There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 60

* * *

With no foreign dignitaries or royals visiting the Empire, Philomel was the only one staying at the State Guest House.

Which meant the State Guest House and its beautiful gardens were all for the great Archmage and his four children.

“What? Jeremiah became Phil’s escort knight?”

Kardin, always the last to know, made a fuss.

“Why Jeremiah! I could do a good job if you just gave me the chance!”

“You’re not a knight,” Jeremiah retorted smugly.

Lexion tilted his head.

“Come to think of it, didn’t Kardin go with Jeremiah when he took the Magic Knight qualification exam?”

At that, Kardin drooped, resting his chin on the table and muttering, “……I failed the written exam.”

“That’s surprising. Isn’t the written exam just basic knightly knowledge? It’s practically a free pass.”

“This guy’s just dumb,” Jeremiah sneered.

“Still, how can you call your brother dumb? Say his intellectual abilities are somewhat lacking.”

The father stepped in to stop the brothers’ bickering.

“Quiet. More importantly, aren’t you supposed to be working? Why do you come to see Phil and me every day?”

Lexion replied casually, “Of course, we finished all our work. And we came to see Phil, not you, Lughwein.”

Jeremiah shrugged.

“Don’t you know what an escort is? My job is to be next to Philomel.”

Finally, Kardin said, “I’m skipping work!”

Philomel simply smiled.

“Haha……. I’m glad everyone seems to be having fun.”

She sighed softly and held out what she had brought.

“By the way, Lughwein. Could you take a look at this?”

Lughwein picked up the book Philomel handed him with his fingertips.

“What’s this? A dictionary?”

It was, more precisely, with a dictionary cover.

“It’s the book I mentioned before, the one I wanted Lughwein to investigate directly.”

Not long after resolving to uncover the truth of the book, Philomel had questioned him about the prophecy book.

The result wasn’t much different from what Philomel already knew.

Even the Master of the Magic Tower didn’t seem to know of the existence of prophecy books like .

Frankly, the disappointment was immense. But she couldn’t give up.

Philomel steeled herself and decided to entrust to him.

It just took her a while to steel herself.

That was because Philomel had never shown the book to anyone before, much less entrusted it to someone.

She was anxious. Even though she had memorized all the contents, she had this obsession that she couldn’t do anything without the book. She had been relying on the book quite a bit without realizing it.

As Lughwein was about to open the book, Philomel hurriedly grabbed his hand.

“……I’m sorry, but could you possibly not look at the contents?”

“Why?”

“Well…….”

Philomel hesitated, unsure of what to say.

‘Surely, asking him to investigate without checking the contents is too much to ask……?’

But she didn’t want anyone to find out about the ‘Philomel’ in the book.

She had torn out all the pages containing content she really didn’t want to show anyone.

She had learned through various experiments that the book’s restoration ability wouldn’t work if there were more intact pages than damaged ones.

Just as Philomel was hesitating and about to show him the contents.

“Alright. I won’t look if you don’t want me to,” Lughwein said casually.

“Is it really okay? Won’t it hinder the investigation…….”

“I can’t examine the contents, but I can still study the book itself. Tell me later if you want to show it to me.”

“Yes, thank you,” Philomel answered hesitantly.

“What, between us.”

Lughwein didn’t seem to think much of it.

Philomel knew that verification of the contents was necessary to get the results she wanted.

But she still didn’t feel like showing them the book. That was partly because she didn’t want to reveal the ‘Philomel’ in the book, and partly because, while she liked them, she didn’t completely trust them yet.

‘Let’s show them when we’ve spent more time together and gotten closer.’

Philomel thought, looking down at her fingertips.

Lughwein, having received the book from Philomel, looked it over and said, “I don’t sense any particular energy. I should probably take it to the Magic Tower to take a look.”

Lexion quickly retorted, “Yes, go and finish up any pending or urgent work while you’re there. We don’t know how much longer you’ll be here.”

Hearing those words, Philomel became a little worried.

“Don’t you have a mountain of work piled up at the Magic Tower?”

“Don’t worry. It’s not like anything big will happen just because Lughwein is here. Besides, I’m the only one who ever did any real work at the Magic Tower anyway…….”

Lexion’s voice held the sorrow of a typical office worker.

“……Hang in there,” Philomel could only say.

It was then that a maid’s voice was heard from the entrance of the garden.

“Lady Philomel! Are you here?”

“Oh no, everyone hide…….”

The moment Philomel exclaimed in surprise.

Lughwein turned back into a cat, and Lexion and Kardin disappeared in an instant.

Only Jeremiah remained, sitting calmly in his seat as before.

Thinking that she didn’t need to worry about their existence being discovered, Philomel turned to the maid.

“What’s the matter?”

“You were in the garden.”

“I was getting some air.”

“I apologize for the interruption. His Majesty the Emperor has invited Lady Philomel to a formal dinner. He said it’s just a light invitation, so please don’t feel pressured…….”

“Is Her Highness Princess Elencia also attending?”

Philomel interrupted the maid to ask.

“Yes, she is.”

Philomel pondered for a moment before nodding.

“Alright. Tell him I’ll go.”

To learn about Elencia, she had to meet her in person. There was a limit to what she could learn through hearsay.

* * *

Philomel left for the dinner with the Emperor.

Jeremiah followed her, and Kardin had to return to work before his truancy was discovered.

Only Lughwein and Lexion remained in the garden.

Lughwein was very displeased.

“What’s with him calling someone else’s daughter?”

“He’s the one who raised Phil as his daughter for over a decade, though.”

“What are you talking about? I’m the one who shares blood with Phil.”

“Giving birth doesn’t automatically make you a parent. In this case, the one Phil acknowledges as a parent is the parent. Isn’t that why you stayed here, wanting to be acknowledged by her?”

“Is that so? I didn’t know that.”

Then, after thinking for a while, he opened his mouth again.

“Should I just kill them?”

“……Who?” Lexion asked with a dubious expression.

“The Emperor. And the Princess as a bonus,” Lughwein continued casually.

Lexion sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“Do you want the Empire to fall into chaos? Please refrain from doing anything that would endanger the Magic Tower. I refuse to go to the afterlife with you, Lughwein.”

Lughwein flared up at a completely irrelevant point.

“You think I’d lose? I’m stronger than the Emperor.”

“……Well, I also think you’re superior in terms of individual capabilities. You also have more experience.”

The look in his eyes under his glasses became cold.

“But you must know why the Velerov Imperial Family has reigned as the ruler of the continent for so long. The Emperor can wield the power of God. Some past Emperors have even summoned God in the face of national crisis. How can even you, Lughwein, stand against God?”

“I don’t know since I haven’t fought him.”

“Don’t be reckless……. Anyway, that’s out of the question. Just remember that if you do that, you’ll never have a chance to gain Phil’s favor.”

Lughwein visibly flinched at the words ‘gain her favor’.

“She doesn’t really like killing, and she’s spent time with them, so she must have developed some affection. As I’ve said before, try to act like a good person in front of Phil as much as possible.”

“……Alright. I was just saying.”

Lughwein grumbled and got up from his seat.

“I should go to the Magic Tower for the first time in a while. And to grant Phil’s request.”

Soon, Lughwein disappeared in a flash of light.

Lexion also headed out of the garden.

‘I hope nothing happens while we’re here,’ he muttered as if praying.