"What did you mean by wanting to form an alliance?" I asked.

Chase had suggested we speak in private on the matter, and so I followed him to the empty lounge room we were currently in. However, while I sat down on one of two velvet green cushioned sofas, he proceeded to inspect the bottles at the minibar rather than bother responding.

"What's your poison of choice?" he motioned to the colorful bottles of expensive liquor.

"None," I said. "Just water is fine."

"Staying hydrated, huh?" Chase shrugged and handed me a tall glass before returning his attention to the liquor bottles.

It was quiet. In here, we were cut off from the sounds of music and guests talking. The only noises I heard were the clinking of glasses coming from Chase and my shifting on the sofa.

"Huh, haven't had this one in a while…" he muttered to himself and popped open a dark purple liquor with a golden stamp.

I took a sip of my water and gazed around the lounge room.

There was a string of small yellow light stones in the corners of the room, providing a soft and calming ambiance to the space. A window looked out into the gardens that were also filled with soft lighting, amplifying the glow of the white roses. Neither of these did much to quelch the uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach that only grew the longer Chase prolonged his time making his cocktail. My left hand grasped the container in my pocket with the strawberries from my brother's greenhouse.

Tch. Not that I'll likely be able to off myself and restart in time if he is indeed the warlock cat that killed me in the previous round.

With my limited knowledge about warlocks, I understood that they were a force to be reckoned with. And based on what I knew of my original life and what the System had told me, I summed up Prince Chase Daylan as an unhinged madman.

But if he is the warlock cat, why would he kill me in one round and offer an alliance in a new one?

I really couldn't understand his new train of thought in this round.

Unless I changed something so drastically that I pivoted his interaction with me by 180 degrees?

Another disturbing thought crossed my mind, recalling what the System hinted at in the casino.

"Voila!" Chase presented his completed creation, topped with an intricately twisted orange peel that suggested he moonlighted as a high-end mixologist on the side.

Chase sat comfortably across from me and propped his feet on the table between us. The soles of his shoes faced me, the bottoms of which were silver, with a design of intertwined vines and flowers.

"Right, now we can properly talk," Chase grinned. "I was so excited to discover you."

But then his expression dropped.

"Hmm, you seem tense. You sure you don't want something?" He pointed to his drink. "I'm not too shabby at making a pleasing cocktail."

"No, water is fine," I said.

Chase shrugged.

"Well, if it's about two lives back, if it puts you at ease, I promise I'm not going to kill you again," he said. "I simply had to make sure you were who I thought you were, so once was enough."

I choked on my water.

Kill me again? Once was enough?

"How would… that make me feel better?" I coughed out.

If I had any doubts, now it was clear as day that Chase Daylan was indeed the warlock cat and that this lunatic prince remembered the previous rounds.

"Because I won't kill you again? I don't have any ill intentions toward you." Chase had genuine surprise on his face. "I even went through the trouble to make your death as pleasant as possible back then. Well, I must admit there were probably easier ways to kill you, but life is too dull without a little variety. And I've always wanted to try those bath salts out on someone."

The water had gone down the wrong pipe, and a coughing fit took me over. I tapped my chest to get it unclogged.

"Besides, you had your people kill me last time around, so like I said, we're even, no?" Chase continued talking. "Pretty decent mages, too–haven't fought against that many in a while. It was rather fun, actually. And that old one–Ridley was it?–why he was absolutely exceptional! He actually killed me. Incredible."

My coughing only worsened at his words.

This lunatic sounded like he had experienced some fun little adventure rather than death. And he is surprised that I'm feeling tense?

"Jeez, mate." Chase cast some sort of magic that cleared my discomfort and tossed a napkin my way. "No need to get the next round started early."

I took in a deep breath of fresh air as if I had never choked on my water.

However, mentally, I didn't feel any better. A shiver ran through my body.

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I patted my shirt dry with his napkin.

He knows that if I die, I'll go into a new round. But what does he know that I don't? Is he part of this Game somehow as well?

"You said killing me once was enough. And earlier, you said you didn't need to search for me. But why would you need to search for me in the first place?" I asked. "Just who–or rather what–are you exactly?"

"Ah." Chase nodded his head. "Apologies. You're new to this. We haven't had a proper chance to get to know one another, and I jumped quite a bit ahead of myself earlier, didn't I? No wonder you're so uneasy."

He laughed.

I did not.

"Allow me to introduce myself formally. I'm Chase Daylan, the ninth prince of the Daylan Dynasty and the Golden Saint of the Paragons of Rahosm Temple," he said.

"I already know that much," I cut in. "What I meant is, how do you know about the new rounds?"

Chase took a long sip of his cocktail with a smile on his face.

"I realize that you are new, but am I the first other Awakened you've come across?" he asked.

"What do you mean by an Awakened?" The words came out of my mouth on their own.

Is it that damned skill of his again? Was there more to it than the description that the System showed?

"An Awakened is someone that can remember the various rounds even when the world resets," Chase clarified. "Like you and me."

"Then yes, you are the first." The words annoyingly came out of my mind on their own again.

"Oh, what luck I have!" Chase set his empty glass down and clasped his hands together. The rings on his fingers glittered brilliantly, and he looked giddy with happiness.

This only concerned me further.

Just how many other Awakened like him are there? And were they all missing a screw like this lunatic?

"Ah, if it puts you further at ease, I am more than happy to answer any questions you might have," he added.

"How did you know I was an Awakened?" I asked.

Perhaps if I knew how he found me out, I might avoid running into other Awakened.

"It's simple, really." Chase leaned back in on the green velvet sofa. "There are two criteria to identify the Awakened. The first is this."

He pointed to his golden eyes.

"Phoenix eyes?" I guessed.

"Ding! Ding Ding!" Chase said. "They're rare enough, so the average Joe or Jane wouldn't even know what they are. Actually, I take that back. Even some of the most powerful people in the world have no clue about our existence. Thank goodness for that! It's annoying enough with those that are in the know."

My thoughts went to Leonard Jarbez, the son of Sarka Jarbez. He had golden eyes as well.

Was he a so-called Awakened as well? Could he remember the different rounds too? Or was he dormant?

"So anyone with Phoenix Eyes is an Awakened like you and me?" I asked.

"Ah, no. Not quite. Everyone that's an Awakened has Phoenix Eyes, but not everyone with Phoenix Eyes is an Awakened. Most are dormant to be honest. It's just one of the two criteria."

"And what is the second criterion?" I asked.

"Well, the second part is both easy and tricky, depending on how experienced the Awakened is," Chase explained. "But at their core, the Awakened don't act like the other dormant moving cogs in a round. They've lived too long to be able to mimic their past behaviors. It's impossible even if you try, especially when you get past twenty resets, and each reset takes a couple of years."

"But it's only been days for me, and I'm only on my eighth round," I said. "What gave me away?"

A wicked grin widened across his face.

I realized that I had revealed something else of interest without Chase's skill even needing to be activated.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Well, I already confirmed it by having killed you, but you simply just further affirmed it." Chase crossed his arms.

"I've been through more resets than I care to admit—I prefer to keep my mental age a mystery, so don't ask," he said. "However, the crux of my resets always started in the year 784 and typically, but not always, continued until 787. And yet, starting seven resets ago, the round reset to 780."

It dawned on me what I had inadvertently revealed. When the System made me a Player, and I became an Awakened, it reset the Game seven years back instead of three.

But Chase revealed something to me as well.

Until then, Chase had been living in a loop through the original Game. And when the new round began, it reset not just for myself but for him and likely any other Awakened.

"How does someone go from being dormant to an Awakened?" I asked.

Chase shrugged his shoulders.

"No idea," he replied.

"How did you awaken?" I probed.

"Eh, it was nothing too exciting." Chase stood up and went to the minibar to make himself another drink. "See, I died in my first life. Murdered, really. And then suddenly, I found myself waking up one year back in time."

Chase turned to look back at me and smiled. His golden eyes rolled.

"I thought I was special. I naively thought I got a second chance at my life. I saw it as a way to enact my revenge on those that robbed me of my position and had me killed."

Chase busied himself with making himself a new drink.

"And I did. I used my knowledge of the future to right the wrongs done to me. And then… poof. I woke up back in time again. I remember looking at the sunset. I blinked. And I found myself in bed. Back in time again. And again, everything looked a little off. Different."

Chase laughed bitterly.

"And wouldn't you know it… I naively thought that perhaps I was shot—that I was assassinated and died and got a third chance. So I went through my third life, using the knowledge of both my first and second life."

He finished making his new drink, a concoction of pink and red spirits. He walked over to the window overlooking the gardens.

"Wouldn't you know it? I even managed to become King. Me. The youngest Daylan royal. And as I waved at my subjects during an evening celebration… again. I blinked. And I was back in bed, three years back in time."

Chase sighed and took a long sip.

"It took another two regressions before I finally accepted that the regressions had nothing to do with me. I was not the main character in this story. I was merely an observer. And my actions were meaningless."

"Didn't you try to find out why the resets were occurring?" I asked. I knew I would have investigated for the cause after several rounds of spontaneous regressions.

His golden eyes wandered away from the view outside and met mine. He smiled.

"Oh, I certainly did," he replied. "I even figured out who the main character causing the resets was. And they had the same lofty goal as you: to save Adovoria."

I frowned.

The so-called 'main character' he was referring to must have been the last remaining Player before the System made me a partial Player.

"If you wanted the resets to end, you could have helped them save Adovoria against the Kobar Empire, couldn't you?" I asked

"I could have, but why?" Chase shrugged. "I didn't have any attachments to Adovoria. And in my investigation into why the resets were occurring, I was assured that the world would return to normalcy after either the main character achieved their goal or gave up and returned to their own realm."

"But my goal is also to save Adovoria," I said. "Why would you offer to form an alliance with me?"

Chase returned to sit down, except this time, he sat uncomfortably close beside me on my sofa. He was close enough that I could make out the varying golden speckles in his eyes. Distinct aromas of citrus and spice wafted over from his cocktail.

"Because, unlike the other fellow, you're obviously from this realm," Chase said. "See, you asked me earlier who or what I was. But in actuality, that's what I ought to be asking you."

His facial expression grew serious for the first time, and his tone lowered.

"Say Luca, how did you become the new main character and cause the world to reset with your every death?"