There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 3

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* * *

‘How… How should I do this?’

Philomel blankly turned her head. Then, her eyes met a pair of red eyes staring at her from a few steps away.

“…Your Highness.”

It was her fiancé, Nassar Averidean, who was born a year earlier than Philomel.

“Nassar, now is not a good time. Let’s go back for now.”

At that moment, his father, Duke Averidean, grabbed Nassar and pulled him away.

“Father, but…”

“Now.”

The boy, who hesitated at the Duke’s firm voice, reluctantly moved his feet.

Unlike her fiancé, the boy, who looked untouched by the rain, walked away like that.

Philomel was soon led back to her chambers by the maids.

Even after soaking her body in a tub filled with warm water, her heart remained cold. She could only think of Eustis’s back.

“What? What were you all doing while the Princess was causing such a commotion!”

Her nanny, who had not accompanied her to the event due to her back pain, made a fuss after hearing the story, but Philomel barely registered it.

When she came out of the bathroom, her nanny was standing there with a switch.

“I can’t just let this go. I didn’t want to do this, but I think you need to be taught a lesson.”

Snap! Snap! Snap!

The thin switch repeatedly struck her white calves.

It hurts. It hurts so much.

Philomel shed tears, using the pain in her calves as an excuse. Even though the real pain was elsewhere, she couldn’t tell anyone.

After the punishment, the nanny muttered loud enough for her to hear, “She’s stubborn. So stubborn. She won’t even say she’s sorry.”

“It seems confinement isn’t enough, so from now on, you will be under special management. You better be prepared.”

“…Okay.”

“Do you understand? I will be watching you, Princess!”

The nanny repeated the same words several times before leaving.

“Princess, really. Why did you do that?”

“Just apologize to the nanny. That way, you and we will be punished less.”

“…”

Philomel blankly stared at the floor, feeling the maids’ hands applying medicine to her calves.

Perhaps flustered by Philomel’s lack of response, the maids exchanged glances and offered words of comfort.

“Don’t be too upset. The nanny is emotional, so she’ll get over it soon.”

“And I heard from the head attendant earlier that the postponed National Foundation Day event has been rescheduled for a week later. By then, the nanny might allow you to go to the festival, Your Highness, right?”

“…A week? Isn’t that too late? It could be in three or four days.”

“Well… the High Priest collapsed in the carriage on the way back.”
The maid wore a worried expression.

“Nothing like this has ever happened before, so he must be devastated that the sacred event was interrupted by the rain during his tenure as High Priest.”

Another maid chimed in.

“People are whispering that the protection of the gods who guard the Empire has run out.”

The legitimacy of the Velerov Imperial Family comes from the power of the gods. Questioning the protection of the gods could be construed as denying the legitimacy of the Imperial Family.

“Hey, watch what you say!”

When her colleague gave her a look, the maid who had spoken mumbled defensively.

“…No, I didn’t mean anything by it! I’m just saying that ignorant people are saying that…”

Philomel weakly waved her hand.

“That’s enough. Leave.”

After everyone had left, Philomel limped to her desk.

In the drawer, the book with the brown cover titled was there, just as she had left it.

What are the odds that the National Foundation Day, which has never been postponed since its inception, would be postponed this year?

And what are the odds that the novel would coincidentally get it right?

Moreover, everything that happened afterward was exactly the same. The High Priest collapsing, and the event being postponed for a week because of it.

A cruel realization spread like ink. The exterior was no different from any other popular romance novel, but this was not a novel.

‘A prophecy.’

The hand holding the book trembled.

The Emperor was not Philomel’s father.

She was a fake.

* * *

The next morning.

Perhaps because of the rain she had been exposed to the day before, Philomel ended up catching a bad cold.

“Your Highness. It’s time to wake up.”

The nanny shook Philomel awake.

“…Nanny. I can’t get up. I’m sick. I think I have a cold.”

Philomel said in a small voice, trying to suppress her cough. Her head was spinning, and her throat was sore enough to make it painful to swallow.

However, the nanny did not budge at Philomel’s plea.

“You’re faking it again, aren’t you? You can’t get away with pretending to be sick today. His Majesty is calling for you because of what happened yesterday. If you were going to be this scared, why did you cause such a big accident?”

In the past, she had skipped various lessons several times under the pretense of being sick because they were too difficult and boring.

“…I’m not faking it. I really am sick.”

Philomel replied in a hoarse voice. It was definitely her fault for skipping out, but it made her feel wronged to be suspected of faking it when she was really sick.

“I’m telling you to get up… Oh. You really do have a fever.”

The nanny, who had placed her hand on Philomel’s arm, widened her eyes.

Soon after, the court physician, who had come to examine Philomel at the nanny’s call, diagnosed her with a simple feverish cold. He said she would get better if she took medicine and rested well.

Philomel had no appetite and found it difficult to swallow anything, so she barely managed to eat a thin soup.

After swallowing the medicine and lying back down, the nanny said to Philomel.

“I told His Majesty that you have a cold. But you know very well that he’s not the kind of person who will let you off just because you’re sick, right?”

“…”

“How many people must think of you as immature because of what happened yesterday. I can’t even show my face. What was so important about that festival?”

It seemed that people regarded Philomel’s sudden actions as a child’s tantrum.

‘How nice it would be if that were really the case.’

Philomel thought blankly.

“Rest for now. If you need anything, call the maids who are waiting in the next room.”

With those words, the nanny left.

Philomel soon fell asleep under the influence of the medicine.

How much time had passed? Her eyes opened on their own. Cold sweat soaked Philomel’s entire body.

She had a terrible dream. She was being executed, and Eustis was indifferently watching the dying fake daughter with his real daughter.

Her small body trembled.

I want to live.

I’m afraid of dying.

I definitely don’t want to die.

‘Will Father really kill me?’

Even though she already knew the answer, she desperately wanted to deny it.

What if Philomel lived diligently from now on? What if she became the daughter her father wanted?

Maybe the future will change. Even if she is a fake, he still regarded her as his daughter for nine years, didn’t he? Maybe there will be a little warmth.

I want to confirm it right now. I want to ask.

“I have to go…”

Her body was still heavy and her head ached, but she wasn’t so weak that she couldn’t move.

Philomel quietly left the room.

It was already close to noon. The nanny had said that she would prepare lunch two hours later than usual today so that she could get plenty of rest.

Even if she left her seat for a while, no one would realize that Philomel was gone.

Walking stealthily down the hallway so as not to be caught, she heard voices leaking from the next room. It was where the maids stayed.

“What a hardship because of the Princess?”

At the irritated voice, Philomel stopped without realizing it and put her ear to the door. Four or five people were sitting around and talking.

“Shh. Someone might hear.”

“We’re the only ones here. The Princess is knocked out from the medicine.”

“What she’s saying isn’t wrong. If that person didn’t cause accidents every day, our wages wouldn’t be cut.”

The man who said that was Martin, the guard knight in charge of Philomel. He was neglecting his duties by not working and hanging out with the maids.

One of the maids chimed in.

“That’s true.”

“The nanny is just cracking down on us for no reason!”

“The Princess is the one who did wrong, but we’re always the ones who get scolded.”

Martin chuckled and said.

“That’s the sorrow of the lower ones. If you’re not happy, be born as His Majesty’s daughter in your next life.”

A particularly loud maid shouted.

“Ugh! I really want to do that. If I were a princess, I would act cute and be loved by His Majesty!”

“What are you saying? You have big dreams.”

A burst of laughter filled the room. Everyone looked happy.

“Ah, I really hate Philomel.”

The words someone threw out pierced Philomel’s heart.

“Are you crazy? How can you carelessly say her name…”

“Why? Because she’s a princess? What princess who isn’t even treated like a daughter by the Emperor is a real princess?”

“Still…”

“Besides, Philomel doesn’t have any divine power, which is a symbol of the Imperial Family, right?”

“She’s the first one born without divine power among the direct Imperial Family, let alone the collateral line.”

“She’s just an Imperial Family in name only.”

Philomel’s small shoulders shrank.

“Still, I’m jealous. Someone got slapped by the nanny for not taking care of the higher-ups, but the person in question is leisurely sleeping.”

“She threw a tantrum in front of so many nobles because she wanted to see the festival.”

“I wonder if the Averidean family will call off the engagement because of this.”

“She’s not a suitable match for the young lord, who is already rumored to be so smart.”

“Ah, did you see his expression when the Princess fed the young lord cake last time?”

“He openly disliked it. The poor princess didn’t even notice.”

“Would she have been hated by His Majesty if she had noticed?”

“That’s true. Well, last time, you know…”

That’s enough.

Not wanting to hear anymore, Philomel stepped away from the door.

Tears welled up as she remembered the faces of those who had been kindly worrying about Philomel’s well-being until just now.

She had no one on her side here.