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Just when Philomel was about to ask what he was talking about, with a knocking sound, Countess Deles’ voice was heard.
“Miss Philomel, are you inside? I’m back.”
Philomel hurriedly turned her head towards Le Guin. Looking at Le Guin’s outfit, it didn’t look like the uniform of a court wizard. It was clear that everyone would be astonished to see a seemingly suspicious man break into the imperial palace, especially the inner palace where the imperial family resided.
“Hide now! No. Go back to being a cat!”
“Oh, okay. Don’t push me.”
Le Guin, who had been pushed towards the terrace by Philomel, snapped his fingers grunting. At the same time he turned into a cat, people opened the door and came in.
“Oops. You’re inside. I didn’t hear an answer, so I thought you went out and didn’t come back yet.”
“Haha, I see. I guess I didn’t hear it because I was thinking about something else for a while.”
She could see one of the maids tilting her head as she looked at a cushion that had fallen in the wrong place.
“Then why did everyone go out at once?”
She spoke her words hastily to divert their attention to Phil. However, the atmosphere suddenly subsided.
“That’s actually… Countess Deles is going to tell you.”
“Your Highness! Please. Please save the other maids!”
Her maid, Nancy, jumped out and fell to her knees abruptly. She was crying, and looking closely, her eyes were red, as if she had cried once before.
“You… Don’t worry about it, Miss Philomel. And you, if you go this way, you might die.”
Nancy had a flirtatious and dull side, but she was not a kid who said or did anything useless. Philomel had a hunch that they were hiding something from her.
“Tell me what the hell is going on.”
Philomel asked the Countess when she completely returned to the daytime of the princess.
* * *
“So, all of the servants who belonged to me were imprisoned except for the one here. That’s what you mean.”
“Yes, that’s right. They say they are being interrogated, but the interrogation has already been over a week.”
As Nancy sniffled, the other maids gave her a handkerchief to comfort her. But even they couldn’t hide their worried faces. The situation was like that. It was said that right after Philomel disappeared, they were taken in for failing to properly assist the princess. However, Countess Deles was spared her guilt thanks to the fact she was the first to notice Philomel’s absence.
The three maids present there were not subject to punishment because they did not accompany the detached palace and guarded the palace. The purpose of their just going out together was to find out what the punishment would be for those who were imprisoned.
“I never thought it would turn out like this…”
Philomel, whose maids were being punished because of her escape, felt her heart heavy. She thought that if Philomel was the real princess, then whether or not she voluntarily disappeared, the attendants would be punished for her. It was her fault for not properly serving the one and only princess. However, she herself disappeared with the appearance of Ellensia, and it was obvious that she was a fake. She expected the courtiers to get into trouble, but she thought it would be over after just a few investigations…
“Why didn’t you tell me earlier?”
Philomel asked with a small sigh. Countess Deles replied with an embarrassing face.
“I’m sorry. You came so late yesterday that I was going to tell you today, but something unexpected happened…”
Something unexpected? Come to think of it, she remembered the incident in which the nanny started a riot in the morning. Right after that, Philomel stopped by Elencia’s residence, and then immediately went to see Catherine. There was no time for Countess Deles to tell her anything.
Philomel reassured them.
“It happened because of me, so I’ll solve it. Everyone, don’t worry too much.”
“Your Highness, thank you!”
The maids thanked her in unison. It was fortunate that she had just rejected Le Guin’s hand and not left. She almost didn’t know for the rest of her life that if she did, things would become this crazy because of herself.
Nancy, who had been laughing in relief, checked her watch and she said, “Wow!” she screamed.
“It’s already time! Sorry! I’ll bring you lunch soon!”
After a while, the maids served lunch.
As in the morning, Philomel thought of how to rescue the trapped people while holding up the fork filled with healthy food.
She thought, ‘Shall I ask Le Guin to break out as a magician?’
No. He couldn’t make everyone escape. And after that, if the Empire pursued it, it was obvious that it would be more difficult to rectify. The best thing would be for the Emperor to forgive them their sins. That was probably possible if she accepted the 3-month condition suggested by Eustis.
‘Anyway, three months is too long. Can’t it be reduced to three weeks?’
After all Philomel didn’t say a word and the year transformed in three months.
‘If I bargained well, wouldn’t it have been 3 weeks, no 3 days…?’
Just as she thought, what Nancy was saying to her reached her ears.
“Hey, meow. You have to eat too. You haven’t eaten breakfast, so don’t skip lunch!”
Nancy bruised as she set her bowl down in front of the cat. There was fresh raw fish in the bowl, but Le Guin didn’t even pay attention.
“Why is he like this? He looks so pretty, he has a very picky appetite.”
Nancy muttered angrily as she stroked the cat’s scruff.
‘Ah, there was Le Guin.’
Philomel let out a small sigh and called out to Nancy.
“Nancy.”
“Yes, Your Highness!”
“You’d rather not touch that cat from now on. Can you do that?”
“Ah, I’m sorry! It’s so cute that I didn’t even realize it… I dared to touch and speak rudely to Her Highness’s favorite cat. I will never do that again!”
Nancy, her face white, apologized repeatedly and left her room.
“Huh? Ah, no, that’s not necessary…”
Philomel looked at Nancy’s back, who quickly disappeared, and muttered her words that she hadn’t handed over to her. She heard that among nobles who keep pets, there were those who want their employers to treat animals with the same respect as they did to them. And they got jealous when someone touched their pet.
Apparently, Nancy thought Philomel was of that sort.
She felt a bit embarrassed. She only prevented Nancy from unknowingly groping the body of a suspicious man.
“Aww.”
At that time, the cat that came to her feet cried happily. She hated that taeyeonja’s weak appearance, but she couldn’t keep starving him. Looking at it now, it seemed that just because his body changed into a cat, his appetite did not change.
In the morning she had a cat that wouldn’t even bite a fish and she was worried, but he was a human. Rommel, who came out for his own meal, put a sandwich on a new plate and set it down on the floor.
‘It’s said that you shouldn’t give human food to a cat, but it’s not a real cat, so it’s okay.’
Le Guin smelled it and started eating the sandwich. As she watched it, she felt subtle.
‘Even though he looks like that, he’s a stern human on the inside, but doesn’t he have any qualms about eating like an animal?’
And his words that her luggage was coming this way bothered her.
‘It’s fortunate that it was recovered so it wasn’t thrown away.’
At that time, Countess Deles, who had risen from her meal first, returned to her room.
She said, “Your Highness, I’m sorry, but we have a guest in the middle of our meal.”
“A guest?”
Philomel’s return was still unknown outside of the palace, but who could it be? Her doubts were quickly dispelled by a figure appearing behind her Countess.
“Your Highness the Princess.”
“…oh.”
The last time she saw him, Nassar Avrydon stood there just as she was.