There Is No Place For Fakes

After leaving the office, Philomel walked out of the imperial palace with relatively light steps.

‘There were some unexpected incidents, but…’

Things seemed to be working out much better than expected. Her reputation was restored to some extent and she became rich. It was hard to say that neither of them lacked the virtues of the Emperor. Maybe Eustis liked her more than she thought.

“Is the effort worthwhile?”

However, she had no idea what the ‘confession’ Eustis was talking about earlier was. At that time, a tearing shout woke Philomel from her troubles.

“Why won’t you let me in! I said I want to see your Majesty!”

She felt that she had seen Roseanne even before entering. She was still screaming at the captain of the guards with full spirits. The captain of the guards was perplexed and said.

“So… Whoa. How many times have I explained to you? The Emperor is not someone you can meet just because he invited you to dance once.”

“Tell His Majesty that Roseanne has arrived! Then he’ll see me!”

Philomel looked at Roseanne with tired eyes.

“You were still holding out here…”

It was great persistence.

“You!”

Roseanne, who suddenly spotted Philomel, glared at her.

“Are you teasing me? Why do you keep going in and out of here?”

“Then where do you go back and forth after leaving the front door?”

“You can look down on me now, but…”

“You’re taller than me. How can I look down at you? I’ll look up.”

When Philomel didn’t say a word, Roseanne wheezed loudly.

“Even though your personality is not good, you must have had a lot of trouble pretending to be a benevolent Princess. Does His Majesty know your true nature?”

In fact… that was what Philomel herself felt. Her nature, which had been suppressed by pretending to be a good child, had recently been waking up. She didn’t know if that’s because she’s no longer the Princess, or if it’s because she’s hanging out with four rich people who make fun of each other every day.

‘Anyway then.’

Philomel raised her finger and patted her on the forehead with her inconsiderate expression.

“Hey, Lady Manon, if you have a brain, how about you try using it?”

“What?”

“Why would His Majesty meet you? Why didn’t he dance with you back then? Why hasn’t he contacted you ever since?”

It was an explanation that even a child could understand at once, but Roseanne jerked her head.

“That’s because His Majesty is a shy person!”

“Shy?”

“The reason why he left without dancing at the ballroom must have been embarrassing because everyone’s attention was focused on him all of a sudden!”

Whose story was she talking about? Philomel even wondered if there was another Emperor in this country other than Eustis. The expressions on the faces of the Imperial Guards next to Philomel were also speechless. She shook her head as she realized that the illusion Roseanne was living under could not be broken by a word or two of hers.

“That’s enough. Stop talking.”

“So arrogant! Wait and see. When I become Empress, I will kill you early!”

“How are you going to do it? Shall we recreate what happened on the debut date?”

Rosanne’s complexion turned blue as Philomel waved her hand. Her body trembled like an aspen tree in fear of the imprinted slap. When Roseanne reacted that way, Philomel felt like a real gangster herself.

‘I’m an ideal pacifist where the other side doesn’t use force first…’

However, as if nothing was as instantaneous as her power, Roseanne finally turned her steps.

“How long do you think you can be so confident? Wait for my world to come even tomorrow!”

Even after all that bullshit, and although Roseanne finished the discussion by running away and curling up her tail, contrary to the assurance, the misfortune of Roseanne and Viscount Manon began the next day.

* * *

Early in the morning, Viscount Manon entered Roseanne’s room in a huff.

“Rosanne! Trouble! Trouble”

Roseanne, who was still sleepy, replied angrily.

“What are you doing?”

“Well! The inspectors have come to our house now!”

“Why the investigators?”

“Our family is said to have committed tax evasion! They say there was something illegal in the process of purchasing this mansion! And again… Anyway, there are a lot of things!”

Roseanne’s eyes flashed open.

“Did you really commit tax evasion?”

The Viscount Manon stuttered her.

“That’s true, but… Eh, anyone commits something illegal like this! Is there any reason not to say that our family, who will soon become the in-laws of the Imperial Family!”

It was. Aside from Viscount Manon’s faults, it was blatantly disrespectful to hold the Empress’s family guilty.

An indignant Roseanne stormed out of her room. Investigators were going through the whole mansion, including Viscount Manon’s office. In the Viscount’s office, Roseanne blocked an investigator who was taking a pile of her papers to the courthouse.

“What kind of safety is this here, where are you going wild!”

To her scolding with the dignity of an Empress to the fullest, the inspector answered indifferently.

“This is an order from His Majesty the Emperor. If you interfere, I will charge you with obstruction of justice.”

“What, what! His Majesty wouldn’t do that!”

“I can’t help it even if you don’t believe it.”

Then he passed Roseanne and went away. The other investigators were equally cocky. They all did their job, regardless of Roseanne’s scolding or yelling or using her body. When the investigators left after collecting the evidence, only the ruined mansion remained. Rumors that the Viscount family was under intense scrutiny for illegal activities quickly spread throughout the capital. If Roseanne was really meant to be Empress, she couldn’t be. Then it was the debtors’ turn. Foreseeing the fall of the Viscount, they flocked to the mansion.

“When are you going to pay back the 100,000 gold you borrowed!”

“Give me my money!”

Among the excited creditors, Viscount Manon was sweating.

“Honey! Why are you doing this! If my daughter becomes the Empress, she will pay it back!”

“The Empress is a freak!”

“You haven’t paid it back with that excuse yet!”

The Viscount had not poured all the money he had in order to purchase a mansion in the capital, but had borrowed money using the estate as collateral. If the debt stopped there, it would have been over if he handed over the estate. However, he borrowed additional money from acquaintances to satisfy his daughter’s vanity. They believed only the news of Roseanne in the newspaper and lent the Viscount a considerable sum. And eventually, Viscount Manon layed down.

“Ah! That’s because it’s not there now! If you want to get it, take it yourself!”

“If you don’t have money, let’s search the house and get something worthwhile!”

At someone’s cry, the creditors trampled on Viscount Manon and burst into the mansion. All the expensive-looking items in the Viscount’s house disappeared. Roseanne’s older brothers asked for help from the Capital guards, but the guards who were dispatched went back after doing only a performance, such as stopping the debtors.

Viscountess Manon fainted from shock.

Merchants filled the gaps left by creditors. It was the merchants of the boutique shop that Roseanne had been buying her goods from just yesterday. They camped in front of the mansion and clamored for payment. The members of the family could not go out recklessly as they watched with their eyes wide open.

Finally, the servants of the mansion went on strike.

“It’s already been three months since my salary was overdue!”

“My children are starving at home!”

It was the fault of Viscount Manon, who didn’t even pay the servants in order to save money.”

Everything in the house was paralyzed, and Roseanne’s family couldn’t even get a proper meal. As much as they were aware of the family situation, the servants ran away with the emergency money and jewelry hidden by the Manon family. The whole house was a mess.

Viscount Manon, almost crying, said to her daughter.

“Daughter! Go to His Majesty immediately. There must be something wrong! Go to the Imperial Palace and tell His Majesty the humiliation we suffered!” 

Roseanne put on the best one of her leftover dresses, and she took the two of her maids who had been left in her house and got into her carriage. She sneaked out through her back door, but her creditors and her merchants recognized her.

“There!”

“Roseanne got into the carriage!”

Roseanne urged her coachman.

“Hurry up! Hurry up!”

The coachman who remained in the mansion for similar reasons to her maids drove the horses. Until then there was still hope for Roseanne. She had no hope that everything would be resolved if she only met the Emperor.

‘This can’t be! I will definitely become an Empress! Because I am a special person!’

She was sure of it from a young age. She was different from others. So, when the Emperor asked her to dance, she had no doubts about her future to rise to that high position.

Eventually, the carriage arrived at the imperial palace.

Recalling the pursuers who were relentlessly following her carriage, Roseanne entered the imperial palace as if running. The problem arose when she tried to enter the inner palace without an invitation.

“No. Go back.”

“Oh, the other day she was so confident that she would be the next Empress that she went inside like a storm. We were the only ones who hit the bell.”

Unlike yesterday, the gatekeepers of the Inner Palace, who kept her attention, did not let Roseanne in. However, the sky did not completely abandon Roseanne.

“What’s going on?”

The Emperor himself appeared in front of Roseanne.