Arc#3 Chapter 75: The Festival Begins (Patreon)

Reivan had to make a hasty getaway once Helen started barraging him with kisses for the reason that kissing 'felt nice'. Even though she was much faster than Reivan, Helen waved goodbye but didn't pursue him—which was, quite honestly, somewhat of a relief and a disappointment at the same time.

'Well... I guess it didn't feel bad. There's a time and place for those kinds of things though.'

They were in public, after all. Reivan's skin wasn't quite thick enough to make out with someone in front of so many people.

Furthermore, Valter was hiding in his shadow at the moment.

"Not a single word, Valter..." Reivan muttered.

"I didn't say anything though?" Valter's voice crept into his ears. "With that said, I must say that it is good to see that His Highness' relationships are doing well."

'I said not a word!'

Grimacing, Reivan ducked into an alley. He briefly concealed himself behind a dumpster, allowing the illusion covering his face to shift, revealing one of his alternate identities. Simultaneously, he swapped the clothes wrapped around his body for a new set, and confidently strode out of the alley in the opposite direction, as if nothing had happened.

'Elsa should be back by now...'

Reivan pretended to yawn while looking around to make sure nobody suspicious was following him before sneaking into the secret teleportation facility. He then asked the knights guarding it for help, aiming to return to Starwater City.

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Since staying in the Serpent's Haven all the time wasn't very convenient, Elsamina—with Reivan's permission and aid—bought a nice little house in Starwater City's residential district. Of course, "little house" here meant that it was quite a sizeable home with six floors. The place was also a short distance away from the Serpent's Haven, so a few of the girls stayed there instead of the business' living quarters.

It was also here that Reivan did all kinds of debaucherous acts with Elsa and anyone who was willing to jump in at the time.

Some of the girls even took to calling it the "Snuggle Spot" because almost anything female that entered the premises eventually ended up in his arms at some point.

'That's a completely baseless accusation. I'm sure there are some who haven't yet... I'm sure... Uh, wait...'

Reivan squinted as he entered the building, scanning his memories but found that name was now very apt. Feeling defeated, he strode deeper inside.

"Well then, Your Highness," Valter said, his voice slowly drifting away from Reivan. "I'll be waiting outside. Call me if you need anything."

"I need you to stop teasing me in the future."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Goodbye and have fun."

Reivan snorted as he made his way to the third floor, where the "master bedroom" was. When he opened the door, he was greeted by the sight of a gorgeous red-haired woman wearing a modest cream-colored dress and a hat.

"I think this looks okay..." Elsamina stared into the mirror, inspecting herself from numerous angles. She even practiced her smile and bowed in a demure manner. "Good day... No, that seems a bit distant. It's been a while...? Hello! Uh... too energetic, maybe? Ah, why is this so hard? Maybe I'll just smile and bow? Then I'll say something about how their son has been treating me well... No, wait. I shouldn't skip the greetings."

With an elegant smile on her face and a friendly wave, Elsamina rehearsed her lines to herself. "Greetings! It's been a while but I'm still getting along very well with your son... Uh, no, who the hell says greetings as a greeting..."

"What are you doing?"

"OH MY GOD!"

Reivan couldn't resist the urge to play a little prank in the end, but he did resist the urge to snicker, acting as if he did nothing wrong. "That's not how you're supposed to react when you see your lover."

"You scared me...!" Elsamina had pulled out a gun with wide eyes as her chest rose and fell. A moment later, she calmed down and stowed her weapon away. "I told you not to sneak up on me like that. What if I shot you accidentally?"

'I would have been fine, honestly.'

That wasn't the right answer in this situation though.

"I'm sorry," he said while his hands snaked around her waist. Reivan pulled her close and started pecking her neck with 'apology kisses'. But when she pushed against him as hard as she could, he released her. "Eh? Are you actually really mad?"

"What? No." Elsamina smoothed out her dress and inspected it closely. "I just didn't want you to mess up my dress. This is what I'll wear when I meet with your family tomorrow."

"Oh, okay." Reivan backed off and enjoyed the view. "It looks great on you."

"I know." Elsa giggled, obviously pleased. "You say that about everything I wear though."

"Because it's true."

"Yes, yes."

"Elsa, everything you wear looks as if it was made so it could be graced by your skin."

"Psh. Oh, shut up..."

The beauty threw her hat at him in embarrassment and Reivan gladly caught it. Her pleasant scent immediately wafted into his nose. "You changed your perfume too?"

"It's a new product we'll be selling in Arkhan. What do you think?"

Reivan appeared to think about it before he solemnly spoke in utmost seriousness. "I think you'll have to come a bit closer so I can get a better sniff. Preferably with skimpy clothes on. It's for science, I assure you."

Elsa rolled her eyes and started taking off her accessories and changing out of her dress. "Just wait there."

"Okay!" Reivan happily made his way over to the large bed while he continued to enjoy the view. When he sat down though, something on the bed caught his attention. "What's this?"

'Did she buy something from a beggar again...?'

Reivan picked the things up and inspected them. After turning them around in his hands a few times, he realized that they were knitted bonnet hats. They didn't look nearly as refined as what Reivan or Elsa usually wore or bought, so he suspected that Elsamina's altruism and kindness urged her to buy them off some bums.

'The wool looks strangely high-quality though. It feels nice to the touch too. But the craftsmanship is a bit...'

"Ah, that?" Elsa sat next to him wearing a very skimpy maid outfit, a sheepish smile on her face. "I tried my hand at knitting... They're bad, right?"

"What are you talking about? They're awesome!" Reivan beamed, immediately throwing away every negative thought he had about the hats. "Are they for me? I love them!"

"Uhm, no. They're for your mother and little sisters. They seem to like wearing hats after all."

"Oh."

'They're not wearing those because they like hats, though.'

Elsa had met his family a bunch of times by now, but she still couldn't be made privy to certain secrets—like their true identities. As such, everyone still had to use illusion rings to disguise themselves.

But no matter how advanced their disguise techniques were, Vianna, Mimi, and Jiji couldn't get rid of their ears or tails. Their tails could somehow be tucked into their clothes, but ears were a whole other problem. Sure, the illusion rings would hide them from plain sight, but it would still be better to hide them under hats to avoid any other incidents.

'Geez. If it weren't for that stupid tradition where you have to be in a relationship for at least five years before getting married... Well, traditions are important. And I suppose Elsa and I haven't been together for that long to think about marriage...'

Maybe he was being too impatient. He was quite sure that Elsa would agree to marry him if he proposed though.

'I guess I'll wait.'

Both his father and his brother insisted that women changed after marriage, so perhaps he would savor this time for a little longer—not that he had a choice, that is.

In any case, he had to give his opinion about the hats. "I think they'll love it."

"Really? I just thought that since everyone's already so rich, a gift that I personally made would seem more sincere... Was I wrong?"

"What? No. You were completely right. Don't worry, don't worry..."

Elsa's lips curved into a small smile as a sigh escaped her lips. "That's good. I don't know what to get for the others though... So I just knitted small wallets for them."

"What about me?" Reivan smirked as his arm wrapped around her waist again. "Where's my gift?"

"Why would you even need a gift?"

"Ehhh? I really don't get a gift?" he pouted while resting her chin on her shoulder. "I feel so sad now. What am I gonna do about this overwhelming sadness in my heart? Should I just leave?"

Elsa heaved a sigh, giving in. "What do you want?"

"You!"

Chuckling and giggling echoed through the room before they soon transformed into gasps and moans.

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The next morning, Reivan had to return to the palace very early because he needed to make himself extra presentable. After all, today was the day—the first day of Aizen's Foundation Festival.

Royals like him had to parade around the capital before the festival truly began, smiling and waving at the citizens who came from all around the country to see the people they paid taxes to.

Naturally, with some of the most important people in the nation gathering into a very small mobile space and traveling along a very predictable route, security was given the utmost priority. That's why the Sword Star would temporarily be delegating a lot of his focus on the event. Even the Ascendants who usually meditated in secret away from civilization were kicked out of their caves to help raise security.

The thought that they should just put a bunch of body doubles into the parade floats and use illusion rings on them had occurred to Reivan. But when he'd suggested as much to his father, he was refused immediately. Apparently, this was tradition, and they couldn't break it without an extremely good reason.

Reivan thought that the security of about ninety percent of the royal family was a pretty good reason, but that didn't seem to be good enough for his father.

"We're finished now, Your Highness." The veteran maid in charge of his make-up tapped him on the shoulder warmly. "You look so dashing now. I can't believe just a few years ago, I was helping Lady Vianna change your diapers."

"Thanks for the hard work but please don't talk about that..." Reivan pleaded with a sheepish smile. He stood up and strode toward the mirror, inspecting the sleek-black military uniform he wore. It looked strangely like something a navy officer would wear on ceremonies, with gold tassels and trimmings.

All in all, it looked extremely elegant and contrasted well with the silvery color of his hair.

'Good heavens. I'm so handsome, I should be illegal.'

Reivan internally chuckled at the fortune of having such attractive parents. He waved goodbye to the maid and strode out of his room—where he came face to face with Jiji, his little sister.

"Hey, did you come to pick me up?" he asked with a smile, reaching out to pat her head.

Jiji dodged out of the way with an impassive expression. She smoothed out the elegant white dress she wore and crossed her arms.

"Prince Reivan, please don't mess up my hair."

"Right. Sorry about that..."

The catgirl turned around and urged him to follow without saying anything, her tail trailing along behind her.

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'She's really grown cold...'

Reivan fell into step behind her with a sad smile.

He didn't know why, but the little sister who used to be so clingy had grown so distant. About a year ago, after her first mating season, she started throwing herself into the depths of bureaucracy and administrative work. They barely had time to see each other and even when Reivan went out of his way to look for her during her free time, she would find some reason or the other to avoid him.

'She even keeps calling me Prince Reivan! Jesus Christ... What did I do to deserve this treatment?'

Back when he was still stuck in a hospital bed on Earth, he heard that it was fairly common for sisters to become distant from their brothers after puberty hit—sometimes, even downright hostile. The fact that only otaku participated in the forum he read might have had something to do with it, but people like him with sweet and loveable little sisters were a minority there.

'Ah... This sucks...'

Maybe that forum he'd read was surprisingly accurate? Was Kyouka just a giant weirdo for maintaining such a close relationship with her elder brother? Reivan didn't know anymore, but he definitely thought it would be a shame if he let this continue.

'Yeah. I don't know what I did wrong... Rather, I don't think I did anything wrong at all. Still, I should make an effort to bridge the gap.'

With the determination to rekindle his family ties, Reivan caught up to Jiji and smiled at her. "Jiji, did you pick out this dress yourself?"

"Yes." She spared him a glance before returning her gaze to the front. "Why?"

"Nothing. I just thought you had really good taste. Maybe you could pick something out for me next time? I don't have much talent for fashion, see."

"If our schedules line up, why not?" Jijij answered noncommittally.

'Yeah, but that's the thing. They never line up!'

But he wasn't gonna give up.

Suddenly, Reivan stopped walking and exclaimed in shock. "Goodness! Jiji, your hair!"

Jiji twitched and also halted her steps, as she looked at him in surprise. "Wh-what! What's wrong with it!? Is there a bug!?"

"It's beautiful. Your hair's beautiful, Jiji."

"...You're annoying."

The cat-eared girl looked at him with a chilling gaze but Reivan didn't miss how her ears twitched and tail swayed. With a cold snort, she stomped off.

'Her ability to maintain a poker face is insane. But her ears and tail still give her away.'

Reivan chuckled as he pressed on. "Jiji, what's wrong? I just wanted to tell you how great you looked."

"Stop doing that."

"What? Why? Should I lie then? I don't want to call you ugly even if it's a lie."

"Be quiet, please..."

"Ah, are you embarrassed? Is that it? Haha. You're so cute when you're embarrassed."

"AH! This guy..." Jiji stopped and glared at him before taking a swing.

"Whoah!" Reivan easily dodged with a snicker. Even if she had also unlocked her qi, he was still much stronger and faster. "So violent... But why is it that you're so pretty even when you're being violent? My sister is really great..."

"If you don't stop..." The white-haired princess squinted her eyes and scowled at him. "I'm gonna tell Mom!"

'What...'

Reivan immediately raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I surrender."

Jiji snorted before turning around and walking off.

"Hey!" Reivan chased after her, his tone almost pleading. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"...Hate?" Her ears twitched. "I don't hate you at all. Stop speaking nonsense."

"But you've been avoiding me for a year now... I don't know what I did, but I'll apologize if you want."

While Reivan was genuinely convinced that he hadn't done anything wrong, he was willing to set aside his pride to mend things with his sister. If left unattended, their relationship might gradually drift apart, reaching a point where they'd both pretend the other didn't exist—a common occurrence, as he had read.

He was a man who knew his priorities. His family was above everything, especially something flimsy like pride.

"That's not..." Jiji's voice softened, seemingly affected by his sincerity. "You didn't do anything wrong. I just... I don't know."

"That's not a very good answer."

"Well, I don't have one!" She exclaimed, exasperated at herself. Her ears then drooped as she hesitantly gazed at him. "I'm sorry if I made you feel that way."

Reivan bit his lip for a moment before sighing. "At least stop referring to me as Prince Reivan. That's way too distant, y'know? I mean, we're not blood-related, but still."

"I... I'll keep that in mind." Jiji averted her gaze. "Yani..."

"There we go. That's the Jiji I remember." Reivan laughed as if a heavy weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He reached out to pat his sister's head, and this time, she didn't dodge out of the way. "You're cuter when you're not being an ice princess. Although you were also cute when you were an ice princess, so I'm somewhat conflicted."

"...Shut up. You're annoying. I'll tell Mom you keep on teasing me."

Jiji kicked his shin and ran off, her white dress fluttering along behind her.

'Well, as expected, nothing happened.'

The parade had ended uneventfully. Now, the royal family was eagerly preparing their wallets and disguises so they could have some fun in the stalls.

If Reivan had been in an anime, a mysterious terrorist group would have revealed themselves during the parade to abduct a princess or two. Then the main character—some ordinary bloke from nowhere posing as a commoner in the crowd—would burst into the scene and save the day. Afterward, the king would then reward him generously, and the main character would be embroiled in political intrigue or some other complicated annoying stuff, ultimately ending with his marriage to the princess—or princesses—that he saved.

Reality was a lot less interesting though.

Reivan smiled and waved without a break. His face felt like it had solidified into a mask of flesh. Since his family didn't say anything about his face, it must have been fine. Perhaps it had something to do with how he'd mended his relationship with his sister, but smiling was a lot easier than he thought.

"Yani, how do I look?" Jiji did a little spin to show off what she'd be wearing this afternoon. It was still a gorgeous and elegant white dress, but obviously a lot less ornate than the one she wore as a princess. Her facial features had changed and her hair had turned black, but she was as much of a pretty girl as ever. To top it off, on her head was a white sun hat with a blue ribbon.

"You look like you'll make the entire kingdom fall in love with you."

"Gosh, shut up, Yani...!" Jiji squealed with a huge smile on her face, pulling her sun hat down in embarrassment.

Mimi, who was in similar attire, chimed in sarcastically from the side. "How about giving your other sister some compliments sometimes?"

"You look great too, I guess."

"Wow. So sincere. I feel so loved."

Reivan and Mimi chuckled at each other before bumping fists.

"Where's Mom?" he asked.

Mimi shrugged, fixing her hat to cover more of her blackened hair. "Beats me. I think there's a bit of a fuss since Stella said her stomach kinda hurt after the parade."

'Oh. Maybe she won't be coming then.'

A few months ago, Stella started boasting about how she had become a half-ascendent. And then literally two weeks later, their family was greeted with the pleasant news of Stella's pregnancy. There was a test and even the Saintess came over to confirm it.

That's why everybody was a bit tense about their favorite big sister. Even though she was obviously ridiculously durable already, the royal family already had a case of maternal mortality—which was one case too many—so everybody was treating Stella like her body was made of glass. Roland had almost forbidden her from participating in the parade too, but Stella had insisted on coming anyway.

'I'm sure she'll be fine. That woman's a trooper.'

Reivan, Mimi, and Jiji intended to wait patiently though. But Reivan couldn't help but feel a bit anxious since they had to meet up with Elsamina soon, and she probably came to the location in advance on account of her professionalism—and her desire to make his family like her.

Luckily, they didn't have to wait long since the last four members of their family came by. All of them were already wearing their disguises—black hair, blue eyes, and an entirely different set of facial features.

Still, all of them looked like extremely attractive individuals.

"Sorry for the wait, you three!" Stella happily strolled into the room with a slightly larger stomach. "I'm perfectly fine! I can't wait to play around after being stuck in the palace for so long!"

"Can you please don't move around so much...?" Roland was anxious as could be, his gaze never leaving his wife's belly. "The baby..."

"Oh, hush. Even the one carrying it isn't complaining. Why are you more nervous than me? Do you not trust me, is that it?"

"I'm nervous because it's you!"

"What! Say that again, huh!"

The crown prince and his future queen bickered but everybody else was already used to it so they were mostly ignored. Rodin and Vianna walked arm in arm, ever the picture of a harmonious couple.

Or so they thought.

"Honey," Vianna said in a sweet voice as she hugged the king's arm. "If I hear you talking about work while we're out, I'm going to freeze your office for the rest of the festival. Okay? Remember what this day is for. It's family day."

Rodin sheepishly nodded. "Yes, dear..."

'Well, I guess we can finally go.'

Reivan shared a glance with his two little sisters and they all smiled.