The Orchid Hive Remembers

Fungal witch Ilyss protects Orchidkin heiress Veyane after the hive brands her a counterfeit and returns an impossible memory of Veyane murdering Ilyss. Beneath the Walking Forest, they discover a nursery growing replacement bodies for nobles—and learn their love may be another loyalty command. To become people instead of backups, both women must sever themselves from the network that keeps their species alive and choose one another without a past life deciding for them.

A fungal witch protects an orchid heiress who remembers murdering her, while the walking forest grows perfect copies that insist the memory is true.