Herscherik (Reincarnated Prince Series) - Volume 1 Chapter 2 part1

(fuwafuwatales)

♕        ♕        ♕

Isecai’s Important Notes:

Alterations so far:

Greysis kingdom —> Greisis kingdom. Somehow the katakana reminds me of “crisis”, which is why I modify it to be more similar. ソルイエ (Herscherik’s dad) —> Soleil. It sounds more like “Soluier” though, so if any of you wants to suggest something better, I’m game. I’ll keep Japanese suffixes in direct sentences. For those unfamiliar: Otou-sama = Esteemed Father While talking about his past life, I’m using female pronouns.

▼▼▼ Sorry to keep you waiting, the chapter will start below. ▼▼▼

The morning for Herscherik, the seventh prince of Greisis kingdom, is slow. Only when the consorts who live in the inner palace have finished their breakfast would the person in charge for their tableware come and take him out of the bed.

…I want to go back to sleep. ▅ please read at isecai. wordpress. com ▅

Ryouko—no, Herscherik—who, frankly, only wants to sleep until noon, thinks so as he absentmindedly stares with sleepy eyes. He kept a record of sleeping for 17 hours straight in the previous world, a proud record that he couldn’t exactly boast around.

He’s weak in the mornings. In the previous world, she had to set up three alarms clocks, plus the alarm function in her phone, so that she could make the time to get out of the bed. Barely.

“Strange. Somehow, the alarm has gotten under the futon.”

In the past life, she would have tilted her head. Once she found all of her alarms or her smartphone, she would excavate then dispose them. Obviously, it annulled the original purpose of having alarms in the first place. When she began living on her own, she was barely on time, all the time.

I need to change my clothes…

Herscherik took his time to remove his clothes, then stretching himself in that spot while stifling his yawn. The sun was already high up, as the carpet was bathed under the gentle spring sunlight that peeked from the gaps of the curtain which covered the window.

The day he remembered his past life, the so-called awakening of his ego, was when he was slightly older than two years old. Not being bothered by the long sleeping hours nor spending his time leisurely, for Herscherik, the time when he was a baby was supremely blissful. If he was sleepy, he could sleep in under his futon until noon. Whenever he was bored, Melia—the first feminine name he heard and later found out to be his nanny, but anyway, that Melia brought him to walks, or read some picture books to him. When he thought he was hungry, the food would soon be prepared. He was fully enjoying his convenient baby life.

But that only lasted when he was a baby. Now that he could stand on his feet and arrange his time, Ryouko felt that it was too embarrassing and pathetic to leave everything to his nursing mother.

It feels very vaguely like a manga, having the appearance of a child, but the brain of an adult…… or in this case, an auntie, huh?

When he couldn’t move my body as he wanted to, he acted like a baby. From changing clothes to being fed, from bathing to the issue down there, Melia courageously did those for him, but after he gradually got used to his body, he refused to accept any help to do anything from A to Z. Being troubled over conveying that resulted in Herscherik’s decision to behave like a proper toddler and say, “But I can do it alone.”

Whenever Melia is about to do something, Herscherik will refuse and throw a tantrum by saying, “Dun wannaaaa! I can do it alooone!” When it’s the time to change clothes, he’ll snatch the clothes away. When it’s meal time, he’ll demand for the spoon. He only wants to go to the toilet alone too. Even in bath, he’ll refuse any help and do everything by himself.
Melia showed a confused expression at first, but Herscherik slowly has been able to change the clothes on his own, eat by himself, finish the toilet business on his own too. So Melia has been less anxious and doesn’t help more than necessary.

That doesn’t mean she neglected her duties. As soon as she could deal with something, she had always been prepared to do that. The dangerous tools for children like knife or scissors couldn’t be found around Herscherik’s arm’s reach, she didn’t bring them around either. Then, she praised Herscherik when he overcame his task, as if he was her own son.

Well, I also tricked her…… which was pretty embarrassing.

Herscherik starts to recall.

Because it would look unnatural to be able to do things from the start, he intentionally made mistakes in buttoning up his shirt or mistaking the right and left shoes. In order not to be suspicious. He dropped the spoon not-so-accidentally, or toppled his cup. Melia let out a tiny sigh while cleaning them up. While inwardly apologizing, Herscherik gradually showed her that he could do those things. Thanks to that, now Melia doesn’t worry anymore, and she comes to this room mainly to prepare Herscherik’s meals.

Herscherik gives an excuse that he oversleeps sometimes, just for his amusement.

Herscherik jumps out of the bed, landing on the soft carpet. He can’t balance his body, so he quickly reaches out his hand, but he ends up falling to his face. He has shown a shameful behavior. At first, his struggles to walk on his two feet was also unhindered since there was no difference to the walking pace she had in the previous life.

While stifling his yawn for the second time, Herscherik first turns to the washroom’s direction. He steps onto the stool prepared for him to use, twisting the tap to pour the water into the bucket, filling it to wash his face. Incidentally, the daily devices in this world only has little disparity to modern Japan. If the faucet is twisted, water will come out, the toilet is also water-flushed. There’s shower too, and the bath tub is also filled with heated water. He did wonder if this too convenient world was just his dream, but in his sleep and wake, the world didn’t change.

Herscherik finishes washing his face and walks with his feet into the dressing room.

The first time I saw that, I was really surprised……

Beside the bedroom, there’s a small room installed, about 10-tatami size. Walking into the room, a sight of expensive-looking outfits greets him from left and right. Not only clothes, even shoes and accessories are all prepared, all order-made without exception. While being overwhelmed by the dazzling garments, Herscherik takes out a suitable outfit among them.

Let’s wear the deep blue outfit today.

Herscherik takes his time to undress his pajamas. He could do that already, but with his three year old body, his movement is still slow. He puts his arms into the blouse, pulling his trousers up to the thigh, putting on the jacket. He knows they use fine quality fabric from the way they slide wonderfully on his skin. The decorations are the workmanship of a first-rate artist, those glittering gold buttons.

Finishing changing his clothes, he combs his silky blond hair to fix his bed hair. Before reincarnated, she had frizzy hair, so she had to fight every morning to fix the bed hair. However, this blond hair becomes straight just by combing once, so he feels grateful. The very last one is to twirl in front of the full body mirror, looking at the reflection of a pretty girl—no, pretty boy and his blond-hair, blue-eyes combination. Herscherik nods in satisfaction.

The difference from my previous life is like heaven and earth.

Herscherik reminisces on his previous life. Even though he was a woman, she had absolutely no interest in clothes or jewelries. She was given uniform from her workplace, and at home, jersey was enough. When she went out, jeans and T-shirts, or trainer suit. Only when going out with her friends or family members would she smartly dress up in high spirit. As a member of society, she was cautious for her attire while commuting to work, but that couldn’t be said to be fashionable.

Compared to his previous life, he has become more conscious of his body. Herscherik admires himself. It’s just thinking that his body is still growing, so all those order made clothes are wasteful, but not wearing the clothes he already has would be inexcusable.

“Morning, Hersche. Where are you?”

Upon the voice of a young man calling him, Herscherik showed his face from the closet room. Melia and the young owner of that voice were already there with the breakfast that was previously brought in.

“You changed your clothes on your own? You did great, Hersche.”

The young man smiles. That smile was so dazzling that Herscherik unconsciously squinted his eyes.

Platinum blond color akin to a gathering of moonlight, blue eyes as lustrous as Herscherik’s. The deep outer corner of his eyes slanted down, but it made him possess a gentle bearing. He had the look of a bishounen in his late twenties, right there.
Yet, Herscherik knew better. Even though he looked like this, he was already in his thirties.

He’s roughly the same age as me in my past life, that’s so unfair……

Herscherik smiles while thinking of it, and gives his morning greetings.

“Good morning, Otou-sama.”

Herscherik recalled his shock when he realized that the beautiful youth was his own father.
His reincarnated self was indeed revised, a compensation for reverting to a baby, but the youth was so beautiful that he mistook him as a young woman. However, the male half of his parents possessed the same platinum color up there, undoubtedly where he got it from. Herscherik misunderstood again when they met afterwards, guessing that he was his older brother instead of his father due to that youthful looks. He was surprised that they were really far apart as siblings, and since his visiting time didn’t have any fixed schedule, Herscherik was worried about whether he was working properly or not.

The son is endlessly worrying, yet absolutely won’t show that in his face. The father, holding his beloved son up in his arms with a smile that is so dazzling that any woman will KO-ed in one hit, ruffles the fluffy blond hair that Herscherik has just finished styling.

Herscherik, who can’t get used to have his hair ruffled no matter what, squirmed ticklishly and showed a shy expression. He appears as 3 years old toddler, but mentally, Herscherik is a sloppy 30 years old woman who had long abandoned love. This kind of response was already the best effort he could muster.

“It is the time for your meeting soon, Your Majesty.” A low voice interrupts the father-son private time. The notification came from a man in his prime age. Black eyes combined with darker hair than deep green belonging to the prime adult man with composed air, his name is Rook. He’s Herscherik’s father’s butler.

There are many people who will associate a butler in fantasy world to nobility. Even Herscherik used to think like that, actually. Moreover, Herscherik has predicted that he was reincarnated in a family that was doing pretty well, from the moment he noticed he had a nanny.

However, the reality was more exaggerated.

The living standard was high, so I thought I was reincarnated as a son of an above average noble house, but…… Who would’ve thought I’m an actual prince?

When the revelation came to him, Herscherik’s emotions were really chaotic. She wished to be a princess or a lady, as a child. Now that he has truly become a prince, he wondered how he could wish for something like that back then.

It’s true that you have to be careful of what you wish for……

Herscherik is still a child, but somehow he feels like he has lost something precious.

Having told by his own butler, Herscherik’s father—the 23rd king of Greisis kingdom, Soleil—regretfully puts his son on the ground and pats Herscherik’s head.

“Then, I’ll be going.”
“Yes, I wish you can do your best for your duties today as well, Otou-sama.”

Soleil smiles from Herscherik’s words and rubs his son’s head once again, then exits the room, taking his butler with him.

After sending off his father, the king, Herscherik sits on the chair, waiting for the meal prepared by Melia while looking at the painting above the fireplace. Directly facing his dining chair, the painting portrays a blonde similar to Mona Lisa. Melia only recently told him that it was the portrait of his mother.

Herscherik’s mother, as told by Melia, died after her condition worsened from giving birth to him. According to Melia, his mother was the most favored concubine out of all the consorts and concubines in the palace, but since she came from a lowly merchant origin, she couldn’t become the queen consort. She didn’t aim for the status either, she only wished to be by the king’s side.

Since Melia told the story about how the two met very excitedly, Herscherik couldn’t figure out which part was true or exaggerated. However, anyone who enjoys shoujo manga would blush so hard, hearing the development to the part where his father went out to the castle town in a disguise and met his mother there, and commented “If that’s true, it won’t be weird if their son strays off the right path because he feels too embarrassed, you know?” when someone proposed a marriage at last.

Which was his mother, not his father.

At that point, their ages differed by more than twelve years, but his mother didn’t seem to mind that when she proposed. Anyhow, his father looked young, but he was actually in his 30s, while his mother was 18 when they got married. And so, Herscherik endlessly worried further if his father was a lolicon.

Because Melia accompanied Herscherik’s mother, she talked a lot about the past in nostalgia. His mother, compared to other consorts and concubines, was less attractive in looks. That being said, the consorts all possessed extraordinary beauty, so if she was compared to an ordinary woman, his mother seemed to be beautiful enough.

His mother had a really bright personality. Melia never saw her looking depressed, not even once. She was always cheerful, and even though she was a favored concubine, she loved doing housework. She often started cleaning up on her own, which made the people around her feel troubled. She sneaked into the kitchen to bake cakes and cookies, then presenting them in a tea party with other consorts. She greeted the tired king who retired to his room with a special effect make up of a ghost. She was an eccentric favorite concubine.

Herscherik was born to that concubine and the king, but the concubine lost her life, and the king lost the woman he loved most. His father treated his mother favorable among his other consorts, he even uses up all his break time to visit Herscherik, it’s really heartbreaking. But it’s not accurate to say that his father neglected his other consorts, concubines, or even his other children because of that.

Herscherik is the youngest prince, he doesn’t have any younger siblings. His older brothers and sisters are seven or more years apart from him, each one of them are attending so-called schools and academies, and usually are not around.

The king’s other consorts are also good-natured, there’s no jealousy or plotting that abundantly happens in the so-called palace harem novels. They’d rather do some girl talks, like how to cheer up the king who always seems to be exhausted lately or chatting in the garden while having a tea party, as witnessed by Herscherik while he goes on a walk with Melia. He sometimes takes that opportunity to get adoring touches and some sweets. For the time being, Herscherik hopes that the current favorite concubine’s candidate will stop copying ghost make ups that his mother did. He can easily imagine the king faints instead of feeling cheered up.

“Herscherik-sama, it’s the long awaited night, isn’t it?” Melia joyfully said as she served Herscherik’s late breakfast.

“What kind of clothes shall we pick for you? How about the rouge-colored outfit that you’ve just gotten from the tailor? Ah, but Herscherik-sama’s hair also fits a fresh green color, doesn’t it?”

Herscherik tilts his head while looking at Melia and her sparkling eyes.

“Is something going to happen?”

“Oh, my.” Melia’s eyes widened as if she couldn’t believe her ears. “Tonight is Herscherik-sama’s birthday feast. It’s Herscherik-sama’s debut party.”

Melia’s words made Herscherik tilt his head for the second time.

♕       ♕        ♕

▅ please read at isecai. wordpress. com ▅

Isecai’s Not-So-Important Notes:

This took so long because when I finished half of the chapters, I realized that doing it half asleep makes them incorrigible. I had to retranslate a lot of passages and… that ended in procrastination. It has a lot of long compound sentences, so it does take (waaay) longer than expected until I can get used to it.

Some interesting terms used in this chapter:

[That male half of his parents] = その金の卵の親. Literally means “that golden ball of a parent”, with “golden balls” an obvious reference. Is it just me, or does that sound kind of crude in this setting? xD [Sloppy woman who has long abandoned love] = 干物女, . Literally means “dried fish woman”, it possibly makes you imagine the salty, briny, wrinkly, smelly, unpopular fish and woman associated with it. They basically give up on love, relationship, or sex.. The passage about Ryouko’s habits in the old life when looking at the mirror basically described this term.

Did you enjoy it so far? We haven’t gotten to the fun part yet, I think :9