There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 74

* * *

Philomel left the Imperial Palace with a lighter step than when she’d arrived.

‘Things went better than expected…’

Much better, it seemed. She’d regained some honor and become rich. Both, undeniably, thanks to the Emperor. Maybe Eustis liked her more than she realized.

‘Was all that effort worth it, then?’

She still couldn’t decipher what Eustis meant by ‘confession,’ though.

A piercing scream jolted Philomel from her thoughts.

“Why won’t you let me in! I demand to see His Majesty!”

It was Rosanne, the woman she’d seen before entering the palace.

She was still berating the captain of the guard.

The captain looked mortified. “Lady, please… How many times must I say it? The Emperor is not accessible without an appointment.”

“Tell His Majesty that Rosanne is here! He’ll see me then!”

Philomel watched Rosanne with a disgusted expression.

‘Still at it, huh?’

What persistence.

“You!”

Rosanne spotted Philomel and glared.

“Why do you keep waltzing in and out of here, as if to mock me?”

“Where else would I waltz in and out of, if not the main gate?”

“You may look down on me now…”

“I’m shorter than you. I’d be looking up.”

Rosanne made a strangled sound and huffed.

“It must have been difficult, pretending to be a kind princess with such a nasty personality. Does His Majesty know the real you?”

That was precisely what Philomel had been feeling lately. The ‘real’ her, suppressed by years of playing the good child, was slowly resurfacing.

She wasn’t sure if it was because she was no longer a princess, or because of living with those four wealthy, bickering… *people*.

‘Whatever.’

Philomel tapped her forehead, her expression indifferent.

“Lady Rosanne, if you possess a brain, perhaps you should use it.”

“Use it for what?”

“Why won’t His Majesty meet you? Why didn’t he dance with you at the debutante ball? Why hasn’t he contacted you even once since then?”

The explanation was simple enough for a child to grasp, but Rosanne lifted her chin.

“That’s because His Majesty is shy!”

…Shy?

“He must have been embarrassed when everyone gathered around and then left the ballroom without a dance! That’s why he couldn’t contact me personally afterward. He has a delicate inner side beneath his strong exterior.”

Whose story was she telling?

Philomel wondered if there was another emperor in the country besides Eustis.

The captain of the guard and the soldiers nearby looked equally appalled.

She shook her head, realizing that Rosanne’s delusion was impenetrable.

“Okay. Never mind.”

“How dare you! Just you wait. When I become Empress, I’ll deal with you first!”

“How? Shall we recreate your debutante day experience?”

Philomel waved a hand dismissively, and Rosanne’s face turned blue.

Her body trembled like an aspen leaf, remembering the sting of that slap.

She felt like a proper gangster for reducing her to this.

‘I’m a pacifist, unless someone else resorts to force first.’

But force, or the *threat* of it, worked. Rosanne finally turned and fled.

“How long do you think you can be so confident? My time will come, even tomorrow! Just wait and see!”

She made the boast while retreating with her tail between her legs.

Unfortunately for Rosanne, and the Manon family, their misfortune began the very next day.

* * *

Manon Fief.

Early in the morning, Baron Manon burst into Rosanne’s room.

“Rosanne! It’s a disaster! A disaster!”

Rosanne, still half-asleep, snapped irritably, “What is it now?”

“Investigators! They’ve raided our house!”

“Investigators? Why?”

“They say our family committed tax evasion! There were illegalities in the purchase of this mansion! And… well, a lot of things!”

Rosanne’s eyes widened.

“Did you actually do it?”

Baron Manon stammered. “Well, yes, but… everyone does this sort of thing! Surely our family, soon to be the imperial family’s in-laws, is entitled to a little… flexibility!”

That was the crux of the matter. Baron Manon’s guilt aside, questioning the Empress’s family was a clear sign of disrespect.

Enraged, Rosanne stormed out of her room.

Investigators were ransacking the entire mansion, including Baron Manon’s office.

Rosanne blocked an investigator who was carrying a stack of documents from the Baron’s office.

“How dare you run amok in this house!”

The investigator replied indifferently to her outburst, delivered with as much empress-like dignity as she could muster: “This is His Majesty the Emperor’s order. If you interfere, we will add obstruction of official duties to the list.”

“What? There’s no way His Majesty would do this!”

“Believe it or not, it’s your choice.”

He brushed past Rosanne and left.

The other investigators were equally rude, performing their duties regardless of Rosanne’s scolding, shouting, or physical interference.

When the investigators finally left with their evidence, only a devastated mansion remained.

The rumor that the Manon family was under intense investigation for illegal activities spread like wildfire through the capital.

If Rosanne were truly destined to be Empress, this would be impossible.

Then came the debtors.

Having foreseen the Manon family’s downfall, they flocked to the mansion.

“When are you going to pay back the 100,000 bells you borrowed!”

“Give me my money back!”

Baron Manon sweated profusely, surrounded by the clamoring creditors.

“Hey! What is the meaning of this! I told you I’d pay you back when my daughter becomes the Empress!”

“Empress, my foot!”

“You’ve been using that excuse for months!”

The Baron had not only spent all his money buying the mansion in the capital but had also borrowed heavily, mortgaging his territory.

If he’d stopped there, simply handing over the territory would have been the end of it. But he’d borrowed even more from acquaintances to satisfy his daughter’s vanity.

They had lent the Baron a considerable sum, believing Rosanne’s inflated reputation in the newspapers.

Eventually, Baron Manon collapsed.

“Ah! I’m telling you, I don’t have it now! If you want it so badly, take it yourself!”

“If you don’t have money, let’s search the house and take anything that can be sold!”

At someone’s cry, the debtors trampled Baron Manon and stormed the mansion.

All the valuables in the Baron’s house vanished.

Rosanne’s brothers called the security forces for help, but the dispatched officers only pretended to restrain the debtors before leaving.

Baroness Manon fainted from shock.

The places where the debtors had retreated were soon filled by merchants – the owners of the boutique shops where Rosanne had shopped so freely the day before.

They camped in front of the mansion, demanding payment.

The family members couldn’t even leave the house without being accosted.

Finally, the mansion’s servants went on strike.

“It’s been three months since we were paid!”

“My children are starving!”

It was the Baron’s fault for withholding their wages to save money.

Everything in the house ground to a halt, and Rosanne’s family couldn’t even get a proper meal.

Familiar with the family’s affairs, the servants even stole the emergency funds and jewelry the Manon family had hidden and fled.

The whole house was a mess.

Baron Manon, near tears, pleaded with his daughter. “Rosanne! Go to His Majesty, quickly! Something must be wrong! Go to the Imperial Palace and tell him the humiliation we’ve suffered!”

Rosanne chose the best dress from her remaining wardrobe and, accompanied by two maids who stayed only because they had nowhere else to go, boarded the carriage.

They slipped out through the back door, but the debtors and merchants recognized her.

“There!”

“Rosanne’s in the carriage!”

Rosanne urged the coachman, “Drive! Quickly!”

The coachman, who remained for similar reasons as the maids, whipped the horses.

Until then, Rosanne still held hope. The hope that everything would be resolved if she could just see the Emperor.

‘This can’t be happening! I’m definitely going to be the Empress! Because I’m special!’

She had been convinced of it since she was young. She was different. So, when the Emperor asked her to dance, she never doubted her future ascent to that high position.

Soon, the carriage arrived at the Imperial Palace.

Rosanne, remembering the pursuers, rushed inside.

The problem arose when she tried to enter the inner palace from the outer palace.

“No. Go back.”

“Last time, we let her in because she was so confident, and we were the ones who got scolded.”

Unlike yesterday, the gatekeepers of the inner palace, having received strict orders, refused Rosanne entry.

But fate hadn’t completely abandoned Rosanne.

“What’s going on here?”

The Emperor himself appeared before Rosanne.