Elysium: Desired by the Cold-hearted Princess [GL]-Chapter 380: Sending her away

Third-person POV

Electra, Irina, and Penelope moved quietly down the long side hallway that led toward the back of the academy. The main corridors were busy, filled with students moving between classes, but this part of the building was almost always empty. The walls were plain, the windows narrow, and the floor slightly cracked near the corners. It was not a place teachers walked through often, which made it perfect for what they were about to do.

Irina walked in front with easy confidence, like she had done this a hundred times. Penelope followed just behind her, hands tucked into the pockets of her skirt, glancing around every now and then to make sure no one had followed them. Electra walked last. Her steps were calm, steady, and quiet. She did not feel guilty about skipping class, and if anything, she felt relieved. The classroom had felt tight and suffocating earlier, even before she collapsed.

"We’re almost there," Irina said over her shoulder in a low voice. "Once we get through the gate, no one will even know we left."

Penelope gave a small nod. "The new guard never checks this side until late afternoon."

Electra listened but did not respond. Her mind was not fully focused on escaping. It suddenly kept drifting back to what had happened earlier. The darkness, the fire, and her grandfather, as well as the choice she had made. She felt calm and sure about it. She had chosen not to take her memories back, and she had chosen to stay as she was, yet something inside her felt unsettled.

They were only a few steps away from the hidden back gate when a voice called out behind them.

"Electra!"

The sound of it was clear and familiar, and all three of them stopped at once. Irina turned first, Penelope followed, and Electra turned more slowly.

Seraphina stood a short distance behind them, her hands slightly raised like she had run after them without thinking. Her face held a mix of surprise and confusion, like she had not expected to see them sneaking away.

"Where are you going?" Seraphina asked, her brows drawn together. "Class isn’t over."

Electra’s eyes met hers, and the moment they locked, something inside Electra’s chest snapped tight.

It was sudden, not like the heat from earlier or like the ringing in her head. This was different. It felt like someone had pressed something heavy into the center of her chest, a deep ache that spread outward in seconds.

She sucked in a breath. Her hand moved without her thinking, and she pressed her palm flat against her chest as if she could physically hold the pain in place.

Irina noticed immediately. "Electra?" she asked sharply, stepping closer. "Are you okay?"

Penelope’s head snapped toward her. "What is it?"

Electra did not answer. The pain was not unbearable, but it was intense enough to make her groan softly under her breath. It felt wrong, out of place, and the only thing that had changed was Seraphina’s presence.

Seraphina’s expression shifted from confusion to panic in a heartbeat. She rushed forward. "What happened?" she asked quickly. "Are you still sick? Did something happen again?"

She reached out instinctively, closing the distance between them, but before she could touch her, Electra lifted her free hand sharply.

"Stay away from me!" she shouted.

The words came out louder than she intended, and Seraphina froze mid-step while Irina and Penelope both stared at Electra, stunned. The hallway suddenly felt too quiet.

Seraphina’s eyes widened, her hand slowly lowering. "What...?" she started, her voice small and shaken. "What did I do?"

Electra’s chest tightened again. The ache deepened, spreading like a slow burn under her ribs. She clenched her jaw, trying to steady her breathing.

"Didn’t I just tell you to stay away?" she yelled again, her voice strained this time. "Don’t come near me!"

The second outburst hit harder than the first, and Seraphina’s face changed completely. The panic shifted into hurt so clear it almost looked physical. Her eyes filled with tears almost instantly, shining under the hallway lights. She took a step back, as if the distance had been forced between them.

"I was just..." she tried to say, her voice trembling, but she did not finish.

She swallowed, shook her head slightly like she was trying to hold herself together, then turned around quickly. The tears she had been trying to hide slipped free as she walked away, and within seconds, she broke into a run, disappearing down the corridor.

Silence followed her.

Electra stood there, her hand still pressed against her chest. The pain slowly began to ease, but it did not disappear completely. It lingered like a dull ache.

Irina was the first to speak. "What the hell was that?" she demanded.

Penelope looked just as shocked. "Electra," she said carefully, "what just happened?"

Electra focused on her breathing. In and out. The pain was fading, but her heart still felt like it was beating too hard. She did not understand it. She did not understand why seeing Seraphina had caused that reaction. It had nothing to do with heat or power, it had felt deeper than that.

"I don’t know," she muttered honestly.

Irina stared at her. "You just screamed at her like she tried to stab you."

"She rushed at me," Electra said stiffly.

"She rushed at you because you looked like you were dying!" Irina shot back. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Penelope crossed her arms, though her voice stayed calm. "Do you even realize what you just did?"

Electra did not respond.

Penelope sighed. "Just so you know," she continued, "before you lost your memories, you were obsessed with her."

Electra’s eyes flickered slightly. "In what way?" she asked flatly.

"In every way," Penelope said. "As soon as she arrived in Elysium, you took an interest in her, which was something we could never understand given how plain she is, but you were obsessed, Electra. You even worried about her constantly and at some point fought people for her. If you had to, I’d say you would burn down half the kingdom for her."

Irina nodded once. "You were completely gone over her."

Penelope gave Electra a pointed look. "You were in love with her."

The words settled heavily in the air. Electra’s expression did not change, but something inside her shifted slightly. The dull ache in her chest pulsed once more before fading.

"That doesn’t change anything," she said quietly.

"It changes a lot," Penelope replied. "You can’t treat her like that. There’s only so much a person can take."

Electra looked away from them. She did not want to hear more. She did not want to imagine what she had been like before. Love, obsession, or burning down kingdoms. It sounded reckless and utterly foolish. And yet the pain in her chest had been real.

"I change my mind," she said suddenly.

Irina frowned. "About what?"

"About leaving," Electra replied. "I’m not going out anymore."

Penelope blinked. "What?"

Electra lowered her hand from her chest slowly. The ache was almost gone now, but the memory of it remained.

"I’m going back to my room," she said calmly.

Irina took a step forward. "Electra, wait..."

But Electra had already turned. She began walking down the hallway in the opposite direction, her steps steady but slightly faster than before. She kept one hand near her chest without thinking, as if expecting the pain to return.

Irina and Penelope exchanged confused looks before following after her.

"Are you seriously just going to ignore what happened?" Irina asked from behind.

"Yes," Electra answered simply.

"That’s not how this works," Irina snapped.

Electra did not slow down. "It is for me."

Penelope caught up beside her. "Something happened to you earlier," she said quietly. "That wasn’t random."

Electra stopped walking for half a second before continuing again. "It doesn’t matter."

But it did, and she knew it did. The pain had not been physical in the normal sense. It had felt connected and triggered, like something inside her had reacted without her permission, and the only cause had been Seraphina.

Electra did not like that. She did not like not understanding her own reactions. She did not like losing control over her body, and she especially did not like the idea that someone else had that kind of effect on her.

By the time they reached the main corridor, the noise of the academy swallowed them again. Students moved past, unaware of what had just happened.

Electra kept walking toward the dormitory wing without looking back. She did not want to think about the tears in Seraphina’s eyes. She did not want to think about the way her chest had tightened the moment their gazes met.

She had chosen not to take her memories back. She had chosen detachment, and yet something in her body had not agreed with that choice.