Third-person POV

Iris would stare back at the television in her room in disgust as she watched Electra declare herself the queen of Elmeria after outing Jella as a killer and ruining any chances of Jella retaining her position as queen. She had been fast asleep when her father, General Aurelian, had called to ask her if she had seen what was happening in Elmeria, his voice urgent in a way that immediately pulled her out of sleep.

At first, she had been irritated, barely awake and in no mood to deal with anything dramatic, especially drama that didn’t have to do with her, but the moment he told her to check the news, something in his tone made her listen. Now, as she stood in front of the television, arms crossed tightly over her chest, she could feel that irritation turning into something much colder.

The screen flickered with images of chaos and order mixed together, cameras moving quickly as reporters tried to keep up with everything happening in real time. The footage showed Jella being dragged away, her usual pride nowhere to be seen, her face pale and twisted with something that looked dangerously close to fear. Iris watched it all with narrowed eyes, her lips pressing into a thin line as she took in every detail.

There was no sympathy in her expression, no surprise either, only a simmering disgust. To her, this outcome had been obvious from the start, something that could have easily been avoided if Jella had not been so stubborn and foolish. The typical traits of an arrogant human.

Then the footage shifted again, and Electra appeared.

Standing tall, composed, and completely in control, Electra addressed the crowd like she had always belonged there. Her voice carried through the screen, steady and clear, declaring herself as the rightful queen of Elmeria, and the people listening did not interrupt the final part of her speech before she turned away, and it would make Iris wonder if the people of Elmeria were starting to accept Electra for who she was.

Iris’s expression darkened further.

She continued to stare at the television, her eyes locked on Electra’s face as the news anchor began speaking again, trying to explain everything that had just happened. At first, it sounded like the usual reporting, rushed and slightly confused, but then something caught her attention. The anchor mentioned a word that didn’t belong in a situation like this.

Resurrection.

Iris’s brows furrowed immediately, her focus sharpening as she leaned slightly closer to the screen. "What?" she muttered under her breath, almost to herself, her voice low and filled with disbelief. Without wasting another second, she reached for the remote and increased the volume, her eyes never leaving the television as the anchor continued speaking.

"...confirmed that Queen Jella was responsible for the king’s death," the anchor was saying, her voice steady despite the weight of the report. "In a shocking turn of events, the late King Vale himself appeared, having been temporarily resurrected by Electra, and spoke directly to the public before passing once again in what was described by witnesses as becoming a pile of ashes..."

Iris didn’t move. For a moment, she just stood there, staring at the screen as if she hadn’t heard it correctly. The words didn’t settle right in her mind, like they didn’t belong together in the same sentence. ’Resurrection, King Vale, Electra.’

It didn’t make sense.

The part about Jella killing Vale didn’t shock her in the slightest. In fact, she almost expected it. From the moment Jella had ignored her advice, from the moment she chose to stay in the palace instead of running when she still had the chance, Iris had already known how things would end for her. Jella had never been anything more than a pawn who thought too highly of herself, and now she had paid the price for it.

Iris let out a quiet scoff, shaking her head slightly as that part of the report played again in her mind. "Idiot," she muttered, her voice filled with contempt. She remembered clearly the last time she had been in Elmeria, the warning she had given Jella, and the way she had told her that Electra was not someone she could stand against. She had seen it herself, the day Electra had risen again when she was supposed to die. That alone had been enough to tell her everything she needed to know.

Electra was not the same girl she used to be, and in that moment, neither was she.

Iris’s expression tightened slightly at that thought, her jaw clenching just a bit as she looked back at the screen. She knew her own condition better than anyone else. She was not at her best, not even close, and that made everything worse. Facing someone like Electra while being weakened was not just difficult, it was dangerous, and she had known that long before everything went wrong.

She had told Jella the same thing. She had told her that she would lose, and now she had, but none of that was what truly unsettled her.

It was the other part.

The part about resurrection.

Iris’s gaze sharpened as she looked back at the screen, her mind already racing ahead of the report. She didn’t believe it. It didn’t matter what the anchor was saying or how confidently it was being presented. There were limits to power, even for someone like Electra, and bringing someone back from the dead, even for a moment, was not something that could just happen.

Or at least, it shouldn’t.

Refusing to rely on the report alone, Iris turned away from the television abruptly and reached for her phone. Her movements were quick, almost impatient, as she unlocked it and immediately went online, her fingers moving rapidly across the screen as she searched for more information. If something like that had really happened, there would be more than just one report. There would be footage, evidence, something undeniable.

And there was.

The moment the search results loaded, dozens of videos appeared, all showing the same event from different angles, different perspectives, and different people who had been there when it happened. Iris tapped on one without hesitation, her eyes narrowing slightly as the video began to play.

The footage was shaky at first, clearly taken by someone in the crowd, but it didn’t take long for the image to steady. Electra stood at the center, her presence impossible to ignore, and then something happened.

Something unnatural.

The body that had been lying still began to move.

Iris’s grip on her phone tightened as she watched, her eyes widening just slightly despite herself as the man, Vale, opened his eyes and sat up. The crowd around him reacted immediately, gasps and murmurs filling the background, but Iris barely heard any of it. Her focus stayed locked on the screen, on the impossible scene playing out in front of her.

Vale spoke. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

His voice, though weak, carried clearly enough to be understood, and the words he said left no room for doubt. He named Jella, calling her a witch. He accused her, and he confirmed that she had stabbed him, and then, just as suddenly as it began, it ended.

Iris didn’t move as the video ended.

She stared at the screen for a long moment, her mind struggling to process what she had just seen. It wasn’t a trick, and it wasn’t an illusion. It was real. There were too many angles, too many recordings, too many witnesses for it to be anything else.

Electra had done it. She had brought someone back from the dead, even if it was only for a moment, and even if it didn’t last.

It was still enough.

A slow, broken laugh slipped out of Iris’s lips before she could stop it, her shoulders shaking slightly as the sound filled the room. It wasn’t a laugh of amusement. It was disbelief, frustration, and something darker that she couldn’t quite put into words.

"Of course," she muttered, her voice uneven as she stared at the paused image of Electra on her phone screen. "Of course she can do that too."

Her grip tightened slightly as her gaze lingered on Electra’s face, and slowly, the laughter faded, replaced by something much colder.

Hatred.

As she stared at Electra, something shifted in her expression, something deeper and more personal. She wasn’t just seeing Electra anymore. The shape of her face, the way she held herself, the fire in her eyes, it all blurred together into something else.

Someone else.

Solara.

The name formed in her mind without effort, and the moment it did, the hatred inside her burned even stronger. It wasn’t just about Electra anymore, it never had been. It was about everything that came with her, everything she represented, everything she reminded Iris of every time she looked at her.

"Even now..." Iris whispered, her voice low, almost bitter as she shook her head slightly. "Even now, you’re still not done, are you?"

Her eyes didn’t leave the screen as she spoke, as if she was speaking directly to the image in front of her rather than the empty room around her.

"Even in death, you’re still taunting me," she added, her tone hardening, her expression tightening as the anger settled deeper inside her.

To Iris, there was no difference anymore. Looking at Electra felt like looking at Solara all over again, and that alone was enough to make her hatred grow, stronger than before, until it was almost impossible to ignore, and as she stood there, staring at the image of Electra, there was only one thing left in her mind.

This wasn’t over.