There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 30

* * *

“Your Highness, is there anything else you need? Please, just tell me. And if you could at least tell me your approximate destination, I could somehow help…”

Philomel spoke cautiously.

“Could you lend me some money?”

“…….”

Philomel’s face flushed slightly with embarrassment.

‘I even hesitated to say this to my ex-fiancé!’

But appearances were just ideals, and her thinning wallet was reality.

Philomel had been living as frugally as possible for the past few days, but she didn’t have much gold left. She might not even have enough money to borrow a communication stone [a magical device for long-distance communication].

“Ah, you mean money. Well… I don’t have any money on me right now.”

Nasar fumbled through his pockets, uncharacteristically flustered.

‘I understand. Nobles often leave trivial matters like exchanging small change to their servants.’

“I’ll borrow some from someone else and give it to you. Sir Aron, give me all the money you have. I’ll pay you back several times over when we return.”

“There’s no need to go that far!”

Philomel stopped Nasar, who was politely trying to extort money from another knight next to her.

“That’s… I must have shown you a clumsy side of myself. I’m sorry.”

Nasar was red up to his neck, probably embarrassed.

‘Was he always this kind of person?’

I didn’t realize it before when we were just exchanging polite, formulaic conversations. It’s no use knowing now, though.

‘If, just if, we had been a little more open with each other, could we have become something like friends?’

Philomel stared blankly at Nasar, thinking.

At that moment, a man who appeared to be a knight of Averide hurried over from the hotel.

“Young Duke! Something terrible has happened!”

“What is it?”

“The Emperor has arrived!”

Philomel couldn’t believe her ears.

‘Wait, wait, wait. What is he even saying?’

The knight, his face pale, spoke incoherently.

“He suddenly appeared a little while ago, but strangely, he doesn’t have any attendants… But it’s definitely His Majesty. We’ve only seen him from afar, but I’m sure of it!”

Before she could even fully understand the knight’s words, a large figure came into view.

“Philomel.”

A figure like a black dot painted on the clear morning sky. But that one black dot seemed to turn the whole world into night with its presence.

It was Eustis.

The Emperor, dressed in his nightclothes as if he had jumped out of bed, grabbed Philomel’s shoulders.

“Where… where have you been all this time? Do you know how much I’ve been looking for you?”

The scene was so surreal that Philomel’s mind froze.

‘How can the Emperor be here?’

Even if the messenger Nasar sent arrived early, he would have come to Saengen as soon as he received it.

But the distance from the capital to Saengen is so great, that would be impossible….

No. There is one way.

The method Philomel used when she ran away.

It was teleportation magic.

I had never heard that the Emperor could use teleportation magic, but he was the one who infused divine power into the Ring of Crimson Flame [a powerful magical artifact]. It wouldn’t be strange if he used it.

Her heart pounded uncontrollably. She could feel the blood draining from her face.

‘This is really the end of the road. There’s no way out anymore.’ The execution at the guillotine that she had imagined thousands, tens of thousands of times, replayed in her mind.

‘I’m going to die. I’m going to die.’

“…Philomel? What’s wrong? You don’t look well.”

“Your Highness? Are you feeling unwell…”

Something’s wrong.

Eustis’s and Nasar’s voices grew fainter and fainter. Eventually, they turned into a buzzing sound, and she couldn’t understand what they were saying.

Her vision also began to blur from the corners. Her body felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton, and her limbs trembled.

‘I have to run away quickly….’

Soon, the world tilted. No, it was Philomel’s body that was tilting.

“Your Highness!”

“Philomel!”

Instead of the hard, cold surface of the floor, a firm but warm sensation enveloped her whole body.

With that, Philomel’s consciousness sank into darkness.

* * *

“Philomel!”

The Emperor caught the collapsing body. The face in his arms was pale enough to be pitiful.

“Philomel, Philomel! Wake up!”

The Emperor kept calling her name and stroking Philomel’s face, but her closed eyes did not open.

Nasar’s heart seemed to plummet.

“I’ll call a doctor!”

He realized the obvious fact that he should call a doctor only after hearing the knight’s cry.

Before the knight could step forward, a dazzling light flowed from the Emperor, enveloping not only him but also Philomel.

And nothing remained where the two had been. Just like when the Emperor appeared, they disappeared with teleportation magic.

Nasar stared blankly at his hands.

The hand of that person, sticking out from the Emperor’s arms, was too white, like her face. He wanted to hold that hand, but he couldn’t. He felt guilty that someone like him dared to touch it.

In the end, the warmth he couldn’t even touch vanished in vain.

Nasar clenched his fist so hard that his fingernails dug into his skin.

It was obvious where the Emperor would take his fiancée.

“Uh, they were definitely here.”

The knight, who had dragged out the resident doctor from the hotel, looked around.

“They’ve left.”

To a place where his hands couldn’t reach.

“We’re heading to the capital.”

“Right now?”

“Yes. Are there any of the Averide wizards we brought who can use teleportation magic right away?”

It was last night that he had the wizards, who had exhausted their mana in the process of teleporting to Saengen, rest at the hotel.

“Quickly pack your bags… No, I’ll leave first, so you guys come later.”

It would be impossible to fully recover in one night, but he should be able to teleport just Nasar alone.

“That’s… actually…”

“What’s wrong?”

“The wizards all left this morning. The Duke sent a message that he needed them for other work…”

“Damn it.”

From the beginning, his father, Duke Averide, was skeptical about finding the missing princess.

Even if he didn’t openly oppose it, he clearly showed his displeasure with his son’s actions.

“Stop with the nonsense and focus on the new task you’ve been given.”

The day she disappeared. The day another princess appeared.

The Duke, who had attended the political affairs meeting and witnessed the sudden appearance of the girl, seemed convinced that the girl was real. Apparently, that woman resembled the dead Empress so much.

But Nasar didn’t believe it. Because the only princess he served was one person.

“Shall we inquire about other wizards in this city? I’ll rush to the Magic Guild as soon as it opens…”

“It’s okay. I’m going to the Magic Tower. There will be more capable wizards in the Magic Tower.”

He couldn’t use just anyone. He needed someone who could teleport not only himself but also others, and who could go to the capital in one go.

“Bring a new horse instead of the one that ran all night. The fastest one.”

“What about breakfast? You spent last night in the carriage, too.”

“It’s okay.”

He couldn’t possibly eat. He felt like he couldn’t bear it unless he saw that person’s face looking healthy right away.

Nasar got on his horse and grabbed the reins.