Elysium: Desired by the Cold-hearted Princess [GL]-Chapter 364: Feared

Electra’s POV

I stayed in that room longer than I meant to.

At first, I told myself I was just trying to be practical. If this room had really been mine for the past ten years, then it made sense to learn it, to understand it, and to see if anything inside it would suddenly reach out and pull a memory loose from wherever my mind had hidden it.

So I walked.

I traced the walls slowly, fingertips brushing over smooth stone and wood. I opened drawers that had been closed for weeks, maybe months. I checked the bathroom, noting how large it was, how clean, and how untouched it looked. Everything felt preserved, like someone had been maintaining it in my absence, afraid to disturb whatever version of me might return.

I sat at the desk by the window and flipped through the books stacked neatly on its surface. Some were academic, and some looked old and worn at the edges, like they’d been read more than once. A few had notes scribbled in the margins. My handwriting, apparently. It felt strange seeing proof of myself like that, familiar but not familiar enough to mean anything.

Nothing happened.

There was no sudden rush of memories, no flashes, no warmth or pain or recognition. Just... silence. After a few hours, the room started to feel smaller, and then there was the staring.

Even when they weren’t in the room anymore, I could still feel it. The way Seraphina’s eyes followed me like she was afraid I’d disappear again, the way Irina tried to hide her worry behind sounding serious and authoritative, the way Roxana looked irritated but alert, like she was bracing for something, and the way Penelope watched quietly, calculating, thoughtful.

They all looked at me like I was fragile, like I was something broken they didn’t quite know how to fix. I hadn’t said it out loud as harshly as I thought it, but it bothered me more than I let them see and more than I wanted to admit, even to myself. I didn’t want to be pitied. I didn’t want to be handled carefully, like I might shatter if someone spoke too loudly or stood too close.

I wasn’t helpless. I might not remember who I was, but I knew one thing very clearly, which was that I hated feeling caged.

So when the silence started to feel suffocating, I made up my mind. I didn’t want company, especially not right now, and I definitely didn’t want them hovering around me, whispering about what was best for me like I wasn’t standing right there.

I stood from the desk, straightened my clothes out of habit, and walked toward the door.

I hesitated with my hand on the handle.

Was it smart to walk around alone? Probably not. According to them, half the school hated me, according to Roxana, I wasn’t allowed to use my powers, and according to everyone, I was some kind of ticking problem waiting to explode, but staying inside felt worse.

So I opened the door and stepped out. The hallway was wider than I expected, long and clean, and lit by the lights along the walls. I walked without a destination, letting my feet decide for me. I passed doors, windows, and corners I didn’t recognize but felt like I should.

There were girls around, some walking alone and some in groups. Laughter drifted down the hall, low and casual, but that was until they saw me.

The change was immediate.

Conversations stopped mid-sentence, and footsteps slowed, then halted completely. I felt eyes on me from every direction, sharp and heavy, crawling over my skin. It was the same feeling I’d had at the palace, the very first day in my current memories, that first moment when I’d realized something was very wrong.

Back then, the stares had been full of shock, awe, fear, and curiosity, like I was a story that had come to life.

These were different.

Some girls looked scared, yes, but not the wide-eyed kind of fear. This was guarded and careful, the kind that comes from knowing something can hurt you. Others looked irritated and annoyed, like my presence alone was an inconvenience. Most of them looked like a mix of both.

Regardless, I kept walking. I didn’t lower my head or bother to hurry my steps. If they were going to stare, they could at least get a good look.

A group of girls near the stairwell went quiet as I passed, and one of them muttered something under her breath. I didn’t catch the words, but I caught the tone, and it was pretty much bitter.

Good to know.

I felt it then, a small, unexpected flicker of amusement. I hated that they were looking at me like this. I really did, but there was something oddly entertaining about it too. The way my presence alone could unsettle them, the way they stiffened, like they weren’t sure if I’d breathe fire or burst into flames or do something catastrophic just by existing.

If nothing else, I was memorable.

I turned a corner and nearly walked straight into another girl. She yelped softly and jumped back, her eyes wide.

"Oh...sorry," she said quickly, bowing her head without thinking.

That reaction surprised me.

I blinked. "You don’t have to do that."

She straightened, flushed, and nodded awkwardly before scurrying past me without another word.

Interesting.

So this was who I was here? A princess, a problem, a half phoenix, and a reason for disruption.

I kept walking, letting the stares slide off me. The farther I went, the quieter the halls became, until the noise of the dormitory faded into something distant and dull. This part of the building felt different, older, maybe, or simply ignored. I liked it immediately.

The lights here were fewer and spaced far apart, and my footsteps echoed softly, the sound steady and grounding. For a moment, I thought I was finally alone.

Then I heard a sound. It wasn’t loud, just... strange. A low, uneven sound that didn’t belong to an empty hallway. It made me stop mid-step, my body reacting before my mind fully caught up.

I frowned slightly, listening.

There it was again.

Curiosity sparked, and I turned toward the sound, boredom nudging me forward more than caution. I didn’t sense danger. If anything, I sensed privacy, and that only made me more interested. I followed the sound down the hallway until I reached the very end. The lights stopped there entirely, leaving the last stretch dark and shadowed. A single door stood closed at the far wall, old and slightly worn, like it hadn’t been used often.

The sound was coming from behind it. I slowed, approaching quietly, and stopped just short of the door. It wasn’t fully shut; there was a narrow gap, just enough to see inside if I leaned slightly.

I did.

The room beyond was small and dim, lit only by a faint glow from somewhere I couldn’t see. There were two figures inside, close together, way too close to be accidental, and it took me a second to fully register what I was seeing.

They were both women, older than most of the students I’d passed earlier, grown, unmistakably so. Whatever they were, they weren’t children, and that fact settled something in my chest before I even realized it had tensed.

They were unclothed, their bodies pressed together, completely absorbed in each other. Their faces were close, mouths locked together with an intensity that made it look almost like a struggle, like neither of them wanted to give the other an inch.

I blinked, then I stared. They hadn’t noticed me since they were too focused and caught up in whatever moment they’d created for themselves behind that door. The strange sound I’d heard made sense now, soft, broken noises pulled from deep breaths and half-murmured sounds that weren’t meant to be heard by anyone else.

I should have looked away, but of course, I didn’t. There was something oddly fascinating about it, not in a way that made my heart race, but in a way that made my mind tilt, trying to understand. They moved with familiarity, with ease, like this wasn’t something new or awkward for them. It was natural and wanted.

I watched, not feeling embarrassed or shocked, just... intrigued.

This wasn’t something I remembered. If I had ever seen anything like this before, the memory was gone, leaving me to study it like a foreign custom, but with the way they leaned into each other and the way the world seemed to narrow down to just the two of them, it was strangely intimate without needing to be explained.