Reincarnated Hero System

Royal Palace

Gerfast

GWE

November 22nd

Year 1054

“This is unnecessary.”

Laurene Hayes was in a terrible mood. The reason was the proceedings of her birthday this year.

It was a 3-day celebration.

Three balls, on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th.

First was the Prequel Party, the actual Birthday and then the After-party, all held on three separate days.

It should be noted that these parties were evening affairs, and she was busy with other ‘celebration’ events in the daytime.

“My actual birthday is on the 23rd. I can understand the point of the 22nd’s party, but the After-party is just plain pointless.”

However, these were the customs of Royalty that had been followed for centuries. Laurene also had more things to do with her time and influence than to be changing the way Princess’ birthdays were celebrated.

She hated having three parties, and what she hated even more was the fact that she had to be present for each one!

‘Of course, I have to be present. It’s supposed to be my birthday.’

She rolled her eyes and clicked her tongue in disgust, sending shivers down the spines of the new maids who were seeing her pissed for the first time.

Their veteran seniors, however, simply remained standing in silence as they knew this was a yearly occurrence.

Parties and balls were usually avenues for nobility to make connections and the like, so the reason for the extra parties was for the Princess to grow her own connections.

People would be more willing to bend a knee to her demands than on normal occasions.

Laurene understood the importance of these events for political networking, however, there was little she wanted from the nobles right now.

‘At most, I can get a few verbal promises and the like, to have them help me out in the future…but that’s something I can always get with my Authority as a Princess.

Plus, I’m a Hero as well.

They wouldn’t like dealing with me, but they have no choice but to.’

It wasn’t a surprise that nobles didn’t like dealing with Laurene. More than 60% of them.

Most nobles were involved in politics, both on small and large scales. They schemed and conspired with and against one another, and obviously, lies were told in the process.

But before Laurene, lies simply didn’t work.

So when dealing with Laurene, they had to be 100% truthful, as even mixing in one tiny bit of an untruth in their words would be detected by her.

“haaaa….”

Laurene sighed while giving off an aura that said ‘Don’t come near me’, so her maids who wanted to help her get ready for the party which was to begin very soon, didn’t dare do so.

Whenever Laurene got like this, she wouldn’t answer anyone except her mother…and Arnold sometimes.

‘It’s also annoying to know that Evan delights in my displeasure at having to deal with three parties…’

Laurene found herself more irked by Evan’s little words and actions than usual, and the realisation that she had actually settled into the ‘Little Sister’ Role he had given her gave her goosebumps.

‘Fuck, this feels like the default sibling banter!’

To make matters even worse, Evan wasn’t coming on the first or third days.

It wasn’t that she missed him or something, it was that if Evan wasn’t around, then Eliza wouldn’t be either.

Evan didn’t really want Eliza mixing with GWE nobles on her own. Especially the Eris Duchy’s vassals.

Since they couldn’t get what they wanted from Evan, and threats were off the table since the last guy who tried such ended up having his head bashed through a reinforced concrete wall twice, they could only resort to having their daughters try to get to Eliza, hoping to get to Evan through her.

High society was a place filled with petty harassment and the like, and anyone who tried such a thing with Eliza stood a high chance of getting smacked by Evan.

A ‘smack’ from an annoyed Level 560+, was not something any sheltered noble child that wasn’t even Level 100 could deal with.

Eliza who didn’t want Evan getting annoyed over little things like this, simply just decided not to come around to any parties or balls when Evan wasn’t present.

“Fuck, let’s get this over with.”

The Governess nearby clearly had an issue with Laurene’s use of expletives, however, if there was one thing her years of service had told her, then it was that she’d have an easier time trying to catch a shooting star than making the Princess stop cursing when she got annoyed.

She had given up.

At least, Laurene had the decency not to use them in public.

Anyway, she was finally given the go-ahead and the maids brought in Laurene’s dress and shoes, helped her change and did her make-up.

The First party went on without a hitch and Laurene extorted a few Viscounts before calling it a day.

◇　◇　◇

The 23rd came around and Evan who had been in the Regal Void Expanse since the 4th, suddenly spawned at the Castle gates, much to the shock of the guards who saw him materialize out of thin air.

A lot of nobles were present in the Palace due to the presentation of gifts, so it didn’t take long for news of his presence to spread.

By the time he reached Laurene’s drawing room, more than half the castle knew he was around.

When he opened the waiting room, a bolt of divinity came flying straight to his face.

He casually smacked it away with his left hand, shocking the person who fired it as it was as if Evan’s touch ‘destroyed’ the Divinity.

With the same left hand, he reached out and rubbed the head of the person who had tried to blind him.

“Happy Birthday, little Princess.”

Laurene smacked his hand away and took some distance from him, before finally replying as she tried to smoothen her hair.

“We’re the same age now, Evan. Stop treating me like I’m younger.”

“There there, hope you enjoy your day, Little Princess.”

It was clear from Evan’s response, that Laurene’s words had not registered in his brain.

At this, Laurene simply gave up.

Her maids who had helped style her hair in the morning were all giving Evan annoyed side glances as he had ruined their work, but none of them dared to speak without being spoken to.

That was Rule 101 of dealing with Nobles.

Laurene was the one who noticed their reactions and stopped Evan.

“Alright, stop. You’ve messed up my hair enough.”

“…”

Evan was about to say ‘You can simply redo it’, but the pointed stare Eliza gave him at that moment made him keep that thought to himself.

Seeing that Evan wasn’t going to make any thoughtless remark, the blonde priestess turned to Laurene with a smile and went to wish her a happy birthday.

Held in her hands was the Hat that came paired with her dress today, so she set it aside before hugging Laurene. Just then, there was a knock on the door and two more people stepped in soon after.

Laurene’s brother, Richard, and his fiancée, Lady Myra Antebellum.

Seeing them, Evan adopted a small smile and walked up to them, completely ignoring Richard like the young man didn’t even exist and greeted his fiancée.

“How do you do, Lady Myra? It’s been a while.”

“Pfft…I’ve been fine, Lord Evan. Nice to see you.”

Myra noticed Evan’s actions but she just laughed and responded to Evan’s greeting. It wasn’t today she noticed that Richard and Evan didn’t mesh well.

To be frank, Evan couldn’t care less about Richard as his presence on Aidos had stopped the GWE-GEE war scene from the game from happening in reality. Richard, on the other hand, was the one who had antagonized Evan at first.

Evan simply paid back the favour, as he did for the girl who stepped in after Richard and Myra.

“Hello, unpleasant person.”

“Hmm? You haven’t died in a ditch yet?”

His expression changed into one of disgust when he saw her, and she responded in kind.

Laurene and Eliza saw this and rolled their eyes at this childishness, with the former being unaware she was involved in the original reason for this.

The new entrant, Charise Cheverton, daughter of Duke Charles Cheverton—the ‘Third of the GWE’s Ten Great Swordsmen’—was someone who had a crush on Arnold.

She had originally disliked Evan because she felt his presence was why Arnold lost his position as the Duchy’s Heir. Evan on the other hand, wanted Laurene to get with her crush who was also Arnold, so there was no way he was gonna have good feelings towards a competitor of hers.

Since Charise already disliked him by default, it was easier for him.

Laurene split them up and placed them at separate edges of the drawing room couches to make sure they didn’t get into an argument or something.

During the little talk that transpired, Charise stated that she came with her elder brother who had gone elsewhere in the castle.

‘That silly boy better not try anything with the girls here!’

Her elder brother, Christopher Cheverton, attended a boarding school outside the Country and had only recently graduated.

Now, he was back home for the first time in six years and was taking lessons to prepare himself as the Heir to the Cheverton Duchy.

Unfortunately, he had picked up a Womanizing habit while being abroad.

Despite there being three people who were not fond of each other in the form of Evan, Charise and Richard, the presence of Myra, Eliza and Laurene kept the conversation going.

Eventually, Eliza remembered something she noticed earlier.

“I saw something I was curious about in the Rose Garden. I wanna go check it out.”

“Oh, Okay. We’d come over there later on.”

While Eliza went to the Rose Castle’s eponymous garden, Evan went to see the Emperor and Empress, leaving Laurene Myra, Charise and Richard in the room.

He got back half an hour later and encountered the quartet heading to the Rose Garden.

The group of some of the Highest-Ranking People in the GWE—Crown Prince, Princess, Duke’s son and Count, Duke’s daughter, future Crown Princess and a Marquis’ daughter—was one that had every head they passed on their way out bowing to them.

When they got into the Maze-like Rose Garden with fairly tall walls made of densely packed creeping rose vines, they heard a voice and the sound of it made Charise frown.

She facepalmed and muttered something that caught all their attention.

“That foolish brother of mine is trying to pick up some noble’s daughter again.”

While she and the other sped up, Evan was engrossed in his discussion with a jeweller via a call, telling them to deliver the ‘product’ this evening, as such, his attention was far from this exchange.

His eyes were scanning nearby roses to find one he could use on Eliza’s red dress for the night party when his superhuman ears picked up on the words being spoken nearby.

“The instant my eyes beheld you, it felt as if these exquisite golden roses had taken human form.”

“…”

The person being spoken to did not reply, but the speaker carried on.

“I can see you think I’m being overly generous with my words, but I assure you, this is no exaggeration.

Never have I encountered such beauty in all the lands I’ve travelled. May I have the honour of learning your noble name?”

“…”

Again, silence, and this seemed to make the speaker get impatient.

“I would never speak or act rashly. Your noble beauty has captivated me completely.

Would you care to join me for a walk? I sincerely look forward to hearing more from you as we breathe in the fragrant scent of roses.”

Perhaps because he was so absorbed in his feelings, the speaker did not notice the presences that approached from the side close to the rear of the direction the one he was talking to stood.

The lady could not see them, but if he moved his gaze a little, he should be able to.

‘Why is this stupid brother…!!’

Charise, observing from a distance, felt her embarrassment rise as her brother shamelessly flirted.

It was embarrassing to listen to and her face automatically grew hot. She never wanted to know how her brother seduced women.

What was even worse, was the identity of the person he was hitting on!

‘I should have realised when he said that corny line about golden roses! There’s only one person with golden hair that Laurene gave permission to enter here!’

Unfortunately, it was too late, as the one person who should never see this had ended his call, and turned his full attention to the garden.

As such, there was no way his senses would miss this scene.

Charise shifted her gaze to look at Evan standing next to the dumbfounded Laurene. His expression was calm like normal, and she thanked her stars he didn’t seem to be angered.

However—

‘How do I kill this FOOL?’

—Charise would have never even imagined that Evan was currently contemplating her brother’s murder in his head.