Reincarnated As Both The Villainess And Heroine...?

They Lied About The Tunnel

I read somewhere that when we die, it was like walking through a dark tunnel, with the light at the end drawing ever closer.

Some claimed it to be the light of heaven or a better place, while others liked to say it was a new beginning. A reincarnation, in other words.

However, what they failed to tell me was that there were two paths out of the tunnel.

"What the heck is this?" I stopped walking through the pitch black tunnel.

Shortly after I died at the merciless hands of the almighty truck god, I was stumbling through this seemingly never ending tunnel.

Still, I arrived at here eventually. A place flooded by blinding lights that promised me a second life, or at the very least, a better place. Even so, as if mocking me, two paths laid out before me, with two distinct colors of lights radiating from each exit.

One was a soft and gentle golden hue, a graceful and elegant color. It was not the dazzling and gaudy sparkle of gold and jewelry, but it was something much more refined.

The other was a fiery red, blazing like the magma of a volcano that could not contain itself any longer. If it represented an aspect like the first color did, then I'll probably describe it as reckless but charismatic.

Are you asking me to choose, tunnel? Why do I feel as if you are mocking me?

You know damn well that I had a terrible habit when it came to selecting things! Or was this laughing at how I died!? It was, wasn't it!? You definitely knew that I died when I was too busy agonizing over which route to take in the new otome game to notice that truck blazing down the street!

Heck, these two shades were the main color scheme of the game! You're not even trying to hide it, tunnel! Was I overthinking things? Well, who wouldn't be suspicious when I was killed in the most cliche way possible!?

Fine, then! Two can play that game! I'll just stand here and do nothing! Let's see who can spite each other the most and the longest!

W-wait! Why are both of the exits shining brighter!? Why is the light coming to me!? This is foul play, tunnel! Gah!

***

Ugh...my head hurts. That light definitely did a number on me, because I was hearing double.

""Congratulations! It's a healthy baby girl!""

See? There was even double quotation marks.

Whoever it was, stop clapping! Annoying! Do you have a habit of clapping when someone woke up!? Speaking of waking up, why can't I open my eyes...?

"Ah, my dear Elizabeth..."

"Rin is such a cutie, isn't she, dear?"

Ugh. The double hearing was escalating to hallucinations. The two different feminine voices were overlapping each other, as if they were talking over each other. However, it was clear that neither of them noticed they were doing so.

"This day, the individual who shall bear the title of Duchess Bathory is born!" this time, it was a male voice who shouted.

"Of course. Even the name you came up with fits her, dear," similarly, it was also a male voice that responded to the second woman's inquiry.

Hm? The voices were getting much clearer now. I was finally able to grasp the situation without my head killing me, but there was something bothering me. More than bothering, in fact. It was just so...obviously wrong. Like eating steak for breakfast.

No, it wasn't about why I couldn't move my arms or operate most of my body functions. That I could ponder about later.

How was I being touched at the same time? I mean, my arm felt as if two people were touching the same exact spot. My back, too? My legs!? I was being carried? Wait, why were two sensations present?

Wait a minute...Rin and Elizabeth? Disregarding the familiarity that I couldn't recall right now, who the heck would name their child two names?

Wait a further minute! Since when has it been established that I was reborn as an infant already!? Ugh, fine. Looks like that wasn't the biggest of my troubles.

As I finally forced open my eyes, I took in the sights of an unfamiliar environment, which were obscured behind a thin veil of misty blurriness. Still, it was manageable to make out rough shapes and colors. Specifics were impossible, however.

As such, no matter how hard I squinted, or at least did an action similar to squinting, I couldn't make out the appearances of the people surrounding me even if my life depended on it. All I could do was assign them temporary place holder names based on their attire and voice.

Unfortunately, I was seeing double, much like my hearing. Not double like when one was drunk, but it was two different sights that shouldn't be typical for human eyes.

For some reason, it wasn't particularly disorientating or anything. Just slightly...off. A bit like how you would forget about something, but you couldn't place your finger on what. Except in this case, I knew full well what was wrong.

It existed in parallel, to describe it from my point of view. The bright and well furnished ceiling and walls were part of my vision, while at the same time those run down wooden planks also existed.

Seemingly elegant people that had proper clothing that were noticeable to the eyes stood in one of my visions, but the ones that wore a faded material, probably cloth, also could be seen, but independent from the first.

It was something like opening two browser tabs, and watching two separate videos at the same time with different monitors. Or playing two video games with two different controllers.

Both views were there at the same time, while not exactly impeding my sense of sight. It was rather difficult to describe, to be honest.

Oh, view number one had some signs of movement.

"Look, my lady!" a girl that was dressed in a maid outfit said cheerfully. "The young mistress opened her eyes!"

Ah, view two was moving this time.

"Aren't her ruby eyes absolutely charming?" the woman who was carrying me in her arms said.

They...they weren't at the same place? It was two separate conversations, that I could tell. That, or I was born with a few screws loose at a mental asylum filled with people that lost their marbles. For the sake of my sanity, let's strike that option out.

What in the world was happening...?

At least, I confirmed I wasn't born a monster that had a pair of extra eyes growing at the back of my head or something. Since, you know, the two views were of two different locations distant enough for the people to hold two completely unrelated conversations.

Wait, hold up now!!! That led me to an even more harrowing possibility, didn't it!?

""She definitely will become someone of great importance in the future.""

I was in two bodies at the same time!?