Chapter 5 Untitled Chapter

The world spun, blurred, and snapped back together.

Leo dropped to his knees; his hands pressed flat against the floor. His head felt like it was splitting open from the pressure of another reset. He let out a rough breath, looking up just in time to see a cup fly past his ear and smash against the wall.

"You are moving too slow, you useless brute!" Bella shouted; her face twisted in that same familiar anger.

Leo did not even blink. This was Loop 5, and he was already growing numb to her voice. He stood up quietly, his body aching with a strange tiredness that stayed in his soul even when his body reset. He ignored her shouting, his mind already focusing on the timeline.

Later that evening, Leo stood guard inside the grand dining room. Bella sat at the long table, picking at her roasted meat with a silver fork while looking thoroughly bored.

"My lady," Leo said, stepping forward slightly. "I think you should avoid the wine tonight. The kitchen staff seemed careless earlier."

Bella stopped her fork and glared at him, her green eyes narrowing. "Are you telling me what I can and cannot drink now, Leo? You are a guard, not my personal doctor. Back away."

"I am only trying to ensure your safety," Leo pressed on, his heart beating a little faster. "Please, just let me check the cup first."

"Silence!" Bella snapped, lifting the golden cup to her lips. "I am sick of your constant whispering and your strange behavior this week. You do not dictate my life."

She took three deep gulps of the dark wine. Leo reached out, his hand twitching as he tried to call his blue shield to block her mouth, but the blue light popped up uselessly against the far wall instead. He could not control where the shield appeared.

A second later, Bella choked. The golden cup dropped from her fingers, spilling red liquid all over the table. She clutched her throat, her face turning a dark shade of purple as she fell from her chair.

"My lady!" Leo yelled, rushing forward.

He held her shoulders as she gasped for air, her body twitching violently. She looked up at him with wide, terrified eyes, blood trickling from her lips before her head rolled back. Her heart stopped, and the familiar, terrible pain ripped through Leo's chest, dragging him back into the swirling void.

By Loop 8, Leo was desperate. The poison was gone because he had personally dragged the chef out of the kitchen before the meal was cooked, but the world script was stubborn. It wanted her dead.

They were traveling down a steep hill road in the royal carriage. The horses were moving fast, and the wind was howling outside the small window. Leo sat opposite Bella, his eyes fixed on the moving wheels below.

"Why are you staring at me like that again?" Bella asked, crossing her arms tightly. "You have been acting like a madman all morning, checking the carriage doors and testing the ropes."

"The road is dangerous today, Lady Bella," Leo said, his voice tight. "We need to stop the driver. The front axle of this carriage is going to break."

Bella let out a harsh, mocking laugh. "The royal builders checked this carriage yesterday. Do you think you know more than them? We are not stopping. I have a meeting at the palace, and I will not be late because of your silly fears."

"Listen to me for once!" Leo pleaded, leaning forward. "Your life is in danger!"

"How dare you raise your voice at me!" Bella screamed. "One more word and I will have you—"

A loud, snapping sound cut her off. The left side of the carriage dropped instantly, and the vehicle began to tilt wildly. The horses shrieked in panic, dragging the broken wooden cabin toward the steep cliff side.

Leo lunged across the gap, throwing his arms around Bella to shield her. He focused all his mind on his magic, shouting the word in his head. Shield!

The blue light exploded into existence, but instead of forming around the carriage to cushion the fall, the barrier appeared twenty feet above them in the empty air. It did not help them at all. The carriage flipped over the edge, rolling down the rocky hill in a brutal shower of splintering wood and metal.

Leo felt his ribs break as they slammed around the cabin, but his grip on Bella never loosened. When the carriage finally crashed to a halt at the bottom of the ravine, Leo dragged his broken body up, looking down at the girl in his arms. Her neck was bent at a strange angle, her green eyes completely glassy and lifeless.

"No," Leo whispered, tears of frustration blurring his vision as his chest began to burn with the next reset. "Not again. Please, not again."

Loop 12 brought a cold, creeping horror. There were no assassins and no broken carriages, but Bella began to change.

She sat in her bedroom, staring into her mirror. Her skin was incredibly pale, almost blue, and dark veins were spreading across her neck like spider webs. She had been targeted by a hidden dark curse, and Leo had no idea who had cast it.

"My lady, let me call a priest," Leo said, standing beside her chair. His hands were curled into tight fists. He had spent the last three loops trying to find the source of the curse, but he was failing.

"Get away from me," Bella whispered, her voice weak and shaking. She tried to lift a brush, but her fingers were too weak, and it clattered to the floor. "I don't need a priest. I am just tired."

"You are dying, Bella!" Leo shouted, forgetting his manners entirely out of pure panic. He knelt down beside her, looking into her fading eyes. "Please, let me help you. Look at your neck. The curse is eating your life."

Bella looked in the mirror, her eyes widening as she finally saw the black veins. Panic filled her face, but she immediately turned her anger back onto him. "Did you do this to me? Is this why you are always hovering around me, pretending to care? You are the one who cursed me!"

"I am the only one trying to keep you alive!" Leo yelled back, his heart breaking at her words. He felt an immense weight of loneliness. He was fighting the entire universe to save this girl, and she hated him for it.

"Guard! Help!" Bella tried to scream, but her voice cracked. She collapsed forward against the table, her breathing stopping as the black veins covered her face entirely.

Leo caught her before she hit the floor. He could summon a shield that could stop a mountain, but he was still too slow, too clumsy, and too helpless to change her fate.

As the red light swallowed the room once more, Leo closed his eyes, his mind screaming in exhaustion as he prepared to face the same hallway, the same cup of tea, and the same hateful glare all over again.