Herscherik (Reincarnated Prince Series) Volume 1 Chapter 8 Part2

Chapter 8: Prince, Butler, and Trap II

The “modest banquet” Count Grimm had prepared for Herscherik looked more like an “extremely extravagant banquet” to its intended guests.
The dishes lined up in front of their eyes were prepared from the highest quality ingredients, and their quant.i.ty was so great that even Herscherik wouldn't be able to eat them all.

Herscherik sat opposite of Grimm on the long table, thankful of the distance placed between the them.
Simply looking at the way Herscherik vigorously stuffed the presented food into his stomach, Grimm felt his belly too was soon full. Herscherik was also eating with his mouth open, causing anyone beside him to certainly lose their appet.i.te.

And even without that happening, the fatty dishes were more damaging to the tired Herscherik's stomach than delicious. He had actually brought some of it to Kuro's mouth to test for poison, but as expected, Kuro couldn't stomach it and quickly gave up on eating.

After the meal was done, Herscherik and the others were greeted and lead to their individually prepared rooms in the villa.
The villa was composed of three floors with the most extravagant room on the 3rd floor. The 2nd and bottom floor would be used by the Imperial Guards while the 3rd floor would be only for the prince and his butler. It was also decided that the Imperial Guards would take turns as bodyguards throughout the night.

Although it was mid-autumn, it was still chilly, so a fire was prepared in the fireplace, making the inside of the room toasty.
The instant Herscherik looked at the pocket watch, it had just turned to 11 o'clock, and the local lord's mansion could be seen from the window. Almost all of the lights in that mansion were out.

After confirming this, Herscherik vigorously got up and stood in front of the fireplace.

“Well then, I'm heading out.”
“No, wait there. Where do you think you're going?”

Herscherik put on his coat so naturally that Kuro had to retort without a moment to lose.

“Eh? You know, like evidence gathering?”

He tilted his head in a cute manner, causing Kuro to look up at the sky.
It went without saying that Kuro strongly wanted to pressure Herscherik with questions, wondering how the prince possibly came up with the thought of needing to go out alone without a single consideration to Kuro's presence here with him

“Why do you think I'm here? Just wait here patiently.”
“…….Eeeeeh.”

Although Kuro thought that he could see traces of dissatisfaction on Herscherik's face, he silently placed his hand on the boy's head.

“Do not, under any circ.u.mstances, leave. In fact, just go to sleep.”
“Ow, owowowow.”

Kuro gripped Herscherik's skull so painfully that once the prince was released, he crouched down, holding his head.

“You know I'm more or less your boss right now, sheesh.”

Kuro gave a sarcastic laugh to the prince's muttering, and after a flawless bow, exited the room. Naturally, he did so without making a single noise with his footsteps or from closing the door.

(I guess it'll be fine since he's Kuro….)

He was a former master spy after all. Herscherik believed that everything would work out fine. But there was still some unease.
Herscherik was told to get some rest, but he decided to wait until Kuro returned as he took the blanket from his bed. Even though the room was somewhat warm from the fire, it was still chilly.

(I don't wanna catch a cold.)

With the blanket wrapped around him, Herscherik sat on the sofa and watched the flames flickering in the fireplace. But he couldn't stay awake.
Herscherik was tired from the journey and dozed off after only a few minutes.

“Ryouko, you'll catch a cold if you fall asleep in the kotatsu!”

Her head…wasn't slapped. Instead she was kicked awake.
It appeared that she somehow returned to her parent's home, got inside the kotatsu while playing her mobile game, and then fell asleep. After kicking her eldest daughter's head, Ryouko's mother headed to the kitchen, spouting complaints.

It was fortunate that today was Ryouko's birthday, so she wasn't told to help out. That was also why even though her family saw Ryouko's lazy behavior after coming home just past noon as problematic, no one pointed it out.

When she restarted the game at the point where her phone went to sleep, the handsome capture target she was aiming for this time appeared on screen.

“Mufufu.”

The m.u.f.fled laughter coming out of Ryouko's mouth would make anyone who heard it cringe.

(I was right to buy this otome game!)

Ryouko checked the protagonist's stats on the game screen. It displayed the player-insert protagonist's status and the current progress towards the capture target.
Today's otome game had a plethora of routes to take, so as a gamer, Ryouko felt a bit annoyed.

(Well, this would be just right for those who only want to replenish their fill of moe.)

As such, this otome game was a perfect match for the unsatisfied Ryouko.

After choosing and raising one of the three heroines as the protagonist, you work to grow intimate with the capture target. If your stats aren't enough, you can't trigger events and same for if you make the wrong choices.
There were 20 capture targets. The voice actors ranged from bigwigs to up-and-coming newbies in the otome gaming world. Moreover, there were three possible endings for each and every one of the capture targets. Looking at these features, you could catch a glimpse of the sincerity of the otome game's production company.
Ryouko had heard that a secret capture target would appear after capturing all the others, so she would play the game whenever she had time.

“…..Big sis, gross.”
“Ah, welcome home~.”

The middle sister looked down at Ryouko, fed up with her older sister just simmering inside the kotatsu.

“Auntie!”
“Oh, welcome~”

Ryouko's niece, still in elementary school, popped her head out from behind her mother and waved her hand.
The sister's husband was also behind her and gave a quick bow. In response, Ryouko quickly fixed her seated posture and returned a bow back.

“Even though we came here to congratulate you, why are you flattening into a sea lion….”
“Huh, is it already time?”

When she looked at the clock on the wall, it was already past 3:30. The plan was to have an early dinner and start the party at 4 o'clock.

At that moment, a voice calling out, “I'm home~” echoed out from the entranceway.
Her mother's voice replying, “You guys. It's not ‘I'm home,' but ‘h.e.l.lo'! You've already gone and married out!” could be heard. Apparently the youngest daughter had also arrived.

“I'm home, sister. Came to celebrate your Arafou