There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 85

* * *

It was when he was sixteen and the Princess was fifteen.

At the Duke’s suggestion, Nasar and the Princess visited Senjen. The stated purpose was an inspection, but in reality, it was a vacation.

The Duke, while discussing the Princess’s fatigue in front of the Emperor, had other intentions.

“I was worried that your relationship with the Princess seemed strained recently, wasn’t I? Take this opportunity to become close again.”

Nasar was somewhat dissatisfied.

Although Senjen was the most prosperous commercial city in the North, it wasn’t exactly a great environment for enjoying a vacation.

Since he was going to spend time alone with her anyway, wouldn’t it have been better to go somewhere pretty with clear water?

The gloomy scenery of Senjen visible from the carriage only added to his dissatisfaction.

In contrast, the Princess didn’t seem to have any complaints. After all, she had always silently carried out her duties. Visiting Senjen was probably no different from any other task for her.

He felt inexplicably gloomy.

But as they entered the central district of Senjen, he saw a peculiar sight. Buildings, streets, and people were all covered in white flowers.

At that moment, Nasar witnessed the Princess’s eyes briefly light up as she looked outside.

What were those flowers?

He learned the identity of the flowers upon meeting the mayor of Senjen.

The mayor was a typical sycophant. He rubbed his hands together obsequiously as he greeted them.

“Oh! A humble one like me has the honor of meeting Her Highness the Princess. And even a scion of the esteemed Averdeen Dukedom!”

When Nasar was alone with the mayor, he casually inquired about the flowers.

The mayor puffed out his chest as if he had received a compliment.

“I paid special attention since Her Highness was visiting! I thought Her Highness would be pleased if there were flowers with the same name as Her Highness in the streets.”

Ah, so the flowers were Philomel flowers. Of course, they weren’t real.

The mayor had ordered people to make paper flowers.

Nasar knew what Philomel flowers looked like from paintings, but the paper flowers in Senjen were so shoddy that he didn’t recognize them.

There was no way real, precious Philomel flowers would be in a place like this.

In the first place, Senjen was far away from the southern Utina region where Philomel flowers bloomed.

Foolish mayor.

‘He doesn’t even know that she doesn’t particularly like Philomel flowers.’

But Nasar’s arrogance was foolish.

The time in Senjen passed quickly.

It was clearly a schedule of over a week, but in the blink of an eye, it was time to return to the capital.

Even in Senjen, there was no significant progress in their relationship.

Nasar felt disappointed as he prepared to return. But a sudden rain caused a need to discuss matters with the coachman.

The rainfall in Senjen was normal, but the region they were passing through on the way back was experiencing torrential rain. The road was all muddy, and landslides had even occurred in some sections.

Nasar sighed.

‘A few uses of 이동 [Idong] magic would easily get us back.’

Since the stated purpose was an inspection, it wouldn’t look good if they didn’t stop by other regions.

Nasar didn’t care, but the Princess was stubbornly attentive to even such minor details.

As he followed her example, wanting to be like her, people who only knew Nasar superficially thought he was still a model student.

The Empire’s best groom, Nasar.

“If they knew how recklessly you act, they’d all faint!”

His friend Kenny often said, mocking him.

Nasar Averdeen, who used to take his father’s words as gospel, was gone.

What remained was a cunning man who still pretended to be that way to impress his fiancée.

‘Why am I doing this?’

He often wondered.

He liked the Princess as a person. He naturally felt affection for her, having known her for a long time.

There were things he was personally grateful for, and he also wanted to serve her as a subject. Because she would make a good Emperor.

But even adding all these reasons together, he didn’t know if it was enough to hide his true self and approach her.

Should he just give up? He had done enough.

He was tired of knocking on a door that wouldn’t open.

At that moment, Nasar saw the Princess coming out of the hotel. Everyone else was busy with other things, and there wasn’t even anyone to hold an umbrella for her.

His body moved on its own.

“Your Highness, you’ll catch a cold!”

He held the umbrella he was carrying over the Princess.

“Ah, Nasar.”

The Princess turned to look at him.

Instead, Nasar’s clothes began to get wet. But he was fine. He was confident in his stamina and health.

In contrast, the Princess’s small shoulders seemed to be trembling.

“Let’s go inside. The rain is cold.”

“Just a moment. I’ll pick these up before I go.”

Only then did Nasar realize that the Princess was squatting down and picking something up. They were the paper flowers that had fallen into the puddles.

The fake Philomel flowers that had been used to decorate the hotel’s exterior walls had mostly fallen to the ground due to the rain.

The rain-soaked paper flowers were even more pathetic. They were just trash.

Nasar didn’t understand. Why was someone like her picking up such trash? Even while getting rained on.

Hiding his dissatisfaction, Nasar asked as casually as possible.

“Why are you picking up those paper flowers? Is there a special reason?”

“They were made to welcome me, so I thought I’d take them as a souvenir.”

Even after hearing the explanation, he still didn’t understand.

There were plenty of other good things to take as souvenirs. If she really wanted the insignificant paper flowers, he would pick out the nicest and most intact ones.

More than anything, why did she want fake flowers? She didn’t particularly like real Philomel flowers.

Nasar blurted out.

“They’re just fake anyway.”

The Princess was silent for a moment at those words.

After a while, she met Nasar’s eyes and smiled.

“It would be a shame if they were thrown away here and ruined by the water just because they’re fake.”

It was a smile that struck his heart.

At that moment. Nasar realized that he loved this person.

The exact reason was hard for him to explain. It was just… for some reason, at that moment, the Princess seemed like she was about to disappear.

She seemed so faint and fragile that he felt a desire to grab her shoulders before she disappeared and pull her into the place where he stood.

Simultaneous with realizing his love, he also understood why the Princess’s change wasn’t very welcome to him.

She had become a Princess like a decoration. Not that the position of Princess was her decoration, but that she was a decoration for the position of Princess.

People only praised the elegant and benevolent Princess, but they didn’t know what kind of person the Princess really was.

Because she had thoroughly hidden her true self.

Did the Emperor know?

Nasar thought he probably didn’t know either.

Nasar always had an unconscious anxiety that the Princess might disappear at any moment.

That’s why he couldn’t stand her change. He wanted to know what kind of person she was. He wanted to grasp her clear reality.

Nasar loved the Princess.

No. That’s wrong. He loved her. Not the Princess, but her.

Ah, please tell me about you, not the Princess. My Philomel.

* * *

Even though Nasar realized his feelings, there was no special change in their relationship.

He was suddenly afraid. Now that he had a clear reason not to lose her, he became too afraid of losing her. He had become a coward.

He wanted to know her.

But she didn’t want to reveal herself. Then what would happen if she noticed that Nasar wanted to know?

Philomel had pushed him away even when he hadn’t realized his feelings. It was obvious what would happen if Nasar actively pursued her.

‘She would abandon me.’

She might even break off the engagement.

The engagement had been arranged at her request in the first place. It might be annulled in an instant at her another request.

Breaking off the marriage with the Empire’s most meritorious family was not a good thing.

But the Emperor didn’t seem like the kind of person who would care about such things.

Nasar was already imagining a terrible future where he broke off his engagement with Philomel.

He decided. He shouldn’t try to cross the line she had drawn so rashly.

‘Right. We’re engaged.’

As long as he didn’t cross the line, there was a high possibility that Philomel would marry him someday. A nominal engagement was very reassuring at times like this.

Even if Philomel didn’t love Nasar, she had to marry for the sake of succession.

The marriage partner didn’t necessarily have to be Nasar, but there didn’t seem to be any other suitable candidates. Nasar was, in name and reality, the Empire’s best groom.

Considering family, appearance, character, and ability comprehensively, there was no one better than him.

He believed that if he just stayed in his original place, he would one day be able to stand next to Philomel.

It was arrogance and weakness. And it was only when Philomel disappeared unexpectedly that he regretted his foolishness.