There Is No Place For Fakes [EN]: Chapter 87

* * *

Leaving the Imperial Palace, William was seething with anger.

“That insolent little girl!”

She was just like her mother, especially when it came to being cheeky.

“Ugh, that Catherine has never been helpful in my life!”

He thought of his younger sister.

From a young age, she relied on her smarts and interfered with their father’s merchant business.

Their father seemed to favor Catherine, which made him feel uneasy.

He worried he might even lose his birthright to inherit the family fortune.

William’s worries faded when his sister entered the Empress’s service as a lady-in-waiting.

“You will bring honor to our family!”

Their father was overjoyed.

William was also pleased. If Catherine married a decent noble through the Empress’s introduction, the Hounds family would gain a foothold in high society.

As a noblewoman, Catherine would be too busy taking care of her husband’s family, so the trading business would naturally be his.

Then, he could simply grow the business with the support of his noble sister!

However, William’s hopes were shattered in an instant.

“Father! Brother! …I can’t stay there any longer.”

Catherine left the Imperial Palace on her own and returned to her hometown.

No matter how much their father pressed her, Catherine remained tight-lipped.

She even got pregnant by some unknown rogue.

Their father was furious and abandoned his daughter, moving to the capital.

In fact, he had already established a base in the capital to expand the trading business when Catherine entered the Imperial Palace.

From that day on, Catherine ceased to exist in the Hounds family.

Later, curious about her, their father sent someone to check on her, only to find that Catherine had disappeared around the time the Empress died.

After that, no news. William completely forgot about his sister, until he learned that Princess Philomell was actually Catherine’s daughter.

When William heard that Catherine had switched her daughter with the Empress’s daughter, he was terrified.

‘Is she finally trying to kill us!’

Such a great crime would not leave the family unscathed. He couldn’t die with Catherine.

‘How much hardship have I endured to grow this trading business!’

He quickly gathered his hidden funds and prepared to flee abroad.

If he hadn’t seen the posters correcting the rumors, he and his family would be across the sea by now.

‘Catherine’s daughter is being treated like royalty in the Imperial Palace?’

He smiled with avarice.

This was an opportunity. A chance to grow the Hounds trading business even further!

But what was this? He was now being chased out by Catherine’s daughter.

And in such an unsightly manner.

“Damn it! That cheeky little girl!”

In a fit of anger, William kicked a stone on the street, only to realize he was in the Imperial Palace and looked around, startled.

Composing himself, he adjusted his cravat, a look of ease returning to his face.

“Right. Her acting so high and mighty won’t last long. There’s no way she can resist, right?”

If she thought about it even a little, Philomell would realize that joining hands with him would be more beneficial to her in the long run.

The support of Hounds, now one of the leading trading businesses in the capital, would be a tempting bait.

And if that annoying thing took the bait…

“I’ll suck out all your value and then throw you away, Philomell.”

William inadvertently revealed his true feelings.

Indeed, from the start, he had no intention of taking responsibility for his hated sister’s daughter.

Just then, rustle.

“Wh, who’s there!”

Startled by the sound from behind, he shouted. It would be troublesome if someone had heard what he just said.

“Meow.”

But soon, he identified the source of the sound and sighed in relief.

“What, just a cat.”

* * *

After William left, Le Guin approached Philomell, who was still in the drawing room.

“Phil, Phil, Phil.”

Philomell, who was leisurely drinking the remaining tea, replied.

“Yes, Phil is here, so you only need to call me once.”

“Some guy was cursing you out front.”

William, this guy, really.

Le Guin gave a mischievous smile.

“Jeremiah told me the story roughly. You don’t like guys like that, do you?”

“Well, I don’t like them.”

“Then should I kill him? You’d want a guy like that dead, right?”

“…Le Guin, you often say scary things. If we had to kill people for doing things we don’t like, there wouldn’t be anyone left in this world.”

“Huh? Is that so?”

“Le Guin, you only say that. You wouldn’t just kill someone because you don’t like them a little, would you? Right?”

“…Oh, yeah. That’s right… I wouldn’t kill them. Right. I was just saying!”

The pause before the answer is a bit concerning.

Still, Philomell didn’t suspect much, because it was something that couldn’t easily happen according to her common sense.

Le Guin, who was watching her reaction, said.

“…Then are you going to let the guy who cursed you go?”

“Well, it’s not just because he cursed me, but I can’t let that person go.”

“What are you going to do? Hit him or something?”

“…I won’t hit him.”

Philomell said to Le Guin, whose face was full of doubt.

“I have to deal with him legally.”

“How?”

Jeremiah asked this question.

Philomell smiled brightly.

“He revealed it himself earlier. That he’s committing illegal acts.”

Moreover, he even showed the evidence of the fairy wing fabric.

She recalled William’s excuses.

‘Receiving wings through the cooperation of fairies? What a joke.’

To do that, he would either have to receive the wings of a deceased fairy or the old wings that naturally fall out when a new set grows.

How many of those could there be?

There was no way those wings alone could meet the demand for fairy wing fabric.

William clearly had many shady dealings.

Philomell stood up.

“Where are you going?”

To Le Guin’s question, she confidently replied.

“As a good citizen, I’m going to report illegal activities.”

I’ll make him face the full force of the law.

The production and distribution of fairy wing fabric was a serious crime punishable by up to death.

* * *

Capital, Central Security Office.

There was a special guest in the commercial crime division.

Philomell slammed the desk.

“I saw it clearly! William Hounds possesses fairy wing fabric.”

The investigator in charge of illegal goods replied indifferently.

“I’m sorry, but we can’t investigate the Hounds trading business based on that alone.”

“Why not? The production and distribution of fairy wing fabric is a crime.”

“We can’t say for sure that the fabric he had was definitely fairy wing fabric. There’s a possibility that Lady Philomell is mistaken…”

“Are you treating me like an idiot?”

The investigator stroked his mustache and flinched.

“N, no, but… Just because he had fairy wing fabric doesn’t mean he committed a crime.”

“Why not?”

“Only the production and distribution of fairy wing fabric is illegal; simple possession isn’t.”

“He directly stated his intention to distribute it in front of me. There’s a high probability that he was involved in the production as well.”

“Just because he stated his intention to distribute it doesn’t mean he’s actually doing it, and the production is unknown. We could end up framing an innocent person.”

It was a clear sophistry [a clever but misleading argument].

Currently, fairy wing fabric was being traded secretly. It wasn’t easily detected by the authorities because the criminals had their own routes.

In the midst of all this, the owner of a famous trading business states his intention to distribute it and asks the Emperor’s aide to change the law?

A normal investigator would never show such an irresponsible attitude.

Philomell sensed it.

‘This guy took a bribe.’

Come to think of it, wouldn’t it be strange if he didn’t bribe the people involved while committing illegal acts?

She had been too naive.

Rather, the investigator began to appease her.

“Please don’t be like that. Isn’t William Hounds related to Lady Philomell by blood? There’s no need for family to get angry with each other.”

Philomell said in a low voice.

“You wouldn’t even consider investigating?”

“I’m sorry. We’re short on manpower, so it would be difficult.”

Before Philomell arrived, the investigator was playing cards with his colleagues.

“I understand. I’ll come again later.”

She left the commercial crime division.

The investigator, watching her leave, breathed a sigh of relief. He finally caught his breath.

“Come again later? What can she do anyway.”

Even as he muttered to himself, the investigator’s expression was not bright.

Although she was a commoner, that woman was treated as a VIP by the Imperial family.

‘It’s better to be careful.’

He had to go to William quickly and tell him the situation.

Just in case, he should dispose of the related evidence and move the smuggled fairy wing fabric inventory elsewhere.

And in return, he would get more money and go to the casino. Hehe, the investigator, smiling, was about to leave the office.

The door opened and Philomell reappeared.

“Oh, why are you back…”

Before the flustered investigator could finish, she smiled brightly.

“I said I’d come again.”

And behind her, the chief of the Central Security Forces appeared, with a pale face.

“I heard everything Lady Philomell said. What… what have you been doing?”

“Yes? What do you mean what have I been doing…”

“You ignored the report about a strong suspect! Moreover, there are even circumstances that you received a bribe!”

“Th, that’s! A misunderstanding!”

Philomell gleefully watched the investigator trembling and making excuses to the chief.

‘You didn’t know I’d report directly to the higher-ups, did you?’

Count Polan’s contribution was great in getting her to move the chief of the Central Security Forces.

At first, even he was lukewarm to Philomell’s opinion.

“As far as I know, that friend isn’t that kind of person…”

It was a typical case of protecting his own.

However, when Philomell borrowed his communication stone and contacted the Emperor’s secretary, his attitude changed 180 degrees.

Indeed, it was good to have connections. Although it wasn’t desirable to influence official duties with connections…

Philomell said to herself, as if making excuses.

“I was going to do it by the book. I couldn’t help it.”

In the end, the investigator confessed during intense questioning that he had received a bribe from William and had been turning a blind eye to the distribution of fairy wing fabric.

Immediately, security forces raided buildings owned by the Hounds trading business throughout the capital.

All of this happened on the same day that Philomell met William.