There Is No Place For Fakes

“Then, will you be staying at the southern palace?”

After dinner, as Philomel lay down on the bed to go to sleep, Le Guin, who had returned to his human form, immediately asked.

“Yes. I’ll be staying at the State guest house for now.”

Philomel answered, pulling the blanket up to cover her body with. 

“Hmm. The southern building has weaker divine power than here, so that’s good for me.”

“Is that so?”

“By the way, will you really be okay without any attendants? Well, I’d be more comfortable that way.” 

“Actually, that is one of the reasons why I’m not taking any attendants. Since we all will meet more often in the futur- “

Philomel suddenly stopped mid sentence. 

Strangely, she felt uncomfortable.

It felt like she had forgotten something important.

“Why did you stop talking?”

“Uhm, I forgot something, didn’t I?”

“I don’t think so.”

Suddenly a figure came to Philomel’s mind when she looked at Le Guin’s face, who lifted one eyebrow casually. 

A cold shiver ran down Philomel’s spine at that moment, she kicked the covers off and stood up and exclaimed horrified. 

“Oh! Jeremiah!”

She had completely forgotten about Jeremiah, who had been put in the dark space.

***

Jeremiah, now outside of the dark space, still had his limbs restrained

“…Je, Jeremiah?”

His eyes flickered open at Philomel’s call.

He glared at them terrifyingly with his blue eyes. He seemed very angry, and rightfully so. 

The original plan was to talk to Eustis and then come back and release Jeremiah. But as Ellencia intervened and Catherine’s problem came to light, Jeremiah was forgotten.

This is not good. She was going to be hated by him before she had the chance to get on his good side.  

“Uh, please release him quickly…”

Philomel urged Le Guin and hid behind his back.

“…”

Jeremiah, who Philomel thought was going to run wild the second he was freed, was calm for some reason. But he still glared at Philomel and Le Guin in turn.

“Why are you squinting so hard? 

“…”

As if rebelling against his father’s words, he narrowed his eyes even more.

“Don’t do that. I’m sorry.”

Philomel mustered up her courage and stepped forward. It was the courage given by the so-called ‘secret weapon’ in her hand.

“Jeremiah! I’m sorry I took you out so late! It’s a small gift, but would you please accept it?”

Philomel held out a plate with cookies. She always had snacks in her room to eat whenever she was hungry.

“Humph”

But Jeremiah jerked his head away.

“You must be hungry, so please eat something first.”

No response. 

“It’s…pretty good. It has got a lot of chocolate in it.”

Philomel murmured in a small voice as if trying to coax a small child. 

“What about me? Why aren’t you giving me some?”

Le Guin frowned and asked from the side. It seemed that he didn’t like the fact that she didn’t offer him cookies.

“You’ve had the dinner I prepared for you, didn’t you? 

Philomel, feeling a bit tired, responded by pressing her a finger between her brows.

“That’s that, and this is this.”

This man may be the Mage Tower Master but he really acted like a child. 

But then an opportunity presented itself.

“What is with this act? What the hell are you two trying to pull off in front of me-“

When Jeremiah opened his tightly closed mouth, Philomel quickly pushed a cookie in. 

“You…”

He chewed the food in his mouth steadily, with a frown. 

Soon, a light shone in his blue eyes. 

“… it’s all right to eat.”

“Eat more.”

“If you think I’m going to let everything go this easily-“

Philomel quickly pushed another one in, so Jeremiah had no choice but to munch on it. 

After swallowing the cookie, he opened his mouth again.

“That’s enough. You can stop now-.”

This time, Philomel pushed three cookies all at once. The sight of Jeremiah munching on cookies with stuffed cheeks and occasional mumbling, reminded Philomel of a hamster. 

“You’re thirsty, aren’t you? I’ll get you a cup of water.”

“Hmm…”

Philomel poured water into a cup and held it out for Jeremiah, he cleared his throat and accepted it without any fuss. 

‘If you eat cookies, you’ll get thirsty!’

After a few ‘huffs’ and ‘puffs’, Jeremiah, now with a full stomach, said. 

 “… hmm. Now why don’t you stop with this ridiculous act already, if you have something to say, say it quickly.”

Contrary to his semi cold words, the angle of Jeremiah’s raised eyebrows became gentler than before. His anger has subsided to a degree. 

“You have quite an appetite.”

Looking at the cleanly empty cookie plate, Le Guin complained from the side.

But Philomel, who was relieved at her success, didn’t pay him any attention. 

She was happy at the fact that sweet food worked well on the picky Jeremiah. 

Jeremiah, the Prince of Ice. 

He is a glutton for food although he denies it. Especially sweets. 

Philomel knew this fact because it was mentioned in <Princess Ellencia>.

The Ellencia in the book, broke through the walls surrounding Jeremiah’s heart with a sweet dessert. 

Jeremiah’s importance in the book was not high because the male lead was Nasar, but his love for dessert was so intense that Ellencia always gave him something sweet to munch on in every scene he appeared in. 

‘It’s good. If I make good use of this fact, I might be able to turn Jeremiah to my side!’

A brilliant plan formed in Philomel’s head.

“Hey, are you listening? Why did you lock me up?”

Philomel bowed in apology again at Jeremiah’s question. 

“I’m so sorry. It must have been really uncomfortable, right? It was very wrong of me to leave you there like that.”

“No, well… you’re not the only one to blame. In the end, it was Le Guin who put me in…”

Another piece of information about Jeremiah mentioned in the book was that he wasn’t cruel to those who admitted their mistakes and reflected on them. Even if Ellencia made a mistake, he accepted it if she apologized properly.

“But I’m still sorry.”

“So tell me why did you do that?”

Jeremiah’s eyebrows are now perfectly in place, indicating he wasn’t angry anymore. 

“It’s just…”

Philomel cautiously opened her mouth.

***

The next morning was a bright sunny day. 

“Good morning, Miss Philomel.”

After waking Philomel up, Countess Deles, who was looking around the bedroom with wide eyes, asked. 

“Where is the cat?”

Philomel responded with a yawn.

“It went out the window. I guess sleeping outside is more comfortable.”

“Well, since he was originally a stray cat, that might be the case.”

In truth, Le Guin was dragged outside after being grabbed by Jeremiah last night.

Philomel asks Jeremiah to stay with her for one more day.

“What? So you locked me up because you wanted to talk to me more?”

Jeremiah asked shockingly at Philomel’s poor excuse for a cover up. 

But he didn’t get angry.

“… If that’s the case, just say it. There’s no reason for me not to stay a day or two longer to listen to you.”

His reaction, sighing and scolding lightly, was quite unexpected.

‘I see, so you’ll listen to me even if I don’t make big excuses.’

Philomel blinked and thought.

She inadvertently thought that it wouldn’t be easy to get on Jeremiah’s good grace since he was so hostile towards the Philomel in the book. 

“Anyway, it’s late at night, we can talk more tomorrow.”

Jeremiah said, looking at the clock and picked his father, who had  turned into a cat in the meantime, up and headed toward the terrace entrance.

“Why are you offering us to stay here when you don’t have a single room for us to stay at?”

The cat scowled, but when Philomel agreed with Jeremia, he eventually went along. And they disappeared through the terrace window.

Only after closing the window did Philomel finally feel at ease. 

She was thankful that Jeremiah had enough courtesy to go somewhere else for tonight and take Le Guin with him. It was quite uncomfortable to share a bedroom with her biological father, who had turned into a cat.

Furthermore…

“You talk a lot in your sleep.”

Le Guin’s fleeting comment yesterday made Philomel even more uncomfortable.

‘I didn’t know that I still have such a sleeping habit.’

When she was a child, her nanny nagged her about not being able to sleep well because of her sleep talking. 

But she hadn’t heard anyone mention it since the nanny’s departure, so Philomel thought she had grown out of that habit. 

Looking back, she was eight by the time the nanny was fired. She always slept alone afterward, so others didn’t have a chance to notice her sleeping habits.

‘I can’t believe my inner feelings are leaking out without my knowledge… I hate it. I don’t want anyone to know.’

“It’s a beautiful day. What do you want to do today?”

At that time, Countess Deles opened the window to let fresh air in and asked.

Philomel looked at her warm face for a moment before replying.

“I’m going to rest quietly all day today. It seems the fatigue from traveling hasn’t worn off yet.”

“Then I will make sure no one disturbs Miss Philomel’s rest. Can I tell them to leave your meal at the door?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

“Rest well then.”

The quick-witted Countess quickly withdrew.

Countess is a very nice person. She always cares about Philomel and takes care of her.

‘But… ‘

The Countess was still among the people Philomel did not want to reveal her true self. 

It wasn’t that she was dissatisfied or didn’t trust her. It was just that Philomel couldn’t be completely honest with her.

Be kind to everyone, but don’t open your heart to any. 

That was Philomel’s way of living up until now.

“… am I truly able to change?”

Philomel let out a small sigh.