Damn Reincarnation

all, even Lady Ancilla was able to smile at me while saying that it’s been a long time.
Didn’t you miss me? What’s with your expression? Are you constipated?”

“…Even though you kept calling her ‘step-mother’ while my mother was here, now it’s back to Lady Ancilla?” Cyan pointed out sarcastically.

Eugene defended himself, “I need to call her by that name to keep Lady Ancilla happy, no?”

“And who do you think you are, that you need to try and keep my mother happy?” Cyan snarled aggressively.

“Bastard, what’s with you? Did you get hit by late puberty like Ciel? But that shouldn’t be the case.
You already went through puberty when you were fifteen.
Have you already forgotten that time? You secretly stole some cigarettes from the knights, and when you tried to smoke them—”

“Sh-shut up!” Cyan burst out as his face flushed red.

Then after glaring at Eugene for a few moments, he let out a deep sigh.

Eventually, Cyan asked, “…You, just what the hell is your true identity?”

“Identity? What do you mean, identity?” Eugene repeated, perplexed.

Cyan took a deep breath, “You… are you really the same age as me, only nineteen years old?”

“You want me to tell you the truth? Then I’m actually not the same age as you as I’ve been reincarnated,” Eugene confessed.

“Stop with the bullshit.”

What was the point of asking for his true identity when Cyan wouldn’t believe him even when he told the truth? Eugene clicked his tongue in admonishment and patted Cyan on the shoulder.

“After having not seen me in so long, have you suddenly realized how great your brother is?” Eugene teased.

“Yeah,” Cyan confirmed.

What was going on with this bastard? Saying something so embarrassing.
Eugene could only blink his eyes in surprise at Cyan’s honest reply.

“Your two years and my two years.
Although the same two years have passed for both of us….
With you… it feels like twenty years have passed,” Cyan spat out in a voice boiling over with frustration.

Then Cyan let out a long sigh as he relaxed his fists which had been clenched so tightly that they had become pale from the restricted blood flow.

Cyan continued, “I had thought that I was also working extremely diligently.
While you were learning magic, I just… I just swung my sword like a madman here at the main estate.
At the same time, I also practiced the White Flame Formula.
I converted my sword-light into sword-force, and while strengthening my sword-force, I also trained my mana….”

“You sure have worked hard,” Eugene muttered as he scanned Cyan from top to bottom.

Cyan’s mana had increased so much that it was incomparable to the amount he had two years ago, and it had been further refined as well.
Although Cyan hadn’t figured it out quite yet, it looked like he was right on the verge of reaching the Third Star of the White Flame Formula.

This was an amazing feat that had only been seen a handful of times in the Lionheart clan’s history.
The number of people in these hundreds of years of family history who had managed to reach the Third Star of the White Flame Formula before reaching adulthood could be counted on the fingers of one’s hands.

That said, it was still impossible for Cyan to compete with Eugene.
Eugene had already reached the Fourth Star of the White Flame Formula, and not only that, he had even created the Ring Flame Formula.

There was no way for Cyan to narrow this gap.
In the first place, it was an unfair competition.
The support that Cyan had received from being born into the main family was nothing much compared to the fact that Eugene was Hamel in his previous life and had all his memories from that time.

On top of that, Eugene had made sure not to waste a single moment of his second life.
So what was his reason for not training his mana before the Bloodline Continuation Ceremony? It was because Eugene knew that initiating his mana a few years later wouldn’t bring him any disadvantages.

Thanks to the fact that he had waited instead of going against the flow, Eugene had managed to get his hands on the Great Vermouth’s White Flame Formula and the Storm Sword Wynnyd.
With these, Eugene’s growth had been accelerated explosively.

Eugene was currently stronger than Hamel had been when he first met Vermouth.
At the very latest, ten years from now, he would have grown as strong as he had been in his previous life — no — even stronger.

‘I keep telling him that he’s already doing a lot better than expected,’ Eugene thought.

Eugene knew his situation the best, so he just took it for granted that he was stronger than Cyan.
No matter what might happen in the future, Cyan shouldn’t be able to become stronger than Eugene.

Although Eugene knew all this, Cyan did not.
To Cyan, Eugene must seem like such a monster that it wouldn’t be strange if the heavens themselves felt that it was unfair that Eugene had such strength.

And it wouldn’t be strange for Cyan to feel despair and broken-hearted because of this.
Yet instead of feeling despair, Cyan just felt frustrated with himself.

Eugene appreciated Cyan showing such a reaction.
In fact, Cyan was able to feel this way only because Eugene had spent several years beating him to a pulp in order to reforge his mentality.
But if Cyan’s innate disposition had been poor, no matter how many beatings he took, it wouldn’t have been possible to guide him back to the correct path like that.

“You should become the Patriarch,” Cyan declared.

“I guess twins really are the same,” Eugene observed.

“I heard about it from Ciel, but after seeing you in person, I know that I definitely can’t do it,” Cyan admitted.
“If there’s you, who’s incomparably superior to me, how could I possibly become the Patriarch?”

Eugene refuted him, “Why can’t you? As long as you say that you’ll do it, of course, you can become the Patriarch.”

“I said that there’s no way I can accept it!” Cyan shouted.

“If you really want me to become the Patriarch, you’ll need to duel with me first.
Because if you win, I will obey you unconditionally,” challenged Eugene.

Cyan noticed something, “…If I win the duel, why would I make you the Patriarch? And that means that if you win, I’ll be the one becoming the Patriarch.”

“It looks like your head is quicker than I expected.”

“What did you say?”

As he heard Eugene mutter a slight compliment, flames lit up in Cyan’s eyes as he glared at Eugene.

Eugene decided to be serious, “Do you really think that there’ll be a good outcome from forcing someone who isn’t interested into the position of Patriarch? A position like that should be occupied by someone with the motivation for it.
I have no desire for the seat of the Lionheart clan’s Patriarch.”

“…Even if it’s just as a figurehead, you should take the seat of the Patriarch.
Because I’ll do all the bothersome things you don’t want to do in your stead,” Cyan eventually offered.

Eugene expressed his doubts, “Do you really understand what you’re saying? For the rest of your life, you’ll never get married and never set up your own branch of the family.
You’ll just stick to the main estate and act as my servant? A prideful person like you?”

“…,” Cyan’s silence spoke volumes.

“And by the way, the words you’ve just said, you know that they can be turned back on you, right? You be the Patriarch.
Because I’ll take care of the tasks that need someone to show their strength in your place,” Eugene counter-offered.

“I really can’t understand you,” Cyan sighed deeply and shook his head.
“Is it because you’re from a collateral bloodline? No, as someone from a collateral bloodline, you should be even more interested in becoming the Patriarch.
If you become the Patriarch… you’ll have the power to shatter the centuries-old traditions of the Lionheart Clan.
Despite that, no one will be able to go against your will.
Both the Knights of the Black Lion and the Council of Elders, they’ll have no choice but to listen to you.”

“That’s not really a certainty,” Eugene attempted to correct him.

“No, they will concede,” insisted Cyan.
“The only ones who can compete with you are Ciel, that fool… Edward, and me.
But none of us three can compare to you.
So regardless of tradition or whatever, if it’s for the sake of the Lionheart clan, you should be the one to become the next Patriarch.”

“And what’s so impressive about the Lionheart clan,” Eugene harrumphed as the corners of his mouth twisted into a sneer.

Hamel’s grave had been left in ruins.
The Moonlight Sword had been sealed away.
Sienna had disappeared, and Anise had been forced to wander the desert, unable to find his grave.

All of this had something to do with Vermouth.

Eugene recalled that bastard’s face as he scoffed, “For you, the Lionheart clan might seem like something truly important, but from my point of view, it’s not really all that amazing.”

“…Be careful of what you’re saying,” Cyan warned him.

“What’s there to be careful about? Anyone has the right to talk smack about the home they grew up in,” Eugene defended himself.

“We are….
You shouldn’t say those kinds of things.
You’ve received a lot of benefits from growing up in the main family.
Can you really deny that your nonsensical talents are an expression of the fact that you’ve strongly inherited our ancestor’s blood?” Cyan argued.

“Of course, I can’t,” Eugene readily acknowledged what couldn’t be denied.

This body of his was so innately talented because he was a descendent of Vermouth.
Since Eugene had the memories of his previous life, he may have been able to become strong even with a trashy body, but the reason he had been able to grow this quickly was thanks to this exceptional body that he had been born with.

If it was in the past, Eugene would have just been grateful for this.
He might have been reincarnated as Vermouth’s descendant of all the people, and he might have been confronted with the confusing and fucking upsetting reality that the remaining Demon Kings were still living as happily as ever.
But he still felt like it had to be a miracle that he was reincarnated with the memories of his past life.

However, what if it wasn’t a miracle?

Eugene — no — Hamel’s reincarnation had been intentional.
The one who had planned this was probably Vermouth, and while the Demon King of Incarceration had known about his reincarnation, Sienna and Vermouth had clashed somewhere during the process.

These companions from his previous life….

‘In order to reincarnate me….’

But why him of all people?

“I have no intention of changing my mind,” Eugene told Cyan distractedly.

Eugene currently felt disillusioned.
What exactly was that inhuman, superman, hero, Master-of-All, God-of-War, the Great Vermouth even thinking? And why had he done something like this? What was he planning to do by faking his death while clashing with a comrade with whom he had gone through countless life-or-death situations and planning Hamel’s reincarnation?

If Vermouth was really that lively, it would have been better for him to just join forces with his comrades once more to fight the Demon Kings.

“The one who will become the Patriarch is you, Cyan.
I won’t do something like becoming the Patriarch.
If you really want to change my mind, try convincing me by using your strength,” Eugene challenged him once more.

The Lionheart clan was Vermouth’s family.
Eugene had never held any great interest or pride in the clan in the first place.

It was the same even now.
Although he had lived for nineteen years as ‘Eugene Lionheart,’ he still didn’t hold much interest or pride in his role as a member of the clan.

Gilead, the Patriarch, was a good person.

As for Gion? He was also a good person.
Even though they were the direct line of the main family, those two had never once looked down on Eugene.

And Ancilla, well, although there were times when she definitely wanted to look down on him, and her goodwill was only superficial.
Still, compared to Tanis, you could even call her an angel.

Cyan and Ciel as well.
Although their first impressions weren’t great, after spending a few years together, they might not be as close as true siblings, but they had still become attached to each other.

As for Gargith… he was built like a brick shithouse[2], reminding Eugene of Molon, and it felt like he was a good guy.

Gerhard? What was there to say? Eugene really liked his father.

But even with all that, Eugene still couldn’t hold much interest and pride in his clan.

“…A duel is a bit much,” Cyan muttered.

Cyan had to admit that he wouldn’t be able to change Eugene’s mind.
In the past, Eugene hadn’t gone so far as to dismiss the ‘Lionheart’ name like this, so he had to wonder if Eugene had gone through a change of heart sometime during the past two years.

‘Or perhaps, he might just be going through puberty as well.’

With a bitter taste in his mouth, Cyan grabbed the sword hung at his waist.

“Since it’s been a while, let’s have a spar,” Cyan proposed.

Eugene warned him, “I’m telling you this in advance, but no matter what you try to do, you won’t be able to defeat me.”

“I know, you son of a bitch,” Cyan cursed.

‘Rude bastard,’ Cyan thought as he shoulder-barged Eugene on his way to the training grounds.

1.
The original Korean titles translate literally into big-mother for Tanis and little-mother for Ancilla.
Step-mother and Matriarch are close approximations. ☜

2.
The Korean version of this phrase uses a rice cake stall. ☜