In a chamber heavy with panic and death, King Edric stared at Queen Iris’s lifeless body, the bed sheets soaked with blood. Advisors argued, Healers lingered helplessly, and Fatals stood by, but Edric heard little beyond the ringing in his ears as he grappled with the immediate loss.

Edric held the newborn daughter whose birth had just cost Iris her life. He could not bring himself to look at the child, whose eyes reminded him of Iris and felt, to him, like a theft. His grief quickly intertwined with his hunger for strength, shifting his focus to the child’s potential power.

Edric thrust the infant into the arms of his Silencer, Damion, and demanded to know how much power the child possessed. The question revealed Edric’s priorities: in the wake of tragedy, nothing mattered more to him than power.

As the chamber waited, Damion faltered under the weight of the inquiry and the king’s anger. Pressed by Edric’s command, Damion finally whispered the verdict that could cost him his life.

Damion declared the baby was powerless. The revelation shattered any remaining illusion of solace for Edric, leaving him with a dead queen, a crying child, and the bitter confirmation that the daughter he now had did not possess the power he desired.