Chapter 20
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 20
Chapter Title: There Is No Place for the Fake
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Silence hung heavy in the emperor's chambers.
Count Polan, the emperor's secretary, was sweating bullets from the sheer awkwardness.
“......”
“......”
The man and the girl, both bearing eyes of the same striking hue, sat facing each other in utter silence.
Even after entering the room, the emperor had stared blankly at the girl's face alone. It was only after Polan gave him a subtle nudge that he finally spoke.
When he asked her name and she replied 'Ellensia,' Polan caught the emperor's look of shock.
Then came another long stretch of silence before he inquired about her family name and her parents' names.
Ellensia Hesham.
No one with that surname existed among Empress Isabella's close kin.
The girl said she didn't know her father and that her mother was Katrin Hesham. An unfamiliar name. And yet... it rang a faint bell somehow.
'Not a rare name, but someone with that name...'
Polan shelved the hazy memory and stole a sidelong glance at the emperor.
Justis hadn't been able to look the girl named Ellensia straight in the eye since earlier.
His gaze tilted obliquely downward.
It was hardly surprising. Even Polan felt a chill, as if the late Isabella had returned from the grave. How much worse for him?
When the emperor couldn't shake his grief over losing his wife, he had once wistfully hoped for a woman who miraculously resembled her somewhere in the world.
"There. You're the Emperor, right?"
Ellensia, who had been quietly sitting, finally spoke.
Polan admired her boldness in addressing him first, even knowing who he was.
From the moment she stepped into the room, the girl had seemed dazed—but not cowed. Her expression was even somewhat bright, which was intriguing. Though it had gradually dimmed as time passed.
"......Yes."
Justis answered after a long pause.
"This might sound terribly impertinent, but..."
Her cute cheeks flushed an even deeper pink.
"Are you... maybe my dad?"
"......"
"......"
The sudden bombshell left not just Justis but Polan himself stunned, eyes nearly bulging from their sockets.
"As I said before, I don't have a dad. Mom raised me all by herself. Whenever I'd ask about him, she'd say he was a truly wonderful man. With hair black as midnight and deep blue eyes just like mine..."
The girl gazed up at Justis, her eyes brimming with hope.
"Could Your Majesty be my dad?"
But at that brazen question, Justis merely worked his lips silently before abruptly turning his head away.
"Your Majesty?"
What Justis stared at was nothing but a blank wall.
"Just now... my power..."
He seemed to be peering somewhere beyond the wall.
"Your Majesty the Emperor! This is bad!"
At that moment, Lady Deless flung open the door and burst in—an uncharacteristically frantic move for the ever-composed woman.
The knights who had tried to restrain her hurried in after.
"Madam, whatever is the matter..."
The ashen-faced countess cut Polan off.
"Princess Philomel has..."
Gasping for breath after what must have been a sprint, she cried out.
"The Princess has vanished!"
Justis stormed straight into the princess's quarters. He moved so swiftly that Polan and Ellensia had to jog to keep up.
Lady Deless, drained from dashing all the way to the emperor's residence, arrived last.
Gazing at the pitch-dark room, now barren of any lingering warmth, Justis turned to Lady Deless.
"What happened."
Polan sensed the seething emotion packed into those terse words.
Half in tears, Lady Deless explained.
When she returned with the ice water the princess had specifically requested, the room was empty.
Assuming she'd stepped out briefly, the countess waited inside. But even after ages, the room's occupant didn't return.
Growing anxious, she paced the room and spotted a letter on the desk. The envelope simply read To Father.
If it was meant for the emperor, the princess wouldn't have left it out like that.
Sensing something off, she couldn't bring herself to open a letter addressed to His Majesty and left it untouched.
She stepped out and questioned the maids stationed outside about the princess's whereabouts.
No one knew a thing.
She searched high and low with a handful of others but found no trace. Finally, she raced here to report it.
Polan bit his lip. If the countess was right, too much time had slipped by. Be it abduction or flight, the odds of locating her dwindled with every passing minute.
Worse, the princess possessed the Ring of Crimson Flame. If she'd used it, the search radius spanned the entire continent.
No sooner had the lady mentioned the letter than the emperor snatched it from the desk.
He tore open the seal roughly, revealing a single sheet. The neat, flowing script was achingly familiar.
To my dear Father.
Father, Ellensia is your true daughter. During our last outing, I visited a nearby village and by chance spotted Ellensia on the street.
Struck by how uncannily she resembled Mother, I followed her without thinking and ended up meeting Ellensia's mother.
Her mother's name is Katrin Hounds.
As you know, she was Mother's friend and lady-in-waiting. The moment she saw my face, she broke down in tears and confessed everything.
She was there when Mother gave birth back home, and in a fit of jealousy, she swapped her own child for the princess.
That's right. I am not your blood daughter. I am Katrin Hounds's child by some nameless man.
I'm so sorry for only telling you now. I wanted to speak up right away, but I didn't know how.
The fake daughter has no face left to see you, so she's leaving. Thank you for raising me all these years.
I will repay every grace bestowed upon me as your princess by aiding the Belleroph Empire to the best of my ability from here on.
I will return the Ring of Crimson Flame I've had to take within a few months. Forgive me.
Stay well, and be happy with your true daughter.
-Philomel
That was it.
No word on her destination.
Justis's arm dropped limply. The letter crumpled in his fist.
"Send out the troops this instant. Mobilize every available man."
His voice was deathly low. But at the final command, it erupted like a volcano.
"Find my daughter!"
Polan and the knights bowed deeply, accepting the order. They would scour the continent if they must to bring back the princess.
At that very hour, Philomel strolled through streets teeming with crowds.
"Freshly baked bread today—one bag for just 2 bells! Shop's closing soon, special discount!"
"Seen the new dresses at Gina's Atelier? Perfect knockoffs of genius designer Lady Margaret's latest."
The market bathed in sunset glow buzzed with pedestrians and hawkers.
She was in St. Jen, a northern imperial city—one of the empire's top five in size and prosperity.
If she could, she'd have warped straight to her goal via magic. But the Ring of Crimson Flame only worked for places she'd visited before.
For Philomel, who'd never set foot there, the nearest viable spot was her best bet.
Her target: Anghelium, the magic city at the empire's northern frontier. A short trek across the border from there led to the Magic Tower.
The Magic Tower housed that person.
Philomel's birth father and the tower's master, the archmage Rguin.
The thought tightened her grip on the bundle.
Leaving the palace, her top priority was meeting her real father. On especially lonely nights, Philomel would pore over Princess Ellensia, dreaming of the parents who'd borne her.
What were they like? Their looks, how they'd met, why they'd had her?
Her mother Katrin featured early as Ellensia's foster mom, with plenty of details.
A cruel parent tormenting the kind, beautiful heroine Ellensia. Yet ultimately swayed by her, Katrin repents, reveals the birth secret.
Once Ellensia meets Justis and truth outs, Katrin atones with her life. But her rash crime and remorse wrecked her true daughter 'Philomel's' fate.
Philomel grew as the false princess because of that sin—then plummeted to criminal in a single night over that repentance.
So her faint hopes naturally shifted to father Rguin.
Unlike Katrin, Rguin had scant info in book or world.
Even after quizzing Humphrey young, her own digging yielded scraps.
A powerhouse recluse, never showing publicly.
In the book, 'Philomel' flees prison to him amid first execution threat—that's his debut.
But when 'Philomel' clings to hating Ellensia, abusing his power for evil, he forsakes his own flesh.
That's the full extent. The tale unfolds from heroine Ellensia's view, so 'Philomel's' tower days get skimmed.
Description akin to: 'The villain I crushed clings to life, wreaking more havoc.'
The tower master dad felt like fresh arsenal for villainess 'Philomel'.
'With so little known, guess I have to visit and see for myself.'
At least Rguin tried shielding 'Philomel' once, so maybe some paternal affection lingered.
Philomel gazed northward toward the border, lost in thought.