diff --git a/ui/src/routes/api/chapter/[slug]/[n]/+server.ts b/ui/src/routes/api/chapter/[slug]/[n]/+server.ts
index c7c74d6..804eea2 100644
--- a/ui/src/routes/api/chapter/[slug]/[n]/+server.ts
+++ b/ui/src/routes/api/chapter/[slug]/[n]/+server.ts
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ export const GET: RequestHandler = async ({ params, url, locals }) => {
 		const res = await fetch(presignUrl);
 		if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`MinIO returned ${res.status}`);
 		const markdown = await res.text();
-		html = await marked(markdown, { async: true });
+		html = marked(markdown) as string;
 	} catch (e) {
 		log.error('api/chapter', 'failed to fetch chapter content', { slug, n, err: String(e) });
 	}
diff --git a/ui/src/routes/books/[slug]/chapters/[n]/+page.server.ts b/ui/src/routes/books/[slug]/chapters/[n]/+page.server.ts
index 1b15842..ce99964 100644
--- a/ui/src/routes/books/[slug]/chapters/[n]/+page.server.ts
+++ b/ui/src/routes/books/[slug]/chapters/[n]/+page.server.ts
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ export const load: PageServerLoad = async ({ params, url, locals }) => {
 		const res = await fetch(presignUrl);
 		if (!res.ok) throw new Error(`MinIO returned ${res.status}`);
 		const markdown = await res.text();
-		html = await marked(markdown, { async: true });
+		html = marked(markdown) as string;
 	} catch (e) {
 		// Don't hard-fail — show empty content with error message
 		log.error('chapter', 'failed to fetch chapter content', { slug, n, err: String(e) });