There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 41

Philomel was about to ask what that meant when—

Knock, knock. Countess Delles’ voice accompanied the knock.

“Philomel, are you inside? We’re back.”

Oh, shoot.

Philomel hurriedly turned to Le Guin.

Le Guin’s attire didn’t resemble the uniforms of the court wizards in any way.

Everyone would be shocked to see a suspicious man invading the imperial palace, especially the inner palace where the imperial family resided.

“Hide quickly! No, turn into a cat!”

“Ah, I know. Don’t push me.”

Le Guin, pushed towards the terrace by Philomel, grumbled and snapped his fingers.

As soon as he transformed into a cat, the door opened, and people entered.

“Oh, you were inside. I didn’t hear an answer, so I thought you had gone out and hadn’t returned yet.”

“Haha, is that so? I must have been lost in thought for a moment and didn’t hear you.”

A maid noticed the cushion on the floor and tilted her head.

“But why did you all go out at once?”

Philomel quickly changed the subject to divert their attention, but the atmosphere immediately cooled.

“Actually…….”

Just as Countess Delles was about to speak, Maid Nancy burst forward and knelt.

“Your Highness! Please, I beg you. Please save the other children!”

She was sobbing, and upon closer inspection, her eyes were red, as if she had been crying.

“You too, really. You’re making Philomel worried…….”

“Sob, but if we continue like this, everyone might die.”

Nancy was usually clumsy and quiet, not one to make unnecessary remarks or cause trouble.

Philomel sensed they were hiding something.

“Please tell me what’s going on.”

She adopted her perfect princess persona and addressed the Countess.

* * *

“So, you’re saying that all the palace staff who serve me, except for those here, are locked up in prison.”

“Yes, that’s right. They say they are being interrogated, and the interrogation has been going on for over a week.”

Nancy sniffled, and the other maids offered her a handkerchief and comforted her, but they couldn’t hide the worry on their faces.

The situation was this: immediately after Philomel disappeared, they were arrested for failing to properly assist the princess.

However, Countess Delles was spared because she was the first to notice Philomel’s absence.

The three maids present were not punished because they hadn’t accompanied her to the detached palace and had remained to guard the imperial palace.

The purpose of their outing had been to find out what would happen to the prisoners.

“I never thought it would turn out like this…….”

Philomel’s heart was heavy, knowing innocent people were being punished because she had run away.

If Philomel were the real princess, it would be understandable for the palace staff to be punished, whether she disappeared voluntarily or not. It was a dereliction of duty not to properly serve the one and only princess.

But she had disappeared while disguised as Elencia, making it clear to everyone that she was an imposter.

She had expected the palace staff to be in trouble, but she thought they would just be investigated a few times and then released….

“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

Philomel sighed softly and asked. Countess Delles replied with a troubled expression.

“I’m sorry. You came back so late yesterday that I was going to tell you today, but an unexpected event occurred…….”

Unexpected event?

Come to think of it, she remembered the incident where the nanny had caused a commotion that morning.

Immediately after that, Philomel had visited Elencia’s residence and then gone to see Katrin. There had been no time for Countess Delles to tell her.

Philomel reassured them for now.

“It’s my fault, so I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry too much.”

“Thank you, Your Highness!”

The maids said in unison.

She was glad she hadn’t left holding Le Guin’s hand. If she had, she would have never known that this mess was her fault.

Nancy, relieved and smiling, checked the clock and exclaimed.

“It’s already this late! I’m sorry! I’ll bring lunch quickly!”

Soon after, the maids brought lunch.

Philomel ate the food, filled with health tonics as it had been that morning, and pondered how to save the imprisoned people.

‘Should I ask Le Guin to help me break them out?’

No. She couldn’t make everyone escapees. And if the empire tracked them down afterward, it would be even more difficult to handle.

The best thing to do was for the Emperor to pardon their sins.

This might be possible if she accepted the three-month condition that Eustis had proposed.

‘Even so, three months is too long. Can’t I reduce it to about three weeks?’

Philomel hadn’t said a word, but 1 year had been reduced to 3 months.

‘If I negotiate well, wouldn’t it be 3 weeks, or even 3 days……?’ Just as she was thinking that, she heard Nancy say.

“Hey, kitty. You have to eat too. You didn’t eat breakfast, so you can’t skip lunch either!”

Nancy placed a bowl in front of the cat and scolded him. There was fresh raw fish in the bowl, but Le Guin didn’t even look at it.

“Why is he being like this? He looks so pretty, but he has a very picky appetite.”

Nancy stroked the cat’s neck and murmured as if she was upset.

‘Ah, Le Guin was there.’

Philomel sighed softly and called Nancy.

“Nancy.”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

“It’s better not to touch that cat in the future. Can you do that for me?”

“Oh, I’m sorry! He was so cute that I couldn’t help myself……. I dared to touch and speak informally to the cat that Her Highness the Princess cherishes. I will never do that again!”

Nancy’s face turned white, and she repeatedly apologized and left the room.

“Huh? Oh, no, there’s no need to go that far…….”

Philomel muttered the words she couldn’t convey, watching Nancy’s quickly disappearing back.

She had heard that some nobles who raised pets wanted their employees to treat their animals with the same respect as they would treat them. And that they get jealous if you touch the animals carelessly.

It seemed that Nancy thought Philomel was one of those types.

She felt a little wronged. She was just preventing Nancy from accidentally groping a suspicious man’s body without knowing it.

“Meow.”

At that moment, the cat that had come to her feet cried happily.

His nonchalant appearance was annoying, but she couldn’t let him starve. Now that she thought about it, it seemed that his diet didn’t change even when his body turned into a cat.

She had been worried about the cat who hadn’t even touched the fish in the morning, but he was a person.

Philomel took one of the sandwiches that came with her meal, put it on a new plate, and placed it on the floor.

‘You shouldn’t give human food to cats, but it’s not a real cat, so it’ll be okay.’

Le Guin seemed to smell it and started eating the sandwich.

She felt strange watching him eat.

‘Even though he looks like that, he’s clearly human, but he doesn’t mind eating like an animal?’

And she was also concerned about his words that his luggage was coming this way.

‘I’m glad he recovered it so it wouldn’t be thrown away.’

At that time, Countess Delles, who had finished her meal first and gotten up, returned to the room.

“Your Highness, I’m sorry to interrupt you while you’re eating, but you have a guest.”

“A guest?”

Philomel’s return was not yet known to the outside world, so who could it be?

The question was quickly resolved by the figure that appeared behind the Countess.

“Your Highness the Princess.”

“……Nasar.”

Nasar Averidan stood there, looking exactly as he did the last time she saw him.