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

Chapter 429 429: Just sadness

Third-person POV

After Irina and Penelope left Electra's room and she was finally alone, the silence settled in slowly, almost too quietly, like the room itself had been holding its breath while they were there and only now felt safe enough to relax. Electra stood near the door for a moment after it closed, her hand still hovering slightly in the air like she had forgotten to drop it, her mind strangely blank despite everything that had just happened.

Then, without saying anything to herself or trying to make sense of the emptiness that had suddenly filled the space, she turned and walked toward her bed. Her steps were slow, not out of hesitation, but because there was nothing pushing her forward either. When she reached the edge of the bed, she sat down, her hands resting lightly on either side of her, her gaze fixed somewhere ahead but not really focused on anything in particular.

And then, without warning, a single thought settled into her mind, and once it did, it refused to leave.

Her father.

It wasn't a loud thought. It didn't come with a rush of memories or emotions that she could clearly understand. It was just there, simple and heavy, sitting in the middle of her mind like it had always belonged there, even though she knew it hadn't. The image of him sitting in that coffin, the way he had looked at her, and the way his voice had sounded when he said her name, it all came back in pieces, repeating over and over again without stopping.

She didn't fully understand why it mattered so much, not when she didn't even remember him, not when she had no real connection to him beyond what she had been told and what she had seen in those brief moments, but that didn't change the way her chest felt.

It felt heavy.

There was no other way to describe it. It wasn't pain in the way she understood pain, not physical, but something so much deeper, something that pressed down on her from the inside, making it harder to breathe normally even though nothing was actually stopping her. The thought repeated itself again, clearer this time, louder in a way that didn't make sense.

He was dead, and he was never coming back.

That was it. That was all it took.

Before she could even realize what was happening, a tear slipped down her cheek, warm against her skin, trailing slowly as it made its way down. For a second, she didn't react. She just sat there, her expression still, her mind almost frozen as if it hadn't caught up to what her body had just done. Then her hand moved suddenly, almost aggressively, wiping the tear away like it didn't belong there, like it had no right to exist.

"What is wrong with me?" she muttered under her breath, her voice low and sharp, filled with irritation that she didn't try to hide.

Her brows pulled together slightly as she stared ahead, her jaw tightening as the confusion started to mix with the frustration building inside her. None of it made sense, not the tear, not the feeling in her chest, not the way her thoughts kept circling back to a man she didn't even know. She didn't have memories of him. She wasn't close with him in any way she could remember. There was nothing there that should have caused this kind of reaction.

So why couldn't she stop thinking about him?

Why did it feel like something had been taken from her, even though she didn't remember ever having it?

Her fingers curled slightly against the edge of the bed as the image of him came back again, clearer this time. The way he had looked at her, the guilt in his eyes, the sadness that had been so obvious even without words, and the way he kept apologizing, over and over again, like it was the only thing he could do.

"I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

The memory of his voice echoed in her head, and something in her chest tightened even more. Another tear fell before she could stop it, and then another, and suddenly, they didn't stop. They came one after the other, quiet but constant, sliding down her face in a way that made her even more irritated because she couldn't control it.

Her hand came up again, wiping them away roughly this time, her movements sharper, more forceful. "Stop it," she muttered, her voice strained now. "This is stupid."

But the tears didn't listen.

If anything, they came faster, and the more they did, the angrier she felt. Angry at herself for reacting like this, angry at the situation, angry at him for making her feel something she didn't understand. She didn't know him, she shouldn't care for him. There was no reason for this, and yet, the feeling didn't go away.

Her breathing grew slightly uneven as she leaned forward, her hands pressing against her knees as she tried to steady herself, but the thoughts didn't stop. They kept coming, one after the other, pulling her deeper into something she couldn't explain, and then there was something else.

Something he had said.

His biggest regret… Solara.

Her brows furrowed slightly as the name repeated itself in her head, slower this time, more deliberate. Solara. She didn't know who that was. She didn't remember hearing that name before that moment, and yet, the way it sounded, the way it settled in her chest, it didn't feel unfamiliar.

If anything, it made the heaviness worse.

"Who the hell is Solara?" she whispered to herself, her voice quieter now, almost uncertain in a way she didn't like.

She had forgotten to ask Irina earlier. The thought came to her suddenly, and she felt a flicker of irritation at herself for not doing it when she had the chance, but even that irritation didn't last long, because the moment she focused on the name again, the strange feeling returned, stronger this time, deeper, like it was connected to something she couldn't reach.

It didn't make sense, nothing about this made sense.

She pushed herself up from the bed suddenly, her movements quick, almost restless as she turned and headed toward the bathroom without thinking twice. She needed to stop this. She needed to clear her head, to get rid of whatever this was before it got worse.

The door opened and closed behind her quickly, and she moved straight to the sink, turning on the water without hesitation. The sound filled the small space, steady and grounding, and for a moment, she just stood there, her hands gripping the edge of the sink as she stared down at the flowing water.

Then she looked up.

Her reflection stared back at her from the mirror, and for a second, she didn't react. She just looked at herself, taking in the details like she was seeing them for the first time. Her blonde hair was slightly messy, strands falling out of place in a way she hadn't noticed before, and her eyes, her eyes were red.

Annoyingly red.

She frowned at that, her expression tightening slightly as she reached forward and splashed water on her face, the coolness helping just a little as she tried to wash away the evidence of what had just happened. She repeated the motion a few times, slower now, more controlled, before finally straightening up again.

When she looked back into the mirror, she expected to see the same thing, but she didn't.

For a moment, she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. Her gaze narrowed slightly as she stared, trying to make sense of what she was seeing, but the longer she looked, the clearer it became.

There were two reflections.

They stood side by side in the mirror, both of them looking exactly like her, and yet, not the same. The difference was subtle, but it was there. One had the same fiery presence she was used to, but as for the other… she didn't.

The second one looked calmer in a way that didn't have anything to do with weakness. Her eyes were blue, not carrying the same intensity, and there was no trace of fire in her at all. She looked human, completely human.

Electra's eyes widened slightly as she stared at her, recognition settling in slowly as the realization formed. She had seen that face before in pictures. In the ones Irina and the others had shown her, from before everything changed, from before she lost her memories. That was her, or at least, it had been.

The human version of her.

For a moment, neither of them moved. They just stared at each other, the silence between them heavy but not uncomfortable, like it had always been there, waiting for this exact moment to happen.

Then, slowly, a smal

l smile formed on Electra's lips. "You must be the human side of me," she said quietly.