The Basilisk Duke's Death Bride

Isolde Vane, a former CEO reborn as the novel's villainess, stands on the black altar in her red wedding dress as the Grand Duke's basilisk shadow coils behind her. She knows the novel: the villainess dies tonight. She smiles and declares she'll die—and then she'll win. Midnight strikes, the shadow takes her, and she dies. She wakes on the altar, same moment, realizing the loop has begun.

Isolde tries to flee the altar to avoid death, but the basilisk shadow follows her through the castle corridors. The steward Alaric warns her the shadow is bound to the Duke. She confronts the Duke in his study, but he's cold and dismissive. She dies again and regresses, now with a system window showing she has only 5 deaths remaining.

Isolde instead negotiates with the Duke, demanding to see the full death contract. In the study, she discovers a hidden clause: the bride can break the curse by making the Duke feel one genuine emotion before midnight. She tries to make him smile, but fails. Death #3. She regresses, convinced he felt something.