There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 139

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The next day, early in the morning.

Philomel stood in front of the Magic Tower Lord’s room as soon as she woke up, her heart pounding with nervousness.

Knock, knock.

“Haaam, who is it at this ungodly hour…? Oh, it’s Phil.”

Lguen, yawning widely, emerged from his room and greeted her after she knocked.

“Come on in. What’s going on so early? Is something the matter?”

As she entered the cluttered room, Philomel tried to smoothly deliver the carefully rehearsed introduction she had prepared all night. She wanted to appear natural and composed.

However, as always, her plan went awry.

The moment she opened her mouth, the most crucial question burst forth.

“Are you really going to kill Elencia and His Majesty the Emperor?”

Lguen, who had been rummaging through the clutter for a teacup, turned sharply to face his daughter.

Philomel repeated the question, her voice unwavering.

“Are you going to kill them both?”

“Who told you that? Did Lexion?”

“That’s not important. I want to hear your thoughts, Lguen. Directly from you.”

“Phil, calm down and listen to what I have to say.”

“Are you going to kill them? Yes or no?”

“That’s…”

“If you truly consider me your daughter, please don’t lie to me.”

Lguen hissed, running a hand roughly through his hair.

His clear golden eyes finally met hers.

“Yes. I’m going to kill them.”

Even though she had anticipated it, a wave of dizziness washed over her upon hearing the confirmation.

Philomel looked at Lguen with desperate eyes.

“Please don’t.”

“Why?”

“There might be another way.”

“What other way?”

“…….”

Unfortunately, Philomel couldn’t provide an immediate answer. She did have a plan in mind, but she wasn’t certain if it was the right one.

“Killing the Princess is the cleanest and most certain solution.”

The Magic Tower Lord stated coldly.

“And if we’ve decided to eliminate the Princess, dealing with the Emperor first is a logical step.”

“But…! If the Emperor and his heir are lost at the same time, the Empire will descend into chaos!”

This was the biggest problem facing Vellerop. Aside from the missing Princess, there were no suitable royals to inherit the throne.

The current Emperor had purged his brothers to secure his position, and after ascending, he systematically crushed the power of any royals with a strong claim to the throne. All for his daughter, who possessed no divine power.

When Philomel became the Emperor, he nipped in the bud any seeds of discord in advance. However, that move, intended to solidify imperial power, now acted as a poison.

“If the throne is vacant, rebellions will erupt in various regions, and the Empire will be engulfed in a whirlpool of war.”

A free-for-all where royals with mediocre power run wild. It would be better if there was one person with great power, but the most dangerous situation is when everyone is similar.

‘Everyone will think they have a chance to become Emperor.’

The nobles would also clash, each backing their preferred royal for the throne, further dividing the country.

“The commoners, the powerless, will suffer the most.”

Unlike those with influence, they have no means to protect themselves.

“Please reconsider. You don’t want such chaos to happen either, Lguen.”

The Magic Tower Lord’s firmly closed mouth twitched, as if he was holding something back.

“Please think about the common people too.”

“Haa, Phil.”

He let out a long sigh.

“Lexion told me to keep this hidden as long as possible, but I can’t do that forever. We’re family now, living under the same roof.”

“…What is it?”

“I don’t care.”

The answer was terribly dry.

“I don’t care about other humans. The only beings that matter to me are myself and you, who were born from me.”

He pointed at Philomel with his index finger.

“Only you, whom I swore to protect and take responsibility for a long time ago.”

Philomel was momentarily speechless.

“Really… It doesn’t matter at all?”

“Yeah.”

“Thousands, tens of thousands of people will die?”

“If you don’t like it, I’ll try to minimize the chaos as much as possible.”

Even if he tried to prevent it, the number of people harmed would still be significant.

“…You’re the Magic Tower Lord, Lguen, so you have a responsibility to the people.”

He replied in a troubled tone.

“Even if you say that… war itself is beneficial to the Magic Tower. Everyone brings money and tries to hire powerful wizards. No one dares to make an enemy of the Magic Tower.”

Lguen’s attitude, coldly assessing the future situation, was purely based on gains and losses.

The words about preventing chaos were only spoken because Philomel didn’t want such a situation to occur.

‘Ah, so that’s it.’

Only then did Lexion’s past words about Lguen resonate with her.

Lguen has thin emotions.

He was referring to this aspect of his personality.

Even though she had heard it from Lexion, she hadn’t truly understood it until now. The aspects Lguen showed her were relatively ordinary.

However, Philomel was the exception.

‘No, no.’

Philomel questioned herself.

‘Did I really just realize that Lguen is this kind of person?’

The answer was ‘no’.

She had been feeling it all along. Nevertheless, she denied it. She wanted to believe he was just a person with a unique personality who was misunderstood by the world, but was actually a good person once you got to know him.

‘Because he’s a good person to me.’

She wanted him to be a good person to others as well. That way, she could feel comfortable getting attached to him.

“Phil.”

When Philomel remained silent, he placed his hand on her shoulder.

“You might feel a little strange now, but you’ll soon realize that this is the best choice for you.”

Knock, knock, knock. At that moment, the door opened after three knocks.

“Good morning. I need you to look at something…”

Lexion, who was about to enter the room, stopped when he saw the two of them.

“Phil was here first. But the atmosphere seems… tense. I’ll come back later, so continue your conversation.”

“Come in.”

Lexion’s attempt to avoid the situation at his father’s gesture failed. He stood beside them with an unwilling face.

“Did you tell Phil everything?”

“Tell her… what?”

“The story we discussed yesterday.”

Lexion jumped.

“No way! It wasn’t me.”

It was Philomel’s turn to speak.

“I have something to ask Lexion too.”

“Why are you both looking at me with such serious expressions…”

“When Rozanne died, Lexion said he found the body, right?”

Rozanne Manon. The woman who slapped Philomel’s cheek and stole her ring.

The day she was exposed and imprisoned, she was released and met her end in an unexpected attack.

“It’s said that she was already dead when Lexion found her.”

“But why did Lexion go to see Rozanne?”

“…There’s something.”

Jeremiah, who told Philomel about Rozanne’s death, remained silent about the purpose of Lexion’s visit.

That conversation had lingered in her mind.

‘Why did Lexion go to see Rozanne?’

Now she felt like she knew the answer.

“Did Lexion also intend to kill Rozanne?”

“Why are you suddenly bringing up the past…”

The answer came from Lguen.

“That’s right. Lexion went as our representative.”

“…Everyone knew.”

“From the beginning, we couldn’t just let a woman who slapped your cheek go unpunished, could we?”

Philomel closed her eyes.

Behind her eyelids, she saw a woman crying and searching for her husband. Ian, the woman’s husband, had also wronged Philomel and met a similar fate.

When the Emperor ordered the deaths of the security guards and prisoners who threatened Philomel, was he feeling the same way as Lguen?

‘Maybe there are more.’

People who died because of her. And if she wasn’t careful, two more people would be added to that list.

The Emperor and Elencia.

‘No, if I just let it go now, there might be even more.’

You can’t live your life without any friction with others.

After a moment, she opened her eyes. Her two eyes shone clearly with a distinct light.

“Don’t say it’s for my sake. I never wanted that.”

She didn’t want those who harmed her to die.

Lguen looked genuinely confused.

“Why? They’re bad people.”

“If they did bad things to me, they would be bad people to me. But that doesn’t mean they deserve to die.”

If that were the case, the ‘Philomel’ in the game who wronged Elencia would have to die.

‘But Elencia didn’t do that.’

Rather, she forgave her and wished ‘Philomel’ happiness.

She wanted to be that kind of person too.

Lguen hit his chest as if frustrated and asked.

“Then you’ll just stand by and watch?”

“I’ll take care of it myself. It’s a problem that has befallen me.”

“Okay. I won’t kill anyone in the future. Is that enough?”

“No. Lguen, just trust me and watch over me. Just give me help when I really need it.”

“Is that all?”

“I think that’s the role of a true parent.”

His momentum subsided somewhat under Philomel’s gaze. She seized the opportunity and said.

“Stop the plan to kill His Majesty the Emperor and Elencia too.”

The Magic Tower Lord’s expression hardened.

“I can’t do that, no matter what.”

“Lguen!”

“Now, look at this.”

He opened a wooden box on the desk and threw the object inside onto the floor. A small, palm-sized black bug wriggled.

“Sheeeeek!”

The bug, crawling towards Philomel, was crushed under Lguen’s foot.

“It’s one of the small monsters that tried to invade the Magic Tower last night.”

Soon, only black crumbs resembling ashes remained on the floor.

“It has been confirmed that it is tainted with the power of the Evil God. The intruder is clearly targeting you in cooperation with Ieries.”

Philomel swallowed hard. Seeing it with her own eyes made her realize the danger she was in.

“Of course, I will protect you, but I can’t guarantee what will happen if the Evil God is completely resurrected.”

No matter how powerful they are, how can humans defeat a god?

“The Princess must be eliminated. You agree to that much, right?”

Philomel bit her lip.

“Maybe… Maybe Lguen is right.”

That poor child must die in order for this world to be free from the clutches of the Evil God.

Philomel’s desire to save Elencia was sincere, but she had no intention of trading it for her own life or the safety of the world.

‘But.’

The flame of determination in her yellow eyes did not extinguish.

“That’s the last resort. We shouldn’t kill Elencia without even trying anything else.”

“What attempt? There must be a way to attempt it. You don’t believe in the exorcism of the temple, do you? That’s just a money-making scheme for those temple guys.”

“I have a way.”

Unlike before, Philomel said without hesitation.

“I will become a hero.”