

When dealing with Ellencia, there might be times when she had to enter the shop urgently. Going to the place where the Meteorite Rock was every time would be inefficient.

So Philomell, with the help of Le Guin, had done various experiments on the Meteorite Rock. Then she found out that a piece of the rock had the same effect as the rock.

Philomell hesitated before opening her mouth while holding the stone.

“Just in case…….”

Then, she took out a red potion from her bag and drank it.

“Phil.”

“Lady Philomell.”

Le Guin and Nasar, who were next to her, called Philomell’s name at the same time. Both had worried looks.

The three brothers who followed behind them were the same.

Only she can enter the Starlight Shop. In other words, from now on, she has to do it alone without the help of others.

Philomell smiled at the people while holding the stone tightly. It was a smile to reassure them.

“Wait a little bit. I’ll be back soon.”

Soon, a pink light enveloped her body.