As Many Times As You Wish

Alternative ending (>>58970059) to the GT dump anon (>>59296648)'s timeloop curse story (>>58961214 >>58962455 >>58963531).

Looking at the now lifeless body of the castle guard before you, you burst into maniacal laughter.
Finally, you have all the pieces to the puzzle. The solution to everything. A happy ending where nobody needs to get hurt.
You can hear the clucks of armor and footsteps approaching, bouncing off the cold stone walls of Inkwell castle.
None of that matters now. No one in this timeline would ever be able to bring you to court, not if you cut it short.
You unsheathed your dagger and thrust it into your heart. Suicide is no longer scary if it's done out of habit instead of fear.

"Welcome, to the 999th run. Will you make the same choices?"
Once waken, you rushed to the desk and grabbed your quill, jolting down the plan you have perfected through nearly a whole millennia of suffering.
You didn't actually need to write it down, as every minute detail had already been engraved into your memory, but you did it anyways. It's your final thesis, your greatest work.
This run turned out to be a flawless performance. Shiori became the most beloved queen in history and you, her knight and lover.
You stopped the assassination three days before it could happen. The Assassin's Guild handed over their client—a powerful Count who had always coveted the crown—out of respect for the queen, under your influence, of course.
As you sent the culprit behind the bars yourself, you let out a sigh of relief.
Moonlight projected a pool of serenity onto the floor. You stared at it and teared up.
You've done it. What might have looked like a routine arrest to others, is your curtain call to this miserable Sisyphean ordeal.
Tomorrow would be a new day and you would be, at last, going off script.

"Good work, Anon!" That voice visited you again that night, "Remember that you can do this as many times as you wish!"
"If you still want to experience this again, make your decision in three days. Once the third day passes, your fate will be set in stone, once and for all."

You woke up refreshed and didn't think much of the dream. You proceed to breakfast with Shiori.
"You sound like a broken record today, Anon." Shiori giggled, "I swear I've heard that exact joke last week!"
You laughed it off, attributing it to the stress from work. However, you knew something felt off. You could barely think of anything original to talk about.
The countless rehearsals have made you the character under your quill, while the mind of the author had long faded.
You managed to stumble through the day without much more dialogue.

The second day felt bizarre. You froze for a long minute when your subordinates asked you to opine on an important treaty.
Well, this is new. You took a deep breath, searching the playbook in your head for a suitable response but in vain.
Shiori came to your aid and you passed the judgment onto her.
"Are you ok, Anon?" Shiori asked in private that evening, her eyes full of concern.
You opened your mouth, but words were not coming out. You awkwardly nodded in silence, gave Shiori a good night kiss, and left the room.
You had your hands on the dagger the entire time during the exchange. You felt exposed, with the eloquence backed by trial and error stripped away.

The third day was unbearable. You and Shiori had a fight.
"You aren't normally like this." Shiori murmured, "What had gone into you? You felt like a completely different person the past few days."
Those words touched your nerves. "Do you have any idea how much I have suffered? I saved you! I deserve to be treated as your hero!", you shouted with abandon, "I..."
Shiori was visibly scared by your sudden eruption and burst into tears. Panicking, you rushed out of the room.
You couldn't quite recall the last time you've seen her cry. Was it the 638th run? Or was it the 749th?
You vowed to keep her happy and engineered that meticulously into your plan. Could you do the same after you are freed from the loop?
Your mind felt like a blank page. Your hands again instinctively found their way to the dagger on your belt.
Sure, when thousands of blank pages, thousands of past you, were bound into a book, it could fool its way through the eyes of fate; what would Shiori think when she finally notices how much of an empty shell you have now become?
You glanced at the clock on the wall. There is still time, but not much.
Could you protect her smile forever? What if you lose her again to something else? Or worse, to someone else?
Right before the clock stroke twelve, you unsheathed your dagger and thrust it into your heart.