Chapter 6: Taking Some Time Off

Okay. I will admit it. I’m an idiot. It took Atlas killing me three separate times for me to realize that he was the one doing it, but can you really blame me? Yeah, I knew the guy was loyal, but not loyal enough that he’d execute someone he’d known for years just because the prince might want them dead. That’s insane. Atlas deserved to be locked up for that kinda loyalty, and while I briefly considered using that devotion to trick him into supporting me, I quickly gave up on that idea. Sure, I could probably convince him of anything if I really tried, but that meant little if the prince could just override me with a single command.

Unfortunately, that meant I was out of options. All three of my so-called friends had turned me down, and two of them had killed me, though I was weirdly more mad at the third, who hadn’t even bothered to meet with me. Still, I needed another plan, and after racking my brain for a solution, I decided to do what I did best. I spent the day reading.

Does that seem like a strange move when numerous people wanted me dead? Maybe, but as far as I knew, I was unkillable and dying didn’t even hurt. This meant I had all the time in the world to enjoy my books, and I decided to begin with a romanticized history of the country’s founding.

Perhaps it was not the best choice to distract me from my current situation, but it had been on my reading list since Roman gave it to me years ago. Additionally, I hoped that it might contain some kind of valuable clue about how to take down royalty, but for the most part, it was just fluff. It was the story of a simple farmer who grew a rose of such overwhelming beauty that nobles from around the world offered him mountains of treasure and eventually even went to war over it.

When the goddess appeared to stop the fighting and decide who the rose should go to, the farmer instead chose to give it to her, saying it paled in comparison to her own beauty. Yeah, that's a pretty cheesy line. Still, it worked, and the goddess soon bore the man’s son, a demigod, whose power allowed him to unite the nearby regions and become this country’s first king. Years later, when it came time to choose a queen, he chose a commoner whose beauty he claimed rivaled the rose his father had given the goddess. Thus, she took the name Rose and, to earn the goddess’s approval, became the first saint of her church.

As I put down the book, I couldn’t help but sigh. The story was common knowledge, but after the last few days, it just came off as kind of pathetic. The book tried to paint the king as romantic, but it felt more like he was just obsessed with his own mother. He forced his queen to both work for her and to take on a name that reminded him of her. It wasn’t just him either. Every king that followed had demanded the same of his queen, and as I thought back, I realized that the prince had always spoken with a strange passion when talking about the goddess.

“OPEN THE DOOR!”

Speaking of that insane mama’s boy, he was currently banging on my door. That was rather unsurprising since the party had started well over an hour ago. I had told Sally I wasn’t feeling well and would be skipping the party. While she had not been thrilled that I’d be skipping the party, she didn’t object too forcefully. She never did.

Also, just to be clear, I didn’t think this was some brilliant plant to escape being killed. I just wanted some extra reading time and was sure the prince would eventually come kill me. However, I was just surprised that he’d waited so long. The party had started at eight, and based on the ringing of the clock tower, it had just turned nine. While his patience was unexpected, I couldn’t help but laugh as I imagined him menacingly looking down from his balcony for an entire hour, only for me to never show up. I’m sure it must have made things awkward for the rest of the guests, but they had all silently watched on as I was killed, so I didn’t really care.

Sally had stared in confusion at the loud banging for only a moment before she went to see what the problem was. I debated whether or not to stop her, but decided that they’d just break the door down if we waited. Unfortunately, the man waiting on the other side was less patient than expected, as the door was forcibly slammed open and Sally was knocked to the ground.

“Liliana Florencia Thorn, for the crime of...”

“Hey!” I interrupted the already furious prince before staring daggers at Atlas. “You knocked Sally down.”

Both the prince and Atlas flinched at the unusual amount of venom in my words, and I can’t say I blamed them. Even I was a bit surprised at how angry I was over Sally’s sake. She had been my maid practically since birth, but she had always kept a respectful distance from me, ensuring that I knew very little about her life. Still, she had always provided for me, both at the academy and at home, where my parents were too busy dealing with noble duties to spend much time with me. What’s more, while she had always ensured I did the bare minimum of my noble duties, she had always respected my social anxiety and never pushed me beyond my means. She treated me well, and I wasn’t about to let these idiots push her around.

“Help her up,” I ordered Atlas, who suddenly noticed the maid sprawled out on the floor before him and quickly offered her a hand back up. Sally still didn’t understand what was happening, but gratefully accepted the gesture from one who ranked far above her on the social ladder. However, as she did, I noticed the metallic glint of her slipping something back into her sleeve.

“Now apologize,” I demanded.

“I’m sorry.”

“Think nothing of it,” Sally responded, still uncertain, but seemingly more surprised by my behavior than anything else.

“Very good. You may go now.”

At my command, Atlas gave a proper bow and walked away, leaving both the prince and me completely shocked. While I knew he was an idiot, I had not expected such complete obedience, and I suddenly began to wonder what else I could accomplish with a few well-chosen words. Meanwhile, the prince looked genuinely deflated, as if the wind had been entirely knocked out of his sails. He had seemingly forgotten his anger as he tried to make sense of the situation around him. I would’ve sympathized with him if he had not been here to kill me, so I instead picked up a new book, determined to read until he remembered why he was here.

“Liliana Florencia Thorn, for the crime of...”

“You already said that part,” I incorrectly corrected him, curious how far I could push him before he killed me.

“Did I?” he asked, genuinely unsure as he once more tried to decipher what had happened since entering the room. I wasn’t sure why he had only brought Atlas, but he was surprisingly gullible without the rest of his entourage to support him.

“Not sure,” I said with a turn of the page. “I wasn’t actually listening.”

Maybe that was pushing things a bit too far, as his face suddenly turned bright red, and for the first time in my life, I felt the desire to perform in front of a crowd. A smile crossed my face as I imagined this man making an utter fool of himself in a room full of young nobles. While my first few loops had failed to win over any of the central pillars of the country, I now saw potential in turning the people against this fool of a prince. In the best-case scenario, a revolution against the crown could be the key to my escape, and even if that didn’t go as planned, I would still really enjoy ticking him off.

“I must say. You are being terribly rude to your true love,” I said, interrupting his ramblings about what a wicked woman I was.

“Ha! You think a foul villainous like yourself could ever be my true love?”

It’s true. He’d never called me his true love, and I’d never called him mine. It was a political marriage, and we both knew it. There had never been anything close to romance, despite Roman’s best efforts to push us into it. Still, we had at least been cordial and enjoyed one another’s company. It’s funny how quickly that changed. Without me even noticing, he had grown to despise me over the last few months, and while I was less than a dozen loops in by that point, I was already strategizing the best way to humiliate and destroy him.

“I’m talking about Holly, you idiot. We’re an hour into this party, and all you’ve done this entire time is talk about your ex and then go see her. Girls really don’t like guys who can’t let go of their exes, so why don’t you just go back to the party and apologize?”

For a split second, he seemed to agree with me and started eyeing the exit, but then a strange look filled his eyes, and he turned back toward me.

“Don’t think you can deceive me that easily,” he finally countered. “I know you’re guilty of bullying Holly. Your hiding from me is proof of that.”

“I don’t think you know what hiding is,” I responded as I turned the page. “I’m reading in my own room. It doesn’t take a genius to find me, though out of curiosity, where is the last place you’d look for me?”

While I had hoped that he might provide some clue to aid me in hiding from me in a future loop, he instead just killed me. It seemed that I had pushed him too far, though his patience had lasted far longer than I would have expected, given my numerous rude comments. This told me that I would have plenty of time to push his buttons in future loops, and that thought brought a smile to my face as his divine magic turned it to ash.