Reincarnated as the Prince's Rival!

- 5

"Oh fuck."

Did he just mess up? Yeah– he definitely did.

He stood there, completely and utterly dumbfounded. Eyes still trained on the door that Allistor had slammed shut only moments ago. His tongue darted out to dampen his lips as he took in a breath of air. He really messed up, huh?

He just met Eden's brother, who he had no idea even existed, and he already sent him into a panic. And now, Allistor was no doubt going to tell their father that something was wrong with him– which could only lead to something else happening. Whether what happens is good or bad, he had no clue. Chances are, he'll probably assume he's acting out and chastise him.

Or he could punish him by sending him away. Or lock him up in his room forever. Truthfully, he had no idea. He just knew he needed to be very cautious.

Eden's father, Archduke Mikhail Rossi, was someone he realized he should definitely fear.

Honestly, Emil skipped over any mention of him in the novel. Mikhail reminded him far too much of his own father– aloof, unapproachable, strict, and neglectful of his own child. He had no desire to read about a character like that. And thus, his knowledge of Mikhail was very little.

But one of the few things he did know was that Mikhail was not to be messed with. He was powerful. Much like Eden, he was (once) a powerful mage. His influence across the country was almost unmatched– since he was the Emperor's right hand man and closest friend.

Another thing he knew about him was; Mikhail Rossi did not like Eden. At all. Why didn't he like him? Emil had no idea, honestly.

Regardless, after what happened with Allistor, a meeting with Mikhail was inevitable. And as much as he dreaded having to meet someone like that, it was bound to happen eventually. Probably very soon actually.

"Geez..." a sorrowful laugh escaped his lips as he moved to the mirror. "How am I supposed to live like this?"

Eden was so vastly different from Emil in every single way. Powerful, rich, charismatic, and insanely pretty (well– at least in Emil's opinion), Eden had it all. He was the son of an archduke and, he now knows, that he was one of the most powerful archmages in the kingdom. No one could deny how talented he was– even though most people in the kingdom had... not-so-nice feelings about him. Eden knew his strengths and made sure everyone knew it too.

But Emil wasn't like that.

Born in a lower middle class family, all Emil had was his wits. He had prided himself on his ability to quickly adapt to any given situation. But that was the only talent he had. Emil struggled talking to people. He was quiet most of the time and when he did speak, he rarely said anything of importance. People hardly acknowledge his existence, and on the off chance that they did, they'd just ask him to do small, meaningless tasks for them. He lived a completely average and boring life until his illness caught up to him. And even then– his life was still completely boring.

And yet... the aching, gutting pain he felt when he reminisced made him realize that... he missed that boring life of his.

Piercing amethyst eyes greeted him as he looked into the mirror. He was staring at Eden. He is Eden. Emil did not exist in this world. And that was the truth. That's the reality.

But how cruel is it that the world decided to make a man, who lead such a bleak and boring life, possess the body of someone destined to be murdered? Was he destined to just let the story play out the way it did in the novel– was supposed to let himself just be murdered?

"I won't let that happen."

A strange feeling bubbled up within Emil's chest. A searing feeling that gnawed at his very core and spread throughout his body. He knit his brows as his jaw clenched tight. No. This was not fair. How could the world do this to him? Perhaps it was then that the feeling solidified and blossomed into something more. Emil wanted to live. There was no way he was just going to let himself get killed.

He closed his eyes. There has to be something he could do to avoid getting murdered. Maybe he should run away? No, no... far too risky. The son of the Duke going missing will cause a lot of drama and Mikhail would probably be forced to search for him– even if he despises him.

Perhaps the best option would be to simply avoid all the characters in the book? Well, if that were the case, he technically already failed since he met Elliot. But still... it doesn't seem like a bad idea to avoid the other characters. Especially Elaine and Ivan. Elliot would obviously be a problem, but perhaps he could find a way to avoid him, too.

And getting better at magic wouldn't hurt either. Eden was an Archmage so he must've been pretty strong. If he could find a way to learn how to harness that power of his, then he'd definitely have a way to protect himself against Ivan. Or against any of the other batshit crazy characters that wanted to see him suffer.

"But the books here are useless," he sat on the edge of the bed. His eyes fluttered shut, thoughts racing in his head. He didn't remember much about the magic system in the novel but there was something... something about Eden and his magic that the book kept repeating. A tower...? Some place– a tower that Eden belonged to that he just would not stop gloating about. Ivan mentioned that it was an extremely important place for magic, yet Emil could not remember why. But, God, he was racking his brain and yet...

Swiftly, he sprung upright on the bed. "Thirrr...d? Third Tower? I think that was it?"

He nodded to himself. That had to be it. It was the only tower-related thing he could remember. God, he really should've paid more attention to what he was reading. But the book was so bad and so convoluted that it was basically impossible to follow. Ugh, and the world building was just—

"Focus, man. I have got to figure out where that tower is and gather some info on it."

His eyes flickered to the window. Maybe he should go explore a bit– ask some people about the tower. It couldn't hurt. Plus, it's definitely a good idea for him to get acquainted with his surrounding area.

"Time to head out, I guess."

And it wouldn't hurt to ask the servants where the tower is, too.

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hey........ it's me... da author 🥶

i just want to say: im so so sorry this took so long. so much stuff happened in between writing it and i was just so mentally exhausted that i couldn't be bothered.

like i got covid, quit my job, dropped out of a chunk of my classes (bc i was failing), etc. all inbetween last chapter and this one

sorry if the writing quality like... decreased from last chapter to this one. recently my depression has been actually kicking my ass hardcore and i find it really hard to put a lot of effort into things ☹️☹️☹️ so the writing is kinda half-assed ☹️ i also wrote the first half of this like back in October so 🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️

im still mentally exhausted and super sad all the time but hopefully the next chapter will come out sooner than this one since i actually have a plan for what i want it to be like 👍🏾👍🏾

sorry again y'all i luv y'all so much ❤️❤️❤️ okay bye bye