Elysium: Desired by the Cold-hearted Princess [GL]
Chapter 168 168: A Cautious Distance

Electra's POV

Keeping a cautious distance, I walked behind Seraphina, watching her unsteady steps as she made her way toward the dormitory building.

Every so often, she'd pause, look around as if lost in thought, and then continue walking, muttering softly to herself. I couldn't hear what she was saying, but I could tell she was upset—probably more upset than I'd initially realized.

The anger in her steps slowly started to dull into something sluggish and tired, but I still kept my distance, my hands shoved into the pockets of my jacket as I resisted the urge to call out to her.

Despite the fact that she was upset with me and she probably didn't want to see me right now, I needed to make sure she got to her room safely. At almost two in the morning, this place could be unpredictable, with drunken girls wandering about and, worse, trying to provoke trouble.

I told myself that was the only reason I was tailing her. That, and not the fact that my brain was still reeling from what had just happened in the classroom.

I couldn't shake the words she'd said to me earlier in the old classroom. Do you feel anything for me?

The intensity of her confession was still lingering in my mind, and the seriousness in her tone felt like it was haunting me. I wanted to convince myself it was the effects of the drugged drinks she had consumed. It had to be. Seraphina wouldn't just blurt out something so intense otherwise… right?

Yet, part of me questioned that thought. What if it wasn't the pills? What if she'd been holding it in this whole time, waiting for the right—or wrong—moment to let it all out?

She stumbled slightly ahead of me, pulling me out of my thoughts. My heart jumped, and I almost called out to her but stopped myself. She caught her balance against the wall, shaking her head before continuing toward her door.

I let out a quiet sigh of relief, keeping my pace slow to avoid startling her.

When we reached the dormitory hallway, I hung back even further, watching her fumble with her room key. It took her a couple of tries, her frustration evident in the exaggerated motions of her hand.

Finally, she managed to open the door and stepped inside, leaving it slightly ajar. I waited, debating whether to check on her or head back to the party to get Yuna and Iris.

Then, I heard it—a muffled curse followed by the sound of something falling to the floor. Without thinking, I moved toward the door, peeking inside. Seraphina was crouched near her desk, picking up what looked like a fallen lamp.

"Are you okay?" The words left my mouth before I could stop them.

Seraphina froze, slowly turning her head toward me. Her expression shifted from shock to annoyance in an instant. "What are you doing here?" she snapped, standing up too quickly and swaying slightly.

"I just wanted to make sure you got back safely," I said, keeping my tone as neutral as possible. "You were... uh, a little unsteady back there."

She scoffed, crossing her arms. "I don't need a babysitter, Electra. I'm fine."

Her tone was sharp, but her eyes betrayed her exhaustion. I took a hesitant step inside, keeping my movements slow. "I know you don't, but I also know how things can get around here after parties. It's late, and—"

"Save it," she interrupted, waving a hand dismissively. "You've done your good deed for the night. You can leave now."

I let out a frustrated sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose as I stood in the middle of the room. She was staring at me, her posture stiff, and her arms folded over her chest.

For a moment, I considered breaking the silence with some kind of explanation, some half-baked attempt to comfort her, but I knew it wouldn't make a difference.

Her anger was practically radiating off her, and I knew there was only one thing she wanted to hear from me. The problem was, I couldn't say it—not because I was trying to be stubborn, but because I couldn't bring myself to lie about something so important.

Finally, I exhaled. "Fine," I said, my voice coming out low and resigned. "I'll leave. Forgive my intrusion."

Her posture didn't soften, and she didn't respond. I made my way toward the door, and I slipped out into the hallway. The door clicked shut behind me, and almost immediately, I heard the sound of the lock turning.

She wanted me gone, and she wanted to be sure I couldn't come back in.

I let out a frustrated sigh, mentally accepting that my day had already turned into a disaster. Between finding Seraphina at the party, drugged and out of her mind, and watching her get back to her room without half the school witnessing her breakdown—and now this situation—I felt like I'd been through a war zone, and it was only 2 a.m.

All I wanted now was to make sure that my other two "responsibilities" for the night, Yuna and Iris, were safe.

They had been on their own for over an hour by my guess, which was long enough for a million terrible things to happen.

Elysium parties were never known for being subtle, and after Seraphina's brush with spiked drinks, I was not left with any illusions about how fast things could go wrong.

I was the one who had convinced them to come to the party in the first place, so if anything went wrong, it would be my fault.

Since Yuna was the more reliable one between them, I decided to call her and inform her in advance to start leaving the party with Iris so that they could meet me halfway, but the second my phone lit up, I felt my stomach drop.

The screen showed a flurry of missed calls—enough that I actually scrolled for a minute in disbelief. There were at least eight or nine calls, all from Yuna.

I jabbed at the screen, calling her back. The line rang once, then twice, and was barely into the third ring before I heard a click and Yuna's voice, practically spitting fire, on the other end.

"Electra," she snapped, loud enough that I winced. "What the hell took you so long to call me back? I've been calling you for ages!"

I press the phone closer to my ear. "Calm down, Yuna," I responded, trying to keep my tone calm. "What's wrong? I only just saw the missed calls."

"Calm down?" Yuna echoed bitterly, her voice shaking like she was this close to losing it. "Where have you been? I've been calling and calling and—"

"Yuna," I cut her off. "I had stuff going on. I've been—look, it doesn't matter. Why are you calling? Did something happen?"

That question hushed Yuna's anger for a bit, and then she exhaled a shaky sigh. "I've been looking everywhere for Iris for the past twenty minutes," she confessed. "She was with me one moment, then I got pulled away by some girls, and when I turned around to check on her, she was gone. I searched the entire party, inside and out. Nothing."

I froze, my blood going cold at the words. Iris was missing? My mind immediately raced through possibilities, the first being that Iris had left with someone else, or maybe she had gotten lost in the crowd, but no, the first one didn't sound like something she would do.

My stomach did a nasty flip. "Did she say anything about leaving?"

"No." Yuna's voice trembled, her fear barely masked by her frustration. "She was dancing with a couple of girls for a bit, but she looked uncomfortable. I tried to keep an eye on her, but the crowd was huge, and a bunch of people were talking to me. By the time I turned back, she'd vanished."

I held the phone tighter. "Could she have just gone back to the dorms on her own?"

"I checked," Yuna responded. "The second I realized she was missing, I went outside and even went back to the dorm, thinking maybe she was there, but she isn't; no one from her room has seen her since she left earlier. She's not picking up her phone either, and you can guess how that's making me feel right now."

"Alright, don't panic, Yuna," I said, trying to keep my voice from shaking, even though I was internally panicking. I was the one who asked Iris to come to the party, even though she had initially refused, and it scared me to think something might have happened to her because of me.

"I'll meet you at the party as soon as I can. Just stay where you are and don't leave the area, okay? I'll get to you soon," I added.

"I'm not going anywhere," Yuna said sharply, her voice strained. "Just hurry up, Electra. I'm starting to get a really bad feeling."

"I'm on my way, Yuna. Just—please, stay calm," I responded, trying to get her to stay calm. "I'll be there in ten."

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