There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 43

“Hey!”

Just then, someone came running from behind the maid.

As far as Philomel knew, there was only one person in the Imperial Palace who would run around like that without being bound by decorum.

“Nasar came here? Is he still here? He couldn’t have left already…”

The person stopped when they spotted Philomel in front of the maid.

“…Princess Ellensia.”

Philomel bowed her head to Ellensia.

“Oh, Philomel.”

Ellensia smiled brightly and approached Philomel.

“It’s nice to see you again this morning.”

“Indeed.”

“By any chance, did Nasar come here?”

“…Young Duke Averidean just left. It seems you missed each other, Your Highness.”

Philomel paused for a moment at the title ‘Nasar’ but answered as if nothing was wrong.

Ellensia looked around, perhaps thinking he might still be nearby. Philomel suddenly wondered if the two were already acquainted.

“Did you have an appointment with the Young Duke?”

“Hehe. Not really.”

She replied shyly, her cheeks flushed with a deeper peach color.

“I heard rumors that Nasar, the young master of the Averidean Duchy, is a really wonderful person, so I wanted to meet him.”

So, that meant they hadn’t officially met yet?

“Is this maid serving Her Highness?”

Philomel asked, pointing to the maid who was peeking in from the doorway.

“Yes, Emily saw the Young Duke near here and had another maid inform me. I rushed over as soon as I heard, but I was too late.”

So, this maid’s name was Emily.

“If you wish, you could have your maid call the Young Duke back.”

Philomel said, creasing one eye.

Strictly speaking, it was impolite to summon someone without an appointment, but no one would take offense at royalty committing such a minor breach of etiquette.

Moreover, Ellensia wasn’t just any royal; she was the only daughter of the Emperor, who had built unprecedentedly strong power throughout history.

“Oh, no. I’d feel too bad. And it’s not like we’d be meeting outside; it’s a bit much for me to summon him, don’t you think?”

Philomel wasn’t sure what was ‘a bit much’ about it, but she understood Ellensia’s desire to run into Nasar organically.

Come to think of it, the meeting between the female lead and the male lead is usually more natural…

‘Ah, I’m thinking like that again.’

Philomel bit her lip, realizing her chronic habit.

Because happened to be a novel, she had developed a habit of seeing the world as a romance novel. She tried to correct it, but it wasn’t easy.

Ellensia, who had been silently watching Philomel, asked a question.

“…Are you and Nasar close, Philomel?”

“I wouldn’t say we’re that close, but we met often as fiancées. But don’t worry, we’re no longer engaged.”

Philomel replied in a slow tone.

“…It’s okay. Why would I worry if you two are close?”

Ellensia replied with a somewhat somber expression.

“But I’m jealous of Philomel.”

“What are you jealous of?”

Ellensia looked down at the tray Philomel was holding and said,

“That you don’t have maids constantly following you around. I appreciate everyone’s concern for me, but honestly, it’s annoying when they keep doing things for me that I can do myself. I don’t need it. I guess it’s because I grew up in an environment without people attending to me. Philomel must have been very uncomfortable all this time, being a princess.”

Then she added, “Anyway, I should get going. I’ll have to postpone my meeting with Nasar until next time.”

With that, Ellensia left with her maid Emily. Philomel didn’t even have a chance to say that her maids had only stepped away for a moment.

Philomel watched her retreating figure and thought,

‘Was I just ignored?’

Before hearing what Katrin had to say, she would have lightly dismissed it, thinking Ellensia was just too naive to realize.

But now, an ominous feeling of unease crept up her spine.

If she had faced Ellensia without ever reading .

Would she still have accepted Ellensia as a kind and lovely girl?

‘I should read that book again.’

She felt she needed to examine Ellensia’s character description more closely.

* * *

“Oh, my! We’ll take care of this! Your Highness, please just relax.”

In the end, the tray was snatched away by Countess Delles and her entourage, and Philomel set out for a walk.

To the Countess’s concern that it might be dangerous without an escort, Philomel pointed to the cat.

“This cat will protect me, so it’s okay.”

At that, Countess Delles and the maids burst into laughter.

“You’re joking.”

It wasn’t a joke.

Still, even if he was her father, Regin wouldn’t ignore her if she was in danger.

‘If he were a real cat, I would have held him in my arms.’

Not wanting to carry her own father around like that, Philomel asked him to follow her. Fortunately, Regin followed her to the Imperial Palace garden without complaint.

“Now, change back to your original form. There’s no one around here.”

Philomel said as she entered the maze garden, one of the many gardens on the Imperial Palace grounds.

This maze garden used to be a garden exclusively for the Imperial Family. It was the place where the Elos Marquis family went bankrupt after speaking out of turn.

“I’m getting bored of seeing it so often. Decorate it in an interesting way.”

Due to the Emperor’s sudden order, that garden was reborn as a maze garden, but Eustis didn’t visit the garden unless Philomel recommended it, so it was practically her private space.

She wondered where the most deserted place in the Imperial Palace was, and this was the only place that came to mind.

She was worried about whether they wouldn’t let her in now that she wasn’t a princess, but the guards guarding the entrance only raised their spears to salute her.

“Meow.”

But Regin didn’t seem to want to change into human form.

“What’s wrong? You can change.”

“Meoooow.”

“Are you sick?”

Just then, a voice cut in.

“He’s not changing because it’s not like there’s no one here.”

It was a tree next to the canopy.

“Who’s there!”

Philomel, startled, shouted sharply. Then a figure fell to the base of the tree with a thud.

“Now that you know it’s me, change. You grumpy old man.”

The man in the robe brushed the leaves off his clothes.

‘Wait, that outfit?’

Come to think of it, the androgynous voice, somewhere between a boy and a man, sounded familiar to Philomel.

“You’re the one who caught the con artist back then!”

“Huh?”

At the voice that recognized him, the man’s gaze turned to Philomel.

“What? It’s that dazed kid from back then?”

Philomel looked at the cat and the man in confusion.

“Uh oh?”

When the man took off the hood of his robe, a familiar face popped out. He had a very similar appearance to Regin, but with different colored eyes.

His blue sky-colored eyes were chillingly cold.

* * *

“How dare you call my father an old man. You’ve become even more impudent while I haven’t seen you, Jeremiah.”

“Hmph, acting like a father. Do you even remember how long I was away from the Magic Tower?”

“Hmm. A week?”

“It’s been three months. Don’t pretend to know when you don’t even care, you old man.”

Philomel carefully spoke to the two of them, who seemed to not even notice her.

“…Um, please both of you stop.”

“I’m not that old yet to be called that.”

“The older you get, the more you want to deny your age. You’re getting uglier by the day, Regin.”

“Okay. You’re confined to the Dark Space for 8 hours. Go to the bathroom beforehand.”

But they just snarled at each other, as if they couldn’t hear Philomel’s voice.

“I said stop it!”

In the end, Philomel couldn’t stand it and shouted.

Only then did the magic circle that had appeared above Jeremiah’s head disappear.

Philomel, surprised that she had raised her voice without realizing it, shut her mouth, but neither of them seemed offended by it.

The three of them were currently sitting under a wooden canopy in the center of the maze garden, having a conversation.

Or rather, it was a father-son argument disguised as a conversation.

To sort out the situation, Philomel opened her mouth.

“So, this person’s name is Jeremiah, and he’s the son of the Magic Tower Lord, is that right?”

“Call me by my name instead of Magic Tower Lord.”
Regin gave an answer that had nothing to do with the question.

“Yes, Regin.”

“Regin.”

“…Okay, Regin.”

Does he prefer to be called by his name without honorifics? Come to think of it, Jeremiah also called Regin by his name.

Still, calling one’s father by his name… It was against Philomel’s etiquette, but she understood that they probably had their own rules.

“So, Jeremiah is Regin’s son…”

“I hate to admit it, but it’s true.”

This time, Jeremiah, who was sitting crookedly, answered.

“I don’t want to admit it either. Don’t go around saying you’re my son.”

“I wouldn’t even if you paid me to.”

“Stop, stop.”

Philomel, who stopped the argument that was about to start again, sighed softly.

Judging by their appearance, this father and son, who looked exactly alike, seemed to have a really, really bad relationship.

“But Jeremiah, how did you get in here? There are guards guarding it.”

“I climbed over the maze walls. Judging by the fact that they didn’t notice, the Imperial Palace guards aren’t very good.”

Jeremiah seemed to have a negative attitude towards everything, not just Regin.

“So, is Jeremiah the person Regin said he was going to meet?”

“That’s right. But where are the others? Did only you come?”

“I don’t know. Something about an interview.”
The others? Are there other people besides Jeremiah that he was supposed to meet?

As Philomel tilted her head, someone else appeared in the maze garden.

“The interview is over. It was just a simple formality.”

This time, it was someone Philomel knew well.