There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 31

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* * *

Whoaaaa!

Poland, startled by the Emperor’s sudden appearance in the middle of the room with a burst of light, rushed towards him.

“Your Majesty! Where have you been…?”

“Summon the court physician! Quickly!”

Poland recognized the person he was holding.

The missing Princess, who had disappeared a few days ago, was limply in his arms.

The Count, quickly understanding the situation, ordered someone to call the court physician.

Justis laid Philomell on the bed and paced around anxiously, unable to bear even the short wait for the physician to arrive.

“Damn it, she looks like she’s dying, why isn’t he here yet!”

The Count cautiously examined the Princess’s condition. Her complexion was poor, but her breathing was stable, and her pulse was steady. He thought the ‘dying’ part was an exaggeration, but he kept his mouth shut, intimidated by the Emperor’s aura.

The court physician arrived within minutes, though he was unjustly scolded for being slow, and began to examine the Princess.

“She has simply lost consciousness due to accumulated fatigue and lack of sleep. It seems she has also been under excessive stress in that state… With sufficient rest and nourishment, she will soon recover.”

“Stress?”

“Yes. I wonder if she encountered any shocking news or scenes before fainting…”

Considering the time difference between when the Emperor disappeared after hearing the report from Grand Duke Aveyden and when he reappeared, the cause of the stress was highly likely to be him. The Emperor’s words, actions, or even his very presence.

The court physician said he would prepare medicine for the Princess to take when she woke up and then withdrew.

One might have been curious about the Princess, who had been the subject of much rumor lately, but the court physician showed no particular interest. That was how one survived long in the soundless battlefield that was the Imperial Palace.

“I will prepare a bed in another room. Your Majesty, please rest there as well.”

Poland lowered his voice so as not to wake the sleeping Princess.

“No need. I will stay here.”

“You collapsed just the other day, and you’ve already used teleportation magic twice? If you collapse again…”

“I said I’m fine.”

The Emperor waved his hand dismissively, leaving Poland with no choice but to back down.

As he was about to leave the room, he turned back and saw Justis pulling a chair to place it next to the bed.

Princess Philomell has returned. Therefore, the Emperor and the Imperial Palace will also return to their original state.

Poland walked down the hallway with a joyful heart.

* * *

Philomell snuggled into the blanket, enjoying the soft and smooth texture of the fabric.

‘What time is it? I need to get up, get ready, and prepare for class.’

She was so tired. She wanted to stay like this a little longer, just a little longer.

But she couldn’t. She had a daily routine to follow. Besides, the teacher who taught economics today was quite strict. If she was late for class, he would subtly express his dissatisfaction.

Her eyelids felt particularly heavy, and she struggled to open her eyes.

A familiar yet unfamiliar ceiling. She blinked a couple of times before realizing it wasn’t her room.

The bedding had a cool, heavy scent of wood.

‘This is the scent from the Emperor’s body…’

Her mind was all jumbled up, and she couldn’t remember why she was here.

She turned her head slightly, and what came into view was Justis’s face with his eyes closed.

‘Wait, Justis…?’

Philomell jerked her upper body up and looked around.

This was the Emperor’s bedroom, and the place where Philomell was lying was his bed.

Everything came back to her. Philomell had run away, met her biological father, been locked in a detention center, and gone to Nasarre and Saengen.

She unexpectedly encountered Justis, who had come to Saengen… After that, there was a blank in her memory.

She seemed to have lost consciousness from shock, but she couldn’t imagine the intermediate process leading up to the current situation.

She must have traveled to the Imperial Palace with Justis’s power. But why was Philomell lying on the Emperor’s bed, and why was the owner of the bed sitting in a chair, dozing off? Moreover, holding the end of her dirty skirt tightly in his hand.

In an instant, her strength drained away.

‘Now that I’ve been caught, what does it matter where I am.’

Outside the wide window, she could see the Imperial Palace where she was born and raised.

Philomell’s beautiful prison.

Her short escape had ended in vain. No matter how hard she tried to run away, she was still in the Emperor’s palm.

The villain could not change her given fate. Thinking that way made her feel much more at ease. It wouldn’t change no matter what she did, so trying was foolish. She had been doing foolish things every day for seven years.

“Philomell.”

Philomell, sitting blankly on the bed without any motivation, heard her name being called.

“Your Majesty.”

The dark, sunken blue eyes looked at Philomell.

“You’re awake. How do you feel?”

Seeing him rubbing his forehead as if he were tired, it seemed like Justis should be the one lying down instead of her.

“I’m fine. I’ll get out of your way so Your Majesty can sleep here.”

“No. You stay lying down.”

Philomell followed his words. There was no particular reason. She didn’t want to struggle and rack her brains to survive anymore. Everything was too much of a hassle.

Compared to Philomell, who had emptied her mind, Justis had a troubled look on his face.

“Why… did you leave?”

He asked the obvious question after a long silence.

Philomell answered calmly.

“Because I’m not Your Majesty’s biological daughter.”

He probably already knew it well, but he looked shocked for some reason.

Several questions followed as if he were interrogating her. Answers flowed smoothly from Philomell’s mouth. Surprisingly, now that she had let go of everything, even Justis wasn’t as scary as before.

“Is that letter really written by you?”

“Yes.”

“Where have you been all this time?”

“Around Saengen.”

She didn’t really want to reveal that she had gone to Angelium.

Even if Nasarre would formally report it anyway, it was obvious that it would be discovered, but that’s just how Philomell felt.

“Why did you go to Saengen?”

“I just wanted to visit it again. I thought the city was very beautiful when I visited it with Grand Duke Aveyden before.”

It wasn’t a complete lie.

“Has anything unusual happened during that time?”

“Unusual as in…?”

“Did you encounter any strangers? Or were you seriously ill?”

“Nothing special happened.”

She had faced the secret of her birth and been slapped for the first time in her life, but. Oh, being locked in a cage was also a unique experience.

“But why is your complexion so bad? You’ve lost a lot of weight too.”

“The bedding and food didn’t suit me, I guess.”

Philomell looked at him blankly.

‘I’m the one who suffered outside, but why did he lose weight?’

She was slightly curious. Just slightly.

Justis, who had washed his face with his hands, looked serious.

“Philomell. Just because you’re not my biological daughter doesn’t mean you have to leave. Even if we’re not blood-related, you’re still my daughter.”

It was an incomprehensible story.

How could she be his daughter if they weren’t blood-related? There were families like adoptive families who were family without blood ties, but that didn’t apply to Justis and Philomell.

Philomell was merely a cuckoo egg that Katrin had pushed into someone else’s nest. The original egg was pushed out of the nest, and she pretended to be the parent bird’s child.

Strictly speaking, Philomell didn’t push it out, but as a result, Elencia grew up separated from her parents. It wasn’t much different.

Seeing her staring with eyes asking for an explanation, Justis solemnly declared.

“I will adopt you.”

Adoption.

Philomell quietly repeated the two words. He meant to take her in as his adopted daughter.

Confusing. Why did that conclusion come about?

“…Why?”

“Because you’re my daughter.”

She got an answer, but only the question got deeper. Her head started to hurt again.

She had finally resigned herself to everything and was ready to accept any outcome.

Even if it was death. But a completely unexpected remark came out.

Philomell first asked the most curious question.

“Um. So… you don’t intend to kill me?”

“…Why would I kill you?”

Justis asked back in bewilderment. As if Philomell had said something ridiculous.

“Then why did you try so hard to find me?”

“Because you suddenly disappeared.”

“Didn’t you want to find me and punish me?”

“Why would I punish you for a crime you didn’t commit? The one who switched you and Elencia was your biological mother, not you.”

“…”

It was a valid argument, so there was nothing to refute. It was incredibly awkward to hear the right words from Justis, of all people.

“If you weren’t trying to punish me, then why did you look for me so desperately?”

“Because my daughter disappeared.”

She thought she had misheard, so she asked one more time, but an even more shocking answer came back.

‘Daughter? Did he just call me daughter?’