"Ah, god-fucking damn it." Claude scowled.

A faint red orb materialized, encompassing me within its reach. However, rather than killing me immediately, he pulled out a black needle from out of nowhere, evidently about to tattoo himself.

"No—now! I need to die now!" I shouted.

I didn't have the luxury of time on my side. Every second mattered.

The blue notification in front of me made me certain of it.

[ Grandov is injured. ]

[ Grandov's health is dropping at 35 points per second. 45/500 HP remaining. ]

"Fuck. You owe me one. Remember it."

His sharp words—and that cold, dark gaze—were the last things I saw before everything went black.

[ You have died. ]

[ Reset in progress. ]

[ Beginning Round 10. ]

Of all the deaths I'd experienced, this was quite easily the best. Or at the very least, right up there with when Chase killed me in the last Round. Both deaths were instantaneous and, more importantly, painless. The lack of pain allowed me to avoid losing any critical memories.

A knock sounded from outside my bedroom.

I gazed at my new bedroom ceiling, riddled with tiny reflective glass.

I frowned.

So… that side did test Grandov after all. Just as I'd feared. To see if he was still a Player.

"Denise, come back in ten minutes!" I called, already swinging my legs over the side of the bed.

There was work to do.

I had Saga Duex's warning to thank for my concern and for ultimately making the death pact with Grandov. I took advantage of the fact that we were connected via the Game and could track him via the System, even if he could not do the same with me. With a bit of tweaking, I was able to set up my System to notify me if any harm ever befell Grandov. It wasn't a perfect setup, but it had been enough to let me end the Round before Grandov passed away and the enemy realized that the loops no longer ended with Grandov.

Moreover, if there was ever a situation in which I needed desperate assistance, I always knew Grandov's location to send a message and call for help using Illusion Magic.

"System, restore all access settings to match those from the end of the previous Round," I commanded.

It was unlikely that the enemy would attempt, nor was even capable of, killing Grandov quite so soon again, but I wasn't about to test my luck.

[ Understood. Adjusting permission settings and access. ]

[ Welcome to Round 10, Luca. ]

[ I have several reminders to relay to you. ]

"Go ahead," I said, already moving toward the wardrobe and pulling out fresh clothes. As I got dressed, the System's voice recited the reminders. The majority of which I luckily remembered.

Even though I died in the nick of time, that didn't change that I'd still screwed up. Badly.

Having finished getting dressed, I reached beneath my pillow and pulled out my throwing dagger, inspecting the gleaming blade.

I had failed to take it with me when I left my bedroom to console Fin and forgot to retrieve it for the remainder of the morning. Worse, I had no other fast, reliable ways to kill myself on me. The deadly strawberries had long since molded. The poisoned needles? Burned with the manor. Leona was too far away to reduce me to ash, and Apophis hadn't been around my neck to strangle me.

I'd been sleep-deprived, stressed, and running on caffeine—but that was no excuse.

If Claude hadn't been there at that exact moment...

I sighed, running a thumb along the sharp edge of the dagger, drawing blood.

I need a surefire way to kill myself instantly. Something I can trigger alone, without relying on anyone else.

Chase had a method. As did even Claude. So I knew instant, painless death was possible. I just needed to get creative.

Knock. Knock.

"Young master Luca?" Denise's voice sounded from outside. "Can I enter now?"

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Ten minutes had passed.

I flicked the dagger into the air, watching it twirl twice before catching it by the handle.

A simple enough spell has to exist. One that doesn't require a lot of mana and that I can learn quickly. And I should have at least three exit strategies on me at all times. One method was too risky. There are too many ways it could fail.

And in the meantime?

I had a dagger to throw at a certain backstabbing servant.

***

"Thank you, Luca. You saved my life," Micah told me, repeating the actions and lines from prior loops.

"Your life is still in danger," I replied. "And I have a lot to go over with you…."

My voice trailed off as my eyes noted the guard running over.

Due to the Random Character Checker, I knew his name was Matt and that he was twenty-seven years old. He was one of the few Frey Manor members who survived the fire—he had gone to the birth of his child when the blaze occurred.

Matt was sprinting toward us across the hallway, his light armor clinking with each step across the smooth black marble.

"Young Master Luca," he said between shallow breaths. His gaze flicked momentarily toward the sprawled corpse of Kaiden, then quickly returned to me. "Prince Chase Dayalan is here to see you. He's in the courtyard. Arrived alone. Not even a carriage. I think he came on foot."

I smiled.

So Chase had chosen the subtle route this time. Much better than his grand, attention-grabbing entrance a couple of Rounds ago when he delivered that enormous cake.

"But it appears I'll have to meet with Chase first," I told Micah. "It could be urgent."

Then I added with a smile, "However, given how I don't know how long my talk will take, I do need your help with something."

Micah's green eyes widened as I discreetly passed the sensitive request using Illusion Magic.

[[ Please have Henry go to Ebony Alley right now and find a man selling a phoenix egg, for which he requires precisely thirty phoenix eyes. ]]

I specifically chose Henry for this task because he was one of the people that had proven himself to be trustworthy over the past couple of Rounds and had obtained the egg successfully in the previous Round.

[[ Please have him purchase it. I'll return the thirty phoenix eyes twofold later today. ]]

[[ The seller's stand will be right beside that of Orla Rex. ]]

"Understood," Micah replied. His expression was serious. "I'll have it taken care of."

I smiled. My brother was as reliable as ever.

[[ Just so you know, I'm technically from the future. And this is my tenth life. ]]

Micah looked at me then—not with disbelief or fear, but with an expression of understanding and acceptance. And possibly relief. It was the same reassuring expression as the other times I revealed to him the truth.

"Alright, we'll talk further on the matter after your meeting with Prince Chase," he replied.

I nodded and returned my attention to Matt.

"Matt, please take Chase to the Rose Room," I ordered.

Then I turned to Denise, who had followed my trip downstairs and witnessed everything thus far.

She and Henry had both composed themselves after the initial shock of seeing me kill Kaiden.

Besides, this was the Frey Manor. I doubted that this was the first time either one of them had seen someone die here.

"Denise, can you bring us some newly brewed tea and snacks?" I requested of her.

Albeit she had poisoned my morning tea, I knew Denise well enough from past loops that she wouldn't dare poison my tea when I was in the company of others. And even if she did, I had a poison-checking skill, so it didn't matter.

"Yes, of course," Denise replied with a bow.

I smiled and walked toward the Rose Room.

I was looking to find out just what Chase had uncovered on his unpleasant bit of business.

***

"You certainly have good timing," Chase said with a grin, the mirrored lenses of his light-blue, round glasses catching the morning light coming through the large window.

"Or maybe I just had luck on my side that day," he added.

He sat across from me in the Rose Room. Between us, a silver platter offered scones, wedges of soft cheese, and sliced fruit, while a steaming pot of dark Darjeeling sat on a tray beside two porcelain cups. I'd already verified the tea wasn't poisoned—twice.

"Thank you, Denise," I said as she finished arranging the refreshments. "Please close the door and ensure we're not disturbed. Not unless it's absolutely necessary."

"Understood, young master Luca," she said with a bow, gliding out and pulling the door shut with a quiet click.

Chase poured himself a cup, took a slow sip, and let out a satisfied sigh. "You know, I meant to say this the last time I visited—but your tea is excellent."

I gave a small shrug. "We're a merchant house. Tea is one of our specialties, after all."

I poured a cup for myself and met his gaze across the table. "What did you mean by 'good timing'? And did you uncover anything useful? I assume you managed to save your sister."

Chase smiled cryptically across from me.

"So many questions," he said lightly. "But yes—I saved Deanna, thanks in large part to Jasper."

The way he said it made me narrow my eyes. Something was off.

"What happened?" I asked.

"She came back from her little deep-sea expedition perfectly unharmed. And not just that—she retrieved the ancient relic she was after."

I frowned, trying to decipher the meaning behind his smile.

Was it the relic that had him looking like a cat who ate the canary? Or was there something more?

"See, she was unable to decipher the relic," Chase went on. "Hardly surprising. I mean, it was down there for who knows how long, before the Flinx calendar, before the Draak calendar…"

"And you deciphered it?" I asked. Unsure just where he was going.

Chase shook his head. "No. But I recognized the characters. Just… not then."

He picked up a scone, broke it in half, and took a bite.

"We saw those same characters again," he said after swallowing, "when Jasper and I infiltrated Saga Duex's minting press."

That got my full attention. I sat forward, my cup of tea forgotten.

He'd succeeded in his assignment

"What did you see there?" I inquired.

"Oh, the usual," he said, waving the half-eaten scone in the air with mock casualness. "A fully automated minting press, rune-powered and built entirely without human oversight. Standard high-end magical industrialization relying on rather ancient magic."

"But then," he continued, lowering his voice, "we found a hidden room. And let's say—Saga Duex went to some extreme lengths to make sure no one found it. The traps alone could've torn us to ribbons."

He let out a sharp laugh, not entirely free of nerves.

"You weren't exaggerating about it being an unpleasant job," he stated. "Even with Jasper's crazy luck and my Lucky Coin, I thought for certain we were goners when we made it inside. And I don't even mean dead goners. Worse."

He paused, his tone sobering. "But then you died and restarted the Round. And at just the right time."

I blinked. My brows furrowed together.

"What did you uncover down there?" I asked, my voice low and serious.

Chase leaned forward, his grin returning and his golden eyes appearing over the tops of his shades. The glint behind his mirrored lenses was sharp.

"That's the interesting part—I think perhaps yours and Saga Duex's interests align far more than you'd imagine."

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