My Ultimate OP System: Summoning All Dragons, Gods, Heroes & Villains-Chapter 87: Avoiding The Past

Ethan had a weird, almost sheepish expression on his face. "Hello, Hayley."

He had not expected her here today. Or at all, for that matter.

The princess still looked calm, but she couldn’t deny the burning sting in her chest when she saw the kind of clothes Hayley wore, down to the way she had called out to Ethan with such familiarity.

The princess and Ethan readjusted their positions, with their arms slowly unwinding from around each other.

Ethan then cleared his throat and gestured between them.

"Hayley, this is Isabella, the Princess," he said. Then he turned toward Isabella. "And Isabella, this is Hayley. Percival’s sister."

Hayley grinned widened. "Hi there, Princess."

Isabella waved back with a pretentious smile. "Hey." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Ethan turned back toward Hayley. "So, what are you doing here? Is it about Perc?"

Hayley rolled her eyes in dramatic fashion and waved a hand in the air.

"Why does it always have to be about my brother?" she said with exaggerated annoyance. "I came because I missed my old friend and wanted to say hi."

Ethan raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. But before he could respond, Hayley walked further into the living room and turned her gaze upward, looking around the ceiling and walls as if taking the view in for the first time in years.

"It’s been a while since I was here," she said, then turned back toward Ethan with a thoughtful expression. "How long now? Eight, nine years?"

Ethan nodded. "Yeah..."

But right then, Francesca stepped into the living room with excitement written all over her face. "I heard a voice in here," she began, before her eyes landed on the werewolf standing in the middle of the room.

Her eyes went wide. "Is that Hayley?"

Hayley looked over at her, and her face lit up in an instant. "Madam Francesca?!"

The next moment, the two of them rushed toward each other and embraced in a tight hug. Their faces squished together as they rubbed cheeks in pure excitement.

They pulled apart after a moment, and Francesca held Hayley at arm’s length to get a good look at her. "Oh my, Hayley," she said warmly. "You’ve grown so beautiful."

Hayley grinned mischievously and leaned in closer. "And you haven’t aged a day, Madam Francesca."

Francesca blushed at the compliment, and they embraced again with just as much enthusiasm as before.

Eduardo, standing off to the side, shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Isabella then turned toward Ethan and said in a low tone, "Hey babe, I think I should go now."

Hayley’s wolf ear twitched just slightly at that moment, even though she was still hugging Francesca.

Her enhanced hearing had just picked that up.

Ethan turned toward Isabella with a surprised look on his face. Without saying anything else, he took her gently by the wrist and walked with her toward the stairs.

They reached the upstairs hallway and Ethan shut the door behind them, then turned to face her as he held her hand in both of his.

"Hey, hey," he said gently. "Why do you want to leave all of a sudden? Wait, don’t tell me it’s because Hayley just came in?"

Isabella’s expression changed to one of surprise. "Oh no, not at all," she said with a smile.

Ethan narrowed his eyes just a bit. "Are you sure? Because I was kind of hoping you’d stick around for a while. Maybe even show me more spells today or some guardian stuff. I don’t know."

Isabella smiled warmly and placed a hand on his cheek. "I am sure," she said. "The reason I have to go is to keep a promise to Aunt Ophelia. She made me swear I’d come visit her every end of the week, and I want to do that before I get back to the palace."

Ethan looked at her with narrowed eyes again, as if trying to search for any hint of dishonesty.

Isabella chuckled at his expression. "I’m serious, babe."

Ethan finally nodded in acceptance. "Alright then."

Isabella added with a reassuring smile, "I’ll come by again when your class returns from camp."

Ethan nodded again, and with that settled, they both headed back downstairs hand in hand.

He walked her all the way to the front door when Francesca, who was still talking excitedly with Hayley across the room, noticed them preparing to leave.

She turned around and called out, "You’re leaving now, Princess?"

Isabella turned back toward her and nodded with a kind smile.

Francesca waved. "Take care!"

And Isabella waved back.

Hayley on the other hand, looked like she had an even happier smile on her face now than before.

Eduardo bowed his head in respect as Isabella passed by him on her way out, and she returned the gesture with a small bow of her own before Ethan walked her outside toward her car.

When they reached it, Ethan grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close for one last kiss before she climbed into the driver’s seat and started the engine.

She drove forward toward the gates just as they began opening.

Right at that same moment, another car was entering through those gates from the opposite direction. It was Valerie returning from dropping off Elizabeth.

Their cars crossed paths as Isabella left and Valerie entered, but Ethan waited where he stood until Valerie’s car pulled up beside him.

She stepped out of the vehicle and bowed respectfully. "Miss Elizabeth has been dropped off at her place."

Ethan nodded in approval. "Good."

Valerie handed him Eduardo’s car keys and asked politely, "Is there anything else you need from me?"

Ethan shook his head. "No, you can head inside now. I’m going to be out here for a while."

Valerie nodded once more before turning to walk back into the manor.

Ethan opened the driver’s side door of Eduardo’s favorite car and sat in the seat with one leg inside and the other hanging out. He leaned back casually, resting his arm along the top of the open door frame.

He let out a sigh.

Truthfully, the soul in Ethan knew this body had several cringeworthy memories with Hayley from the past, and he wasn’t in the mood to dig into any of them right now.

He thought to himself that he much rather focus on spending his time on using his experience points for all the advancements he had planned out in his head.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

And with that...

"Show my overall status," Ethan communicated to the system.