There Is No Place For Fakes

“Is this really that important?”

Philomel’s voice trembled.

“It’s not like that, but it doesn’t take long either. Wouldn’t it be better to take care of it quickly and eat slowly?”

“I want to dine with Your Majesty as soon as possible.”

“You’re very considerate. I’ll be right there.”

‘No, I’m not…!’

Philomel bit her lip. Now there really was only one way. After taking her deep breath, she exclaimed “Ah!” and grabbed her stomach with both hands. Her body slowly disintegrated.

“Phil!”

Fortunately for her, right before she crashed to the floor, Eustis’ arm braced Philomel’s back.

“Why!”

“My stomach, my stomach hurts so much…”

It was a performance with all the strength of the body, but her tone was hard as if she was reading a book. Philodel basically had no talent for acting. The expressions of Count Pollan and the attendants naturally became grotesque as they watched her.

She could imagine her own self from others perspective. She should look like a spoiled fool.

“My, my stomach…”

However, she couldn’t bear to quit in the middle and continued her acting. Even when nobody trusted her acting.

“Philomel! Stay awake!”

No, one but the Emperor cried out with Philomel in his arms.

“What are you doing! Call the court physician quickly!”

“Yes, yes!”

Many of the attendants scattered at his order. However, the Emperor himself moved, as if he couldn’t wait for the time to call the court physician . Even through her closed eyelids, a bright radiance could be felt.

He used divine power to teleport with Philomel.

“What kind of disease is this!”

“That is…”

The young doctor pointed to Philomel’s belly at the Emperor’s question and only put on a puzzled expression. He was the one who had the misfortune of examining her because the head doctor was away.

“You have a mouth, so why can’t you speak? Could it be that she has a serious illness?”

“That, rather than that…”

The doctor was almost on the verge of crying. There was no problem in his own opinion, but the Emperor came out of the way and it seemed that he couldn’t say it properly.

Lying on the bed and looking at the situation with narrow eyes, Philomel apologized to the doctor in her heart.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Please hold on a little longer.”

She didn’t know exactly when the Book of God would find its place, but at least it didn’t seem like it yet. It was then. 

Growl.

Still hungry, Philodel’s stomach cried loudly.

“Damn it, what kind of disease makes that sound in the stomach?”

Philomel wanted to glue that mouth together.

“I’m embarrassed!”

Eventually, the Emperor even spat out words he shouldn’t have said.

“If you can’t fix it, you’ll die. The same goes for the others. In this palace, I’ll dry the seeds of those who are called doctors.”

Oh, she couldn’t stay still.

“Your majesty…”

Philomel gave as much limp voice as she could.

“Philomel! Does it hurts a lot?”

The Emperor came closer to the bed.

“…It hurts a little. And please don’t talk like that. Even if they can’t fix me, how is it the doctors’ fault? If all of the curt physicians disappear, who will take care of the sick? They too are someone’s parent, brother, or child. I’ve always felt uncomfortable whenever His Majesty spoke of who would be killed or saved…”

As Philomel kept talking, he put on a shy expression.

“…I get it. Be careful, I’m glad though. You seem to have the strength to speak.”

At that time, the door to the doctor room opened and the head court physician walked in.

“I’m sorry! The attendant who came to pick me up and the road crossed paths…”

“Where did you go and are you coming back only now?”

The Emperor, desperate and holding back what he wanted to say, pointed to the bed.

“Examine Philomel.”

The chief courtier looked at the Emperor with a puzzled face and approached Philomel.

“Excuse me for a minute.”

After examining Philomel’s body, his face changed color. Then he looked down at her own patient with mischievous eyes.

‘I heard you. It’s just malingering…’

Unlike the young doctor, with his experience, he should be able to tell the Emperor the truth as it was. During the last boating incident, he calmly informed the Emperor that Ellencia, who had fallen into the water, was faking her illness. However, instead of going to the Emperor, the head curt physician whispered in Philomel’s ear.

“How many weeks would you like to transpose?”

After thinking for a moment, Philomel replied in an equally low voice.

“All it takes is one day.”

The head court physician smiled and told the Emperor about Philomel’s illness.

“It’s good. Get some rest.”

Philomel grabbed the Emperor’s sleeve as he was about to leave the doctor’s office. It would be difficult if he had already returned to the library.

“Can’t you stay here a little longer?”

“You’d be better off without me.”

“I’m sick, so I’d like someone to stay by my side. Most likely, His Majesty. Is that a presumptuous request?”

“No. I will stay.”

Eustis, who was sitting next to the bed, nagged at her, telling her not to overdo it and to take care of herself, but soon fell silent. He kept his seat silently, and after a while, he got up when Philomel pretended to be asleep. Thus, with the help of the head doctor, Philomel’s malingering went undetected. The Book of God also returned to its original place in time, and there was no commotion after that. Philomel had time to contemplate the contents of the Book of God while recuperating in the council room for a day. And for a while, items sent by the Emperor arrived at her palace. It was a variety of restorative ingredients including the fruit of the world tree.

* * *

In the dining hall of her palace, the Emperor and Philomel were having lunch together.

“I came to do something I couldn’t do before.”

Saying that, Eustis stopped by her palace just thirty minutes ago.

‘Something I couldn’t do the other day’ refers to lunch. A few days ago, Philomel had said something to prevent him from entering the emperor’s library.

“I want you to eat with me. Right now.”

Shortly thereafter, the Emperor himself went to eat the meal that was canceled because she fell while holding her stomach. When Philomel asked if he had invited her to the Emperor’s palace, the Emperor said with a deliberately stern expression.

“You’re not feeling well, but what are you going to do if you fall down again?

It seemed that the last feigning illness had given him the perception that Philomel was a weakling. She couldn’t even actively deny it. The dining atmosphere was very quiet. The sound of plates and forks clashing was unusually loud. The two silently brought the food to their mouths.

‘Because it’s quiet, it’s really awkward because it’s so quiet…’

In the meantime, whenever she ate with him, Ellencia was always there, so she felt the silence she hadn’t felt in a long time. As a child, Philomel also chattered in front of the Emperor, but as she grew older she became more reserved. Suddenly, an old memory came to mind.

It was when she was nine or ten. One day while having dinner with the Emperor, he had an urgent matter to deal with. Little Philomel was left alone in front of the wide dining table. She was sad, and even though she had been told by the Emperor to eat alone, she stubbornly waited without touching the food. Because the main dish on the table that day was made from the carp she raised.

At the time, she had a carp that had been kept in the Pond of Philomel‘s palace. Even if it was raised, all the young princess did was throw food at the fish she caught, but the title of ‘Philomel’s carp’ was important. It was an expression of how much she liked and respected the Emperor, even serving carp she had raised herself.

‘Now that I think about it, it was really childish.’

But at best, how could the idea that comes out of a child’s head not be childish and exhausting? At the time, all of Philomel’s attempts to win the Emperor’s favor were similarly childish. It was a child who smiled happily at the thought of feeding the Emperor a plump, fat carp.

As young Philomel watched the carp grow cold before her eyes, her heart broke.

“I won’t eat until your Majesty comes!”

She was obstinate and embarrassing her attendants. It was a time when she was conscious that she had to become dignified with her head, but her actions did not always follow. Fortunately for her, they didn’t play the bell because they couldn’t get her princess’s meal. She was so hungry that Philomel snatched her fork and knife.

“Hmmmm, but it’s not filial piety to hurt one’s body while starving. I can’t cause concern to His Majesty the Emperor.”

Even after the meal that she noticed was over, Philomel continued to remain at the table in regret. Now that he had come, she intended to wait for the Emperor and see his face at least once. But her stomach was empty. She was drowsy while waiting. Clinging her chin, the small Philomel blinked narrowly. It wasn’t until quite some time had passed that she was awakened by the sound of dishes clashing.

When she opened his eyes, Eustis was sitting and eating. He was removing the flesh of a carp that had cooled down.

“Wake up. Why didn’t you go back after finishing your meal and instead slept here like this?“

Philomel felt a little worried. She wondered what to do if he thought he had been fed a dish that didn’t taste good.

“Your Majesty, it’s all cold, so don’t eat it. I’ll told the servants to bring new food…”

“It’s okay. It’s worth eating.”

“But…”

Despite her objection, the Emperor continued to eat the carp until there was no more than one bit left.

‘Something like that happened…’

It was only for a moment, but looking back he did act like a father. Philomel corrected her mind to listen to her strange sentiments.

‘Come to your senses. It’s a thing of the past.’

She opened her mouth, which had been kept firmly shut.

“Your Majesty.”

“What?”

“Didn’t you say there was something you wanted to tell me in the past? That, a confession…”

On the day she received the transfer of a huge fortune from him, there was something she hadn’t heard since Ellensia appeared. She thought that that confession might be one of the reasons why the Emperor kept paying attention to her. If he had something he wanted to say but couldn’t do, she wanted to give him the chance to say it. However, Eustis remained silent with a serious expression on his face.

Philomel became uneasy with his sobriety. Is the confession such a heavy topic for him to make such an expression? Philomel thought about it very hard, but she had no idea what it was about.

Come to think of it. Confession? What was he going to say to her to the extent of using such a grandiose word?