Reincarnated Prince just wants a quiet life

01: The Beginning

It had been a long day at work, the higher ups were hounding us to finish the final performance tests so that our game could be released on schedule. Which forced us to spend entirely way too much time at the company. Today was the first time I had gotten off work at a normal time in nearly three weeks. So I decided to go to the bar and have a few drinks to relax and contemplate my life. It is kind of sad to admit but I've been going a little too much recently. All of the bartenders know me now which is a bit of a depressing thought but hey at least I don't have to speak to anyone when I walk in. I just take my usual seat and a few seconds later my drink shows up, so I suppose that's a plus. As I walked into the bar I noticed that it was unusually empty. Normally the place has at least five to six people like me. Those who keep to themselves and drink quietly in a corner, but today there was no one except the bartender. As I opened the door the bartender looked up and smiled, I nodded and waved hello before taking my seat, As usual a few seconds later a beer was placed in front of me and I thanked the bartender as she walked away. I took a few sips before I realized that the bartender was staring at me, I averted my eyes and took out my phone and started to mindlessly scroll through a dating app. Sighing to myself I put my phone down and took another sip. I really hate these awkward situations. When I put my glass down I noticed that the bartender had moved closer to me and was stealing glances at me, I guess she hates these situations just as much as I do.

"So, is something big going on? This place is almost never empty." Almost as if she had been waiting for me to say exactly that she responded a little bit too eagerly.

" Umm, well I'm kind of new here so I'm not really sure how it normally is. But it might be because of the holiday"

Looking up from my glass for the first time since I sat down, I noticed that the girl in front of me had a somewhat unfamiliar face. She had curly dark brown hair and a round face. She had really cute chubby cheeks that seemed out of place on her body because she was rather slim. She had these dark brown eyes that when paired with all of her other features she sort of reminded me of an adorable puppy. She brushed her hair behind her ears and I noticed a small tattoo on her wrist that looked like a crescent moon. She had this charm to her that I couldn't quite place. As I was looking at her something clicked in my head and I blurted out "Wait, if you're new how did you know what to get me to drink?"

"Oh umm that is well ... " She trailed off and then pulled something out from under the counter and showed it to me. It was a sheet with pictures of people and a list of drinks next to them along with their names. "Joel made this and told us to use it until we get used to the job and start to remember some of the more regular faces that show up."

Sure enough I noticed that the people on the list were all the people who come in regularly, including me. I flopped onto the bar and let out a loud sigh.

"To think that I would become a regular at a bar at the age of 23, if my parents found out they'd probably kill me. And where did he get such an ugly shot of me anyway?"

Chuckling, the bartender put the sheet down and began to pour herself a shot. Without even thinking I raised my hand singling her to pour me a shot too and smiling she handed me the one she already poured and began pouring another.

"Aww come on Joel isn't all that bad, I mean at least he went through the trouble to make the sheet, I think he cares about you all in his own weird way,"

"Yeah I know Joel means well but come on he's making me look bad." I replied.

We raised our glasses and clanked them together and said cheers before downing the shot.

"I don't think so," leaning in and whispering to me in an over dramatic manner she said " want to know a little secret? He even has little descriptions about everyone on the sheet."