There Is No Place For Fakes

“There’s no time to feel down! I have to quickly go out and see as much as I can from the outside world.”

Philomel slapped her cheeks and opened the terrace door.

“Le Guin! Jeremiah! Can you hear me? Are you still sleeping?”

Not knowing where they might have spent the night, Philomel shouted out loud.

The answer came back almost immediately.

“I’m awake.”

Jeremiah, with a cat on his bird-nest like hair, descended from a nearby tree.

“You two seem to be getting along better than I thought.”

Philomel let out an amused laugh at Jeremiah’s appearance. He looked somewhat cute, in her opinion. Jeremiah shook his head.

“Don’t say that even as a joke. He said he didn’t want me to look down on him and climbed up on his own.”

“Did you sleep on the tree?”

“It’s annoying to walk around, and I couldn’t find a free room. But it’s okay. this person and I have slept in the wilderness before, so no big deal.”

“Mww.”

As if agreeing, the cat let out a cry.

“So, what is it that you wanted to tell me? I hope you can wrap it up quickly.”

Jeremiah asked as he approached Philomel. His attitude towards Philomel was much better than when they first met, but it was still a feisty one.

‘Hmm. The cookies I gave you yesterday aren’t enough, huh?”

It seems that Philomel still has to fill his stomach with lots of sweets to leave a good impression on him. 

“All right, I’ll show it to you instead!”

“Show?”

“Yes, will you please come with me?”

It was time to put the plan Philomel had in mind since yesterday into action.

“To where?”

“To the Central Plaza, it is the busiest street in the empire. Have you ever been there?”

‘The Central Plaza is a place that Jeremiah, who hates overpopulated places, has never been to. It’s a place I won’t be going to anytime in the future either.’

“No, I don’t like it.”

Once again his answer came immediately.

But Philomel had her reasons to take him there.

“Oh, it’s gonna be fun because there are so many things to see. It’s not a famous tourist destination for no reason.”

“No. We can talk here as much as you want.”

“If you go there with me, I’ll buy you something sweet and delicious.” 

“…well, I don’t like sweets! I was just hungry yesterday.”

An obvious lie.

“Actually, seeing the Central Plaza was one of my dreams, since I’ve never been able to go while living as an imperial Princess… So can we please go?”

 Jeremiah’s mouth wriggled as Philomel tried to look as pitiful as possible.

“Just go with me, you don’t need him.”

Le Guin, who transformed back into a human, pitched in, but Philomel ignored him.

“I would be really happy if Jeremiah went with me…”

“Okay! I’ll go! I’ll go!”

Eventually, Jeremiah raised the white flag.

“Phil, hold my hand while we are going. I’ll teleport us to the Plaza in a heartbeat.”

Philomel looked at Le Guin, who held his hand out for her, with a questioning face. 

“What are you doing? Le Guin should stay here.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want anyone to find out that I’m gone.”

If she were caught, there would be a huge commotion.

However, it was cumbersome to go through formal procedures and go out.

“Please. Would you Please keep an eye here. If anything happens, please trick everyone. You can do that with magic, right?”

Philomel exclaimed with a grin.

* * *

Le Guin, who could not refuse Philomel’s request, took Philomel and Jeremiah to a back alley near the Plaza via teleportation magic.

He crossed the magic suppression barrier of the Imperial Palace without even blinking. Judging from the fact that the alarm didn’t go off, he doesn’t seem to be affected by the detection spell either.

‘To think that the Palace security could be breached this easily, it would be better to call the person in charge and instruct them to patch the barrier up properly-.’

Philomel, who habitually thought like a Princess, shook her head.

How to improve security? She would only make it more difficult for herself to sneak in and out of the Imperial Palace.

“I’m more familiar with the Plaza, so I’m confident I can do better than Jeremiah,”

Le Guin grumbled loudly, while leaning against a lamppost.

“But what can I do? Phil told me to go back.

‘You’re so childish!’

Philomel was speechless at the childishness of her biological father.

It seems that the only criteria needed to be appointed as the master of the Mage Tower is good magic skills. They do not consider sincerity or maturity.

‘… hm, but maybe it was too much to ask the master of the Mage Tower to stay behind and look after my room?’

Belated worries crossed Philomel’s mind. 

But right now, Le Guin’s existence is a hindrance to the quality time she wants to spend with Jeremiah. She was sure if she took them both, her time would be spent just with the father and son arguing the whole time. And Philomel won’t be able to achieve her goal today at all. 

However, if Le Guin got angry and left his daughter to go back to the Mage Tower, it would get difficult for Philomel to stay in the Imperial Palace. 

The Emperor said he would treat Philomel as a state guest, but it was unclear whether others would treat her the same way.

If things suddenly went according to the development of <Princess Ellencia>, Le Guin’s help was essential to her. 

Although he gave up in the end, Le Guin was the only one who protected ‘Philomel’ in <Princess Ellensia>.

 And… 

‘I’m afraid of Ellencia.’

To save Catherine, Ellencia’s words and actions in front of Eustis were contrary. 

“I love her! I know my dad hates my mom, but she’s more like a mother to me than the mother who gave birth to me.”

Did Ellencia really try to save Catherine? Maybe she rather wanted to get her killed.

In the conversation she had with Philomel just before running towards Eustis, Ellensia was visibly taken aback after hearing Catherine’s words.

Catherine felt that Ellensia had changed into a different person. What if Ellencia deliberately tried to anger his Majesty with those words in order to get rid of Catherine…? 

Philomel’s shoulders trembled slightly at the heavy, shady malice.

It may be a rather far-fetched thought, but it wasn’t an unreasonable doubt either. And if Ellencia’s malice was directed at Philomel at some point, there was no suitable solution.

Ellencia was a princess who would one day take over the throne, in case she turned against Philomel, she’d be helpless without Le Guin’s support.

‘I need to ease Le Guin’s mood.’

In an emergency situation, he was the most reliable shield.

Philomel spoke to Le Guin with a sociable smile.

“Ah, don’t be like that, relax. Le Guin can come out to sightsee with me later.”

“… when?”

“Well, when we both have time? I’ll give you a special tour of the capital then.”

“Really?”

“Of course.”

‘It seems a bit tempting, but let’s also add a little lie.’

Philomel lowered her voice, so Jeremiah wouldn’t be able to hear her.

“Actually, I came out this time to do a sort of rehearsal with Jeremiah. .”

“Rehearsal?”

“Yes, I want to get a better look around and discover the good places so I can take Le Guin there directly next time.” 

“… really?”

He thought about it as if he didn’t understand.

‘It is a ridiculous excuse after all…’

 However, a clear conclusion soon emerged.

“Then… It means that I have more priority than Jeremiah!”

It was an attitude that had no doubts at the ridiculous excuse Philomel’s came up with, like a clear sky.

Philomel realized at that moment.

‘This person is simpler than I thought.’

She added flattering words to cheer him up.

“Of course, Le Guin has priority. Le Guin is the master of the Mage Tower, is skilled in magic, and passes through the barriers of the Imperial Palace, and uh, um… his magic is very…”

Gradually, the reasons why Le Guin was better than Jeremiah disappeared. No, if you looked carefully, that’s all. In the end, it was only that his magic skills were better than Jeremiah’s.

What else was there? His appearance? But he looks just like Jeremiah.

However, Le Guin’s expression brightened, it seemed that he didn’t care that much about the rest. 

“Yes, that’s what it was. As expected.”

“That’s right. That’s what it is.”

‘I don’t know what that is, but I roughly agreed.’

After that, Le Guin kindly left after leaving the words to call him through the communication device if she wanted to return to the imperial palace.

Philomel let out a sigh while holding her chest.

That’s a relief. He’s as simple as he’s childish and easy to handle.

Taking a breather, she approached Jeremiah, who was far away.

Jeremiah didn’t even want to be in the same place as his father, so as soon as they teleported to the back alley, he went a block away by himself.

“The Palace is not a place that I want to stay at for long because I can’t use magic.”

Jeremiah murmured as he played with a magic formation on his fingertips.

Unlike his brothers, who became court Mages and were exempted from the magic suppression barrier, he was unable to exert himself within the imperial palace.

In <Princess Ellencia>, he becomes a court wizard. To protect Elencia at all times.

For the sake of a woman who considered him just a friend, he killed his character of seeking isolation and joined an organization.

Perhaps because she sympathized with his unrequited love, Philomel somehow became attached to Jeremiah while reading the book.

Although he was a character who regarded ‘Philomel’ in the book as an eyesore, it was understandable because ‘Philomel’ committed so many sins. 

To him who hovered around Ellencia, ‘Philomel’, who was the princess’s handmaid, tried to quarrel with him about everything.

The relationship between ‘Philomel’ and Jeremiah was really bitter. 

‘Would have anything changed if they knew that they were siblings by blood?’

Jeremiah leaves far away due to the scars of a broken heart before ‘Philomel’ commits herself to the magic tower.

‘Philomel’ might have later learned that Jeremiah was her brother while living in the Mage Tower…

As soon as Jeremiah left Ellencia, the weight of ‘Philomel’ also evaporated, so there is no way to know the details.

The only thing I knew about ‘Philomel’s’ next activities was to be caught between the Mage Tower and the Empire, and later she was dragged to the execution table.

‘Anyway, to avoid the worst ending and find the truth about the book, what I have to do now has been decided.’

Looking at Jeremiah’s back, Philomel braced herself.

“I’ll make sure you’re on my side!”