33.
Before long, maids appeared, pushing a trolley.
“Your Highness, we have brought your meal.”
It was a mystery why they still addressed Philomel as Princess. Surely, the news of the fake princess spreading across the nation couldn’t have failed to reach the Imperial Palace.
“We will set up a side table so you can eat from your bed.”
“I’m not so immobile that I can’t eat at the table.”
“Please, reconsider. You must prioritize absolute rest, Your Highness.”
They were treating her like a terminal patient. Furthermore, the food served was comprised entirely of nutritious, fortifying fare.
“We shall take our leave now so you may rest comfortably, Your Highness. If you need anything, please call for us at any time.”
Without leaving any room for her to pry for information, the maids finished their task and exited.
Having declared just moments ago that she would leave the Imperial Palace, the world, and everything else behind, she didn’t want to be indebted to them, but…
*Grrr.*
She was far too hungry for that.
Thinking back, she had been effectively fasting since she managed only a piece of bread and a few spoonfuls of soup at the dining hall last night.
Perhaps because she had finally vented everything she wanted to say, her stomach felt settled, and for once, her appetite had returned.
‘I don’t know. Let’s just fill my stomach and think about it later.’
Philomel picked up her fork.
Once she finished the meal, the Chief Attendant entered with medicine. He carried the fruit of the World Tree, which Philomel knew all too well.
“I’m not even a patient…”
She had fainted because she hadn’t slept well for days and had been startled; there was nothing structurally wrong with her body.
The Chief Attendant, however, disagreed.
“You are a patient. Your face has thinned to nothing in just this short time. Oh my, you were already delicate, and now you’re nothing but skin and bones.”
She had lost some weight during her time as a fugitive, but that statement was an outright exaggeration.
“It is a wonder you are even walking around at all.”
To the Chief Attendant, Philomel must have looked like a critically ill patient who could collapse at any moment.
Under his gaze, which was filled with genuine worry, she eventually took the medicine and drank the post-meal tea that followed. Thanks to the concoction, her limbs felt heavy and limp.
Having lived her whole life as a noble princess, her body—which had suffered from uncomfortable sleeping arrangements and tasteless rations these past few days—cried out in relief.
Human nature is fickle; once her appetite was satisfied, she became desperate for a bath and clean clothes.
Philomel inspected the dress she was currently wearing. Not only had she not changed for days, but it was also filthy from rolling around on the floor of the detention center.
As she looked at the bed she had been crushing with those clothes, she saw that the sheets and the duvet were blackened with dirt.
“……This was expensive.”
It was the one-and-only bedding set said to have been crafted by the fae over several years for the Emperor of the Empire.
The duvet was intricately embroidered with the founding myth of Belerov. She had heard it was priceless, particularly because the Fae Queen herself had bestowed a blessing upon it.
Hoping to remove the smudge, she tried rubbing it with her relatively clean sleeve, but the stain only spread wider.
……The face of the founding Emperor, the child of the Sun God Beleron, was now blotchy and marred.
“I don’t know! It’s not like I lay down because I wanted to!”
Philomel gave up on the futile effort and collapsed back onto the mattress.
‘……Surely they wouldn’t execute me over just this, right?’
She shook her head and decided to focus on her path forward.
At the very least, it was a massive relief that she wouldn’t be killed. Becoming officially registered was out of the question, and staying here would mean…
*Bang!*
Just then, the door swung open without a knock, hitting the wall with a sharp thud.
“Dad! I’m here!”
Beautiful golden hair shimmered in the doorway. It was Ellensia.
“Let’s finish the dice game we started last time!”
Philomel and Ellensia’s eyes met.
“Oh…”
“…….”
Ellensia, her eyes wide as a rabbit’s, walked toward her with quick, eager strides.
“Oh my goodness! It’s Philomel, right? When did you get here?”
“……This morning. It’s been a while, Princess Ellensia.”
Philomel answered Ellensia with honorifics. Now that it had been revealed she was a fake princess, this was the appropriate way to behave.
“I’m so glad! You have no idea how worried I was when I heard you were missing.”
Ellensia approached Philomel and smiled as happily as if she had met a long-lost friend.
It might have been natural for the kind-hearted Ellensia, but it felt agonizingly awkward to her.
“Thank you. I can’t believe you were so worried about me.”
Philomel suddenly felt ashamed of her disheveled state.
Her clothes were stained and her hair was a mess. She hadn’t even been conscious in front of Eustis, but for some reason, she wanted to show only her best self to Ellensia.
Perhaps it was because the situation was the exact inverse of their previous encounter, where they had met as a village girl and a royal princess.
“Are you here to stay for good?”
“Not exactly…”
As her voice trailed off, Ellensia didn’t press further and looked around the room.
“But where is Dad?”
“I’m not sure. It looked like he was going somewhere.”
Philomel was actually the one who wanted to ask that. It was difficult to explain the current situation, where the owner was gone and she was occupying someone else’s room.
“What is that?”
Philomel changed the subject, pointing to the object Ellensia was holding.
It was a board made of stiff paper and a small box.
“Oh, this? This is perfect! Philomel, will you play this dice game with me?”
Guided by Ellensia’s hand, she sat at the table in the corner of the room. It was the same table Eustis and Philomel used to use for their tea time.
“Have you ever played a dice game?”
Ellensia spread the board on the table and took out the dice and small tokens from the box.
“I’ve never played, but I know roughly how it works.”
She had watched the maids do it a few times to kill time.
It was a game of moving your token across the board based on the number rolled. Depending on the phrases written on the squares, the token’s status would either drop or rise. Everyone started as a serf, and the first person to reach ‘Emperor’ was the winner.
“It was a game I enjoyed back at my old home, and when a maid saw me looking bored after coming here, she brought it for me. Now, Dad or my Nanny plays with me.”
“Nanny?”
“The one who was my mother’s nanny, too! I heard that Philomel was also raised by a nanny.”
One more reason to leave the Imperial Palace was added to her mental list.
“The last time I played with Dad, an urgent matter came up, so he had to leave. So I came here today to play, but…”
“He will be here soon.”
Philomel offered a bit of comfort to the now-pouting Ellensia.
Even though it was a scene that had existed in the novel, it was hard to imagine the Emperor playing a game meant for commoner children. It was also a bit ridiculous that the real Emperor was playing a game where the goal was to become Emperor.
‘If you do well, you just maintain your position; if you do poorly, your status drops.’
Regardless, the two began the game.
She didn’t know why she was playing a dice game with Ellensia in the Imperial Palace. She could only think that she had been swept away by the girl’s bright attitude.
However, since it was her first time playing, it was actually quite fun, and she didn’t feel bad.
‘I always wanted to join in when the maids were playing.’
She had always pretended not to be interested, but in truth, she had longed to be part of it.
The two took turns rolling the dice, moving their tokens forward, neck and neck. It was a close game.
The square Philomel’s token landed on read, ‘You enter the Imperial Palace as a lady-in-waiting.’
She had gone from merchant to lady-in-waiting. Being a lady-in-waiting—a position only accessible to nobles with verified backgrounds—was a relatively mid-to-high status.
“Philomel, you’ve become a lady-in-waiting?”
“Yes. That’s what happened. It’s your turn next, Princess.”
“Not in the game, but for real. Will you become my lady-in-waiting?”
Philomel, who was moving her token, looked up at Ellensia.
“I’m still new to everything, so I would love it if the knowledgeable Philomel could teach me from by my side. And I’m worried about you, Philomel. You’ve lived in the Imperial Palace your whole life, and now you have nowhere to go. Please live here with me as my lady-in-waiting. Will you?”
Philomel was rendered speechless by that innocent face.
“……I appreciate your concern for my situation. However, I must decline. I have no intention of remaining in the Imperial Palace.”
Philomel replied, trying her best to appear calm.
Become Ellensia’s lady-in-waiting—it sent shivers down her spine.
It wasn’t a matter of disliking the work or feeling a blow to her pride. It was because becoming Ellensia’s lady-in-waiting was the very development laid out in .
Once Ellensia appears and the fact that she is a fake is revealed, ‘Philomel’ is at risk of being punished for the crime of impersonating a princess.
However, Ellensia, taking pity on her, appeals to the Emperor for leniency and goes further by giving ‘Philomel’ a position as her own lady-in-waiting. Although, the embittered ‘Philomel’ ends up repaying that kindness with treachery.
Could she not escape the set fate even if she struggled to get away? Was it a destiny where she would become Ellensia’s lady-in-waiting even if she didn’t want to?
A cold terror spread through her chest.
“Really? Can’t you just stay here? I’ll treat you well.”
“I will only accept your heart, Princess.”
“……Hmph, fine. That’s a shame.”
Ellensia didn’t press her further and rolled the dice Philomel had handed to her.
The sound of the dice rolling across the table rang out strangely loudly.