There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 48

<48>

* * *

“Um… Well, is there a specific reason you’re still in the Imperial Palace? If you refused the adoption, Philomell, you’re not an Imperial Princess anymore.”

Elencia quickly composed herself, a smile on her face as she asked.

Philomell found that smile rather awkward.

“Is there a law that only Imperial Princesses can be in the palace?”

“But as far as I know, the State Guest House is only for state guests…”

“That’s right. And I received recognition for my contribution this time, so I’ve earned state guest status.”

Philomell decided to play it brazenly. It seemed like that would be more likely to elicit a reaction from Elencia.

“…Contribution?”

“The contribution of bringing Imperial Princess Elencia to His Majesty the Emperor. His Majesty was very grateful, saying he wouldn’t have been able to meet the Imperial Princess if it weren’t for me.”

“…Ah. That’s what you mean.”

“I’m truly honored that my insignificant help allowed the Imperial Princess to find her rightful place.”

“I see… Thank you.”

A rather lackluster, short thank you. Considering how long she could ramble on with pointless chatter.

Her non-stop talking during the dice game was vivid in her mind.

A moment of silence fell between them. Just as Philomell was about to say goodbye.

“How long will you be staying in the Imperial Palace?”

Elencia asked in a small voice.

“…Well, until I feel like leaving? I’d like to stay for a long, long time if possible. That way, I can meet Imperial Princess Elencia often.”

“That’s good. I wanted to talk to Philomell more too.”

“Surprisingly, the Imperial Princess and I both feel the same way.”

A conversation devoid of even a grain of sincerity passed between them.

It seemed this level of stimulation wasn’t enough to glimpse Elencia’s true nature.

‘Should I provoke her a bit more?’

Philomell stared intently at Elencia’s face and opened her mouth.

“Come to think of it, I visited ‘Katrin Hounds’ in prison today.”

“Katrin?”

Elencia asked reflexively, then quickly added defensively.

“Ah. You mean Mom. She used a pseudonym when she lived with me…”

She heard that she didn’t change the name Katrin.

“So, what about Mom?”

“…She seemed to miss the Imperial Princess a lot. She desperately called out, ‘Elen, Elen.’”

At that, Elencia covered her face with her hands and began to sob.

“I wanted to see Mom too… But Dad wouldn’t allow it. It breaks my heart to think about how much she’s suffering there.”

For someone who said that, she seemed to have forgotten about it until Philomell mentioned it.

“Is Mom healthy? Did she look sick anywhere? Is she eating properly?”
Tears welled up in Elencia’s eyes as she anxiously asked about Katrin’s well-being.

“Fortunately, she looked haggard, but she didn’t seem to be in any serious pain.”

“Really? That’s a relief.”

“But she said something strange.”

“Strange things?”

“What was it… That Imperial Princess Elencia had changed as if she were a different person from some point on?”

“…What?”

It was fleeting, but Philomell clearly witnessed it. The face of the perfect filial daughter contorted.

Perhaps sensing Philomell’s gaze, Elencia hurriedly composed herself.

She lightly tapped Philomell’s shoulder and said casually.

“What are you talking about? A different person? That can’t be. Mom must be sick and said something she didn’t mean.”

It seemed she didn’t remember that Philomell had just said Katrin wasn’t sick.

‘As I thought… Suspicious.’

A corner of her heart sank coldly.

“More than that, I’m so worried about Mom. What if something really bad happens if things continue like this? I think I need to get her out of prison quickly.”

It was then that Elencia muttered in a rapid voice.

“Excuse me? Get her out? That person’s sins are hard to forgive…”

“I can ask Dad! If I earnestly plead, Dad will forgive Mom too.”

With those words, she dashed off toward the Emperor’s office before Philomell could stop her.

‘No!’

Philomell, realizing what Elencia was about to do, chased after her.

Justis utterly loathes Katrin. It’s a miracle she’s still alive.

To worry about Katrin in front of such a Justis and beg him to release her?

That was tantamount to begging him to kill Katrin.

In , there were several scenes where Justis gritted his teeth at the sight of his daughter longing for the dead Katrin.

“If I could, I’d take her out of the grave and kill her again.”

The Emperor couldn’t fulfill that wish simply because Katrin’s executed body had become crow food, and there was no grave.

“Please wait! Your Highness!”

Philomell shouted loudly, but Elencia, who had already reached the end of the hallway, didn’t look back.

Philomell gritted her teeth and ran down the hallway.

It would be a problem if Katrin died.

Not simply because she was her mother. Nor because of the guilt that she had caused her death with her words.

Philomell still had many things to ask her. How Elencia had changed, what secrets Elencia was hiding.

To know that, Katrin was essential.

“Why is she so fast?”

A moment later. Philomell, panting, barely reached the front of the office.

Two figures could be seen inside the door that Elencia had flung open.

She was already clinging to her father and pleading.

“Dad! Please! Please release Mom from prison!”

Ruined.

Philomell’s arms, which had been reaching for the door, fell weakly to her sides.

She failed to stop her after all.

A sense of guilt washed over her for having provoked Elencia too rashly.

“…Is that truly your wish?”

The Emperor looked down at his daughter with meaningful eyes. He seemed troubled, or perhaps thoughtful.

“Yes! I love Mom… I know Dad hates Mom, but to me, she’s more like a mother than my own birth mother.”

Good heavens.

Philomell bit her lip.

‘There are things you can say and things you can’t. Why don’t you just ask him to kill Katrin.’

The whole empire knew how much Justis loved the former Empress. And yet, to say such a thing there.

Besides, didn’t Katrin switch Elencia and Philomell?

The image of Katrin standing on the execution platform flickered before Philomell’s eyes.

“I’ll ask one last time. Is that really what you want?”

“That’s right!”

Justis closed his eyes and groaned. Deep anguish was felt.

Then, he discovered Philomell standing in front of the door.

“What is it? Do you still have something to say?”

“…No. I was talking with Her Highness the Imperial Princess, and she suddenly ran off, so I followed her, worried that she might be ill.”

“That’s not the case. Anyway, you’ve come at the right time.”

At the right time? What does that mean?

“Sit down. Elencia, you too.”

Philomell and Elencia looked at each other, bewildered, and then sat down in front of the table.

“Polan. Are you there?”

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

When Justis gave a separate order to Count Polan, who was waiting outside the door, about ten people visited the office in no time.

They ranged from knights to maids. The common point was that they all worked in the palace. Among them was the prison guard Philomell had met this morning. He was in charge of Katrin.

Count Polan, who entered the office last, reported.

“The nanny is currently unable to move, so I could not bring her.”

“It can’t be helped. Elencia, you are responsible for conveying it. She is someone you keep under you, even staking your middle name.”

Philomell was startled.

‘She staked her middle name just to keep one nanny in the palace?’

The middle name of the imperial family was not an ordinary name but a name given by God.

It is said that when the founding emperor received a divine revelation to establish the country, he was given a new name by God.

Starting with that, his descendants, when a child was born, offered prayers to God and attached the name that came down as a divine message as a middle name.

In recent years, when divine messages have become rare, the parents of the child choose from the names appropriately recommended by the high priest, but in any case, the symbolism of the imperial family’s middle name is still enormous.

It meant staking not only the honor of being a member of the imperial family but also the grace of God bestowed upon them.

Since each member of the imperial family is a child of God, even the emperor would usually yield when mentioning the middle name.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the middle name is a panacea [a cure-all]. There were some cases where people lost their divine power by staking their middle name on unjust deeds or making false oaths with their middle name.

Philomell, who had no divine power from birth, also heard gossip, but what if a member of the imperial family lost their divine power due to such a disgraceful incident?

‘The end as a member of the imperial family. Plus, social burial.’

It was by no means a name to be staked on a human like a nanny.

‘Moreover, Elencia’s middle name is real!’

According to , on the dawn of the day Elencia first appeared, the high priest received God in a dream and heard a certain name.

The high priest, upon hearing that the real imperial princess had appeared, realized that the name was the imperial princess’s middle name.

Presumably, even though Philomell brought her appearance forward by a year, the high priest seemed to have received the middle name in the same way.

If so, that meant Elencia was currently wasting a rare, genuine divine grace.

‘If you’re going to do that, just give it to me!’ Philomell shouted in her heart.

Philomell’s middle name was simply taken from the name of Emperor Meitias, who was the first to ascend the throne as a woman.

So, when she was young, she longed for a real middle name to the point that she asked if there was anything she had received from God whenever she met the high priest.

“Dad. Why did you call these people?”

Philomell woke up from her reminiscence at the sound of Elencia asking, looking around.

The Emperor answered his daughter’s question.

“I’m trying to grant your wish.”