There Is No Place For Fakes

“Hey!”

Then someone ran from the direction where the maid was. As far as Philomel knew, there was only one person in the imperial palace who was capable of jumping like this without being caught in the middle of the body.

“Nassar is here? Are you still there? It must have already gone…”

The figure spotted Philomel in front of the maid and stopped.

“…Princess Ellencia.”

Philomel bowed her head towards Ellencia and greeted her.

“Uh, Philomel.”

Ellencia smiled and approached Philomel.

“I saw you in the morning and see you again.”

“Yes.”

“By the way, did Nassar come here?”

“…Your Highness and he must have crossed paths.”

Philomel hesitated for a moment at the title ‘Nassar’, but replied as if nothing was wrong. Thinking that he might still be nearby, Ellensia looked around. Philomel suddenly wondered if the two of them had already met each other.

“Have you made an appointment with the young Duke?”

“Hehe. It’s not like that.”, she replied shyly, with a peachy complexion on her cheeks.

“I heard rumors that Nassar of the Duke of Avrydon is a really nice person, so I wanted to meet him.”

Did that mean they haven’t officially met yet?

“Then is this maid the maid serving Her Highness the Princess?”

Philomel asked, pointing to the maid snooping at the door.

“That’s right. Emily saw the little Duke near and sent another maid to inform me. I ran as soon as I heard, but I was late.”

It seemed that this maid’s name was Emily.

“If you want, you can have the maid call the little Duke.”

Philomel said, frowning in one corner of her eye. Strictly speaking, it was disrespectful for her to ask someone to come without an appointment, but no one would take pity on the imperial family for committing such rudeness. Moreover, Ellencia was not just a member of the royal family, but the only daughter of an Emperor who built unprecedented power in history.

“Ah. I’m sorry, how is that?

She didn’t know what it’s like, but she could understand her desire to see Nassar outside.

Well, the meeting between the female lead and the male lead was natural.

‘Ah, I thought of it this way again.’

Realizing her insidious habit, Philomel bit her lip. Since <Princess Elencia> was, of all things, a novel, she had developed a habit of treating this world as a romance novel. She was trying to fix it, but it didn’t work.

Ellencia, who was staring at Mel with such a feeling, asked a question.

“…Philomel is very close with Nassar?”

“I’m not too close with him, but we met often as fiancées. But don’t worry, we’re not engaged anymore.”

Philomel replied in a slow tone.

“… it’s ok. Even if the two of you are close, what should I worry about?”

Ellencia answered with a dark expression for some reason.

“But I envy Philomel.”

“What are you jealous of?”, asked Philomel, looking down at Ellencia.

“There is no maid who bothers me. I am grateful that everyone is there for me, but to be honest, it is inconvenient for me if they keep doing things for me that I can do alone. I don’t need it.”

Then she added, “I guess it’s because I grew up in an environment with no one to help me. Anyway, I’ll leave now. I’ll have to meet with Nassar next time.”

So Ellencia took her maid, Emily, and went away. Philomel’s maids didn’t even have time to tell her that they had only moved out of her place for a moment. Philomel thought as she watched her recede from her back.

‘Have I been ignored?’

If she hadn’t listened to Catherine, she would have lightly passed it off as Ellencia being so naive that she was like that. She did, but now she had an ominous feeling of discomfort running up her spine. What if she had faced Ellencsia without reading <Princess Ellencia>? Even so, would she have accepted Ellencia as a kind and lovely girl?

‘I guess I should read that book again’

Maybe she should take a closer look at Ellencia’s characterization.

* * *

“Oh, we’ll do these things for you! Your Highness, just rest in peace.”

In the end, the tray was taken away by the returning Countess Deles, and Philomel went out for a walk. To the Countess’ concern that she would be in danger without an escort, Philomel pointed at her cat.

“It’s okay because this cat will protect me.”

Then the Countess Deles and her maids burst into laughter.

“You’re all joking.”

She was not kidding. She was that cat’s daughter, though, and if she was in danger, it was unlikely that Le Guin would pretend not to know her.

‘If it was a real cat, I would have embraced it.’

Not wanting to carry her father around like that, Philomel asked him to follow her. Fortunately, Le Guin followed her all the way to the garden in the imperial palace without muttering.

“Now go back to your original form. There’s no one around.”

Among the many gardens in the imperial palace grounds, Philomel said as he entered the maze garden. In the past, there used to be a garden dedicated to the imperial family at the site of this labyrinth garden. It was the place where the family of the Marquis of Elos had ruined it after making fun of her.

“I’ve seen it often, but it’s kind of boring. You should decorate it in a funny way.”

At that time, the garden was reborn as a labyrinth garden at the sudden instruction of the Emperor, but since Eustis did not visit the garden unless Philomel recommended it, the garden was practically hers alone. She thought about what would be the least crowded place in the imperial palace, but she could only think of this. She was worried about what would happen to her if she didn’t let her in, saying that she was no longer the princess, but the guards guarding her entrance only raised their spears to show their respect.

“Aww.”

However, Le Guin did not intend to change into his human form.

“Why is that? You can change.”

“Awww.”

“Are you sick?”

Then a voice interrupted.

“It’s not like nobody’s here, so it doesn’t change.”

It was a tree located next to the canopy.

“Who are you!”

Startled, Philomel shrieked sharply. Then, a person jumped down from the tree.

“Now that you know it is me, change. Bad tempered old man.”

The man in the robe brushed the leaves off his clothes.

‘Wait, how about that outfit?’

As Philomel listened, she seemed familiar with the sweet voice, which seemed to be halfway between a boy and a man.

“You are the one who caught the impostor!”

“Huh?”

The man’s gaze turned to the voice Philomel recognized.

“What is it? Aren’t you that stupid kid back then?”

Philom Mel was confused, she looked at the cat and then at the man.

“Huh?”

As the man took off the hood of his suit, a familiar face popped out. Hiser appearance, very similar to Le Guin’s, showed his eyes, only a different color. It was such a cold blue.

“You dare to inspire your father. The buds you haven’t seen have become even more yellow, Jeremiah.”

“Heh, pretending to be a father. Do you remember how long I’ve been away from the Magic Tower?”

“Um. A week?”

“Six months. Don’t pretend to know if you’re not interested. This is inspiration.”

Philomel said cautiously towards the two arguing, as if they couldn’t see her.

“…Excuse me, both of you, please stop.”

“I’m not old enough to be called that yet.”

“Originally, the older you get, the more you want to deny your age. You’re getting uglier, Le Guin.”

“Good. You are imprisoned for 8 hours in a dark space. Go to the bathroom beforehand.”

But they only growled at each other, as if they couldn’t hear Philomel’s voice.

“I want you to stop!”

Eventually, Philomel couldn’t stand it and she screamed. Only then did the magic circle above Jeremiah’s head disappear. Philomel, who involuntarily made a loud noise, shut her mouth in surprise, but she didn’t seem to have upset either of them. 

The three of them were sitting in the middle of the maze garden, under a canopy made of wood, chatting. To be precise, it was a quarrel between father and son under the guise of chatting. Philomel opened her mouth to clear things up.

“So this person’s name is Jeremiah, and he is the son of the lord of the mage tower. You mean this?”

“Call me by name, not the mage tower lord.”

He gave an answer completely unrelated to Le Guin’s question.

“Yes, Lord Le Guin.”

“Le Guin.”

“…Okay, Le Guin.”

Did he prefer to be called by his first name without any honorifics? Come to think of it, Jeremiah also called Le Guin by his first name. Still calling her father by name… It was against Philomel’s manners, but she understood that they would have their own rules.

“So Jeremiah is Le Guin’s son…”

“I hate to admit it, but it’s true.”

This time, Jeremiah, who sat crookedly, answered.

“I hate to admit it too. Don’t go anywhere and call me my son.”

“I won’t ask for money to tell you.”

“Stop, stop.”

Again, Philomel, who stopped them from starting an argument, let out a small sigh. It seemed that this father and son, who looked alike as if they were printed on a plate, had a really, really bad relationship.

“But Jeremiah, how did you get in here? She’s guarded by the guards.”

“Beyond the labyrinth wall. It’s understandable when you see that he’s not up to the level of the royal guards at the Emperor’s Palace.”

Jeremiah seemed to have a crooked personality not only with Le Guin, but with everything.

“Then, is Jeremiah the person Le Guin said he was supposed to meet with?”

“That’s right. But what about the rest of you?” 

“I don’t know. What interview are you talking about?”

Was there anyone else besides Jeremiah that you’re supposed to meet? In front of Philomel, who tilted her head, another person appeared in the maze garden with a certain voice.

“The interview passed. It was just a simple formality.”

This time Philomel knew him well.