Reincarnated Hero System-Chapter 20 An Hour Earlier…

The carriage ride from the Duke's mansion in the capital to the royal palace was a short one that took barely 15 minutes, nevertheless, it was still as uncomfortable as ever for Evan.

While internally cursing the coachman that made the foolish decision of speeding down a hilly road, Evan was led to the waiting room of the palace by the chamberlain.

While he had expected to enter the hall along with the Ducal couple and their elder son, he was told to wait behind as he was to accompany the princess into the banquet hall.

'Oh yeah, there was the engagement thing between us.'

Evan shrugged as he knew any attempt at refusing was futile and would only end up causing more problems for him so he calmly took a seat in the waiting room while savouring the snacks the maids prepared for him.

"Hmm? This is quite different from the normal taste. It's a bit more on the sweeter side.

Whose idea was this?"

Evan posed a question to the maid as he cleaned his hands with the tissues that were provided, however, the maid seemed to be hesitating to answer for some reason.

"It was my idea. Why'd you ask?"

The door opened and the person Evan had been waiting for walked in while saying those words. She dismissed the maid who worriedly looked at her before bowing and leaving the room.

"You? I thought it was the chef, I wanted to poach them."

Both Laurene and the chamberlain who walked in behind her were stunned as they heard the Duke's son casually talk about poaching the royal family's chef, in the Castle of all places!

However, as if he didn't understand what was wrong, the young duke only stared at the two of them with a questioning look on his face.

"You really amaze me with your words sometimes."

Laurene only shook her head before going on to take a seat beside the boy as the two proceeded to wait for the rest of the royal family to be ready.

The ten-year-old Laurene was dressed in a purple ball gown dress that had pearl powder sprinkled over the hem of the dress, making it shimmer like a star whenever it caught the light.

Her chestnut-coloured hair that had grown long enough to reach her lower back was tied up in a ponytail with a tiara placed over her head.

Looking at her appearance that made her look more mature than her age would suggest, Evan shrugged his shoulders and spoke offhandedly.

"You look cuter than usual today."

"What?"

The princess who was suddenly complimented couldn't help but verbally express her shock, with her disbelief showing all over her face.

"Say that again."

"Huh? Why?"

"Just say it!"

Evan gave the princess who was suddenly holding his face a weird gaze as he repeated his earlier words.

"...Oh, my goddess, you actually mean it."

"Of course, I actually me-! Wait up! Did you just use your lie detection on me?!"

In response to his question, Laurene only gave him a look saying 'Why are you asking the obvious?', resulting in the young hero's brow twitching in annoyance.

"Are pigs flying outside or something? To think Evan actually complimented me."

Ignoring his obvious displeasure, Laurene continued muttering to herself with a look of disbelief on her face.

"Why is it so surprising for you that I threw out a compliment?" 𝑓𝒓𝚎e𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯𝘰𝐯𝒆𝑙.c𝚘m

"How many balls have we been to together, about half a dozen and you have never spoken a word of compliment to either mine or anyone else's appearance before.

Of course, I'd be surprised when you suddenly do it!"

Her words struck a chord within Evan. The young hero wanted to refute them but a quick browse through his memories showed that she was right and he ended up keeping quiet.

"Evan has finally learned how to be polite. Oh, how they grow up so fast..."

Laurene, however, went on to put on a performance, acting like a mother who was happy yet sad at seeing her son grow up quickly.

"Just what do you think of me?"

Hearing Evan's question, Laurene's act abruptly ended as she stared at Evan with a serene gaze and asked.

"Do you really want to know?"

Her sudden shift made Evan slightly scared to know the answer to his question.

"Why on planet Earth did you phrase the question like that?"

"Planet Earth?"

"Sorry, I meant Planet Aidos."

While the two were 'bantering' with each other, the chamberlain was staring at them with slacked jaws, wondering if this was really how the princess should be interacting with her potential fiancé.

He only snapped out of it when the rest of the royal family arrived and proceeded to do his job of announcing their entrances.

[Entering, The Second Star of the Empire, Her Royal Highness the Princess, and the Young Duke of the Eris Dukedom.]

The large double doors opened wide to reveal the massive banquet hall, alongside the hundreds of eyes that turned to Evan and Laurene instantly.

Nevertheless, the two paid them no mind as they gracefully walked into the hall at their own pace. The chamberlain's voice rang out once more, announcing the entrance of Laurene's Elder brother who was in a separate waiting room.

[Entering, The First Star of the Empire, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, Accompanied by Young Lady of the Antebellum Marquisate.]

Hearing the name of the lady accompanying Laurene's brother made Evan remember a certain part of the game where a certain group of demon-worshipping nuisances caused a war between the two great empires.

Her family was involved and they got him involved too, causing the poor chap to die in the earlier stages of the war.

Even before that, they were already involved in one of the disasters that plagued the northern part of the Empire.

Deciding to give the young prince a warning later, Evan stopped and turned to face the two thrones placed on a small platform at the edge of the hall.

[Entering, the Sun and Moon of the Empire, His Royal Majesty the Emperor, Accompanied by Her Royal Majesty the Empress.]

After the chamberlain's words, Evan turned his gaze to the entrance of the hall where the emperor and the empress slowly walked into the hall with relaxed smiles on their faces.

The emperor, Rudeus Hayes was a man in his late thirties, only a year older than the Empress, Claudia Hayes, who was the mother of Laurene and her brother, the crown prince, Richard.

The emperor then proceeded to give a small speech that Evan honestly could not remember a word of.

Afterwards, the ball officially kicked off, starting with a dance by the Royal Couple. As soon as they finished the first song, it was Evan and Laurene, alongside Richard and his finance, Lady Myra Antebellum.

Since he could not avoid the dance, he decided to enjoy it, thanking the memories of the original Evan for making him not embarrass himself on the dance floor.

"You seem to have gotten better than last time."

Laurene remarked as she and Evan moved along with the beat of the music, her dress shimmering in the light every time she moved, catching the attention of more than just a few people.

"Thanks to Finley, he told me something about footwork techniques also helping in the ballroom so he forced me to learn his."

The princess chuckled lightly upon hearing his answer. She was about to speak again when she noticed Evan momentarily stiffen before moving again like normal.

"What's wrong?"

"...Your brother."

Laurene peeked over Evan's shoulder and met eyes with her elder brother who gave her a sweet smile.

However, when he turned and she met eyes with Lady Antebellum who could barely conceal her laughter, she instantly understood the situation.

"Pfft."

"Is this really funny to you?"

Evan asked as he and Laurene moved in sync, his gaze occasionally wandering to the platform at the edge of the hall where the emperor and the empress sat.

'Did they notice...?'

Not long after, their dance ended, with Evan thanking his stars that he was finally going to be free from Richard's gaze, only to find the Crown Prince making his way over to where he and Laurene were standing.

'Oy, shouldn't you be strengthening your ties with nobles and stuff like that?! Why are you coming over here?'

Sadly, Evan was not exactly in a place where he could voice out those thoughts, so he could only accept his unfortunate fate.

"Evening to you, your highness. And Lady Antebellum."

"Greetings, Lord Eris.

You can just call me Myra, like Princess Laurene does."

Myra Antebellum was a beautiful young lady with pale skin, big dark blue eyes and long light blonde hair that reaches her hips, with long bangs falling on the front and a fringe directed to the left.

She was wearing a long dark blue dress that matched her eye colour, and also the colour of the Crown Prince's pocket handkerchief.

After greeting Evan, she went on to chat with Laurene, with the two of them leaving the two boys to themselves.

"Lord Evan..."

"Yes, your highness."

"Drop the formalities already, you sound awkward."

Evan's eyes widened upon hearing the Prince's words, however, he recovered from his initial shock and nodded in affirmation.

He took a glance at the Crown Prince who was watching his sister and fiancée chat with some other noble ladies while swirling the contents of the glass in his hand around.

|Name- Richard Hayes

Race- Human

Age- 15

Level- 95

Existence Level - Gold

Titles- Crown Prince of the Great Western Empire, [], [].

Class - Swordsman

Health – D

Energy – C-

Strength – D+

Agility – D+

Durability – D+

Intelligence – D+

Condition- Skeptical.

Magic Tiers- Light Tier 2, Shadow Tier 0.

Skills- Swordsmanship (High), Light Magic (High), Shadow Magic (Low).

Unique Skills- Light Bladeworks, []. |

'95? That's quite high.'

He was staring at Richard's status board in surprise when the Prince suddenly turned his gaze to Evan.

"You seem to have something to say?"

"Hmm? Come to think of it, I do. Why on Ea-Aidos, were you glaring at me for like half the dance?"

Evan reverted back to his casual way of speaking as Richard had told him to drop the formalities, slightly surprising the prince at how easily he discarded his etiquette.

Nevertheless, Richard composed himself and replied to Evan's question with a question of his own.

"Do you really not know?"

"Would I be asking if I did?"

Evan shot back in a deadpan voice, his hands moving to pick up a glass from the tray in the hands of a passing waiter.

After taking a sip, he suddenly had a flash of realization as he turned to Richard and asked.

"You wouldn't happen to be under the misconception that I am gunning for your little sister, now would you?"

"Are you not?"

Upon hearing Richard's words, Evan realised why the Crown Prince had been giving him the death glares and chuckled lightly.

"Prince Richard, you are thoroughly mistaken.

Why would you even make such an assumption? Are you perhaps one of those with the Legendary 'Sister Complex'?

I'd never met one before but to think the first one I'd meet would be your highness."

Evan nodded to himself with a convinced look on his face, as if he had just made one of the greatest discoveries.

"Of course, I'm not!"

Richard couldn't help but retort loudly, his voice attracting the attention of a few people around them who were stunned to suddenly hear the crown prince raising his voice.

Seeing as he had lost his composure, Richard facepalmed, taking a deep breath to calm himself before asking Evan.

"Has anyone told you that you excel at pissing people off?"

"You certainly would not be the first."

Evan shrugged his shoulders as he replied, his gaze turning in the direction of his brother Arnold, who was being surrounded by more than just a few ladies.

'So, he's popular, huh?'

"...really hope you don't mess this up."

It was then that he realised he had zoned out on Richard, completely missing majority of what he was saying.

He was about to point this out, but Richard's next statement made him swallow his words.

"Don't lead my sister down the wrong path, I really don't want to be forced do something I don't want to do.

Something, that would not end well for a lot of people."

Alarm bells rang in his head upon hearing those words, but for some reason he just stood there and watched the Prince give his glass to a waiter and walk over to Myra who was coming over with Laurene.

It was only until Laurene had arrived before of him and waved her hand in front of his face, did he snap out of his daze.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

His gaze turned to one of the balcony doors, just in time to see the Crown prince walk out in hand with Myra.

"Just that your brother said some strange things before leaving."

Evan wanted to ponder on Richard's words, but he caught sight of one of the people he wanted to meet and decided to put the Prince's matter behind him.

"I want to go meet with Duke Cheverton.

He's someone who would be affected by 'those bastards' schemes and also one of the few people who could mess up all the plans they have in the great western empire."

"By 'those bastards', do you mean the 'Demonic Hand'?"

"Yep."

Evan began to fill Laurene in on the little details he was barely able to as the both of them made their way towards the man known as the 'Duke of the North' and the 'Third of the Ten Great Swordsmen'.

◇ ◇ ◇

"You seem more worried about her than usual, what happened?"

Myra Antebellum posed this question to her fiancé, Crown Prince Richard of the Great Western Empire.

"No, it's not her."

"Then who? Perhaps lord Evan? Your gaze on him during the first dance was quite intense."

She chuckled lightly as she took a seat on the bench on the balcony, before stretching her hands to pull Richard and make him sit beside her.

"Laurene seemed fine, in fact, she was even more cheerful than usual, just like how she was before. It made the other ladies quite surprised."

"Is that so?"

Richard asked with a hint of surprise, before shaking his head and taking a seat beside her. The next moment he placed one hand at Myra's back and the other at the back of her knees.

"Huh?"

Before she could even make heads or tails of the situation, he abruptly lifted her up and placed her on his lap, his hand moving from behind her knees to the side of her face.

"That's a matter for later. For now, let's focus on ourselves..."

As he trailed off, he slowly brought his face closer to hers and planted a light kiss on her lips. Upon pulling back and seeing her looking at him in a daze, a small smile blossomed on Richard's face.

Myra's cheeks slowly turned crimson red, being especially visible on her pale skin, eliciting a small laugh from Richard as he closed in for another kiss.

However, ...

"Richard, ar-Whoa!"

Arnold chose this of all times to come to look for Richard, walking in on the scene of the couple making out with each other

"Oh, didn't know you guys were...'socializing'.

You can just pretend I was never here and carry on."

After saying those words, he was about to backstep out the door, however, Myra suddenly jumped down from Richard's lap and ran out the open door, back into the hall.

"Haaa..."

Richard heaved a sigh of exasperation while Arnold shrugged his shoulders and walked into the balcony after closing the door.

"Sorry bout that, didn't think you guys were in the middle of 'that'..."

"No worries. It's just gonna take a while before she can let me try anything outside again."

"Is that bad?"

"Not really."

Arnold passed one of the glasses in his hands to Richard who picked it up before taking a sip.

The two teenagers stared at the sky in silence, until Richard suddenly spoke up.

"Hey, are 'we' really necessary?"

"To be frank with you, I can't answer that question for you."

Hearing his friend's reply, Richard clenched his fist as he spoke with gritted teeth.

"They're just kids, carrying a burden that kids their age should not.

I admit I kinda overreacted when I was talking to him earlier but still, if we leave them as they are, they'd turn out well.

Especially when we've confirmed that they are still 'themselves'.

What could possibly go wrong?"

"A lot of things. In fact, things might have already begun to go wrong."

Arnold took a sip of his drink before replying to Richard's question. He frowned involuntarily as he remembered the discovery he made a few months ago, one he wished he never made.

'Even though I distanced myself because of my situation, his absence still hit me harder than I had expected.'

He was brought out of his sea of thoughts when Richard posed another question to him.

"Is this fate's idea of a joke on me or something? Of all people, why did it have to be my sister?"

Arnold gazed at his friend with a hint of envy as he thought inwardly.

'At least, your sister is still 'there'.'

He shook his head, as if that would get depressing the thoughts out, before walking towards Richard and holding up his glass.

"We're in this together."

Richard laughed depreciatingly as he knocked his glass against Arnold's while echoing the latter's words.

"We're in this together."

The two friends downed their glasses as they stared up at the night sky. Wishing upon the stars that they never have to fulfil their dreaded fates.