There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 58

* * *

As Emily, following Philomel’s instructions, stepped back, Le Guin, who had been in cat form, returned to human form.

“Can you trust that human? Even if she seems obedient now, she’ll betray you the moment she gets the chance.”

“It won’t be easy for her to betray us, considering who her nanny is. And Lexion has taken precautions to prevent any possible situation. Though, I’m not sure what those are…”

At Philomel’s answer, Lexion smiled and approached.

“Come to think of it, Phil doesn’t know my specialty yet.”

“Specialty…?”

“Magicians each have their own specialized field. What do you think mine is? Take a guess.”

“Hmm…”

Philomel pondered seriously.

Jeremiah, who earned the nickname ‘Ice Prince,’ specialized in ice magic. Then what about Lexion…?

“Fire magic?”

“…Don’t judge by hair color.”

“Ah, you caught me.”

Jeremiah snorted, and Lexion glared at him lightly before speaking.

“I can only use Fireball, which I learned when I was ten. My specialty is this.”

He tapped his temple with his finger.

“Mental abilities?”

“That’s right. I know a few useful spells.”

Lexion stuck out his red tongue.

“For example, if you utter a forbidden topic, your tongue will dry up.”

“…Will you never be able to use your tongue again?”

Philomel’s arm tingled with goosebumps.

“You understand correctly.”

Jeremiah interjected.

“Just kill them. You’re just stirring up trouble.”

“You don’t understand. If a mysterious death occurs in the Imperial Palace, they’ll investigate the magicians first. Why invite trouble with a murder charge?”

“Or is it just that you’re not skilled enough to do it?”

“I can’t have a conversation with an idiot.”

“What? You little…”

“…”

Philomel simply stopped talking.

* * *

Two days passed, but there were no rumors of any of Elencia’s maids suddenly suffering from a mysteriously dried-up tongue.

It seemed Emily had decided to follow Philomel’s instructions, at least for the time being.

The instructions Philomel gave were simple.

To be Philomel’s eyes and ears and bring back information about Elencia. In other words, to act as a spy.

Her conscience stung a little, but she had prepared herself for this when she decided to stay in the Imperial Palace. She had an instinctive feeling that she couldn’t uncover the truth of the book by only walking the righteous path.

It was on her way back to her room after taking a walk, as usual.

In front of the state guest house, Philomel encountered a familiar face.

A man in somewhat shabby clothes approached Philomel with a happy expression.

“Your Highness!”

“…Martine.”

It was Martine, Philomel’s former escort knight.

“Wow, it’s been a while, Your Highness. Oh, I mean, you’re not a princess anymore.”

“So, what brings you here?”

“What else would an escort knight come for? To escort you, of course.”

“…Me?”

Philomel frowned, puzzled by his incomprehensible words.

“Of course. Even if the real princess appears, you’re still my only master.”

Martine smiled shamelessly and thumped his chest.

Philomel was dumbfounded.

‘How absurd. He’s only here because he has nowhere else to go.’

Martine Sciennes.

He was the younger brother of Viscount Sciennes and was once a promising knight, but due to his lazy nature, he was now just an average knight. [A viscount is a rank in the nobility, below an earl but above a baron.]

She hadn’t seen him for a while and had almost forgotten about his existence, but now that she saw him, it seemed he had been imprisoned with the other palace staff who had served Philomel.

‘It’s good news that the other palace staff have been released… but it would have been better if this guy had stayed locked up.’

Philomel disliked Martine very much, even though she had kept him around for certain reasons.

She hated his cocky attitude from the first time she saw him….

“Just a fake royal.”

“Demanding to see the festival in front of countless nobles.”

When she was nine years old, she overheard Martine and the maids gossiping about her, and she hated him even more.

‘It still makes me angry just thinking about it.’

Philomel declared coldly.

“I don’t need an escort, so go back.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re fired from my escort knight position. Find another job.”

“Why?!”

“Negligence of duty.”

“When did I ever do that?!”

“You were constantly chatting and playing with other palace staff during work hours, you were late due to hangovers, you got beaten by the younger knights and didn’t even attend the regular sparring sessions, and most of all, you didn’t even notice I disappeared.”

Philomel listed his acts of negligence one by one, and Martine’s mouth dropped open.

Without paying attention to his reaction, Philomel finished crisply.

“I have plenty of witnesses if you want me to call them.”

“Th-th-that’s, well. This is an unfair dismissal!”

“What is?”

“Philomel, you knew everything and turned a blind eye!”

Well, that wasn’t wrong.

Philomel had overlooked his faults and even protected him at times.

Martine clutched his head and shouted in frustration.

“Why are you blaming me now?”

Why, you ask? Well…

‘Because you’re the easiest to handle among the Imperial Knights!’

The reason nine-year-old Philomel dismissed her nanny and maids but kept Martine around was all for the sake of escaping.

Logically speaking, it was nearly impossible for Philomel to shake off a professionally trained knight and run away.

But because her opponent was Martine, she could slip away during his moments of slacking off.

“You weren’t like this before! You used to trust and follow me!”

Martine, unaware of these hidden circumstances, mistakenly believed that the Princess liked him enough to overlook his faults.

“You even said you thought of me, Martine, as an uncle!”

Because the people around her, even the Emperor, kept suggesting she change her escort, she had told quite a few lies.

Still, she shouldn’t have said he was like an uncle.

‘I shouldn’t have said I relied on him more than anyone else, either.’

Philomel clicked her tongue inwardly.

“Why have you changed!”

Just as Martine was about to approach and touch Philomel,

Swish—the sound of a blade being drawn from its scabbard echoed.

“Do you want to die?”

A sword blocked Martine’s path.

“Jeremiah!”

Philomel looked at the person who had suddenly appeared from hiding. Although his true form was concealed by the necklace, it was definitely Jeremiah.

‘I told you not to leave the room!’

Martine, who had reflexively backed away, glared.

“Hey, who are you! Are you a knight? You’re not wearing the Knights Order uniform. How did you get into the Imperial Palace!”

“Why do you need to know?”

“Wh-what? Philomel! Who is this greenhorn?”

“That’s…”

A dependent? A guest? How should I explain it?

“Could he be the new escort knight? Did you find a new escort knight already?”

Before Philomel could deny it, Jeremiah answered.

“Yes. I’m her new escort knight.”

‘Why are you suddenly doing this!’

“From now on, I’ll be in charge of her escort, so get lost.”

Jeremiah replied in a cold voice.

A moment later.

Philomel looked up at Jeremiah and sighed.

“Jeremiah… why did you lie?”

“It’s not a lie because I’m really going to be your escort knight.”

Jeremiah answered nonchalantly.

Martine, who had been furious at the mention of a new escort knight, calmed down a bit and made a suggestion that wasn’t really a suggestion.

“Let’s decide who is more suitable to be Philomel’s escort through a duel!”

He claimed that if he put his mind to it, he could toy with Jeremiah like a child.

Jeremiah accepted the proposal, so the two of them were currently heading to the training grounds within the Imperial Palace, as designated by Martine.

“Do you really want to be my escort?”

“I have to earn my keep. And you needed an escort knight anyway, right?”

That was true. Eustis was sending lists of knights by messenger every day, putting unspoken pressure on her.

She had promised the Emperor that she would keep an escort by her side, even if she dismissed the other palace staff. He wouldn’t budge on that point, so she had no choice but to accept.

So, having Jeremiah as her escort would be more convenient for Philomel in many ways, but…

There was one problem.

“Jeremiah, have you been appointed as a knight?”

In response, Jeremiah silently pulled out a knight’s insignia from his pocket.

“You’ve been appointed as a magic knight.”

Unlike regular knights who had to undergo a training process that usually lasted a decade, magic swordsmen who applied to become magic knights could be recognized as knights in a short period if their identity and skills were guaranteed.

This was because there was an absolute shortage of talented individuals skilled in both magic and swordsmanship.

She knew he was a magic swordsman, but she didn’t realize he had the qualifications to be a knight as well. This wasn’t in .

As they arrived at the training grounds, Martine, who was warming up, came into view.

“Philomel! I’ll show you that there’s no one as capable as me. You coward who steals other people’s positions, let’s fight like knights with real swords!”

Real swords instead of wooden practice swords? Philomel wanted to stop him, but Jeremiah drew his sword first.

“Be careful. He used to be a pretty skilled knight.”

At Philomel’s whisper, Jeremiah scoffed.

“Leave it to me.”

And the match, contrary to her worries…

“Ugh!”

“Agh!”

“Ugh, cough!”

…turned overwhelmingly in Jeremiah’s favor.

Martine was barely managing to escape with his clumsy movements. It was the result of years of laziness and heavy drinking.

Eventually, he dropped his sword and sat down, shouting, “I surrender! I surrender!”

However, the speed of the sword rushing towards Martine’s neck did not change.

‘Dangerous!’

Philomel shouted without realizing it.

“Jeremiah!”

Stopped. At Philomel’s cry, Jeremiah quickly retracted his sword as if nothing had happened.

‘Jeremiah… he was planning to kill him if I hadn’t stopped him.’

There weren’t many, but there were spectators around the training grounds. She couldn’t make Jeremiah a murderer in front of these people.

In any case, the position of escort knight for Philomel, the former princess and honored guest, went to a strange young magic knight.

Jeremiah had shown off his skills in front of others by playing with the former escort of the princess like a child.

Afterward, he was called in by the Imperial Guard and investigated for his entry route and possession of unauthorized weapons, but he managed to get through it somehow.

This was partly because the entry standards for the outer palace were less strict than those for the inner palace, but it was also thanks to Count Polan, who had been asked by Philomel and had put in a great deal of effort.

At first, he had expressed concern, saying that Jeremiah was a knight, but he was someone they didn’t know well.

However…

“Actually, he is a precious connection I made during the time I was missing. He is a righteous person who readily offered me help and fought off a thug, even though he didn’t know me at all. Would it be too greedy to want to continue that relationship…?”

Philomel told a more dramatic version of the story of how Jeremiah had helped her when she was almost scammed, and Count Polan willingly cooperated in making him her escort.

Moreover, he even promised to persuade the Emperor himself.

After all, connections are the best.