Villain's Path System-Chapter 59: Caught Between Fire and Ice

The dining hall was deafening. Students packed the long tables. Voices bounced off the stone walls, mixing with the sharp clatter of metal utensils.

Lucian sat alone in the corner seat as usual, silently chewing his food. He had deliberately chosen this isolated spot. He thought he’d get some peace before the afternoon classes, maybe even catch some sleep. After last night’s mess, his exhausted body desperately needed rest.

But peace? That was nowhere to be found here.

On the other side of the hall, Seraphina sat among a group of first-year girls. They were trying their best to draw her into their conversation, but Seraphina’s mind was elsewhere. Her attention kept wandering.

Toward him.

She had stopped giving herself false excuses that she was only watching him to make sure he didn’t get into trouble.

Bullshit.

Yesterday’s library incident and today’s morning lecture kept replaying in her mind. A fear had settled inside her. Not the fear that Elira would suddenly launch a deadly attack on him. The fear was that Elira might get a little too close to Lucian. That she might cling to his body, that she might fall around him laughing.

Seraphina’s body was tensing up, a strange burning sensation churning in her stomach. She wasn’t suppressing this feeling anymore. She was slowly accepting this possessiveness—

Just. Stop.

She stabbed the piece of meat with her fork with more force than necessary.

A girl sitting at her table flinched slightly.

"Uh, Seraphina? Are you okay?"

"Fine."

Like hell I’m fine.

She was staring at Lucian like some creep, and she knew it, and she was getting angry at herself. But her body refused to move from there.

Just then, that figure with silver-white hair entered through the dining hall doors.

Elira Frostveil.

She normally never came here for lunch. But today she came inside. She scanned the crowded hall with her pale blue eyes. Then her gaze swept across and locked directly onto that tired, pale boy. The corners of her lips curved upward. A smile.

Seraphina’s eyes narrowed. She watched as Elira, with that unfamiliar smile, walked straight toward Lucian’s table without hesitation.

No.

No no no—

Lucian had just been chewing a bite of food when Elira came over and sat down directly in the seat beside him. There was barely a two-inch gap between their shoulders. Unnecessarily close.

Lucian turned his neck to look sideways.

Elira.

As soon as the food in his mouth went down his throat, he asked in a cautious tone, "Elira. Can I help you with something?"

"Not at all." She settled in comfortably, resting her chin on her hand. "I just thought you looked a bit lonely."

"Maybe I am fine with being alone."

"Mmm." Her smile widened. "You’re the one who told me that if I wanted to talk, you’d be free."

He pretended to think for a moment, then stretched the muscles of his tired face into a weak smile and shook his head. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

What the hell is this? I just want to sleep.

His body was loaded with exhaustion. And he knew clearly that if Elira stayed here even two more minutes, some major chaos was definitely going to break out.

Elira reached forward toward the communal basket in the middle of the table and picked up a piece of bread. As she did so, her shoulder brushed against Lucian’s bicep.

Lucian’s jawline instantly tightened. Elira entering his physical space meant her faint body heat and the strange scent of her white hair were reaching straight to Lucian’s nose. This was too close. She did this every time—broke physical boundaries, and then sat there with a completely innocent face.

Lucian kept his eyes fixed on the plate in front of him. He controlled his breathing and said in a flat tone, "If you don’t mind, I’d like to be alone for a bit. Could you sit somewhere else right now?"

"No." She answered without any emotion, chewing the piece of bread between her teeth. Her blue eyes weren’t on the food—they were locked directly on Lucian’s face. "You know, Seraphina’s been staring at you non-stop for a while now. I thought I’d help her out a bit. Ease her tension a little."

Elira’s habit had become crystal clear to him by now. He couldn’t physically push her away from there, and he didn’t have a single gram of energy left to argue. He just quietly tried to refocus on his food.

Meanwhile, at Seraphina’s table, her fist clenched tight. Her nails dug into her palm. The girls who had been trying to talk to her shifted away slightly, seeing Seraphina’s behavior.

Her shoulder... is touching him. So close...

Seraphina felt a sudden heat. In the entire dining hall, there were only those two—Lucian and Elira. She was laughing, leaning close to Lucian’s ear to say something. Lucian’s face was like stone, but Seraphina thought she saw a faint smile on his lips for a millisecond.

And that was it.

Her control snapped.

Seraphina stood up with a jerk. The sound of her chair falling was so loud that the entire hall’s chatter immediately died down. Everyone’s eyes were on her.

But Seraphina’s gaze was fixed on only one place.

Lucian.

On her face was anger, jealousy, and something more—a fire she’d seen in herself for the first time. And she didn’t want to extinguish that fire.

She started walking. Fast.

With each step, the hall’s coldness was disappearing, at least for Seraphina. Elira turned to look, a cunning glint in her ice-blue eyes, as if she knew this was exactly what was going to happen.

"Lucian," Seraphina’s voice trembled slightly, but not from fear—from anger. She reached the table and stood directly in front of Elira. "We need to go to the training ground. Right now."

Elira took a long breath, lifting her head slightly from Lucian’s shoulder, but didn’t move away. "Oh, Seraphina... What’s the rush? The poor guy is still eating. Why don’t you join us instead? There’s plenty of space."

"I wasn’t talking to you, Elira," Seraphina said through gritted teeth. Her entire focus was on Lucian, who had now set down his fork. His face was completely expressionless, but his eyes were observing Seraphina’s movements.

"Sera, sit down," Lucian said quietly, a warning in his voice. "Everyone’s watching."

"I don’t give a damn who’s watching!" Seraphina slammed her hand on the wooden table with such force that the glass of water jumped and spilled.

"How... How can you sit so close to her? Don’t you remember what she did yesterday?"

A small, mocking laugh escaped from Elira’s throat. The vein in Seraphina’s jaw tightened even more.

"Yesterday? Yesterday we were just talking to each other, right Lucian?" Elira reached forward and placed her hand on Lucian’s bicep. Her cold fingers slid lightly over the fabric of his shirt. "In fact, Lucian saved me... from your physical outburst."

Seraphina’s eyes began burning with pure rage. Her body temperature was rising. She was seeing only one thing—Elira’s fingers on Lucian’s arm. And what set fire to her chest the most was that Lucian hadn’t physically jerked that hand away.

"Get up. Lucian." Seraphina’s voice was breathless, this wasn’t a request—it was an order. "Either you come with me right now, or else—"

"Or else what?" Elira cut off the sentence and stood up, pushing her chair back. Now both girls were face to face. There was barely a two-foot gap between them. The dining hall was in complete silence, only their heavy breathing could be heard.

"You can’t force him, Seraphina. He’s not your property."