There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 16

* * *

Countess Delles greeted Philomell upon her return to her room.

“Your Highness, welcome back.”

“Did anything happen while I was away?”

“Nothing at all. I have prepared your bathwater.”

“Thank you. I’ll just change and get right in.”

The maids helped her remove the cumbersome dress.

“Will you be retiring to bed after your bath?”

“I’m going to look over those first.”

She pointed to a stack of papers on the desk. They were documents concerning the imperial household’s budget proposal for the following month.

“Please don’t overdo it.”

The Countess looked at her worriedly.

“I’m fine. It’s just a lot of numbers; it’s not that difficult.”

“……Are you sleeping well these days?”

“Of course.”

Philomell gave her a flawless smile.

The Countess seemed to want to say something more, but she retreated at the suggestion to get some rest.

Philomell dismissed the maids, washed up alone, dried herself, and changed into her pajamas.

It was more comfortable being alone, where she didn’t have to wear a mask.

Her body was heavy, but she sat at her desk to review the documents.

The Emperor’s seat remained vacant. Many women still sought after the young Justus, but none had succeeded in seducing him.

Recently, Philomell had taken over some of the Empress’s duties that the Emperor had been handling. After wrestling with dense numbers for about an hour, her eyes felt strained.

“Did I live too diligently?”

Philomell muttered, leaning back in her chair and slumping her shoulders.

It was exhausting to handle the responsibilities as the Emperor’s successor, on top of the Empress’s duties.

‘The Philomell in the novel just spent money and lived without doing anything.’

Because she was such a wild princess, the Emperor and the imperial family had almost given up on ‘Philomell.’ In other words, the current her, holding several important positions, was a model princess whom everyone expected a lot from.

‘Living like a dead mouse. So that there’s nothing to pay attention to, so that no one even knows I’m there.’

When she was alone, she was reminded of the words she had overheard six years ago when she went to confirm the Emperor’s true feelings.

At first, she had intended to live as he wished—to be stuck in a corner of the palace, forgotten by everyone.

But as she did this and that for her escape plan, she ended up living so diligently.

She had only intended to work hard enough not to be criticized, but ‘moderately’ as a successor was quite a high goal.

Philomell raised her arms and stretched.

“I’ve lived so kindly and diligently, surely they won’t kill me even if it’s revealed I’m a fake, right? Maybe they’ll just let me rot in prison for a few years.”

The best-case scenario was to successfully escape and live without being caught for the rest of her life, but she had to prepare for the worst-case scenario as well.

Anyway, there wasn’t much time left.

“Just a little more to endure.”

Philomell took out the key she always carried and opened the vault door.

Inside the vault were a jewelry box, cash, and a book. She took out the book. The cover was an ordinary foreign language dictionary, but when she opened it, the contents of came into view. It was a disguise she had prepared just in case.

The yellowed pages flipped over, worn from being read so many times. She stopped at the page she had read the most.

It was Philomell’s execution scene.

‘I don’t want to die……!’

Whenever she felt like giving up on everything since she was young, she would open this part and steel her heart.

These days, Philomell’s heart was very restless. When she thought about the future where she would leave this place and be free, joy and loneliness came to her at the same time. It was truly contradictory.

The goal is first, survival, second, survival, and third, survival. Let’s just think about that now.

Philomell sat in the dark room, quietly stroking the paper.

* * *

The day before her birthday.

Philomell and her party arrived in Utina, leading a large group of people.

As a resort loved by the imperial family for generations, Utina boasted beautiful scenery. Among them, the best was undoubtedly Lake Utina, and the detached palace was built near the lake.

Philomell was squatting down, looking at the lake, about to reach out her hand to the clear, deep water.

“It’s dangerous to get too close.”

A soft, low-pitched voice was heard.

Philomell dusted off her skirt and stood up.

“Are you worried I’ll fall into the water?”

“I would apologize if it were an unnecessary concern.”

Nasar, who was only one year older than Philomell at seventeen, but as grown-up as an adult, bowed his head.

A height that required looking up, platinum blonde hair that had darkened a bit, and a face like a sculpture. Nasar, who had almost shed his boyishness, was close to the perfect male protagonist described in the novel.

Moreover, he was now a young duke leading the dukedom with his father, and a full-fledged member of the state affairs council.

“It’s okay. I’ll take the young duke’s concern and stop looking at the lake here. More importantly, did you have something to say to me?”

“Would you grant me the honor of having a cup of tea with Your Highness?”

“Unfortunately, I just had tea with His Majesty the Emperor. You should find someone else.”

Philomell turned her gaze to the young ladies on the bridge in the distance. The eyes that had been watching this way were busy looking away all at once. They were the daughters of the ministers who had come along on the outing. They wanted their daughters to have a close relationship with the princess. The goal was almost always Philomell’s vacant lady-in-waiting position.

Philomell had not yet taken in any ladies-in-waiting except for Countess Delles. The position of lady-in-waiting to a princess who might become the empress in the future was tempting enough.

But the young ladies seemed more interested in the handsome young duke.

“No. If Your Highness has already had some, I am fine as well.”

The ends of Nasar’s eyebrows drooped.

It was a beautifully melancholic impression. If she had liked him back then, she wouldn’t have been able to bear not doing anything for him, but it didn’t evoke much emotion in the current Philomell.

He was just regretting not fulfilling his role as the princess’s fiancé properly. Nasar, who had always done a great job of meeting others’ expectations, must have regretted his only flaw.

Philomell wanted to tell him not to worry if she could.

‘When Elencia appears, you will become the perfect match for the princess.’

But she really couldn’t say that.

“Then I’ll be going. Please enjoy the beautiful scenery, Young Duke.”

“……The lake is truly beautiful.”

His voice caught her departing footsteps.

“I understand why Your Highness often visits this place. I think I will also come to love this place deeply from today.”

Philomell went on her way without looking back.

There wasn’t much evidence in the novel to infer the location of where Elencia lived. Only the phrase that Elencia often came to Lake Utina indicated that it was in the vicinity.

But how many rural villages were nearby? It had already been several years since Philomell had been pretending to come to Lake Utina while searching for the village where Elencia lived.

Thanks to that, the people around her thought that the princess had a special affection for Lake Utina.

That misunderstanding would end tomorrow.

Because she had found Elencia on her last visit.

“Your Majesty, did you call for me?”

It was after dinner that Philomell received the Emperor’s call.

It was unusual to be called at this time, so Philomell headed to Justus’s room with a puzzled heart.

“Sit here.”

Justus, dressed comfortably, pointed to the seat in front of him. A chocolate cake was placed on the table.

‘I already ate the dessert that came with the meal, so why a cake?’

Moreover, it was a whole cake. Cake was sometimes eaten with tea, but it was the first time it had come out whole instead of in slices.

As Justus picked up the cake knife himself, Philomell reached out her hand.

“I’ll do it.”

“It’s okay. Now, listen.”

“Yes, I will enjoy the meal.”

Philomell took the cake that was placed on her plate as her share.

What was the point of having servants if he was going to serve such an uncomfortable cake?

He didn’t say anything until Philomell had sipped her tea and eaten half of her cake.

An awkward silence stretched between them as they avoided each other’s gaze.

‘Uncomfortable!’

Nothing could be read from the Emperor’s expressionless face.

Philomell desperately searched for something to talk about.

With years of experience, she had gained the ability to elicit a smooth conversation from this man. Politics, society, diplomacy, stories about the world, etc.

They were insignificant topics that they could talk about without touching each other’s deep inner thoughts.

‘Okay. Let’s talk about the fact that fairy wings woven into cloth are being smuggled in through Schubert.’

But before Philomell could speak, he handed something over. It was an ebony box the size of an adult’s palm.

“It’s your birthday present.”

“Ah…….”

Only then did Philomell realize why the Emperor had called her.

“I was originally going to give it to you tomorrow… but tomorrow might be hectic, so just take it now.”

“Thank you.”

She took the box with a dazed feeling.

When she opened the box, a golden object appeared.

“It’s a model ship……?”

Philomell held the golden ship in her hand.

The shape was as elaborate as a real ship, but overall it was very sophisticated and luxurious. It even had an awning to block the sunlight, like a nobleman’s pleasure boat.

“That’s a scaled-down version, and the real one is still being made. It took longer to make than expected.”

“If it’s real……?”

“I mean a ship you can ride. It will be launched on Lake Utina when it’s finished, so come and ride it anytime.”

“……I see. Thank you.”

Philomell blankly repeated the words she had just said.

It was the first time—receiving a gift directly from the Emperor, and… being congratulated on her real birthday.

“That’s just a model, but unlike the real one, you can decorate your room with it. Polan recommended this when he heard the report that the ship wouldn’t be finished by the outing. And…….”

Today, Justus was strangely more talkative than Philomell. It was always the opposite usually.

“It’s your birthday tomorrow, but I’ll say it in advance. Happy sixteenth birthday, Philomell.”

The Emperor’s profile as he said that looked somehow gentle. He also seemed a little embarrassed.

She felt strange. Her stomach was churning.

Tomorrow is your daughter’s birthday, not mine! My real birthday is today!

She was so itchy to shout it out right away.

The words that couldn’t come out of her mouth scattered like bubbles, and Philomell just took the birthday cake to her mouth.

The chocolate flavor of the birthday cake spreading in her mouth was terribly sweet.