There Is No Place For Fakes

After Eustis left…

Pollan instructed the knights to roughly treat Catherine’s wounds and imprison her.

Catherine should consider herself lucky to have a daughter who resembles her. If she wasn’t, she would have been already dead.

“As expected, Catherine was the culprit! I told Isabella not to hang out with that lowly girl!”

The nanny, who belatedly understood the situation, jumped.

As Catherine had been a friend of the empress since childhood, the nanny seemed to know her well.

“Madam, thank you for your hard work. I’ll drive you to your house in a carriage, so you can stop and go back.”

At Pollan’s words, the nanny clung to Ellencia.

“The Count too! Because you can’t be subtle. Who else can the princess trust and depend on, no other than me? Yes? Princess Ellencia.”

“Oh, yes, that’s right.”

Ellencia, who was lost in other thoughts, nodded.

“So for the time being, I will stay in the imperial palace and take good care of the princess. Please arrange a room next to the residence of the princess.”

At this point, it must be our intention to use Ellencia as an excuse to speak here.

Looking at the nanny’s pretentious smile, Pollan thought.

Even at first glance, her clothes were ragged and the wrinkles deepened, revealing that her life outside the imperial palace was exhausting.

Considering the history of the nanny, it was reluctant, but it made sense.

One day, Ellensia was in a strange place where she didn’t know anyone. It would be helpful for her, who has a long career as a nanny, to be by Ellencia’s side.

“All right, I’ll prepare a place for you to stay.”

“Hoho! That makes sense.”

“However, it is only until a new maid is selected to serve Lady Ellencia. Always remember what caused you to be kicked out, and watch your behavior.”

“Ah, okay. You speak harshly. Now, princess, let’s go to your room.”

Ellencia, who had followed the nanny, turned to Pollan. It was a dark expression.

“Well, count.”

“Yes, Miss Ellencia.”

The priest had already confirmed that Ellencia had divine power. It was an enormous amount that was difficult for a country girl to have unless she was from the royal family.

Moreover, it was revealed that Ellencia looked just like the empress when she was young because of her nanny. It was a fact that she was the real daughter.

“Isn’t Daddy glad he found me?”

“That’s…”

Pollan chose words to reassure the girl.

“It can’t be. He needs time to accept it. For over ten years, he has lived with Philomel as his daughter. Don’t be too heartbroken.”

Ellencia must have lived her whole life longing for her father, but to Eustis, she was a daughter he could never have imagined.

“… I guess so, right? Thank you for your words. I’ll just go.”

“Make yourself at home.”

The new princess returned to her place.

* * *

Four or five men sat around the table where the food was set.

“Did you hear? Princess Philomel is not the real daughter of His Majesty the Emperor.”

“I heard you. Wherever you go these days, it’s all about that. The officials are also frantic to find the princess.”

“The princess is a piece of shit! According to rumors, she is the daughter of the bitch who kidnapped the real princess.”

“Then, did the criminal’s daughter live pretending to be the princess?”

“Hey, put aside any unconfirmed stories. If it was a false rumor, we’ll all be blown away!”

“Hey, how can everyone be so loud when there’s no basis?”

“I don’t believe it either. The person reputed to be benevolent could be the blood of the kidnapper.”

“I was afraid that it would be discovered that it was fake, so I hid my true identity. Don’t you know anything about that? Innocent children.”

“What do you think? I don’t know what to do.”

“Would you like to find a fake princess and sell it for a bounty?”

“If that’s the case, even your wife who left the house will come back!”

“Why is this human talking about that again?”

Loud laughter erupted.

Afterward, the topic changed from the fake princess to the wife who left the house, and they chatted about leaving the restaurant.

Philomel pushed her hat even deeper for no reason. Even though I woke up early today and changed my hair color with the dye I bought at the market, I was not relieved.

Philomel was eating breakfast in the restaurant attached to the inn.

When I arrived at Angelium yesterday, it was too late to visit the magic tower. The Magic Tower was only open to the public during the day.

A waitress came up and asked.

“My lady, when you finish eating, shall we serve tea?”

“No. It’s okay, I’m going out now.”

Philomel put down the tableware and stood up.

“Are you going to stay here tonight?”

“Um. I’ll decide later after seeing the situation.”

A few people looked at Philomel as he left the restaurant, but soon looked away. It was the effect of presence-erasing magic.

When I went outside, people were gathered in twos and threes in front of the bulletin board.

“Is this woman the fake princess?”

“She looks nice.”

“She’s still a fraud.”

I walked down the street, trying not to face it as much as possible.

Magic isn’t omnipotent. If someone suspected that she was the princess in the painting from the beginning and looked closely, they could have noticed it.

Because of that, it took more time than expected to get to Angelium by bypassing the middle gateway.

Copies of Philomel’s portrait were plastered on bulletin boards and every wall, and the security guards patrolled from time to time, blinking their eyes.

Since she was already a woman alone, she only went around when the sun was up, so the speed was slow, but the restrictions only increased.

“Ha. Am I that bad?”

Still, I hoped that he would turn a blind eye to her because he still had a bit of affection.

The purpose of finding and bringing  Ellencia was also to earn the Emperor’s favor as much as possible. Of course, the biggest purpose was to confuse people, so she could easily escape.

In any case, seeing the extensive search operation using all the manpower at their disposal, it seemed that they wanted to capture Philomel no matter what.

‘If I get caught, I won’t be safe.’

Perhaps the crime of escape is added, and he may go straight to the execution site.

Eustis, who was coldly looking down at young Philomel in her head, and the gentleman who gave her a birthday present crossed paths.

The chest area was tingling. So she walked briskly on purpose.

If Le Guin, whom she would meet in the future, accepted Philomel like in the book, she would be protected by the Magic Tower, but if not, she planned to go abroad immediately.

Even in the book, since he accepted ‘Philomel’, who had fled before being executed, it seemed that she could put aside the worry of being accused of being a fake princess.

After all, he was the biological father.

After walking for about 10 minutes from Angelium, the magic tower appeared.

The huge stone buildings resembled fortresses or castles rather than towers, except that they reached high into the sky.

Originally, it was in the form of a tower, but as magicians gathered from all over the world and repeatedly expanded it, it became like this.

The Magic Tower is geographically adjacent to the Empire and has free passage, but is treated as a separate administrative district. And the head of this place and the head of the wizards are called the Mage Tower Master.

“If you wish to make a request, please come this way!”

Standing in front of the small entrance on the side of the magic tower, a man shouted.

There was a long line starting from the entrance. Fifty people could easily see through eyes.

Since the beginning was the wizard guild, many people came to the Mage Tower to make requests.

Hesitated. She was at a loss as to how to meet Le Guin.

If you claim to be the hidden daughter of the Lord of the magic tower, you will surely be treated like a madman. Even so, she couldn’t blindly ask for a meeting with the owner of the tower.

I heard that Le Guin, the magic tower lord wrapped in a veil, does not easily meet even if a great noble comes.

“Should I just pretend to be crazy and tell him I’m your daughter?”

But if you say it over there, it will attract a lot of people’s attention.

Then someone approached Philomel.

“Lady, do you have something to do at the Mage Tower?”

He was a neatly dressed old man.

“Yes, that is correct.”

“Eh, that’s wrong. Look at the line over there. Even if you stand at the end now, you won’t be able to see the wizard’s shadow today.”

“I see. I should come early in the morning.”

Philomel became impatient.

The magic tower is not always open to the outside world. If I missed today, I would have to wait until next week, but I didn’t have time. Even now, the fear of the search was choking me every moment.

“It’s not like there’s no way.”

“What is that?”

“I’m working on supplying miscellaneous goods to the tower, so I know a few wizards. I’ll introduce you if you want.”

Maybe this is an opportunity. If she met the wizard and explained the situation well, there was a possibility that she would meet with the owner of the mage tower separately.

“Then Please introduce me.”

“Great. Fifty silver.”

“…was it paid?”

“Where in the world is there anything for free? I have to earn pocket money too.”

understood. This person is a broker.

What Philomel felt when she jumped out into the world was that there were outside rules.

“I’ll give it to you now. Hold on.”

Philomel took out a pocket from her bosom and counted the money inside.

Considering that the cost of a night’s lodging was 2 silver, 50 silver was quite expensive, but it was enough money.

Unfortunately, Philomel did not see the old man’s eyes light up when he saw the gold coins in her pocket.

“Give me this!”

“Oh!”

The old man suddenly snatched the bag and ran away. No, he was trying to run away.

“There are still people who commit low-level scams like this.”

“Ahh!”

Suddenly, the old man lost his balance and rolled on the floor. What caught my eye was someone’s outstretched leg.