I won't fall for the queen who burned my world-Chapter 191: The past is in the past

It didn’t feel real.

Zera was seated on Malvoria’s throne.

The throne Elysia had stood beside during official court, the one carved from obsidian and ancient sigils that radiated power.

The one only Malvoria had ever filled effortlessly regal, commanding, impossible to ignore.

Now, Zera lounged in it like it was hers.

Elysia’s breath caught.

The woman she’d once held, kissed, whispered secrets to now looked like a stranger wearing a version of the past.

Her eyes, once bright with mischief and quiet strength, were now steeled with something colder.

Her expression bore none of the warmth Elysia remembered. Only a knowing smile. A blade-thin smugness curled on her lips.

"Finally," Zera said, tilting her head. "You arrived."

Malvoria didn’t speak. She didn’t have to.

The moment shattered with flame.

Fire surged to life around her in a vortex of heat and fury. Swords of molten energy rose in the air again, the room igniting with magic as Malvoria summoned her power like a wrathful goddess.

And then she hurled a blast straight at Zera.

The throne exploded—stone, fire, and smoke bursting outward. The impact shook the room, ash spiraling through the air in a violent haze.

Elysia coughed, blinking through the debris.

Zera was gone.

No—

She reappeared an instant later, behind Malvoria.

A burst of light, the crackle of magic.

Elysia barely had time to shout, "Malvoria!" before Zera’s fist came down.

But Malvoria spun, her arm snapping up like a striking serpent, catching Zera’s wrist mid-air with inhuman speed.

For a second, their eyes locked—fire against frost.

Zera laughed.

It wasn’t sweet. It wasn’t teasing.

It was bitter, sharp-edged. "Still too strong for me," she said with a crooked grin—and vanished again.

Reappearing beside Elysia.

"Don’t—" Malvoria started, lunging forward.

But Zera was already there.

Too close.

Elysia instinctively stepped back, heart hammering. Zera’s presence was familiar and wrong all at once, her aura radiating something twisted, unstable.

Zera didn’t touch her.

She just looked.

And smiled like she owned her.

"Hello, sweetheart."

Elysia’s spine went cold.

The nickname struck like a slap.

She opened her mouth, unsure what she even meant to say—How? Why? What are you doing?—but Malvoria was already between them.

Sparks rained down as a blade of fire blocked Zera’s path.

"Touch her," Malvoria growled, "and I’ll make you regret being born."

Zera arched a brow. "You’ve already taken enough from me, don’t you think?"

Malvoria’s stance didn’t shift. "You betrayed your people."

"And you stole her."

"I didn’t steal anything," Malvoria said, her voice tight with fury. "You gave her up the moment you sided with those who wanted her dead."

"Don’t twist this," Zera spat. "You think I didn’t hear it? The rumors? The whispers from your precious little palace rats?" She turned to Elysia again, expression warping.

"You’re in love with her. You sleep in her bed. Kiss her. Let her touch you like I used to."

Elysia flinched.

"Is that true?" Zera demanded. "After everything we went through? After everything I gave you?"

"You joined the people who wanted to destroy everything," Elysia said, her voice trembling. "You tried to hurt her." ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com

Zera’s eyes burned. "I did it for you. I thought I could fix this damned arrangement. You were meant to rule beside someone who loved you, not—" her lip curled, "—play house with a demon queen."

"You don’t get to talk about love when your hands are stained with innocent blood," Malvoria snapped.

Zera’s magic sparked around her fingers—blue-white lightning dancing across her knuckles. "And yours aren’t?"

The silence that followed was taut enough to snap.

Elysia stepped slightly back, her gaze locked on Zera, her mind racing.

She had loved this woman once.

Had trusted her with her heart, her future.

But now, all she saw was a shadow of what once was—twisted by pride, jealousy, and the poison of misplaced vengeance.

And Zera?

Zera still looked at her like she belonged to her.

"You don’t understand," Zera whispered, something brittle cracking beneath the steel in her voice. "I waited. I kept my distance. I tried to be patient. I believed in us, Elysia. Even when you didn’t."

She took a step forward, Malvoria raising her blade again.

"Elysia," Zera said, her voice breaking, "you are my girlfriend."

Elysia’s thoughts swirled into a storm.

You are my girlfriend.

Zera’s voice still echoed in the throne room, cutting deeper than she expected. Not because of the words—but because of the weight they carried. The implication. The past.

She had never told Malvoria.

She never said, not out loud that before this chaos, before fire and magic and thrones, Zera had been hers. Her girlfriend.

Her comfort during nights of fear. The one who had held her when her world cracked open after her father’s surrender.

And now, that same Zera stood across from her, unrecognizable behind anger and betrayal, declaring her love like it was a weapon.

Elysia looked to Malvoria.

The demon queen didn’t flinch.

Didn’t even blink.

Her jaw was tight, her grey eyes sharp with fury—but not jealousy. Not doubt.

Just purpose.

"The past," Malvoria said, voice like steel sliding from its sheath, "is the past."

She stepped forward, blade raised again, ignoring Zera’s wide-eyed flash of indignation. "And you? You are my enemy. That’s all that matters now."

Zera’s sneer faltered.

She reached into her cloak with one quick motion and pulled out a small vial filled with swirling violet liquid.

"Then let’s see how you handle this."

Without hesitation, she downed it.

Elysia’s stomach twisted as Zera’s body jerked back, her veins pulsing with sudden light. Her eyes glowed unnaturally bright, and the air shimmered around her like heat off desert stone.

Then she moved.

Faster than before. Too fast.

Zera was a blur, striking from the left, vanishing, then reappearing on Malvoria’s right. She landed a glancing blow that scorched Malvoria’s sleeve, nearly cutting to her ribs—but Malvoria twisted away at the last moment, her own blade catching Zera’s next strike mid-air.

The force cracked the stone beneath them.

Still, Malvoria was unshaken.

She parried, spun, and retaliated with a slice that sent fire arcing toward Zera’s feet. The woman dodged barely.

Even enhanced, Zera wasn’t fast enough.

Malvoria’s sword carved through the space beside her, singing with magic. A flare of flame forced Zera back again, her breathing labored, sweat glistening on her brow.

"You can’t win," Malvoria growled.

Zera’s answer was a desperate snarl.

Then—

A blur of silver.

A wind-like shift in the air.

Before Malvoria could react, a blast of pressure hit her side.

It wasn’t Zera.

It was another figure.

Clad in celestial silver, hair pale as starlight, eyes cold with purpose.

Lady Seraphina.

She struck Malvoria with enough force to send her skidding across the floor, blood marking the trail behind her.

"Enough," Seraphina said, stepping into the light, her sword glowing with divine fury.