There Is No Place For Fakes

On the same day, in the afternoon.

For some reason, lawyer White appeared in front of the city hall with bruises on his face.

“Ten years ago, I committed a mistake that blinded me to everything but money!”

His subsequent declaration of conscience was quite shocking.

The lawyer immediately revealed a new issue regarding the Hounds’ upper establishment, who had become the talk of the town today.

Furthermore, he announced that he would personally engage in a legal battle on behalf of Catherine Hounds. Of course, without compensation.

The lawsuit hadn’t even started, but the outcome was as clear as day.

The client who commissioned White was none other than Miss Philomel, the honorable guest of the royal family.

Her entitled share was half of the Hounds’ family’s assets, based on the time of the noble’s death.

Considering the drastically reduced state of the Hounds’ wealth compared to back then, it was barely enough for William and his family to scrape by.

The upper establishment of the Hounds’ family were now practically Philomel’s.

Philomel was sitting in the Southern Palace, looking at documents with a serious expression.

“Hmm.”

Several days had passed since William’s visit. She had been reviewing documents related to the Hounds’ upper establishment for several days now.

The day after White’s visit, a person who claimed to be the temporary head of the Hounds’ upper establishment came to see Philomel.

He was younger than expected. It was revealed that high-ranking employees who had been involved in William’s illegal activities had been mostly arrested.

He bowed her head and pleaded with Philomel.

“Please, Miss Philomel, take a look at these documents!”

Seeing Philomel hesitate, he almost begged.

“There is no one else but you, Miss, who can save our distressed upper establishment!”

The lawsuit was still ongoing, but they already saw her as the new head.

“Not surprising at all. If I become the head, there will be some risk of the upper establishment’s downfall.”

The image of the Hounds’ upper establishment had hit rock bottom due to all sorts of illegal activities.

The central security forces were meticulously investigating any wrongdoing, and their business partners were gradually severing ties.

Who would dare to meddle with the upper establishment owned by the honorable guest of the royal family? The temporary head explained that their prediction stopped at this point, assuming Philomel would become the new owner.

“If you are confirmed as the head, the situation will improve even more! Please, become the owner of the Hounds!”

His  eyes looked so desperate that, without realizing it, Philomel ended up accepting the documents…

Philomel let out a sigh.

“I have no interest in the upper establishment!”

On the opposite side, Le Guin, who was resting his chin on his hand, asked.

“Then why did you file a lawsuit? You could have just ignored that lawyer, even if you didn’t like him.”

“To be honest, I had planned to give William’s assets to the fairies. It was a way to compensate them for the damages they suffered, even if only a little…”

“Ah, so that’s what you meant when you asked me to connect you with the Fairy Queen a while ago.”

“That’s right. But Seraphine refused.”

She spoke in a clear voice.

“We’ll just take your goodwill. Human money is of no use to us. Just go, cute Philomel.”

Le Guin said.

“Still, you have a conscience. Phil, if that’s what you want, go for it. It wouldn’t hurt to become the head at a time like this.”

“Do you think I’m capable of that?”

“Why not? You can definitely do it. I’ll push you forward.”

“Haha…”

If there was support from the mage tower, she could even aim for the top position on the continent.

The problem was that she wasn’t interested in it at all.

Her main purpose was to uncover the truth of the book, and she had sufficient wealth.

And above all… it was bothersome!

Recently, Philomel’s life had become overwhelmingly idle in no time.

Until just a season ago, she had lived a busy life as the Emperor’s successor, never getting a moment’s rest.

At first, this leisure felt awkward, but now she had grown accustomed to it.

“Ah, should I just drop the lawsuit and let William’s family have it?”

But even that didn’t appeal to her. The head position clearly belonged to Catherine.

“Meow.”

While Philomel was lost in her own thoughts, Le Guin turned into a cat. He usually did so when someone else came to visit at times like this.

Suddenly, Nancy, who had entered the support role, informed her.

“Miss Philomel, Count Polan has arrived.”

Philomel and Count Polan met in the reception room. The Count, who saw the documents spread out on the table for a brief moment, cheerfully said, “Congratulations.””

What were they congratulating…?

“ Don’t worry. I will spread the word that what’s good is good.”

It seemed that he naturally assumed Philomel would become the new owner of Hounds’ Head.

Philomel felt a sense of burden, but diligently organized the documents. She had a fundamentally diligent and conscientious personality.

After exchanging small talk with Philomel, the Count brought up the underlying reason for his visit.

“Visiting Catherine is now possible. She is currently in the Eastern Tower. Would you like to meet her now?”

‘Finally,’ Philomel thought as she nodded her head. It was time to meet her once again.

The Eastern Tower.

It referred to a long tower with an intuitive name, located in the eastern part of the palace grounds.

It was a place where the Emperor had placed people he didn’t want to be seen in the world for various reasons.

There were emperors who imprisoned their disobedient selves and emperors who imprisoned their rebellious children.

And the current Emperor, Eustis, had confined Catherine here, who was his wife’s friend and the surrogate mother of his daughter… In any case, Catherine had a complicated relationship with them.

Philomel climbed the long staircase of the tower, panting.

“…Damn, it’s high.”

Then, she exclaimed in surprise at what she just said.

“Damn… Maybe it’s because I’ve been with Le Guin and Jeremiah for a longer period now. My language has become vulgar, even in my own thoughts.”

To be honest, even to herself, phrases like “damn” or “damn high” felt lacking in refinement.

“I need to be careful.”

She couldn’t become like those two.

But at some point, Philomel’s breathing became easier. Her body was filled with energy.

“Meow, meow.”

Le Guin, who was following behind in his cat form, seemed to have cast the strengthening magic on her body, just like before.

Philomel looked at his firm buttocks passing by and thought to herself, ‘In times like this, having a convenient magic kit is great.’

Before long, the two reached the top floor of the tower.

A guard stood in front of the door and saluted with a show of strength.

“Miss Philomel, greetings!”

Philomel spoke up.

“I’ve come to see Catherine.”

“I heard from Count Polan. Wasn’t it tiring to come all the way up here?”

“Yes, it was a bit exhausting.”

Although it wasn’t her fault, the guard quickly apologized.

“I’m sorry! I will suggest installing a floating stone!”

“It’s not necessary to go that far.”

“No! But… Can the cat come in too?”

“Is it not allowed?”

“It might be a bit difficult according to the regulations…”

The guard changed her words when she saw Philomel’s disappointed eyebrows.

“…It seems like it should be fine since the cat doesn’t understand human language.”

“Thank you. Have a good day.”

Ziik, the door opened, and Philomel entered the room.

The furniture in the room was simple. There was a bed and a makeshift desk on the side.

And near the door, there was a luxurious chair, meant for the visitors. Philomel sat on that chair.

Then, the eyes of the woman sitting on the bed widened in astonishment.

“…Pi-Philomel.”

Philomel greeted her mother whom she hadn’t seen in two or three months.

“It’s been a while, Catherine.”

It was a dry and awkward reunion between the two.

Catherine tried to approach her daughter.

“How did you come here? Are you still staying at the palace? Are you doing well?”

However, with a jolt, the chains attached to her ankles tightened.

The chains were adjusted so that they couldn’t reach the person sitting on the chair. It was a device to protect the visitor from any potential attack from her.

Catherine was still a prisoner. Even if she was provided with a cleaner and more spacious environment than the palace prison, that was the undeniable truth.

“But still, it’s better to be here than locked up in prison.”

According to Count Polan, on days without visits, the guards would unlock her chains.

Judging by the several books placed on the desk, it seemed like she had some form of entertainment. Furthermore, she had heard that she was allowed to take a stroll in the eastern tower courtyard once a week. Considering she was a substitute mother for the Princess and not some common criminal, her situation was quite favorable.

Philomel leaned back against the soft backrest of the chair.

“To answer your question, I am doing well. I’m staying at the palace, and the reason I came here is because I have something to ask you.”

“Oh, really? I’m glad to hear that you’re doing well! But how did you end up at the palace?”

Philomel briefly explained her circumstances to Catherine.

When Philomel mentioned being a guest of the royal family, Catherine nodded her head.

“I see. Only I need to bear the punishment. You’ve done well.”

Philomel had always found her mother’s attitude strange. It was as if she sincerely felt sorry for Philomel.

‘If you’re sorry, you shouldn’t have done such things.’

However, Philomel decided not to pour out any negative emotions towards Catherine anymore.

That was not important now. Unlike Catherine, who was bound here, Philomel had to move forward.

It didn’t mean she forgave her. She just didn’t want to waste her energy on unnecessary matters.

Philomel was about to ask a question to Catherine.

“So, there’s something I want to ask you-“

But in an instant, Catherine interrupted her.

“I know what it is. It must be what you’re most curious about. I should have told you earlier.”

…How did she know that Philomel wanted to ask about Ellencia without even saying it?

 Philomel furrowed her brows and pondered.