Elysium: Desired by the Cold-hearted Princess [GL]-Chapter 366: A waste of time

Third-person POV

Electra stood stiffly in the dormitory hallway, her posture straight but her shoulders tight, as if her body had learned to brace itself before her mind could catch up.

The girl in front of her stared down at her like she was something foul that had crawled out of the ground and dared to exist in her presence. Her nose was wrinkled, lips pressed into a thin line of disgust that she didn’t even try to hide. It was the kind of look Electra had grown used to in a very short amount of time, the kind that said more than words ever could.

Just minutes earlier, she had been somewhere else entirely, tucked away in the darker end of the dormitory where the lights barely worked and the walls seemed to swallow every sound. After witnessing something unexpected there, something she pretty much guessed was supposed to be private, while also being quite intense and oddly distracting, she had eventually moved on, bored once the moment had passed, and when she realized that they wouldn’t care that she caught them.

She’d expected to find something else to occupy her mind, anything to keep it from spiraling back to questions she couldn’t answer.

Instead, she had walked straight into this.

The brighter side of the dorm was alive in a way it hadn’t been earlier as doors opened and shut, laughter spilled into the hall, and footsteps echoed against the floors. Groups of girls clustered together, whispering, glancing, and pretending not to stare while very clearly doing exactly that.

Electra noticed them all.

She noticed how conversations stopped when she passed, how eyes followed her like she was a moving threat, and how some girls leaned closer to their friends while others stepped back, as if distance alone could protect them.

And then this girl, this one in front of her, had peeled away from her group and walked straight toward her. Now, standing just a few steps away, she folded her arms and tilted her chin upward, her confidence loud and aggressive.

"How dare you come back to Elysium?" she snapped, her voice loud and harsh enough to cut through the surrounding noise. "After everything you did here. You had the audacity to come back?"

Electra didn’t flinch. Hell, she didn’t react at all, and for some reason, the crazy girl took her lack of reaction as encouragement.

"You think you can just show your face again like nothing happened?" she continued, her voice rising. "Like you still belong here? With everything that has happened to you, shouldn’t you already know by now that an abomination like you shouldn’t be walking around normal human beings?"

The word "abomination" hung in the air, and Electra felt it roll over her skin without sinking in. She wasn’t numb, far from it, but the insult didn’t hit the way the girl clearly wanted it to. Instead, Electra studied her face, the tension in her jaw, and the way her fingers curled tightly into her sleeves.

’Fear,’ Electra realized.

Despite her bravado, she was scared of her, but what Electra didn’t understand was how she could be so foolishly audacious despite the fear she felt. Slowly, she tilted her head to the side, and a small smirk tugged at her lips, not mocking, but just genuinely intrigued.

"Do you really think," she asked calmly, her voice even and quiet, "that I care what some weak human thinks of me?"

The effect was instant.

The girl scoffed loudly, her eyes flashing. "Don’t flatter yourself, Electra Vale," she shot back. "If you think calling me weak is going to scare me like before, you’re damn wrong."

A few girls nearby shifted uncomfortably, and from where she stood, Electra could hear someone whispering her name under their breath.

The girl stepped closer, invading Electra’s space. "Everyone already knows you’re not allowed to use whatever freak powers you have as long as you’re here. So don’t act tough."

Her smile turned sharp, almost eager. "In fact, I’d love it if you did try something. I’d be more than happy to push you until you snap. So that way, the school can finally get rid of you for good."

She laughed softly, cruelly. "A disgusting being like you shouldn’t be roaming around like you deserve to breathe the same air as us. No matter how powerful you think you are, you’re still nothing but the result of a filthy affair."

Electra stared at her, really stared this time, feeling strangely annoyed. The words didn’t exactly hurt her feelings or anything like that, but they simply didn’t make sense. Affair, and disgusting? What did that even have to do with her?

She searched her memory, instinctively, for something, anything, that might explain the hatred, but there was nothing there. Only empty spaces and echoes.

After a long moment, she shook her head slowly. "You’re trying too hard," she said quietly.

Then she turned and began to walk away, and her decision to leave seemed to enrage the girl more than anything Electra had said.

"Oh no you don’t," the girl hissed.

Electra heard the movement before she felt it, quick footsteps, a sharp intake of breath, and fingers reached for her hair, but they never made contact. She moved on instinct alone, and her hand shot back, catching the girl’s wrist midair with perfect precision. The grip wasn’t brutal, but it was unyielding, stopping the motion completely.

The hallway fell silent.

Electra turned slowly, still holding the girl’s wrist behind her, and when she faced her fully, the change was immediate and unmistakable.

Her eyes burned, and a deep red glow flickered in her irises, like embers stirred by a sudden breath of wind.

The girl froze.

Electra’s voice remained calm, almost gentle, as she spoke. "I don’t know who you think you are, little human, but don’t push your luck with me."

She leaned in just slightly, enough for the girl to see the fire clearly. "In case you didn’t notice, I’m trying very hard," she added quietly, "not to turn you into ash right now."

Fear finally broke through the girl’s fur, and her breath hitched, her confidence collapsing under the weight of reality. She nodded quickly, barely noticeable, her earlier bravado gone.

Electra released her wrist, and the girl stumbled back as if she’d been burned, clutching her arm and staring at Electra with wide, shaken eyes. Around them, the watching students remained frozen, too stunned to speak, but Electra, bored with the foolishness, turned away without another word and continued down the hallway.

The crowd parted instinctively, giving her space. No one tried to stop her or even dared to say a thing to her.