There Is No Place For Fakes

“Originally, it’s a really bad thing, but please keep it a secret if you are found.”

Count Pollan repeatedly asked.

“Sure.”

Philomel nodded her head as she followed Count Pollan to the Imperial Palace Prison. Still, he let out a big sigh, feeling uneasy. She was about to take the lead after coaxing Count Pollan, who jumped up and down, saying that Catherine was a high treason and cannot let her meet without the emperor’s burial.

‘In the process, after meeting my birth mother and clearing my mind, I told a white lie that I would positively consider enlisting, but…’

“It’s okay. As long as the Count makes it clear that everyone else is going to be caught.”

There was only one question in Philomap’s mind as she responded rather insincerely to the Count.

‘How come Catherine is still alive?’

Even if Catherine escaped, the prediction that she would eventually be caught was correct. Even Philomel, who had the ring of prominence and prepared to escape in advance, was caught like that. As such, the pursuit of the empire was difficult to avoid. Even so, she told her to run away as her last consideration for her mother, who had brought herself into the world.

There was a glimmer of hope that, by chance, Catherine would be lucky enough to succeed in her run, but such a future was completely unexpected even to Philomel.

She thought, ‘She was captured but is still alive.’

Even in the book, Catherine was captured, but she was not spared from execution.

‘Did Ellencia’s plea move the Emperor’s heart because something changed?’

Maybe that variable was created because Philomel’s actions brought everything forward by a year. Then Count Pollan pointed forward and said.

“That’s the imperial prison.”

Unlike other buildings in the imperial palace, a rough-looking stone building appeared in front of her eyes. Even the spring sunlight in sunny weather was not enough to erase the gloomy energy flowing from the building. The gatekeeper standing in front of the building recognized them and bowed.

“Count Pollan and the princess.”

Philomap was no longer the princess, but the people of the place hesitated and treated her the same as before.

‘Why are you so awkward?’

Philomel stood behind Count Pollan with a puzzled look on her face.

“She came to see ‘the woman’.”

Count Pollan opened his mouth in a low voice.

“You can go in. The prison guard will guide you.”

The gatekeeper opened the door without question. The emperor’s secretary and daughter passed the strict surveillance without incident. Count Pollan decided to accompany her only to the entrance and face Catherine alone with Philomel. It was because she couldn’t keep him busy all the time, and Philomel had asked him to do so.

Before Count Pollan left, she thanked him.

“It must have been difficult, but thank you for listening to my request.”

“…my.”

Count Pollan stared at Philobel with serious eyes.

“No matter what anyone says, the princess might be Her Majesty’s.”

With a shy smile, the count left the imperial prison.

“…no, Count. I am not that man’s daughter.”

Philodel heard a belated reply.

“I just wanted to tell you this.”

* * *

“Here it is. Princess.”

A prison guard guided her to the prison where Catherine was. Philomel winked, and he hurried back the way he had come. This allowed him to briefly talk to Catherine.

“Ellen? Are you Ellen?”

At her pretending to be alive, the woman in the prison barred her face close to her bars. A crackling sound echoed through the prison.

“Sorry. It’s not the daughter you expected.”

Philomel took a step closer to Catherine and answered quietly.

“Philomel…!”

Recognizing Philomel’s face, the woman’s face was stained with astonishment, just like the first time she saw her. Philomel sneered coldly.

‘I am not your daughter until the end.’

Then, after a moment of hesitation, Catherine reached out her hand over her bars. Her fingertips trembled slightly.

“Have you been caught too? Are you all right? I’m glad. I’m so glad. Come and show me your face…”

Match!

Philomel removed her hand.

“Now don’t pretend to worry.”

Was it because of her own actions when she found Elencia? Catherine exclaimed in an urgent voice.

“No, don’t get me wrong! I didn’t know you’d be here. I didn’t think anyone but Ellen was worth coming to see me…”

“Oh, is that so? Then I’ll say yes.”

Philomel sneered, holding her breath. Uncharacteristically, she reacted too emotionally. Didn’t she know well that Catherine was such a person anyway? She didn’t see her as her daughter, and the very drawn-out woman couldn’t look straight at Philomel, she only looked at the floor.

She said, “I fell nothing but sorry for you. I know it’s a sin that can’t be washed away even if I pray for the rest of my life…”

Catherine muttered in a small voice that she could only hear if she were very attentive. Philomel looked at her silently. She had a hand wrapped in a bandage, probably injured and shackles on the ankles, but she didn’t feel sympathy for her.

Kidnapping the princess was a sin worthy of death. Ellensia’s request might have saved her life for now, but she would soon be executed according to the book. So there was no need for Philomel to pour out her feelings.

“I’m glad I bought the last hour of my life, even for a short while. Your daughter gave it to me, so make the most of it.”

“Philomel…”

“I’m leaving this place. I’m going to go somewhere I don’t know and live quietly.”

She didn’t know if there was such a place in the yard where her face was unknown all over the continent.

“So goodbye. Please rest in peace until the last moment.”

Philomel calmly continued. She was what she feels now. She somehow wanted her to feel at ease until her brutal death. And she was sincere in that. After all she was the one who gave birth to her but never became her mother.

‘Hi and goodbye forever.’

Her pleading made Catherine’s eyes wet.

“Wait a minute! Can’t you just stay here a little longer? Huh? I’m begging you. Please, please…”

Did the last goodbye at least get emotional? Philomel suddenly felt unbearably loathsome for Catherine, who stretched out her hand affectionately toward her.

“Why? Ah, should I tell you about Ellencia, which you are so curious about?”

A black flame blazed in Philomel’s chest.

“Elencia is doing well. She plays backgammon with her real father, and her real mother’s nanny takes good care of her. She lives well enjoying the things she should normally enjoy in a large and splendid room that is incomparably larger than that shabby house.”

As she poured out her words as she thought, a question came to her mind. Why hadn’t Ellencia visited that place yet? Wasn’t she worried about her mother?

She thought, ‘Is it simply because Eustis wouldn’t let her?’

Catherine replied weakly.

“That’s not what I’m curious about Ellen.”

“Then what is it?”

“…Is Ellen the same as usual?”

Philomel snorted. At the end everything was to talk about Ellencia.

“How do I know what he was like?”

“Then is Ellen normal?”

“…Yes?”

It was a strange question. Is she ‘normal’?

At that time, an alien light hovered in Catherine’s eyes. There was a dark tinge of disbelief and anxiety.

“…Ellen has changed.”

She bit her lips and groaned like a scream.

“She got weird a few months ago. She’s not the Ellen I knew.”

“What’s weird about her?”

It didn’t sound like a lie to get out of the situation. Philomel frowned and asked.

“All.”

“How specifically?”

Catherine pondered.

“Hmm. Her way of speaking has changed, her gait has changed, and her appetite was like a different person’s…”

Then, as if she was surprised by what she said, she suddenly waved her hand.

“No! I made a mistake. I said that Ellen had become a different person but… What must have happened to her because she’s been in a place like this all along.”

Catherine pulled the corners of her mouth, but in Philomel’s eyes she looked like she was afraid of something.

“…”

And for a while, neither of them said anything. The woman who rubbed her hands left her last words.

“Go out now. If you get caught here for no reason, you might be misunderstood that you are conspiring with me. And thank you for visiting me one last time.”