Chapter 1

Thunder cracked overhead.

I turned on instinct, reaching for the man beside me, but my hand met cold sheets.

"Derek!"

Panic rose, fast and sharp.

I searched the palace from one end to the other before I found Derek Ingram in a quiet, out-of-the-way wing. A woman was nestled in his arms, and he was so wrapped up in her that he never noticed me standing in the doorway.

Lightning flashed, and I saw her face.

Vanessa Cole, my adoptive sister, who had taken my place at Cole Manor.

I stood there, staring at Derek's back, trying to make sense of what I was seeing.

"Ah!"

Vanessa noticed me first, her eyes flicking toward the door with a brief flash of surprise.

"What is it?" Derek asked as he started to turn, but she tightened her arms around his neck.

"Careful," she said softly. "You're hurting me."

He let out a low laugh and pulled her closer.

Vanessa looked at me again, this time with a small, knowing smile.

I was about to push the door open when a flat, mechanical voice cut in right beside my ear.

[Gratitude points insufficient. Remaining lifespan: two days.]

I froze. Another crash of thunder followed. The voice came again, clear and emotionless.

[Before your physical body dies, you may exchange your remaining merit either for passage home or to delay the world's destruction. Please make your choice.]

For a moment, everything blurred, and I was back ten years earlier.

I had finished the mission and was about to leave when the system told me the world was about to collapse. Everyone would die: the people who treated me like a god, my parents, and Derek, who loved me more than life.

"I'll stay," I said. "I'll save them."

That was the deal. I used the merit I had earned across worlds to hold everything together, and when it wasn't enough, I burned through my own lifespan.

Every storm, every disaster, every illness came at a cost.

[If the people of this world feel gratitude for your sacrifice, those points will sustain your life.]

I was overjoyed.

Then the system's cold voice cut in.

[Humans are fickle. Gratitude only declines.]

When it reached zero, I would die, and the world would fall apart anyway.

Back then, it felt far away. I thought I had time, enough to live out a full life with the people I loved.

But I didn't.

Ten years was all it took. My marriage was broken, and I was almost out of time. I had only two days left.

Why? Why would everyone betray me?

I didn't go inside. My legs gave out before I could.

By the time the rain came down hard, Derek was back in our room, damp from the storm. "Why are you up? Is the thunder bothering you?"

His voice was as gentle as ever, but the scratches across his chest stood out under the lamplight. "Come here. I've got you."

He looked genuinely worried, as if he hadn't been cheating on me just moments before.

Every time the weather turned bad, I had to trade pieces of my life to keep the world steady. After a while, thunder alone was enough to set my nerves on edge.

Whenever that happened, he would hold me until I calmed down.

"Why are you crying?"

He gently wiped away my tears, and only then did I realize my face was already wet with them.

"When did it start?" I asked. "You and Vanessa."

He went still, and his expression fell. "You…went out tonight?"

He didn't answer right away. When he did, his voice was steady.

"You've already seen it. There's no point in hiding it. Vanessa loves me. She's been waiting ten years. She wants to enter the palace. I can't turn her away."

Pain welled up inside me, and tears poured down my face.

Ten years ago, he had held my hand and sworn he would be the first king in history to keep only one queen.

"If you won't turn her away," I said, "then you're turning me away."

I held on to the last bit of hope I had. "If I die in two days, and the world goes with me, are you still going to choose her?"

His expression cooled, disappointment replacing whatever had been there before.

"Charlotte, don't say things like that. I love you. You'll always be the queen. Even if Vanessa enters the palace, she won't threaten you."

He looked at me, faintly annoyed.

"You can't have children. When she does, we can put the child under your name. That solves everything."

Something hollow opened up in my chest. "What do you mean, it solves everything? I have two days left—"

"Enough," he cut me off. "Don't talk about dying just to get a reaction out of me. I'm the king. Taking a mistress isn't a big deal. You're blowing this completely out of proportion."

His gaze went cold.

"I've stayed loyal to you all these years. Even if you did stay for me back then, that's more than enough."