Juan remembered his first day so vividly, unfortunately. He memorized swimming too far into the salty water at the beach on a beautifully sunny day, and he knows how the exhaustion that weighed his body down felt as he paddled back towards the shore. He thinks about struggling to stay above water as he—

He remembers his death, in the first life. And he could never forget the bubbling excitement that thrummed under his skin when he awoke, after his death, in a plush bed.

And he remembers the utter dread that hit him when the realization that he was a minor character in his favorite book hit him. He refused to die like the original character did, not again. He was determined to avoid the main characters and not piss off the wicked majesty.

Well, soon to be wicked majesty. The majesty hadn’t killed anyone yet, but Juan was strictly following the storyline he remembered, the storyline that depicted the majesty going insane with jealousy and murdering those for a unrequited love.