Elysium: Desired by the Cold-hearted Princess [GL]-Chapter 318: A not-so-brilliant idea

Electra’s POV

I didn’t resist when Seraphina pulled me out of Iris’s room. At first, my feet dragged just a little, because deep down, I wasn’t done with Yuna yet, but the second I saw Yura sprinting toward us, followed by Irina, Roxana, and Penelope, I knew there was no going back in there.

Seraphina’s hand was still tightly wrapped around mine, but her pace slowed as the others reached us. The panic on her face was obvious, but she didn’t say anything. Neither did I. My head was spinning too much to even try to make sense of what I was thinking.

"Electra," Irina gasped as her eyes locked on my face. "What the hell happened to you?"

I opened my mouth, but before I could speak, her gaze zeroed in on my swollen lip and the thin, fresh cut on my cheek. I knew it looked bad. Honestly, I hadn’t even realized how hard Yuna’s last slap had landed until the stinging turned into full-on throbbing.

"What is this I’m hearing about you letting Yuna beat you up?" she snapped, voice rising. "Why the fuck would you let that little girl even touch you?"

I let out a long sigh and rolled my eyes. "Can everyone just calm down for a second?"

"Calm down?" Penelope echoed. "You look like someone ran you over, Electra!"

I was just about to explain when I noticed the crowd still gathered in front of Iris’s door with their phones out, whispering, recording, and most likely posting about how the so-called crown princess just got smacked around and did nothing about it.

I bit back the urge to scream and instead looked over at Irina and Penelope. "Can you guys deal with that?" I asked, nodding toward the crowd.

Without another word, Irina turned on her heel and stormed straight toward the gawking students. She grabbed a phone right out of someone’s hand and slammed it on the floor, then crushed it under her boot, stomping until the screen shattered into a mess of glass and plastic.

"What the hell?!" someone shouted.

"Get back to your rooms!" Penelope yelled, stepping forward like she was ready to start a war. "Unless you want your face to look like that phone."

The crowd started scattering after that. A few stayed back, whispering still, but they had at least lowered their phones, and I could breathe again.

Roxana was at my side now, gently brushing my messy hair behind my ear. "You okay?" she asked quietly.

I nodded, even though the answer was probably no.

"I’m fine," I muttered. "Just a little bruised, that’s all."

Seraphina finally let go of my hand and stepped in front of me with her arms crossed. She was clearly trying to stay calm, but her eyes were blazing.

"A little bruised?" she echoed. "Electra, what were you thinking?"

I looked at her, then at the others, all of them standing around me like I was some crazy little girl.

"Look guys, I get it," I said, keeping my voice steady even though my lip still throbbed. "You’re all freaking out, and you all want to know why I let her hit me and why I stood there and didn’t do anything, but I promise you... I had my reasons."

Roxana crossed her arms, clearly not buying it. "Your reasons better be worth it, Electra. The tournament’s tomorrow, and your face looks like someone ran it through gravel."

I gave her a half-smile, even though it stung. "It’s fine. I’m not exactly like the rest of you, remember? My body heals pretty fast, at least, that’s what I’ve noticed so far."

All of them rolled their eyes at that. Even Seraphina let out a soft, exasperated huff. The only one who didn’t react was Yura. She was quiet, her brows pinched like she was deep in thought, and I turned to her, tilting my head slightly.

"Okay, Yura, spit it out. You look like you’re about to explode."

Her eyes flicked up to mine. "I just... I don’t get it. What exactly was your plan back there? We walked into that room together. I thought we were going to talk to Yuna, maybe try to make peace, which was the plan, but then you just... stood there and let her hit you."

The others fell quiet at that. Even Irina, who had been scowling since the moment she saw my face, was suddenly waiting for my answer.

I ran a hand through my hair, careful not to wince too obviously as the movement tugged on a cut near my temple.

"I know it looked stupid," I said. "Maybe it was, but I really just needed her to get it out. I needed her to realize something."

"Realize what?" Penelope asked, still sounding annoyed.

"That no matter how much she hits and hurts me... it won’t change anything," I said softly. "It won’t give her the peace she’s looking for."

Yura blinked. "You let her hit you just to prove a point?"

I nodded. "Yeah. I wanted her to feel it, how empty it is. How even if she succeeds in hurting me, or even killing me with Iris, it’s not going to fix what she’s angry about. It won’t make her feel better, and I wanted her to realize that herself."

"But still," Seraphina spoke up, her arms folding across her chest, "there are a dozen other ways to prove that point without letting her turn your face into a punching bag."

"She needed to feel it herself," I told her. "The guilt, the rage, and from the way her hands started to shake after the second punch? I figured that she realized then that she didn’t enjoy it as much as she thought she would. That’s the part that matters."

Roxana shook her head. "Electra, you sound crazy, and you may not hear this often, but that was very foolish of you. No offense to you, Yura, but she’s a freaking snake, and she could have seriously hurt you."

I gave her a tired look. "You don’t have to get it, Roxana; none of you have to. I’m not saying it was the smartest move, but it was what I felt was best, so I provoked her, and I’d do it again."

Irina narrowed her eyes and scoffed. "What if she went too far? What if Seraphina hadn’t shown up when she did? Haven’t you heard the concept of thinking before you act?"

I shrugged. "Then I guess I would’ve found out how far she was willing to go."

Yura spoke again, her voice hesitant. "You said something in that room... something I overheard while I was eavesdropping, and before Yuna started to really hit you. You told Yuna if she came with you, she could do whatever she wanted to you, even kill you. Did you mean that?"

Everyone turned to look at me again, clearly surprised to hear that I had even mentioned that.

I held her gaze. "Yeah, I meant it."

"Why?" she whispered. "Why would you say something like that? I didn’t ask for your help to turn my sister into a murderer, Electra. I wanted her to avoid becoming one, which is why I asked you to help in exchange for joining your team."

I shook my head, suddenly realizing that I was about to spend the whole day explaining myself if I didn’t wrap this up as soon as possible.

"Listen, Yura, your sister wouldn’t be able to kill me in this world or the next, and we both know that, and like I said, I wanted her to realize that she was wasting her time, which was why I provoked her," I explained, hoping I was making sense.

"The reason Yuna is hiding behind Iris is because deep down, she doesn’t have what it takes to kill me, nor does she really want to, and I gave her a chance to actually do it so she can realize sooner that she wasn’t cut out for the revenge she was after," I added. "My methods don’t need to make sense to you or to anyone else. What’s important is that it’s effective, so just wait for the results."