There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 52

Even if she couldn’t win Jeremiah over, she at least wanted to prevent him from falling for Elencia.

Manipulating someone’s feelings was impossible, but Philomel had knowledge from the book. She knew what would initially attract Jeremiah to Elencia and how he would eventually fall deeply in love.

‘What if I let him experience that beforehand?’

It was unlikely he would develop deep feelings for Philomel instead of Elencia, but he would definitely develop some affection. Just yesterday, giving him cookies had noticeably softened his attitude.

Philomel reviewed her plan and took something out of her bag. Then, preparing to go to the plaza, she called Jeremiah.

“Jeremiah, shall we go now?”

“Oh, right… You! What’s that!”

Jeremiah, turning to Philomel, shouted in surprise.

“Huh? What is it?”

“That, the thing you’re wearing on your face.”

“Ah, it’s a mask to hide my identity. As you know, my face is quite well-known.”

She had fully armed herself with a hood and mask she had brought in advance. She was confident she could wander around the plaza without being recognized.

However, Jeremiah frowned as if he didn’t like Philomel’s appearance.

“Take it off.”

“Pardon?”

“You look suspicious to anyone.”

“…Do I look that suspicious?”

“Extremely, terribly, immensely.”

“Everyone will think it’s just for sun protection.”

“Yeah, right. You’ll be lucky if you don’t get stopped for questioning.”

Philomel listlessly fiddled with the mask.

‘Is it really that strange? I read in a romance novel that noble ladies are all wearing these these days…’

That’s what Nancy had said when she lent her the romance novel magazine.

“But it’s a third-rate magazine, so it’s generally unreliable!”

Come to think of it, Nancy had added this when she lent her the magazine.

The media that commoners read often spread false or exaggerated information about the lives of nobles. They wrote anything to appeal to subscribers who longed for high society.

‘I thought masks were in fashion, but the noble ladies just weren’t telling me…’

Most of them were friendly to Philomel, but they seemed to find her difficult to approach because she was a princess.

As Philomel looked dejected, Jeremiah scratched the back of his head and approached her.

“Geez, I can’t help it.”

He took a necklace out of his pocket and put it around Philomel’s neck. Then, he took off her mask and led her into the street.

“Now it’s okay. No one will pay attention to you.”

Indeed, as Jeremiah said, no one passing through the plaza glanced at Philomel.

Instead, Jeremiah caught the attention of the women nearby. They blushed and whispered, then approached them.

“Tch, this is why I hate crowded places. Let’s go quickly.”

Jeremiah pulled down his hood and grabbed Philomel’s wrist, leading her away.

Philomel touched the necklace around her neck.

A silver locket necklace with a mask engraved on it was visible.

She already knew this necklace from .

It was a necklace that Jeremiah, who disliked attracting attention, always wore. Unlike its relatively plain appearance, it was a high-grade magic item.

“While you’re wearing that, your face will look different to others,” Jeremiah explained, noticing Philomel fiddling with the necklace.

He went to a storefront and pointed to the glass, where their reflections were visible.

“Wow…”

A strange girl wearing Philomel’s clothes was reflected in the glass. Her appearance, as well as her hair and eye color, were all different.

As Philomel slowly examined the glass, her eyes caught the side profile of Jeremiah, like an ice sculpture meticulously carved by a master.

Snowflake-like, abundant silver eyelashes fluttered every time he closed and opened his eyes.

She understood well why he was nicknamed the Ice Prince.

‘Even beauties must have their own hardships.’

No wonder he carries around an item like this.

When Jeremiah’s pace slowed as they reached the central plaza, Philomel spoke to his back.

“Thank you for the necklace.”

“I’m just lending it to you.”

“Still, thank you. It’s Jeremiah’s important item.”

“It’s nothing.”

‘It’s nothing, my foot. says it’s a national treasure-level item,’ Philomel thought, pouting out of Jeremiah’s sight.

“I just picked it up from Le Guin’s room.”

‘Is it really nothing to these people…?’

In any case, the fact that he lent Philomel an item he always carried with him was a good sign.

‘At this rate, gaining his favor won’t be too difficult.’

Philomel smiled to herself.

At that moment, Jeremiah looked around the crowded plaza and asked.

“So, where are we going? It’s too noisy to talk.”

As befitting its nickname, the heart of the capital, the central plaza was overflowing with countless people.

Seeing Jeremiah’s expression already souring, Philomel quickly took the lead.

“I know a good place, so let’s go there. Just trust me and follow me!”

“Hey, wait up!”

Philomel darted through the crowd like a squirrel, and Jeremiah followed behind. Fortunately, the plaza’s structure wasn’t complicated, so she was able to find her way by recalling the map in the magazine.

Soon after, Philomel stood blankly in front of a building with a pink exterior.

A flashy sign with the words was particularly dazzling.

“This can’t be…”

A long line of people stretched from the entrance far into the distance. They were all people trying to enter Cresion Confectionery.

“There are too many people…”

“Indeed,” Jeremiah frowned as he replied.

“If we line up now, when will we be able to get in?”

“Who knows.”

The question was quickly resolved.

[Three hours from here.]

That’s because a clerk holding a sign with those words was standing at the end of the line.

Philomel covered her forehead.

Three hours was too long.

If she persevered, she might be able to enter the store before it was time to return.

But the important thing wasn’t the sweets, it was Jeremiah.

The sweets were merely a tribute to break down the walls of his heart and facilitate a smooth conversation.

But to make Jeremiah line up in a place like this just to feed him some sweets? To put Jeremiah, who hates people, in a densely populated area?

‘I didn’t know there would be so many people.’

This confectionery was established when Count Cresion’s ancestor sponsored a young and talented patissier [pastry chef] long ago.

[Delicious sweets for those who earnestly desire them.]

This was the founding ideology of Cresion Confectionery.

In accordance with its founding ideology, Cresion Confectionery only gave sweets to customers who had made reservations long in advance or who were waiting in line.

They wouldn’t even bother to look at most nobles who brought a lot of money and demanded to buy sweets separately.

However, there were exceptions everywhere.

They couldn’t dare to tell the Emperor to wait, so Philomel could always eat freshly made, warm sweets from Cresion whenever she wanted.

So, she knew the line was long, but she was optimistic that she could enter in just twenty or thirty minutes.

Jeremiah narrowed his brows and said.

“If that’s the case, there’s nothing we can do. Let’s go somewhere else.”

“But this place is famous for having the most delicious sweets in the empire…”

“It’s just sweets, no matter how delicious.”

“That’s because Jeremiah hasn’t tried them. Even a common egg tart is so soft and crispy when Cresion makes it… I really wanted to let you taste it.”

A dark gloom enveloped Philomel.

‘Why am I always like this?’

The escape plan she had prepared for seven years was caught and ended in just a few days. As if Philomel’s efforts were nothing, it ended in vain.

Come to think of it, it seemed that almost nothing had gone according to her plan since she was young.

She had to struggle to the death to receive only about half of the praise that Elencia in the book received.

Perhaps wanting to know the truth of the book is just unnecessary curiosity.

A commoner like herself should just be content with avoiding worrying about her life. She should give up on unnecessary adventures.

As Philomel’s complexion grew dimmer, Jeremiah spoke up, “I don’t mind that place over there, so let’s go in!”

“…Where?”

“There!”

At the tip of Jeremiah’s finger was a small, shabby store.

Only a peeling sign that read revealed the store’s identity.

The store had such a faint presence that she wouldn’t have known it was there if Jeremiah hadn’t pointed it out.

To open a store of the same type right across from Cresion, it was quite bold.

“It doesn’t seem like the sweets will be delicious. And there don’t seem to be any customers.”

“Then that’s even more welcome to me. There won’t be anyone inside.”

Indeed. That might be a more pleasant place for Jeremiah.

Philomel boldly decided to give up on the taste of the sweets.

‘As long as they’re sweet, it’ll be fine.’

If she looked, there would be other decent confectionery besides Cresion, but she felt sorry for continuing to drag Jeremiah around.

“Okay. I’ll treat you, so eat as much as you want.”

Jeremiah chuckled briefly at Philomel, who took out her wallet from her bag and spoke with a determined expression.