Reincarnated as the Prince's Rival!

- 7

To say Emil's previous life was uneventful would be a lie. At least, in Emil's opinion. There were many things he got to experience and many things he learned before he was hospitalized and, from what he assumed had happened, died.

And one of the things he learned was how to deal with people like Yves.

Emil wasn't a stranger to talkative people. Many of his colleagues and even his own mother had the habit of droning on about absolutely nothing, talking his ear off while all he could muster were a few "Mhm's" and the occasional "Oh, really?" instead of providing any meaningful input. Whilst he never considered himself to be introverted, or by any means shy, he was just not a very talkative type.

Yet, it seemed like those people he had to deal with in the past paled in comparison to Yves.

Yves liked to talk. A lot.

He pointed out mundane things— like the stalls selling gems ("Oh my, those gems are gorgeous.") or the people passing by ("Ah, Orcs started making and buying potions now?"), things that Emil truly couldn't care less about. He would nod and say his normal go-to responses which would then prompt Yves to keep talking. He seemed to love to make snarky comments, as well. Insults masked as compliments or just Yves being "curious." ("Letting guards talk down to you like that... personally, I wouldn't let that happen. You have a lot of self-control... or maybe you like being talked down to?" to which Emil would respond with the meanest look he could muster.) Though, he was thankful that Yves had a soothing voice. It made listening to him not-as-tortuous as it would be otherwise.

Yves was graceful, though. Every move felt precise and practiced, something that he hadn't seen before now. Elliot, even Eden's brother, had their own sort of roughness to them, whether it be in their appearance or their actions– but not Yves. Well-kept blond hair that covered one eye curled playfully below his shoulder, russet skin that contrasted from the gold top he wore and a white jacket that fell lazily off his shoulders that he never bothered to fix. He was bright. At least in contrast to Eden.

Yet... confusion still bubbled within Emil. Who was Yves, exactly? The man spoke to him like he was a good friend of Eden's– something the novel mentioned Eden did not have. He carried himself like he knew Eden well. But, he had never heard of him before... Maybe he was someone he missed? Perhaps he was a background character that...? Thoughts swirled in his mind, yet it still came up blank. He didn't know who this guy was.

"Don't think too hard, you might hurt yourself."

The two had stopped in front of a stall– Yves had seen an accessory he had liked and insisted that they peruse the seller's other wares. He picked a lone brooch and held it between his fingertips. The ruby in the middle of had glimmered slightly, it's resplendent beauty catching Emil's eye.

Emil huffed and looked away, his fingers danced along the other accessories lined up in front of him. "I won't. I just... have a lot on my mind."

Yves didn't respond, which was shocking considering he was full of "witty" quips up until that point. Instead he hummed and placed down the brooch gently before fiddling with a ring near the corner of the stall.

The ancients have to be done now. As Emil looked up to meet Yves' eyes, but a poster nailed on the wooden pole behind him fluttered in the wind and caught his eye. The name and the portrait... Pushing past Yves, he moved to meet the paper head on.

"Lucian..." the name fell effortlessly from Emil's lips, as he grabbed the paper and ripped it off the pole and held it in his hands. "Lucian Farbrook..."

"Are you a fan of Lucian, Eden?"

Emil looked over to Yves, who was now peering over his shoulder and looking at the poster in his hands, before his eyes returned to the poster. Lucian. Lucian.

For a moment... For a moment, Emil forgot about the situation he was in. For just a moment, Emil forgot that his life was in danger. Perhaps the interaction with the guards and being forced to follow Yves around let it escape from his mind. But, a poster that fluttered in the wind provided a cruel reminder.

Lucian Farbrook was a sick man. Whilst he wasn't directly responsible for Eden's demise, Lucian still contributed heavily to the torment he endured later on in the novel. A sick, sick man who took pleasure in watching Eden writhe and suffer.

Lucian was a very famous idol within the country. "A commoner detested by nobles turned into a singer nobles adored!" was what made him so popular among the common folk, according to the novel. His life was what most commoners dreamed of. He was also another one of the men who pursued Elaine, which meant he was Ivan's rival. Lucian feigned innocence and kindness in order to get close to Elaine, and once she had completely trusted him, he kidnapped her. Ivan eventually rescued her and killed him, but of course he did. He was the hero in the novel, after all.

Eden was a toy to him. Bending and twisting his mind until he broke him– that was what Lucian did. Every word that spilled from his lips, every movement he had made, every connection he had made– everything was done to ruin Eden's mind. That's what he said to Elaine when he kidnapped her, anyway. The novel had said that Lucian had stolen Eden's "most treasured possession", though it never went into detail what that was exactly, and "stripped him of everything he once was," which caused Eden to lose his mind. God, that shitty fucking novel... This sucked!

"Jesus Christ, man..." Emil crumpled up the paper and stuffed it in his pocket. There's only so many ways he could say "this is fucking stupid" before the point got across– but it was!

Thoughts buzzed around his mind. He felt sick– this was sick. A sigh fell tepidly from his lips as his fingers raked through his hair. What was he even going to do?

He turned around to Yves, who's normally relaxed expression was replaced by a much more quizzical one. Yves opened his mouth, probably to make another unnecessary comment, but Emil held up his hand and shook his head. Whatever snarky remark he was going to make, he could save it.

"Let's just go back to the tower, please..." A strange emotion flashed across Yves' face, and if Emil wasn't staring at him so intently, he definitely would've missed it. It seemed like... confusion? Perplexity? But he quickly regained his previous calm demeanor and looked off to the side.

What is he thinking now? "What is it now, Yves?"

"You're so..." a smile played at his lips as he spoke. He laughed– it was short and soft, Emil was surprised he even heard it. He has such a nice voice. He looked back at Emil. "...weird. More so than usual."

"Please don't insult me right now, Yves."

"If only you weren't such a nuisance to my sister and painfully arrogant... it'd be so entertaining to have you around," if looks could kill, Emil was sure that the glare he just sent Yves would've murdered him on the spot. Even though it was true Eden was a nuisance, it didn't mean he had to take the insults thrown at him. That's right– he was Eden now, and Eden would not take insults.

Yves squeezed his arm (again), which caused Emil to shoot him another glare. "Let's head back to the tower."

"Thank you."

———————
it's me!!! da author!!!

got this one out pretty quickly huh??? i had to actually rewrite this one because the og chapter 7 didn't uh... really line up with chapter 6 🥶🥶🥶

anyway i don't have much to say 🤷🏾‍♂️🤷🏾‍♂️ college classes end next week and then it's finals time 🥶 so if there's like a LARGE gap between this chapter and the next one please please forgive me!!

that's basically it ! i love y'all so so much and i hope you enjoyed this chapter 💕💕💋💋