There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 126

“So it’s called ? I’d like to read that book.”

That was what the Emperor said after listening to the lengthy story until the end.

There were several people to whom Philomel had revealed the existence of the book, but he was the first to say he wanted to see it himself.

Le Guin and the brothers, and Nassar, didn’t pay much attention to the book with Elencia as the main character. But Eustis would naturally want to know what the real Elencia was like.

Philomel brought to the Emperor’s office.

‘It’s a bit much to call the Elencia in the book written by the intruder the real Elencia, but….’

The intruder hadn’t made any significant distortions regarding Elencia’s personality, at least. She knew because she had peeked into his memories.

Before handing it to the Emperor, Philomel threw the book into the fireplace and restored the pages she had torn up before.

turned into ashes in the fire and then returned to its complete form.

The Emperor, who witnessed the amazing sight, muttered, “…It was true,” and received the book. Then he read it from cover to cover in his seat.

Philomel waited beside him. Honestly, she was curious and a little afraid of his reaction.

‘What if he gets angry and asks why I brought this to him so late?’

What would have happened if she had shown to the Emperor when she was nine years old?

The Emperor would have found his real daughter early on. The real Elencia, before she was taken over by the intruder.

‘Maybe I would have met Le Guin and the brothers sooner.’

She regretted it a little now.

As a child, Philomel believed the contents of the book verbatim. Looking back, it felt foolish, but as an immature child at the time, it was hard to doubt the book.

Back then, she certainly thought the Emperor would kill her if the fact that Philomel wasn’t his daughter was revealed.

But now that she knew the contents of the game, her thoughts were a little different. In the game, the Emperor didn’t like the fake daughter, but he didn’t hate her either. In the ending, there was even a description of him feeling responsible and compassionate towards the twisted Philomel.

She kept wondering.

‘Was I taking the long way around when there was an easy path?’

But the past was already gone, and she couldn’t turn it back even if she regretted it.

Click. Then, she heard the sound of a book closing.

Eustis stared at Philomel after reading the last page.

His eyes were as deep as the sea.

Philomel was sure he would rebuke her. But the words that actually came out were different.

“Have you been carrying this book in your heart all this time?”

“…Yes?”

“Did you suddenly change because you thought I would kill you? Were you planning to run away from me since then?”

Philomel was silent.

It was a positive affirmation.

Eustis said in a low voice.

“I’m sorry. Even though we’ve been together for so long, I had no idea that’s what you were thinking.”

“…No. I also knew about Elencia in advance, but I hid it from Your Majesty.”

“No. If I had given you faith, you would have told me sooner. It’s all my fault.”

Philomel was embarrassed because she hadn’t expected this reaction at all.

So, as she was wondering how to answer, she made the strange excuse that finding Elencia was the most urgent thing right now and left the place.

Something was bothering her, preventing her from accepting his apology and resolving the resentment. If she accepted the apology….

‘What kind of relationship will we have? Will we go back to the way we were before?’

She knew now.

The Emperor cherished Philomel like a daughter. Although he didn’t express it clearly, it seemed that his desire to adopt Philomel hadn’t changed, even now that Le Guin had appeared.

‘This is difficult. Very difficult.’

Le Guin naturally thought Philomel was going to the Magic Tower with him, and the Emperor seemed to want her to stay.

Philomel’s most important decision was complicated.

She wanted to go to the Magic Tower, but she was hesitant to leave now.

‘Shouldn’t I stay here at least until I find Elencia?’

Philomel was the person most closely related to the intruder. She felt a sense of responsibility for some reason.

…And she should definitely sort out her relationship with the Emperor.

“What. Why are you looking at someone else’s daughter like that?”

At the blunt question, Philomel woke up from her thoughts.

The Master of the Magic Tower was glaring at the Emperor.

The Emperor shrugged.

“I don’t know what I did.”

“You were staring with very tearful eyes.”

“You must have seen it wrong. Your eyes seem to be more of a problem than mine.”

Philomel grabbed Le Guin’s shoulder and whispered to him.

“Stop it. Why are you picking on someone who’s just standing still?”

“It’s not picking a fight, it’s….”

The Emperor interrupted Le Guin and opened his mouth.

“Philomel, since you’re here, why don’t you have a cup of tea before you go? Polan brought some tea that helps with sleep, telling me to rest sometimes….”

This time, Le Guin cut him off.

“Phil already promised to have tea with me!”

“Did we…?”

Philomel was hearing this for the first time.

The Emperor scoffed.

“I guess it was a promise you made alone. You can drink alone as promised, and Philomel can drink with me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would I leave my daughter alone?”

Philomel stopped the two of them.

“Please calm down, both of you. We can all have tea together.”

What’s so important about a cup of tea?

The Emperor and the Master of the Magic Tower didn’t like the suggestion, but for some reason, they followed it obediently.

Thus, the three of them had a friendly tea time.

The Imperial Palace’s garden was as elegant as ever, and the flavor of the tea was excellent. However, the conversation that took place there was not.

Le Guin frowned at the cake on the tea table.

“Why chocolate cake? Phil likes whipped cream better. Don’t you even know that much?”

The Emperor replied nonchalantly.

“As far as I know, Philomel likes chocolate more.”

“No. When she has tea with me, she always eats whipped cream cake with lots of fruit on it.”

Philomel, who hadn’t even touched the cake with her fork, opened her mouth.

“Um… is chocolate or whipped cream that important?”

The answers came at the same time.

“It’s important.”

“It is important.”

Le Guin asked her.

“So, which one is it?”

“What?”

“Whipped cream or chocolate, which one do you like better?”

“Hmm….”

“It’s whipped cream, right?”

Le Guin persistently pressed, and the Emperor also stared at her as if he was curious about Philomel’s answer.

Philomel had no choice but to be honest.

“I like both, but if I had to pick one… chocolate.”

Le Guin’s expression hardened.

“Liar. Then why did you only eat whipped cream?”

“Well… I just felt like whipped cream at the time.”

In fact, there was another reason.

When she had tea with Le Guin, Jeremiah was always with them, and he preferred whipped cream. Either way, Philomel didn’t care much, so she went along with it.

Le Guin made a fuss, stabbing his fork into the cake as if he was upset, and the Emperor didn’t show much change in expression.

“I was right.”

However, the way he threw that word at Le Guin was quite annoying.

The fancy chocolate cake prepared by the Emperor was crushed under Le Guin’s fork.

“You should just drink tea quietly when you’re drinking tea. You talk too much.”

“Ask Philomel this time. Who talks more.”

“I don’t need to ask. Phil and I are connected by blood.”

“…”

“Okay. What if I’m wrong about what kind of cake she likes? Phil is my daughter anyway.”

“It’s noisy. Didn’t you tell me to just drink tea earlier?”

“You’re changing the subject. Don’t you have anything to say? Are you annoyed?”

“You’re too frivolous to listen to.”

Philomel sipped the remaining tea in the uncomfortable atmosphere.

‘Why are you both being like this!’

It seemed to be because of her, but she didn’t understand why the two of them were acting this way.

The Master of the Magic Tower sneered.

“It’s not frivolous, it’s knowing what kids these days like. You, who are unnecessarily serious, wouldn’t understand.”

“I’m younger, though.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about!”

Philomel rubbed her forehead.

‘This is too childish.’

Is this really the conversation between the Emperor and the Master of the Magic Tower who control this continent?

She shook her head and glanced at the Emperor.

His face, which had been gloomy until just now, had brightened up a little. She was relieved.

She didn’t know what would happen if something happened to the Emperor when the Princess had also disappeared.

After the tea time, Philomel came out of the Imperial Palace side by side with Le Guin.

But on the way back to the South Palace, she ran into an unexpected person.

“Lady Philomel!”

Nassar, dressed neatly from head to toe, was holding a large bouquet of flowers in his arms.