Pov Illios:
Nine months later...
(Damn, it's cold!)
This was my first reaction when I regained consciousness. I also felt numb, as if my body didn't have a shred of energy and just breathing was difficult.
That's when...
Pa! Pa!
Suddenly, I was overcome with an intense urge to cry, it was such that I immediately started screaming as if my life depended on it.
"waaah, waah, WAAAAA!"
(I'm a baby, but what a disgusting feeling, God!)
All I could do was listen to my own instinctive cry due to the midwife slapping my ass to get me to react.
(I'm so fucking fragile...).
Soon after, I finally calmed down and caught a small glimpse of what was going on in that room.
"That's my mother, but..." The first thing I could see in this world, with great difficulty, was the image of my mother, a woman of breathtaking beauty.
Her red hair cascaded over her shoulders and her skin was silky smooth. Although she was a young woman, her face showed a hardness that, oddly enough, did not relax even when she saw me in her arms.
(Why are you looking at me like that...don't tell me I'm involved in some immortal bullshit scheme?)
Unless you're involved in some political marriage or any of those similar things, normally your mother will look at you with relief and jubilation, but she....
Every time she looked at me, I felt a shiver run down my spine. I knew my mother didn't exactly look happy with my presence.
(Maybe... I was born by cesarean section, they say that hurts like hell).
I tried to reason this situation with the logic of an adult earthling, something maybe wrong.
(I don't understand anything, but well, I didn't come here to ask for family affection).
Although my mother showed a face of utter contempt for me, she didn't feel so bad anyway.
(You'll be the one to lose anyway) I thought, it was practically a given.
(By the way, don't I have, a twin?) I remembered that detail before a great fatigue suddenly set in.
After that, I lost the strength to maintain consciousness and entered the fabulous world of dreams.
----
It's been a month...
(Being a baby with the memories of an adult is horrible)
Can you imagine a situation where all you can do is cry and only cry?
Well, that's what it means to be a baby, and as easy as it sounds, it's actually very stressful to not have control of your body.
"Look little prince Illios, boo-hoo, boo-hoo."
"He's a very cute and quiet little boy, I don't understand why the phoenix lady made..."
"Shhh, Victoria, don't talk about it, you know well that it's forbidden to talk about it."
"Tsk, fine, but you know Marie, who would abandon such cute children?"
"We don't know what the immortal lords think, besides, I'm sure both children would rather be prince and princess than members of a sect."
"If you put it like that, maybe it's better..., I've heard of very bloody things happening in those places."
The people talking in front of me or gossiping, are the wet nurses in charge of my twin sister and me.
In this world, my name is Illios Silvermoon and my twin sister's name is Elena Silvermoon, and as you can already guess, we both belong to the royal family.
(Although we are at the bottom of the hierarchy).
According to what I heard, I am the fifth prince of the Silvermoon empire, and my twin sister is the third princess, being the most recent children of my father, Maxium Silvermoon, a powerful man who has been on the throne for countless years.
As for our situation... Let's just say it's not ideal, this of course because of our mother.
Miss Phoenix, whose name is completely unknown to me.
Thanks to her, we have no political support of any kind, so unless the other princes and princesses die suddenly, neither of us will get very far as the succession is concerned.
(Not that I care anyway...).
As someone almost infinitely rich, it's a matter of time before I reach the top of this world, so it doesn't matter even if I'm banished by the next emperor, the only important thing is that I survive.
"With that little face you are sure to be a playboy young prince," said my wet nurse, Victoria, as she gently stroked my cheek.
(I won't disappoint you Nana, that's on my wish list).
"You will certainly both be very cute in the future," said wet nurse Marie, who by the way was about to pet my sister, who was asleep right next to me.
(Wait, don't do that!)
I warned him in my mind, since I knew what kind of character the baby next to me had..., but unfortunately....
"WAAAAAAAA WAAAAAAAAAAAA"
With a scream, my twin woke up, but that wasn't the worst of it.
(Stop, my body, resist the impulse!).
As a baby, it's very hard to control your body, and that includes ingrained instincts, especially the instinct to cry when something makes you more uncomfortable than you should.
(Nooo NOOO NOOO)
"Waa WAAAAA!"
Sadly, I failed this battle against my own body.
--
It's been 6 months...
I haven't seen any trace of my birth mother, but....
"They don't seem to have inherited the glorious phoenix blood, but maybe they have a chance to come to our sect if their spiritual roots are good."
The one who spoke with a firm voice was a woman with short red hair, which stood out with her scarlet eyes.
Her face was strict and stern, as if she had never smiled in her life, her body was voluptuous and curvaceous, but she hid it under a crimson robe with flaming bird prints, symbolizing her affinity with the fire element.
(My aunt? Or at least someone close to my mother, probably).
I thought so, as for the reason for her visit, it was to check if we had inherited the "blissful" phoenix bloodline.
Her face obviously showed disappointment, something that made me seriously reflect on my mother's family.
(Are they blood purists?)
Honestly, it seems very stupid to me to abandon your baby for that, who knows, maybe it has unimaginable potential.
Just like in our case.
As for the reason why they don't think we have the phoenix bloodline, it's because of the simple fact that our hair and eyes are not scarlet or any shade that signals the fire element.
But this is thanks to the star demon body I buy, which is very OP, and something my sister probably has as well.
(My bloodline is far superior to yours, old witch).
"Well, even if his spiritual roots are bad... this kid could enter sect as a son-in-law."
(What?)
"Take good care of his appearance, maid," after saying this, the red-haired woman left the room.
" ji ji ji ji ji ji", next to me, I heard a soft chuckle.
When I turned my head slightly, I could see my sister Elena, who was looking at me with a laughing face.
(Are you making fun of me? .... maybe I'm imagining it).
That day, was the beginning of my suspicions about Elena.
--
It's been 5 years...
My suspicions about Elena have multiplied exponentially, this is of course because of her irregular behavior, but more than that....
"What a thrill! Prince Illios is going to take his first steps!"
*Unsteady Step
*Unsteady Step
*Bam!
"Oh, he fell down!"
" ji ji ji ji ji ji," a familiar laugh....
"WAAAAAAAAA!"
The day I took my painful first steps, with this baby body.
"Vi-Vi- Vitolia"
"Aaaaaaa, young Illios said his first words."
" ji ji ji ji ji ji, silly" again her giggle.
"Hmm, Princess Elena, where did you learn that word?"
The day I said my first words, although it sounds easy, that day it was very complex to speak.
"Oh, what a nice drawing, young Illios, what is this...a horse?"
ji ji ji ji ji ji, so ugly" once again her annoying chuckle.
"Hey, don't say that Princess Elena, it's certainly a little... different, but it's pretty, right Marie?"
"Yes, no doubt, don't worry prince, someday it will get better."
The day we were put to drawing....
As the saying goes, once is normal, twice is a coincidence, but three... is obviously a pattern.
So today I decided to confront her.
Currently, it was bedtime, so it was the perfect time to ask her, plus for some reason, there is a strange superstition that, if you separate twins until they are 10 years old, something bad will happen to them.
So, we always share some things, like in this case, the bed.
"They're already asleep, aren't they?"
"Yes, let's go."
After the wet nurses left, I immediately set out to ask.
"Hey, hey," I said as I gave her little nudges, since we were sleeping together.
"Uah, what do you want, it's late already," with a yawn, she asked me sulkily, as she sat up.
Elena's appearance was of a girl with silver hair and silver eyes that reflected a mysterious light.
She was very beautiful, like a fairy from the legends, but she also had a sleepy expression that gave her an innocent and adorable air. Her hair was tousled, as if she had just awakened from a deep sleep, and her body was small and delicate, giving a strong desire to protect her.
(You've only been asleep for 5 minutes, and that can't really be considered sleeping...)
No use beating around the bush, so I asked directly and concisely.
"Are you reincarnated?", as I said it, I paid full attention to her behavior, just in case I detected something strange.
"What?", for a moment, she opened her eyes in bewilderment, but then.
"O... That worries you, you're one too, aren't you?", casually she confirmed it to me, and even prepared to go back to sleep.
(...)
I won't deny that it left me speechless.
I expected to have to use some tactics, you know, the usual when it comes to getting information out, but she just admitted it.
"Come on, let's go to sleep, we'll talk about it tomorrow," that said, she gently guided my body into a position ready for sleep and then hugged me.
"You're the best pillow, you know that?"
I couldn't answer that, since my mind was thinking about the implications of her being a reincarnate like me.
Did she come from the same place as me, or was she an empress in her past life or similar, or was she just...? Was she an earthling who happened to reincarnate as my twin?
My mind filled with many questions and tropes typical of immortal novels, but I simply gave it up when a great drowsiness attacked me.
(I guess we'll talk about it tomorrow)
And so I simply closed my eyes.