This Is Supposed to Be a Hero?
My appearance now is nothing like the face I wore in my previous life.
My hair is silver, the same shade as Mother’s—Lirith’s—and of course I look far more Western than East Asian. My body, too, should have been larger and harder from all the training.
So why?
Even as I opened my mouth to say she had the wrong person, I already knew with absolute certainty.
The bitch who had stabbed me without a word of warning, who had drowned me in my own blood—
Even after so much time had passed, even after I had been reborn in another world—
She recognized me at a glance. The damned woman who had stolen my first life.
I never expected her to believe me, never expected her to simply let it go.
I had only hoped—prayed—that maybe, just maybe, she wouldn’t recognize me and would move on.
“Lie.”
Just as I feared, Lee Hye-yeong answered me at once.
“Lie lie lie.”
With absolute conviction and a look of pure madness, she began repeating the same word over and over.
Ah, this crazy bitch is terrifying as hell…
Stop it.
“Hyeonwoo, it’s me. Me.”
Please stop.
“Hye-yeong. Hye-yeong. It’s Hye-yeong.”
Don’t try to kill me again.
“I’m the one who promised a future with you!”
I never did, you insane woman!
“Hyeonwoo! Hyeonwoo! Hyeonwoo!”
“Hhhk… khuhk…”
Every time she called my name.
Every time her voice reached my ears.
“It’s me, Hye-yeong. The Hye-yeong you liked.”
It truly felt as if some invisible hand were closing around my throat.
“We were going to be together!”
The grip only grew tighter and tighter.
“That’s why I came looking for you!”
And my chest—
“So why are you pretending not to know me?”
—felt ready to burst from the agony.
“Are you going to lie again?”
Ah. So this is what it feels like to be alive.
“Are you pretending not to know me again?!”
Any second now she’ll try to kill me.
“I only ever thought about you!”
Just like back then…
Shunk!
No.
Nothing had even touched my body, yet the sensation from that day returned with perfect clarity.
No!
I wanted to beg someone—anyone—for help, but whether it was the panic of sheer terror or the trauma crushing the breath from my lungs, not a single word would leave my mouth.
Please, someone help me.
In this life, please, just someone…
“Stop!!”
That was the moment.
Lirith’s cry rang out. When I managed to focus, I saw her back standing in front of me.
And strangely, the sensation of being unable to draw even a single breath vanished as if it had never been real.
“As a princess of the empire, I command you. Your Holiness, expel her at once.”
“If you take one more step toward Young Master, I will cut you down.”
“Stay away from Young Master!”
Charlotte, Grace, and Emma moved to stand beside Lirith.
“You… what the hell are you people?”
Lee Hye-yeong’s face twisted further as she stared at the women shielding me.
“H-Hero, please stop!”
“Shut up!”
Even the Pope’s attempts to restrain her only made Lee Hye-yeong snarl and square off against them.
As the tension climbed higher, Lirith leaned close to my ear and whispered.
“Ed, cover your ears.”
“What?”
Cover my ears? Suddenly?
Before I could even ask what she meant, Lirith turned toward Lee Hye-yeong and opened her mouth.
“Ha! Hero? You’re just trash.”
I thought I must have misheard.
The voice I had heard since childhood—always calling me by pet names, always cooing sweet, honeyed words—
That was the first time I had ever heard it curse.
“What?”
“I said trash, you bitch. Stay away from my little brother.”
“…”
“You fucking bitch, who the hell do you think you are, suddenly acting like you know my brother?”
“L-Lady Lirith…?”
“Haa…”
Wow. So my big sister had a temper after all.
Lee Hye-yeong fell silent. Beside her, Tenesa looked utterly flustered. Behind them, Camilla let out a long sigh, as if she had known her daughter would end up like this.
“Pfft—puhahaha!!”
Charlotte burst out laughing.
“Lady Lirith, are you sure it’s all right to drop the mask in front of Ed?”
“There’s a crazy bitch standing right there. Who cares?”
“Pffh… Exactly. Trash like her deserves to be cursed out.”
I thought I had misheard again.
“I don’t know if you’re a hero or a whore, but why are you suddenly acting like you know Ed? Even if he’s pretty, that creepy face of yours is what scared him!”
Even the imperial princess I had thought so refined was spewing pure filth.
And then, in complete contrast—
“My poor Ed… are you all right?”
—she asked after me in the softest, gentlest voice imaginable.
“Charlotte!!”
“Mother, someone who means harm to my future husband has appeared. How am I supposed to just stand by?”
Elizabeth scolded her daughter, but Charlotte answered without a shred of shame.
Future husband…?
So what Camilla had said before the debutante—that Charlotte had feelings for me—had been true after all.
Lirith, who had been glaring at Lee Hye-yeong, immediately whipped her head toward Charlotte.
“What do you mean, husband?! I never gave permission, Your Highness!”
“Hehe… I don’t know who this woman is, but Ed! I’ll protect you!”
“Don’t ignore me!”
After the sheer terror of moments before, the scene had turned absurdly chaotic—yet thanks to them, my body already felt far better. My breathing had returned somewhat, and my mind was clearing.
“H-Husband? Wife…? You…?”
“Yes!”
“No!”
Even though nothing had been decided, the word “husband” seemed to hit Lee Hye-yeong like a physical blow. She lowered her head.
That’s right, you crazy bitch.
You’re not the one. I already have people who claim me.
So please, just stop and go off to defeat the Demon King or whatever. Get lost.
I’m begging you!
“Haa… We will calm my daughter and the young lady. Your Holiness, can you not do the same for this so-called Hero of yours?”
“Huu… Forgive me. I will calm her at once. Hero, please leave it here for now. I will arrange a proper meeting later so you may speak then…”
Being a Hero must really be something special.
She had come from another world, yes, but she had thrown every scrap of etiquette into the trash and turned the banquet into a disaster—yet Elizabeth was still trying to smooth things over.
Tenesa, looking thoroughly ashamed, apologized to the Emperor and began soothing Lee Hye-yeong.
Please, Your Holiness, stop coddling her and just take her away already.
And a later meeting? That meeting is never happening!
But contrary to my hopes, Tenesa only continued gently coaxing her.
“No, Your Holiness! That thing that can’t even understand words must never speak to our Ed again—must never even look at him!”
“As a princess, I also command it. Do not come within a hundred thousand kilometers of Ed.”
Isn’t that just exile from the country?
Whether the Pope tried to soothe her or the princess and young lady provoked her, Lee Hye-yeong simply kept her head bowed in silence.
Ssssss…
Then, suddenly, black energy began rising around her.
Huh…?
Wasn’t she supposed to be the Hero?
No matter how I looked at it, the aura wrapping around Lee Hye-yeong’s body looked nothing but ominous and evil.
“Young Master! This doesn’t feel right. We should fall back.”
“I’ll help you, Grace. Young Master, further back!”
Grace, sensing something was wrong, began moving me—still barely able to stand—backward with Emma’s help.
“!!”
At the sight of that, the silent Lee Hye-yeong finally reacted.
“Why… why… why…”
Head still bowed, she began muttering to herself.
“I finally met Hyeonwoo and everyone’s throwing a fucking fit!”
Crazy bitch, the one throwing a fit is you!
“Hero, please calm yourself!”
Hey, Your Holiness.
Forget the complete lack of manners and etiquette.
That evil aura pouring off her body—
Isn’t that grounds for stripping the Hero title?
Isn’t she the Demon King?
Of course my thoughts didn’t reach her. This Pope was just pure soft-boiled sweet potato.
Even though the situation was clearly spiraling, she only kept trying to gently persuade the Hero.
Fortunately, the Pope was not the only high-ranking person in the banquet hall.
At last the truly powerful figures stepped forward.
“You insolent girl!!”
“Your Majesty, no matter that the Pope has named her Hero, we cannot leave this be. And that aura looks extremely ominous.”
“I agree. The eyes of myself, the Grand Duke, and half the empire are watching!”
Perhaps they had only been holding back out of consideration for the Pope’s face. Now both of them exploded over Lee Hye-yeong’s rudeness.
“Tenesa! For the sake of our long acquaintance I have endured this far, but this is too much! Stop her at once!”
“I-I apologize… Your Majesty. Hero! Please stop!”
Only after being scolded by the Emperor did Tenesa finally raise her voice and try to restrain Lee Hye-yeong—yet the aura around the girl’s body only grew fiercer.
“Tenesa. As Her Highness also said—is this person truly the Hero?”
“Yes… She is the Hero sent by the Goddess…”
Only the Pope looked truly pitiful now.
Caught between the Emperor’s and Grand Duke’s fury, she scrambled desperately to resolve the crisis.
“Shut up shut up shut up shut up!!”
Lee Hye-yeong only raved harder, pouring more power into her aura.
“This has gone far enough! She has insulted the imperial family, and that aura is deeply ominous! Subdue her at once!”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Any chance of smoothing things over was gone.
Imperial knights and knights of the Grand Ducal house began advancing to restrain Lee Hye-yeong.
And then—
“Hyeonwoo!”
The crazy bitch drew the sword at her hip and began swinging it wildly.
Hey, you insane woman, you just start swinging a sword out of nowhere?!
Kyaaaaaaah!
The moment Lee Hye-yeong drew her blade and swung without the slightest care for those around her, the banquet hall plunged into pure chaos.
What the fuck?
Is this some kind of Hero privilege?!
It was a sight I could barely believe.
The soldiers who had rushed to subdue her were simply blown away by the wind pressure of her swings.
Boom!
Crash!
Gyaaaah!
Bodies slammed into walls and windows or tumbled across the floor.
In an instant every soldier who had charged her was the one being taken down instead.
I would have been caught in the blast myself if Grace hadn’t shielded me.
“Hyeonwoo! Hyeonwoo! Hyeonwoo!”
“Hhhk! Hhhk!”
But—
Faced with Lee Hye-yeong raving and calling my name, the terror of death closing in again was too much.
Panic returned.
I had been fighting just to keep breathing, but I couldn’t hold on any longer.
“Ed!”
“Ed!”
“Young Master!”
I lost my grip on consciousness and blacked out.
No—I think I’m actually dying this time. Fuck.
In the final instant before my eyes closed, one thought flickered through my mind.
This is supposed to be a Hero?
Goddess, you crazy bitch!