Electra''s POV

    Hearing Seraphina call me a violent tyrant stung in a way I wasn''t prepared for. The words hit deeper than I wanted to admit, not because they were said to hurt me—no, Seraphina''s tone hadn''t been biting. It was almost as if she were stating a fact, and maybe that''s what made it worse.

    It wasn''t anger that rose in me, which was strange in itself. Normally, my instinct would be to lash out, to make sure no one ever dared to speak to me like that again, but this time, what I felt was far more unsettling: guilt.

    A dull ache settled in my chest, and I hated it. I hated that her words had gotten under my skin.

    I was still trying to process everything. She''d known all along that our lives had been switched—knew—and she''d said nothing. When I confronted her the day it happened, she looked me dead in the eye and lied.

    Any other day, any other circumstance, I would''ve slapped her so hard she''d see stars. Yet here I was, standing in front of her, feeling nothing but exhaustion and this nagging need to understand her.

    "But seriously, Seraphina, why now?" I asked tiredly."What''s the point of this confession?"

    Seraphina sighed, running a hand through her hair as she avoided my gaze. "Well, I''m speaking now because I''m frustrated, Electra, and because I thought I could handle it," she admitted quietly. "I thought I could live your life and figure it out on my own, but I can''t, and I needed to get it out of my system."

    I let out a bitter laugh, crossing my arms over my chest. "Yeah, I got that part when you called me a tyrant," I said dryly.

    She flinched slightly, and I immediately regretted my tone.

    "It''s not just that," she said, her voice softer now. "Living as you... it''s suffocating. The expectations and the constant pressure to be untouchable—it''s too much. I don''t know how you do it, but it''s such a miserable way to live. I hate it."

    I stared at her, wanting to be offended that she basically just called me miserable, but I wasn''t offended. "It''s not like I had much of a choice," I muttered.

    Seraphina nodded, her gaze finally meeting mine. "I get that now," she said. "And I''m not saying it excuses anything you''ve done, but... I understand why you are the way you are. Why you did the things you did. I mean, with someone as mentally unstable as you are, living this life, you were bound to be a nutcase."

    Her words made me laugh a bit, and from the look on her face, I could tell she was surprised I wasn''t offended. "So what do you want from me, Seraphina?" I asked, my voice sharper than I intended. "What''s the point of all this? Just because we both know our lives have been switched doesn''t mean we can magically snap our fingers and fix it. We''re stuck like this, whether we like it or not."

    She nodded slowly, her expression thoughtful. "I know," she said. "But if we''re stuck like this, then we need to figure out how to live each other''s lives without making things worse. There''s so much about you I don''t know, and I''m sure there are things about me you don''t know either. So... maybe we need to learn."

    I raised an eyebrow, skepticism creeping into my voice. "Learn? You want us to learn about each other?"

    "Yes," she said firmly. "If we''re going to survive this—and I mean really survive—we need to understand each other. Otherwise, we''re just going to keep fumbling around, making things worse for ourselves and everyone around us."

    I stared at her for a moment, trying to gauge how serious she was.

    "And what happens after that?" I asked. "What happens after we learn everything there is to know about each other? What if whoever did this doesn''t switch us back? What are you going to do if you have to live as me for the rest of your life?"

    Seraphina scrunched up her face in exaggerated disgust, crossing her arms tightly over her chest. "No offense," she began, her voice laced with mock sincerity, "but if I had to live your life for the rest of my life, I think I''d seriously consider killing myself."

    I rolled my eyes so hard it felt like they might get stuck in the back of my head. "Oh, come on," I said, shaking my head at her theatrics. "It''s not that serious."

    Seraphina tilted her head, a wry smile playing on her lips. "Are you sure about that?" she asked. "Because I didn''t want to bring this up just yet, but since we''re laying things out in the open... you should know that I''ve figured out something interesting."

    Her words caught my attention, though I tried not to show it. "And what''s that?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

    She leaned forward slightly. "Even though our bodies didn''t switch, our beings did, Electra," she said, her voice quieter now. "I don''t know how or why, but somehow, I''ve become...you. And that means I also know that you, back in your life as Electra Vale, were only half human."

    I stared at her, my face blank as I processed her words. I wasn''t surprised she''d figured it out since her first breakdown must have been the one that happened in front of me, but still, hearing her say it aloud made something twist in my chest.

    Shrugging nonchalantly, I walked back to my bed, took a seat, and crossed my arms. "So what?" I said, feigning indifference. "If anything, you''re the one benefiting the most from this switch. Eventually, you''ll figure out all my juicy secrets, while your life is so boring, there''s absolutely nothing for me to find out."

    Her brows furrowed slightly, and she tilted her head again, this time with a more serious expression. "You think this is me benefiting?" she asked. "You think finding out all your secrets is some kind of privilege?"

    I shrugged again, refusing to give her the reaction she seemed to be fishing for. "You tell me," I said casually. "If you''ve already figured out that I''m half Phoenix, I''m sure it won''t take you long to put the rest of the pieces together, and when you do, you''ll see that your life before this was a cakewalk compared to mine."

    Her eyes narrowed, and she crossed the room to stand directly in front of me. "Maybe," she said. "But doesn''t it seem like the reason we switched lives wasn''t so I could uncover your secrets, but so you could finally have someone who understands you?"

    I froze. "What are you talking about?" I questioned harshly.

    She didn''t flinch at my tone, her expression calm as she spoke. "Think about it, Electra," she said. "You''ve spent your entire life as the untouchable princess, half human, half Phoenix, carrying all this power and anger and... loneliness. You''ve spent your life being feared and hated but never understood, and now, for the first time, someone else knows what that feels like."

    I clenched my jaw, my hands curling into fists at my sides. "So what?" I snapped. "You think this is a good thing for me??"

    "Maybe," she said, her voice still maddeningly calm. "Or maybe it''s just fate. Maybe it''s the universe''s way of showing us both what it''s like to walk in someone else''s shoes and to feel what they feel. Think about it."