Chapter 2 · free to read
For the first time in thirty-eight loops, no one was watching me die. They were watching her decide whether to.
I had waited thirty-seven deaths to see that particular expression. It was worth every cup.
I had come back thirty-eight times to win one room. I forgot to ask what a cornered serpent does when the room is finally lost.
Sixty seconds after death — that was the crown's mercy. But his blade was already moving, and I suddenly understood: the loop only saves me from poison it has tasted before.
Artwork and narration generated with AI.