There Is No Place For Fakes

Philomel decided to prepare most of the things for her birthday party by herself. “

‘I told everyone to come, but I wonder how many people will actually show up,’

She thought. Above all, she wanted to show her sincere appreciation to those who truly cared for her. 

The venue for the banquet was decided to be sponsored by the Southern Palace.

If it were just a casual gathering, it would not be a big deal, but to hold a formal party in the palace required an application process, even for non-nobles. 

Philomel went to the coordinator’s office with her application in hand. 

However, the coordinator waved her off and told her to do whatever she wanted. “Oh dear, if I have Miss Philomel go through such a process to just hold a small party , I’ll be in trouble!” 

Despite her concerns, Philomel gave the application to the coordinator anyway.

Soon after receiving permission to use the venue, Philomel also received permission to rent the necessary equipment. 

She opened the Southern Palace’s warehouse to retrieve the items she needed, but the Palace servants blocked her way, wanting to help her move everything. 

Eventually, she received their assistance with the equipment and even cleaning up. 

However, she couldn’t prepare the food herself because she had never even touched cooking utensils before. 

“I’ll have to learn later,” she thought to herself as she headed to the kitchen. 

There, she was greeted by Harrison, the former owner of the Rainbow Bakery and now the chief pastry chef for the Imperial Family. 

When Philomel tried to pay him to prepare the formal party menu, Harrison jumped in protest. “That’s not necessary! It’s thanks to Miss Philomel that I have a job here!” He said, his tone softer than when she had first met him.

“I heard that Miss Philomel visited our store once. Unfortunately, I don’t remember it, but because of that, I didn’t have to sit on the street and was able to get a position in the Imperial kitchen.”

At that time, Philomel had borrowed Jeremiah’s necklace to change her appearance, so it was natural that he didn’t remember her.

Harrison insisted on providing various desserts, including apple pie, free of charge.

The situation was similar for other foods that would be prepared for the party.

No one received money from Philomel.

‘Why do they refuse when someone is offering money…?’

Philomel returned home disappointed that she couldn’t achieve what she had intended. She even began to suspect that receiving gifts from Eustis might make her appear too materialistic.

However, she decided to write all the invitations herself. Philomel wrote letters one by one with the list of people to invite beside her. The attendees totaled about ten people, including Melinda, Lady Etwal, Lady Gordreap and other young ladies who had expressed their intention to attend through them.

And Nassar… Oh.

‘I wonder if I can invite him?’

She was worried that Nassar might feel uncomfortable since there were only young women among the invitees. But among the young men she knew, there was no one close enough to invite other than Nassar.

“But I can’t just not invite him…”

The face that looked at her with moist puppy eyes kept turning into an adult face. Moreover, he had been visiting the Southern Palace more frequently than even Melinda lately. He came for various reasons, but she didn’t mind.

“Of course, he’ll be disappointed if he’s not invited, right?”

In the end, she completed the invitation to the Avrydon Mansion.

There were even more people who expressed their desire to be invited.

“What about me?”

“… Would you like to attend, Le Guin?”

“Don’t worry, I’ll prepare a proper gift to bring.”

No, that wasn’t the problem.

After the incident with the dragon’s egg, Philomel ended up not receiving any gifts from him. 

“But oh well…”

It will be okay.

After everyone left, Philomel urged Le Guin to come after everyone had left and gave him an invitation.

So Philomel’s birthday party was just one day away.

Philomel hurriedly prepared for the event. She thought there wouldn’t be much to do, but once she got started, there were many things she had to take care of.

After decorating the table with flowers in the evening, there was nothing else to do. Compared to the parties she hosted as the Imperial Princess, it was modest, but it looked pretty in Philomel’s eyes.

“Now it’s ready!”

Philomel shouted with satisfaction as she looked at the outdoor party venue that was now ready.

Now all she had to do was wait for tomorrow.

But on that night, mysterious shadows gathered in the Southern Palace garden.

Among them, a figure with a sinister smile said:

“Are you ready?”

Other shadows nodded their heads. Their horses had stretched their necks towards the outdoor party venue that Philomel had prepared with care. 

It was the day of the birthday party, and Philomel woke up a little later than the scheduled time with a fluttering heart. She seemed tired from yesterday’s preparations for the party. 

After hastily getting ready, Philomel left the inspection of the party venue to Jeremiah and headed towards the Southern Palace gate to greet the guests. 

“I prepared today’s party venue with great care, but I’m not sure if there are any deficiencies,” Philomel said, guiding the guests to the outdoor venue area. 

Fortunately, everyone said they were looking forward to it. 

Philomel entered the venue area with a mixture of joy and nervousness. 

“Alright, this is where today’s party will be held…” Philomel stopped talking. Her golden eyes trembled uncontrollably as she confirmed the state of the party venue. 

The surprised guests also gasped and held their breath. It was because Philomel had personally prepared the outdoor party venue, and it was so beautiful. 

“Oh my, it’s so beautiful!” 

“Miss Philomel prepared this place herself?”

It was because everything had transformed into something stunning, more luxurious, and brilliant, enough to widen one’s eyes in amazement!

“What’s going on here?!”

Philomel had no idea what was happening.

From the entrance of the Venue, delicately carved ice sculptures greeted the guests.

“Real ice!”

“It’s summer, how is it not melting and staying intact?”

“Maybe it’s magic? Either way, it’s refreshing.”

There weren’t just one or two ice sculptures. Sculptures of various forms such as angels, animals, and abstract shapes decorated the garden. 

The summer heat was cooled down by the chill emitted from the sculptures.

That wasn’t all. Flowers were blooming all over the garden too.

Young ladies admired the flower beds surrounding the venue.

“The chrysanthemums are pretty.”

“But aren’t chrysanthemums flowers that bloom in the fall?”

“Yeah, why are they blooming in the middle of summer?”

“There are also spring flowers, azaleas, here, everyone!”

The flowers were going crazy, forgetting about the sense of the season.

It was easy to guess whose work all of this was.

‘Where is that person?’

Philomel looked around frantically to find Le Guin, but she couldn’t see the culprit.

He must have been nearby, keeping watch over Philomel, but he was hiding well.

‘He must be hiding in a high place like a tree again.’

As Philomel scrutinized the trees, she heard Nassar’s exclamation.

“It’s incredibly beautiful.”

He was standing in front of an ice sculpture located in the center of the venue.

Philomel was amazed when she saw the statue.

‘Jeremiah, this is too much!’

The ice figure had a striking similarity to Philomel’s figure, looking like a goddess, bending all things around her. It was the only statue in human form, and it seemed like the most meticulously crafted one.

To think they would put something like this in such a prominent place. Surely, everyone would think she is a narcissist.

Nassar, who saw Philomel, said, “Of course, the real Philomel cannot be compared.”

“Haha…, thank you for your kind words.”

‘Is he blind? Everyone can see that she’s prettier than me.’

But even such a comment was turned into heavenly praise by Nassar Avrydon. His praise was full of confidence, like a gemstone.

Philomel felt embarrassed by Nassar’s words, feeling her cheeks flush slightly.

“Meow.”

At that moment, a cat came between the two of them.

The loud and exciting sounding meows drew the attention of Young Ladies to the cat.

“Wow, it’s so pretty! I’ve never seen such a cute cat before!”

“Its silver fur is so beautiful.”

“But what is the cat holding in its mouth?”

The cat had an invitation card in its mouth, which was the one Philomel had written for Le Guin.

“Looks like it brought an invitation just like us.”

“It’s so adorable!”

A bright smile spread across the faces of the girls as if they were melting.

“Enjoy yourselves, everyone. I’ll be back in a moment.”

Philomel hugged the cat and disappeared behind the building.

Confirming that no one was around, she spoke to the cat.

“Le Guin! What in the world is going on?”

The cat averted its gaze and scratched its face with its hind legs. 

When she continued to stare at it, it tilted its head as if it didn’t know anything.

Philomel put her hands on her hips.

‘I can’t help it. It’s already happened.’ 

The guests were surprised, but they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. 

Moreover, when she looked closely at the banquet hall, while it had become more splendid, the basic framework was still the one Philomel had decorated. 

Philomel tapped the cat’s forehead with her finger. 

“You did it to make me happy, right? Thank you. But next time, please give me a warning or something. You scared me.” 

“Meow.” 

At that moment, the happy cat lifted its chin and pointed toward the sky. 

Looking up at the sky, Philomel was shocked and speechless. There were clouds floating in the clear blue sky in the shape of giant letters that read, “Happy Birthday, Phil.” 

Shaking Le Guin’s arm, she exclaimed, “This is too much! Erase it quickly before anyone sees it!” 

As expected, this family’s birthday greetings were too much.