Third-person POV

Seraphina woke slowly, the warmth of sleep still clinging to her body as the quiet of the early morning wrapped around the room. For a few peaceful seconds she didn’t move. Her mind was still drifting somewhere between dreams and reality, and she instinctively shifted closer toward the other side of the bed, expecting to feel another body beside her.

Her hand touched cold sheets instead, and as soon as she felt the cold, her eyes opened immediately.

The empty space beside her looked strangely large now that Electra was no longer there. The blankets were pushed aside, and the faint warmth that had once been there had already begun to fade. Seraphina stared at the spot for a moment as confusion slowly replaced the sleepy calm she had been feeling only seconds earlier.

"Electra?" she called quietly, but there was unfortunately no response.

Seraphina sat up in bed, her heart beginning to beat a little faster as she glanced around the room. The faint light of early dawn was just beginning to push through the curtains, and as Seraphina took a look around the room, everything in the room looked normal. Nothing had been disturbed or out of place, except the fact that Electra herself was gone.

"Electra?" she tried again, louder this time, but still nothing.

Seraphina pushed the blanket aside and climbed out of bed quickly. Her feet hit the cold floor as she walked toward the bathroom, pushing the door open with a small amount of urgency.

The bathroom was empty, and her stomach twisted slightly.

She stepped back into the bedroom and stood there for a moment, her arms crossing loosely over her chest as she tried to understand what had happened. The memory of the night before returned to her all at once, vivid and impossible to ignore. The warmth of Electra’s hands, the way she had pulled her closer, the intensity of the kiss that had started everything, it all rushed back through her mind in a flood of emotions.

Seraphina had fallen asleep wrapped in Electra’s arms, and she had expected to wake up the same way. Hell, she was hoping that she would wake up the same way. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

Even though she had known things between them were complicated now, even though she understood that Electra was not the same person she had once loved, a part of her had still hoped that the moment might last a little longer, at least just one night.

One night where she could pretend that things had not fallen apart. One night where she could forget about memory loss, chaos, and everything else that had changed between them, but the empty bed beside her made it clear that those hopes had been unrealistic.

Seraphina let out a quiet sigh and ran a hand through her messy hair. "Of course," she muttered under her breath.

Her mind immediately began filling in possible explanations, because that was what it always did when she didn’t have answers. Seraphina had always been an overthinker, and this situation was no different.

Maybe Electra had regretted what happened, and that thought hit her harder than she expected.

The Electra who existed now was not the same person who had once loved her. The woman she had spent the night with did not remember the months they had shared or the bond that tied them together, and maybe last night to her had simply been curiosity. Maybe Electra had only wanted to explore something she didn’t understand anymore but was curious about, the same way she had kissed Irina just a few days ago.

Seraphina swallowed quietly when it dawned on her that maybe she had just been... convenient.

The thought made her chest tighten. Perhaps Electra had simply wanted to experience sex again, and Seraphina had been the easiest option. After all, the connection between them had always been strange, even before the memory loss.

Seraphina rubbed her face with both hands before letting them fall to her sides again.

"Well," she murmured, "that’s a depressing thought."

She walked back toward the bed and sat down slowly, staring at the floor while her thoughts continued running in circles. The truth was painful, but she had known it from the beginning. Whatever had happened between them the night before didn’t automatically mean things were fixed.

Electra still didn’t remember loving her, and Seraphina couldn’t force that love to exist.

Still, it didn’t change how she felt.

Seraphina leaned back slightly on her hands, her gaze drifting toward the ceiling as she exhaled slowly. She was in love with Electra, and that fact had never really changed, no matter how complicated their lives had become. Even the version of Electra who no longer remembered her still had the same presence, the same pull that had always drawn Seraphina closer, but love didn’t mean she could spend her entire life begging for attention.

She had her own life too, and there were things she still needed to do. Her expression grew more serious as another thought pushed its way to the front of her mind.

Varynthia.

Seraphina had tried to avoid thinking about it too much, but the truth kept coming back to her. Earlier, she had confirmed everything with Irina because she needed to hear it clearly before she could accept it.

Yuna was really dead.

The words still felt unreal when she thought about them. Elysium had officially closed the case after their investigation, declaring that Yuna had jumped from the rooftop and taken her own life.

Seraphina knew that wasn’t true. Yuna would never do something like that, and Iris had to be responsible because Iris had been with Yuna at the time of the incident, even though no one else but her knew that.

The anger that came with that thought had not faded since the moment Seraphina first considered it. She could still picture Yuna’s face clearly in her mind. The girl had been many things, stubborn, emotional, sometimes reckless, but she had never been someone who would simply give up and jump to her death, and she hated that the school had ruled her off as someone like that just to protect their reputation.

Seraphina clenched her fists slightly. According to the information Irina had gathered, Yura had already returned to their kingdom with her sister’s body. Varynthia was now mourning a goddess they believed had ended her own life.

That lie bothered Seraphina more than she could properly explain. She wanted to go there herself. She wanted to look Yuna’s family in the eye and tell them the truth, that their daughter had not chosen death, that something terrible had been done to her, but leaving Elmeria right now wasn’t easy.

Seraphina had been hoping that Electra’s memories would return soon so she wouldn’t have to worry about abandoning her. Unfortunately, days had passed and nothing had changed. Electra was still the same distant version of herself.

Seraphina wasn’t sure how much longer she could wait. Just as that thought crossed her mind, the bedroom door opened.

She turned her head quickly, and Electra stepped inside the room.

For a moment Seraphina simply stared at her, relief washing over her chest before she could stop it, but that relief quickly turned into confusion when she noticed something strange.

Electra wasn’t wearing the clothes she would have typically slept in or clothes that anyone would wear out just to take a stroll. Instead, she was dressed in casual clothes that looked like she had been outside for hours.

Seraphina frowned immediately. "Where the hell did you go?" she asked.

The question came out sharper than she intended, but she didn’t bother correcting herself. She stood up from the bed, crossing her arms as she looked Electra up and down.

"It’s four in the morning," she added. "You look like you just sneaked off school grounds or something."

The words slipped out casually because she didn’t actually believe them. As far as Seraphina knew, Electra barely understood the world outside Elysium right now, but Electra didn’t look surprised, and she didn’t deny it either.

Seraphina’s eyes widened slightly. "Wait," she said slowly, her voice growing more serious. "You didn’t actually sneak out... did you?"

Electra shrugged lightly. "Why are you asking when it’s already obvious?" she replied.

Seraphina blinked in disbelief. "You’re joking," she said immediately. "Where the hell would you even go? You don’t know anything outside Elysium!"

Electra walked further into the room, her movements calm and unbothered as if nothing unusual had happened. "Well," she said casually, "to my surprise, I managed to get by."

Seraphina stared at her.

Electra stopped near the bed and glanced toward her. "And I even found my way to the palace," she added.

Seraphina froze, but Electra continued speaking as if she were describing something completely ordinary.

"I had a lovely meeting with my stepmother," she finished. "I mean the queen."

Seraphina’s mouth fell open, and for several seconds she simply stared at Electra, unable to process what she had just heard. The words repeated themselves in her mind again and again, but they still didn’t make sense.

"You... what?" she finally managed to say.