Chapter 28
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Please Pretend You Didn't See Me
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"For now, escorting Your Highness takes priority, so I'll be going."
The Young Duke glanced back at them, and everyone held their breath.
The gentle expression he'd worn moments ago was gone, replaced by a chilling blankness.
"You'll have to give a full account of how this happened. I'm leaving a few Averyden knights behind, so don't even think about running."
The sheer pressure emanating from this mere boy of seventeen made their legs tremble.
"Nassar, hold on a moment."
"Yes."
As the princess stepped forward, the Young Duke instantly reverted to his docile demeanor, as if nothing had happened.
The princess stood before the security officer who'd been hurling insults just before Nassar's arrival.
"Here."
She extended her slender white arm.
"Y-Yes...??"
The man, pale-faced with the princess right in front of him, stammered.
Not just the captain, but all the officers suddenly remembered this woman was still a princess.
"You said you'd break my limbs if I turned out to be a fake princess. I'm giving you a special chance, so do it just like you said."
"H-How could I possibly...?"
"What, can't do it? Then you lied to me earlier."
"N-No, that's not it... I was just mistaken back then..."
The babbling man prostrated himself fully, pressing his forehead to the floor.
"I've committed a grave sin against Your Highness! Please, spare my life—at least my family's lives!"
Unbeknownst to himself, he'd committed a crime that could doom his entire clan, and now he begged desperately.
"It's all my fault as the one in charge! Kill me instead!"
"Kill me!"
As the security captain threw himself down, the other officers hurriedly followed suit.
"Fake princess or not, punishing a prisoner who hasn't even been tried is a crime. You didn't stop your comrade's wrongdoing—you joined in and stood by. And you call yourselves the Belleroph Empire's guardians of public safety?"
Her textbook rebuke left them speechless, even if they had ten mouths.
The princess shot them a glare before moving to stand in front of the cell bars next.
It was the section right next to the cell she'd been in.
"You."
At her gesture, the group of prisoners instantly parted in two.
Revealed behind them was the man who'd hurled the vilest abuse at Philomel.
"Am I worse than the rest of you?"
Unlike the officers, the man couldn't even form proper words—he just trembled violently.
'Not even worth talking to.'
Philomel looked down at him. What a pathetic sight.
He'd proudly spewed insults at her, but now couldn't even beg for mercy.
Growing tired of even looking at him, she turned toward the corridor to leave.
The moment the princess vanished from view, those who'd sighed in relief froze once more.
"......"
Killing intent poured from the sword-wielding Young Duke.
He glared into the cell with a half-maddened expression.
"Hiiiik!"
Facing the killing intent head-on, one prisoner convulsed and began foaming at the mouth.
Everyone had heard rumors of the young Averyden heir's genius, but to reach such a realm before twenty? Even in the chaos, the security captain felt pure admiration.
No matter how many officers here rushed him at once, they couldn't stop him.
Everyone assumed the man was as good as dead.
Clack, clack. In the deathly silence, the princess's footsteps echoed unusually clearly down the corridor.
The Young Duke sheathed his sword with a veined hand and turned his gaze elsewhere.
Then he addressed the officer who'd threatened her limbs.
"What's your name?"
"......Ian Solbrit, sir."
"I'll remember it. Same for everyone else here. I'll be back soon, so don't think about fleeing."
"......"
"No, actually—I hope you do run. I'm not as merciful as her."
With that, the Young Duke strode quickly down the corridor.
In the wake of the storm, only dazed people remained.
They all sensed it instinctively.
The moment they tried to flee, they'd face something worse than death.
"Your Highness, this way—not that direction."
Nassar stopped Philomel in front of the security office as she tried to slip away in another direction amid the chaos. She'd hoped to sneak off, but it was hopeless.
"I've prepared a carriage. Unfortunately, we all rode here on horseback... so it's a regular hired one. It might be uncomfortable, but once we reach Saengen, you can rest properly."
"I could just stay here tonight."
"Absolutely not. Angellium has no place fit for Your Highness. Let's head to the hotel in Saengen."
Nassar glared at the security office building, clearly eager to leave as soon as possible.
"Please, after you."
When the carriage arrived, he courteously escorted her.
Onlookers along the street stopped to stare.
Nassar in his uniform and the elite Averyden knights were far too conspicuous.
'No way I can suggest sticking around in this atmosphere.'
She worried about the luggage left at her lodgings. Anything else she could abandon, but Princess Ellensia was there. If she went back for her things, the book might end up in Nassar's hands.
He'd hand over her possessions to the imperial family per procedure, and if anyone else read the book's contents...
'Worst-case scenario.'
The book held a truth she desperately wanted to hide: the seemingly kind fake princess was actually a villainess deserving execution.
'For now, I'll abandon the book.'
If she could win Nassar over from here, she could retrieve it later.
First, she needed to get him alone, away from prying eyes.
Philomel called out to Nassar as he gave orders to the knight holding his horse.
"Nassar."
"Yes."
"Get in the carriage with me."
"......Me, too?"
"Yes. We need to talk."
Nassar handed his horse back to the knight and boarded after Philomel.
His face was a strange mix—nervous, perhaps, or pleased.
Inside the moving carriage, the two sat in silence for a while.
Something warm touched Philomel's cheek as she lost herself in thought.
"Your cheek... it's swollen."
Nassar gently touched the reddened skin.
"Did someone strike you?"
His eyes sharpened slightly as they met hers.
"I fell."
"......I see."
It was obviously a slap mark, but Philomel's pride wouldn't allow a lengthy explanation.
She'd learned firsthand just how humiliating a slap could be.
"It's an ointment made by our family mage."
Nassar pulled a flat tin from his pocket.
"I use it myself, and it works well. Even major wounds heal quickly."
As a swordsman, Nassar often suffered minor injuries.
"I suppose you'd rather apply it yourself..."
"I'll do it."
"Of course. Here."
She took the tin. It was a small kindness from her fiancé, but it felt burdensome to her.
Philomel opened it and applied the green ointment, thick with herbal scent, to her cheek. The heat subsided noticeably.
Nassar smiled softly.
"The mark will vanish completely soon."
"......Thank you."
But Philomel couldn't smile back comfortably. Her head ached, unsure how to escape this mess.
Nassar was laboring under a huge misunderstanding—or perhaps he was just overly rigid.
Logically, the emperor wouldn't have ordered a search for his missing daughter with the intent to execute Philomel on sight.
At this point, they hadn't publicly declared her fake because they could do so after confirming everything once she was captured. Using his misconception to scare off those pests had been satisfying enough.
'What now? How do I slip out of this?'
No clever ideas came, no matter how hard she racked her brain.
Nassar wasn't like the security officers. He wouldn't fall for some spur-of-the-moment lie.
......Fine. In for a penny, in for a pound.
"Your Highness, is something troubling you...?"
"Nassar! I have a favor to ask!"
Philomel cut him off before he could finish.
"Please, just pretend you never saw me today!"
"Pardon? That..."
"I'm begging you!"
She lunged across to grab his clothes and clung desperately.
"W-Wait! It's dangerous to stand up suddenly. And... you're too close!"
Nassar floundered as Philomel's face thrust right before his.
Fearing she'd fall in the rocking carriage, he grabbed her waist. In the end, she ended up fully embraced in his arms.