The first thing that came to my mind was my terrible headache. It felt like my skull was an expanding balloon that ripped my bones to pieces. My senses were almost completely numb; this truly felt like I was thrown head first in Plato’s allegory cave. Dammit, what’s going on? Right… I was driving back from home and… And I crashed? Am I dead? Fuck, my head is really killing me. It was at that moment that I heard a voice speak with a hint of grief.

" So, it worked huh? "

It worked? What worked?

I could feel my heartbeat rising. I slowly opened my eyes and saw a young man standing in void just in front of me. He was in his low twenties and carried a suffocating aura with him. He wasn’t that tall and even looked somewhat fragile. The man wore a weird medieval-like armor that had a red cap attached to it. Our eyes met, and I could only tremble after seeing his emerald green eyes staring back at me.

Impulsively, I asked, " God? "

You fucking idiot! What kind of God wears cape? Of course, he’s not God!

 I suddenly got nervous, an ominous feeling filled me to my bones. It’s like my senses finally came back to me. Alarms in my head were going off and adrenaline flooded my veins.

Just who is this person?

A look of confusion appeared on the stranger’s face as he heard my words. He chuckled.

" No, I am your murderer "

I didn’t say anything back.

Is he saying he killed me? So, I am dead? What about the car crash? Dammit, I have so many questions.

The man, who was not paying too much attention to me continued.

" I am Jean Aldric, the third prince of the Snowfox Kingdom ".

 Is he crazy? No sane person would go off and speak such nonsense. SnowFox kingdom? How much of an alcoholic is he? Dammit, I really must be careful around him.

I took a deep breath trying to gather every ounce of courage I could and decided to play along.

" Jean – no, your highness " I said, "What do you mean when you say you’re my murderer?"

He gently smiled back.

"I mean that I killed you, what else could it mean?"

" What? "

I was at a loss for words.

The prince seeing how confused I was continued.

" My second brother afflicted me with an incurable poison. I can’t allow him to ascend to the thrown so I sold my soul to the devil. The deal was quite simple, in exchange for my soul you will become me ".  

Assuming what he said was the truth, I somewhat understood the situation. Even so, there was a problem with his explanation. I continued my act.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

" Why didn’t you sell your soul in exchange for your life? " I asked confused.

Without a hint of impatience, he started explaining.

" When the transaction with the devil is completed he consumes your soul. What would be the point of saving myself if my soul would be consumed soon after? "

I quickly understood what he meant. Transactions with the devil can’t be a selfish thing since you’ll die after your wish is granted.

I couldn’t help but wonder if this person was actually telling the truth. His thoughts were organized and his explanations were detailed and made sense. The words he spoke didn’t feel like does of someone who’ve lost his mind.

" Why me? " I asked not being able to hold back.

"I don’t know " said the prince while scratching his head " The Devil chose the soul who would replace me. All I know is that this person will kill my second brother".

Fuck! There’s no way I’m killing anyone. How could the devil predict such a thing anyway? I must tell him that he has the wrong guy, dammit.

Just as I was about to speak I saw the smile that Jean was carrying vanish. Just by looking at him I could tell that deep inside something was bothering him. The atmosphere around us became like a pressure chamber. He slowly exhaled.

" It’s time Gabriel ".

After hearing my name my vision became blurry. A could hear a screaming whistle in my ears while my conscience faded. I blacked out.

***

 I heard an irritating voice that made me feel like I was getting lectured. I couldn’t quite understand what it was trying to say since my ears felt like they were submerged in water. Soon after, the voice could be heard clearly and it spelled out,

" Jean ".

Jean? Who’s Jean? Wait, this voice sounds abnormally familiar.

 My vision transitioned from a blur to a vivid picture. In front of me, sitting on a thin wooden chair, I saw a bulky man with a cocky smile. His hair was red and he wore a proud look. Suddenly a name appeared in my mind.

"Danso... " I muttered.

" Huh? " he replied, "Just play".

I looked down and immediately understood the cocky smile from before.

Danso and I were playing a game of chess and I was losing terribly. He dominated the center and controlled most of the board which gave me little room to maneuver my pieces. I wasn’t down any pieces but positions like these were deceivingly bad. If this opponent was even somewhat competent, I would have almost no chance to win.

Fortunately, I could gain a bit of information on my opponent. The way people play chess reflects a lot their personality. The control he had obtained can only come from passive moves. He therefore wasn’t a risk tacker and preferred simplicity over aggressiveness. He liked being in control; waiting for the opponent to make a mistake.

How… How did I know this?

Ignoring this point for now, I took another look at the board and my instincts told me to resign. Thinking more deeply about this, I decided against it since I lacked information about my situation.

Coming to this conclusion I took another look at Danso. He glared back and then spoke with a sharp voice. The cocky smile he had completely disappeared from his face.

"Your Highness, you have to be more serious. How do you expect to ascend to the thrown if you can’t even beat humble me".

" Highness? " I whispered.

Suddenly, it hit me like a wave during a storm. Images were exploding in my head reveling an overlord of memories. They were both Jean’s and my memories. Everything became clear.

 So, Jean wasn’t a nut case in the end! That means that I… I died.

I was barely able to keep myself composed. A picture of an old lady formed in my mind. She wasn’t tall but you could tell that from her smile she had a lot of character.

 Mom…

I immediately stopped my train of thought. This was no place to get emotional — I was a prince now and I was in front of my chief night. I can’t just let myself cry in front of him.

 I took a deep breath trying to calm myself and stared at the board once again. Even if in my pass life I was a National master at chess, I really had no chance at winning.

" I resign "I said with an uninterested attitude.

Hearing this Danso almost jumped off his chair.

"What do you mean you give up? You never give up! Why would y –".

A young man wearing a servant uniform suddenly rushed in the room.

" Please forgive my rudeness your highness "he started saying with a composed voice,

"Our majesty is requesting aurgent meeting that everyone with royal blood must attend ".