There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 69

* * *

Philomell rested in her residence for three days afterward. The debutante ball lasted for five days, but Philomell saw no real reason to attend.

Le Guin lingered around her as she leisurely enjoyed reading.

“Phil?”

“What?”

“Are you still angry?”

“Yes.”

“Forgive me.”

“No.”

“Is it because I arbitrarily cast all sorts of magic on you the other day?”

“Yes.”

“I did it all for you. I wanted you to shine.”

“If you really thought of me, you should have listened to me.”

“…I’m sorry. I’ll apologize, so forgive me.”

Philomell slammed the book shut.

In Philomell’s view, Le Guin was apologizing to get out of the situation rather than genuinely feeling sorry.

But he was going so far as to say that, so she felt a bit bad to keep at it.

In fact, Philomell wasn’t really angry but was just pretending to be angry to prevent such a situation from happening again.

She was also a little pleased with how much he cared about her reaction.

“You won’t do this again in the future, right?”

When Philomell asked with a softened tone, an immediate answer came back.

“Nope!”

‘Anyway, he’s only good with words,’ Philomell thought.

Philomell chuckled without realizing it.

And it became the last day of the ball, and the last day of the deadline Philomell had set for Rosanne.

In the late afternoon, Nancy sent intelligence.

She had been assigned to the ballroom this time, so Philomell had told Nancy about Rosanne’s appearance and asked her for a favor: to let her know if Rosanne came.

She hadn’t shown up for three days, but today she finally came to the ballroom.

It was a request that came from half pure interest. She was curious about what Rosanne’s state was, and she was also interested in whether she would hand over the ring or not.

Philomell intended only to watch secretly without formally attending the ball.

If Rosanne handed over the ring, she would just go back, and if not, she would expose her theft in front of everyone.

To be honest, Philomell didn’t really want to accuse Rosanne. Not for Rosanne’s sake, but for her own.

If the ring incident was revealed, attention would be focused not only on Rosanne but also on Philomell.

She had decided not to be afraid of attention anymore, but just because she wasn’t afraid didn’t mean it wasn’t annoying.

Philomell sincerely hoped that Rosanne would do the right thing, even now.

She arrived at the ballroom late and entered the building through the back door. Of course, there were no guards blocking her, the former princess and current VIP.

Philomell stood in front of the entrance with the least traffic among the several doors leading to the hall and looked inside.

The hall still seemed peaceful without much commotion.

Philomell looked for Elencia. Elencia was the most likely person for Rosanne to hand over the ring to.

‘If it was Rosanne, she was likely to try to attack Philomell by gaining Elencia’s favor,’ she thought.

‘That won’t do.’

If she tried to contact Elencia, Philomell planned to intervene first.

Rosanne’s figure was not visible among the people gathered around Elencia.

Philomell frowned for a while and looked around. Instead of Rosanne, familiar faces caught her eye.

Lexion was talking to some nobles.

He was relatively close to Philomell, so she could hear snippets of their conversation.

“This friend is the one I told you about. A very bright young man. I’d hire him if he weren’t affiliated with the Imperial Palace.”

“You flatter me. My skills are lacking.”

“Don’t be modest! Let’s have a drink later and talk slowly!”

“I’d be honored anytime.”

‘No, when did they get so close? He hasn’t been here for a few days,’ Philomell wondered.

Lexion, who was wearing a business smile, discovered Philomell and gave her a slight nod.

Philomell also responded with a nod.

This time, Cardin caught her eye. He was holding a plate piled high with food and shouted excitedly.

“They’re giving away all this delicious food for free, this is heaven!”

She had never seen anyone eat the snacks prepared for a light meal so ravenously.

‘Embarrassing. Let’s not acknowledge him,’ she thought.

The noble next to Lexion also frowned.

“A low-level young man. He seems to be a court wizard like you, are you acquainted?”

“I don’t know him.”

He also ignored his younger brother.

After continuing to look around the hall, Philomell finally spotted Rosanne.

Rosanne was walking through the hall with her hat tilted to cover her left cheek as much as possible.

The left cheek that was briefly revealed under the hat seemed slightly swollen.

Rosanne, who was looking around, hid behind a pillar.

‘What is it? Is she doing something bad?’

Someone grabbed Philomell’s shoulder as she was about to step forward without realizing it. A cool voice landed above her head.

“Philomell.”

Justis asked.

“I didn’t know you were attending today. But what are you doing here without going inside?”

Philomell, startled, took a few steps back and then greeted him with perfect etiquette.

“I see the sun of the Empire, His Majesty the Emperor. Have you been well?”

“…Yes.”

The Emperor’s hand, which had been on her shoulder, was withdrawn in vain.

Philomell became embarrassed.

‘I didn’t hear that he was attending today either,’ she thought.

She probed the Emperor’s intentions while making excuses for why she was here.

“I didn’t originally intend to come, but I heard that someone I wanted to meet was here, so I stopped by for a moment. Your Majesty…?”

“I’m similar. I was passing by this area and followed someone I wanted to see entering the ballroom.”

“I see. I’ll just keep waiting here, so Your Majesty should go and meet that person.”

“……”

However, the Emperor remained motionless and stayed next to Philomell.

“…Your Majesty?”

“I’ll stay here for a while too.”

Philomell barely swallowed the words she wanted to say.

‘You said there’s someone you want to see? Hurry up and leave!’

* * *

Rosanne tried to touch her left cheek but consciously lowered her arm.

“Damn… it still hurts.”

The area she was hit still ached from how hard she was struck. The red handprint was covered with makeup, but the swelling had not completely subsided.

When his daughter appeared at the debutante ball with a messed-up face, Baron Manon jumped up and down.

The Baron pressed Rosanne, asking who had done it, but Rosanne couldn’t bring herself to tell the truth.

‘Father, just wait a little. I’ll give the ring to Her Highness the Princess and wash away this humiliation!’

Princess Elencia would naturally hate Philomell, who had taken her place all this time. All she had to do was ignite the princess’s pent-up anger.

With such a sinister plan in mind, Rosanne carefully looked at the red ring on her palm.

As expected, it was too good to give away. Rosanne hid behind a pillar, thinking she should try it on one last time.

She put on the ring and caressed the jewel with a touch full of regret.

Then, suddenly, the jewel began to shine.

* * *

Justis stood next to Philomell for a while and struck up a conversation.

“How have you been lately?”

“I’ve been well, thanks to Your Majesty’s grace.”

“Is Namgung livable?”

“It’s very pleasant, all thanks to the grace bestowed by Your Majesty.”

“Are you not sick anywhere?”

“No.”

“……”

Philomell pursed her lips, recalling what had happened last time.

He had listened to strange advice from Count Polan about his relationship with his child and greatly embarrassed Philomell.

She didn’t know the details, but who else would Justis care about so much? It’s Elencia.

‘If you want to do it, just do it to Elencia, why are you bothering me?’

Because of that, it was difficult to go see what Rosanne was doing. Did she bring the Ring of Crimson Flame?

“…But you haven’t been wearing the Ring of Crimson Flame lately.”

“Yes? Ring?”

Philomell’s heart dropped when what she was thinking about was mentioned.

Whether it was her imagination or not, Justis’s gaze seemed to be directed towards the pillar where Rosanne was hiding.

“Did you lose the ring?”

“No. It’s not that…”

It was closer to robbery than loss.

It seemed that Justis wanted to get back the treasure of the Imperial Family.

Philomell lowered her head.

“I’m sorry. It’s in someone else’s hands right now. I’ll return it as soon as possible, so please give me some time.”

“That’s not it. I wasn’t trying to blame you. I just…”

Justis anxiously swept back his bangs and continued.

“Anyway, you’re saying that the Ring of Crimson Flame isn’t in your hands right now.”

“…That’s right.”

“And that wasn’t your intention.”

“There was an unavoidable reason…”

“Then that’s fine. I’ll bring the ring myself, so don’t worry.”

“Yes, yes?”

Justis strode into the hall without hesitation.

The people who were dancing in pairs in the hall hurriedly lowered their bodies at the sudden appearance of the Emperor.

For some reason, Philomell felt like she had to follow him, so she headed inside.

Justis stopped at the pillar where Rosanne was hiding.

With an uneasy premonition, Philomell moved her feet quickly.

Rosanne, who was behind the pillar, turned around in bewilderment.

Justis silently held out his hand to her.