There Is No Place For Fakes

“Right now, serving Her Highness is the priority, so I’ll leave.”

Everyone held their breath at the gaze of the little Duke, who turned around.

The friendly face from earlier had disappeared, leaving only an eerie expressionless expression.

“You’ll have to explain clearly why this happened. I left some knights of Avrydon, so don’t think about running away.”

The pressure of the only seventeen-year-old child gave them chills. 

“Nassar, wait a minute.”

“Yes”

When the princess stepped forward, the little duke returned to his gentle face as if he had never done so.

The princess stood in front of the security guard, who had been doing a great distance before Nassar came.

“Here you go.”

A thin, white arm stretched out.

“Yes, Yes…?”

The man who had contemplated in front of the princess stuttered.

Not only the chief but also the members of the crew realized that this woman was still the princess.

“They said they would break my limbs if it turns out I’m a fake princess. I’m giving you a special opportunity, so just do as you said.”

“I-I… how dare I…”

“Why can’t you? Then you lied to me earlier.”

“It wasn’t like that—I was mistaken at the time…”

The gibberish man fell on his stomach and put his head on the floor.

“I have committed a mortal sin against the princess! Please spare my life, spare the lives of my family!”

Unbeknownst to him, a man who had committed a crime that could destroy his family begged.

“It’s all my fault as the person in charge! Please kill me!”

“Kill me!”

When the chief of police fell, the other members also hurriedly fell.

“Whether it’s a fake princess or not, it’s a crime to punish prisoners who haven’t been tried on their own. You can’t stop someone’s crime, but you agree and stand by. Even so, are you guys the security guards protecting Belerov?”

At the principled scolding, all ten mouths had nothing to say.

The princess, who glanced at them, next stood in front of the prison cell.

The compartment she entered was the area right next to it.

“You.”

At the gesture of the princess, the group of criminals split into two in an instant.

The figure of the person hiding behind them was revealed.

It was the man who said the most vulgar things to Philomel.

“You want to roll in bed with me?”

Unlike the crew, the man could not make a sound properly and was trembling.

‘It’s not even worth arguing with.’

Philomel looked down at the man. It was a truly pitiful act.

He proudly uttered insulting words, but couldn’t even utter the words asking for forgiveness.

Not wanting to look at him anymore, she headed down the hallway to get out.

When the image of the princess disappeared, those who tried to catch their breath froze again.

“…”

It was because the little duke with the sword exuded a sense of murder.

He stared into the cage with an expression half-lost.

“Hey!”

The murderous sinner started the game and eventually burst into a bubble.

I had heard rumors that the young Avrydon heir was a genius, but to have reached this level at the age of less than twenty. Even in the absence of circumstances, the chief of police was genuinely admiring.

It was impossible to stop him even if all the members of the crew rushed at once.

Everyone expected the man to die soon.

over and over again. Perhaps because everyone was holding their breath, the princess’s footsteps could be heard especially well through the hallway.

The Duke put the sword back into the scabbard and looked elsewhere.

Then, he asked a crew member who mentioned the princess’ limbs.

“What is your name?”

“….. Ian Solbrit.”

“I’ll remember that. The others here are the same. I’ll be back here shortly, so don’t try to run away.”

“…”

“No one runaways. I’m not as merciful as her.”

After saying those words, the Duke quickly walked out into the hallway.

In the place where the storm swept away, only dumbfounded people remained.

Everyone felt it.

The moment you try to run away, you will see something worse than death.

* * *

“Princess. It’s not that way.”

In front of the police station, Nassar stopped Philomel from going in the other direction. I tried to sneak away in the hectic gap, but it was too much.

“I’ve got a carriage. Unfortunately, we all came on horseback… It might be inconvenient since it’s a regular hire car, but you can rest in peace as long as you go to Saint-Gen.”

“It’s okay to stay here tonight.”

“No. There is no suitable place to rest for Your Highness in Angelium. Let’s go to the hotel in Saint-Gen.”

Nassar said, staring at the police station building. He wanted to leave this place as soon as possible.

“Let’s get in.”

When the carriage arrived, he politely escorted me.

Passers-by on the roadside stopped to watch them.

The uniformed elite knights of Nassar and Avrydon stood out too much.

‘There’s no way I’m going to stay here any longer.’

The luggage I left at the inn was trodden on in my heart. If nothing else, the <Princess Ellencia> book is there. If you pack your luggage, even the books will fall into Nassar’s hands.

He will hand over Philomel’s belongings to the imperial family according to the transfer procedure, and if others check the contents of the book…

‘It’s the worst.’

The book contains the truth that you want to hide. The fake princess who pretended to be nice was a villain who deserved to be executed.

‘Let’s give up the book for now.’

If you succeed in convincing Nassar from now on, you can come and pick it up later.

Firstly, I had to talk to Nassar alone, avoiding people’s eyes.

Philomel called for Nassar, who gave instructions to the knight who had brought the horse.

“Nassar”

“Yes.”

“Please ride Nassar too.”

“… Am I also in the carriage?”

“Yeah, I have something to talk about.”

Nassar entrusted his horse to the knight and followed Philomel into the carriage.

It was a strange face that seemed nervous and happy at the same time.

”

The two of them were silent for a while inside the carriage that started to move. Something warm touched Philomel’s cheek as she was lost in thought.

“The cheeks are… swollen.”

Nassar carefully touched the reddened skin.

“How did this happen?”

It seems that the eyes facing each other have sharpened a little.

“I fell.”

“…okay.”

It was a wound that anyone could see, but Philomel’s pride did not allow him to explain every word.

In my experience, being slapped was a very humiliating thing.

“It is an ointment made by the family mage.”

Nassar pulled out a flat medicine bottle from his pocket.

“This is what I use, and it works well. If it’s not a big wound, it will heal quickly.”

As a knight who handles swords, Nassar was often slightly injured.

“What I’m doing is… you probably don’t want it.”

“I’ll apply it myself.”

“Yes. Here you are.”

I was handed the medicine bottle. He may have shown a small kindness to her as a medicine, but Philomel was a burden.

Philomel opened the cap and applied a green ointment with a strong herbal scent to her cheek. Which was certainly very hot.

Nassar laughed softly.

“Soon there will be no trace of it.”

“…thanks.”

Philomele, however, could not laugh at ease.  My head ached, not knowing how to overcome this situation.

Nassar had a big misunderstanding, or perhaps he was too uptight.

According to common sense, the Emperor could not have ordered Philomel to be searched for as his missing daughter.

The reason for not revealing that it is fake at this point is probably because it is not too late to announce it after catching Philomel and everything becomes clear. It was refreshing to use his misunderstanding to frighten offended people.

‘What can I do? How can I get out of this place?’

No matter how much I rolled my head, no trick came to mind.

Nassar is different from the security guards. He was not a great man to be fooled by improvised lies.

 … This is how it happened, it’s a judge.

“Your Highness, do you have any concerns…”

“Nassar! Do me a favor!”

Philomel took the lead before Nasar came up with it.

“Please, pretend you never saw me today!”

“Yes? That’s…”

“Please!”

I ran to the other side and grabbed him by the hem of his clothes and hung on.

“Now, wait a minute! It is dangerous to get up suddenly. And… It’s too close!”

Nassar flinched at the face of Philomel, who was suddenly pushed in front of his nose.

Afraid that Philomel might fall in the wobbly wagon, he grabbed her by the waist. As a result, she became hugged by Nassar.