novelraw Chapter 437: Familiar Voice
Chapter 437: Familiar Voice
Seraphina’s POV
Yura still had her hand tightly wrapped in my hair, her fingers gripping like she didn’t want to let go, like she needed something to hold onto just to keep herself steady, but after a few long seconds that felt stretched and uncomfortable, she finally let out a deep sigh and released me.
The moment her hand left my hair, I felt the sting where she had been pulling, and I instinctively raised my hand to touch the spot, trying to ease the pain while also steadying myself. My head felt lighter, but the tension between us didn’t go anywhere. It stayed there, thick and heavy, sitting right in the space between us as I looked back at her, waiting.
"Are you going to tell me what happened now?" I asked, my voice firm but not as aggressive as before, because despite everything, I still hoped she would finally say something, anything that would make sense of all of this.
Yura didn’t look surprised by my question. If anything, she looked like she had been expecting it, like she already knew that letting go of my hair wouldn’t be the end of the conversation. She straightened slightly, her expression settling into something colder, something more controlled, and when she spoke, her tone made it clear that she had already made up her mind.
"Whatever happens in the Ashwyn family stays in the Ashwyn family," she said, her voice calm but firm, leaving no room for argument. There was no hesitation in her words, no sign that she was even considering telling me anything more than that.
"So unfortunately for you," she continued, her eyes meeting mine without any softness, "no matter what your intentions are for coming here, I can’t talk about my sister with you." There was a small pause before she added the final part, the part that stung more than I expected. "You’re a stranger to this family."
The word "stranger" sat heavily in my chest, and for a moment, I didn’t respond. I just stood there, letting it sink in, letting the reality of the situation settle over me. I had come all this way, holding onto the belief that I deserved answers, that I had a right to know what really happened to Yuna, but hearing Yura say it so plainly made it harder to hold onto that belief.
I let out a quiet sigh, one that I didn’t even realize I was holding in, and looked away for a second before meeting her gaze again.
Before I could say anything, she spoke again. "If you really care about Yuna," she said, her voice quieter now but still firm, "then you should forget about her and just go on with your life."
I stared at her, trying to understand how she could say something like that so easily, how she could expect me to just walk away and pretend like none of this mattered. "How am I supposed to do that?" I asked, my voice tightening slightly as the frustration I had been holding back started to show again. "How am I supposed to just forget about her when I can’t stop thinking that it’s my fault she ended up the way she did?"
The words came out before I could stop them, and once they were out, I didn’t take them back. They had been sitting inside me for days, growing heavier with every passing moment, and saying them out loud made them feel even more real.
Yura didn’t react the way I expected her to. She didn’t lash out again, didn’t grab me or raise her voice. Instead, she just looked at me for a moment, her expression unreadable before she let out a small breath. "As much as I don’t like you," she said, her tone blunt but not as sharp as before, "I’m not going to blame you for what happened to Yuna." Her words caught me off guard, and I blinked slightly, surprised by the shift in her tone.
"At the end of the day," she continued, her gaze drifting slightly as if she were thinking about something else, "my sister made her own choices." There was a hint of bitterness in her voice now, something deeper than anger. "She was the one who became so blinded by her hatred for Electra that she decided to be friends with someone like Iris."
She paused briefly before adding, "And it was that friendship that led to what happened to her."
Hearing her say that made my chest tighten, because even though I knew Yuna had her own reasons for doing what she did, it didn’t make it any easier to accept. It didn’t make the guilt go away.
"So you’re just going to do nothing about Iris?" I asked, my brows pulling together as I looked at her, unable to hide the disbelief in my voice. "Everyone should know that it was her," I added, my voice growing more insistent. "She’s the one who did this."
Yura’s expression didn’t change much, but there was a slight shift in her eyes, something that made it clear she hadn’t forgotten about Iris, not even for a second. "She’ll be dealt with," she said simply, her tone leaving no doubt that she meant it. "But right now, she’s not my priority."
She looked away for a moment, her jaw tightening slightly before she continued. "My family is." There was a strength in her voice now, something that made it clear where her focus was. "Keeping my family together right now is more important than anything else." She glanced back at me briefly. "Iris can wait."
I took in her words, letting them settle before I nodded slightly. "I understand," I said quietly, even though part of me still wanted to push, still wanted her to act now instead of later, but I also knew that she wasn’t wrong. There was more going on here than I fully understood, and forcing her to do things my way wouldn’t help anyone.
"But when you’re ready," I added after a moment, my voice a little more steady now, "I’ll do whatever I can to help." I wasn’t sure what that meant exactly or how much help I could actually be, but I meant it. I wasn’t going to just walk away completely, not after everything.
She gave a small shrug at that, like my offer didn’t really change anything for her. "I can handle it," she said, her tone returning to that calm, distant place it had been earlier. Then she looked at me again, more directly this time. "You should leave."
There was no anger in her voice now, just a quiet finality that made it clear the conversation was over. "I don’t want to deal with Elysium’s problems right now," she added. "I already have enough to deal with."
I hesitated for a second before asking, "Does that mean you’re not coming back to Elysium?" The question slipped out before I could stop it, and I wasn’t even sure why I asked. Maybe I just needed to know, needed to understand where things stood now.
She shrugged again, the movement small and almost careless. She didn’t give me a clear answer, and that alone was enough for me to understand that she was done talking. Completely done. There was nothing more I could get from her, no matter how much I wanted answers.
I let out a breath, finally accepting that this was it. I had already pushed her too far earlier and crossed lines I probably shouldn’t have crossed, and standing here any longer wouldn’t change anything.
I forced a small smile onto my face, even though it didn’t feel natural. "Thank you for seeing me," I said, keeping my voice calm as I turned away from her. It felt strange to say thank you after everything that had just happened, but it was the only thing I could think of that wouldn’t make things worse.
I started walking toward the door, each step feeling heavier than it should have. The house felt quieter now, the tension from earlier still lingering in the air as I reached the entrance. I didn’t look back at first. I just kept walking, pushing the door open and stepping outside, ready to leave, ready to accept that I wasn’t going to get the answers I came here for.
But just as I stepped out, I heard it.
A voice.
It was soft, almost too soft to catch properly, like it had come from somewhere deeper inside the house, but it was there, clear enough to stop me in my tracks.
I froze, my hand still on the door as my heart skipped a beat. It was familiar, too familiar.
I turned back slowly, my eyes scanning the inside of the house, trying to find where it had come from, trying to make sense of what I had just heard. I couldn’t make out the exact words and couldn’t fully catch what was said, but that didn’t matter.
Because I knew that voice.
"Yuna...?" I whispered under my breath, even though I knew no one would hear me, but when I looked inside, there was no one there.
The space was empty, quiet, almost too quiet, and the only thing I could see was the faint shadow of Yura moving further away, heading back upstairs without even looking back.
For a moment, I stood there, completely still, trying to convince myself that I had imagined it, that my mind was playing tricks on me because I wanted it to be true so badly. It would make sense, wouldn’t it? After everything, after everything I had been thinking and feeling, it would make sense for me to start hearing things that weren’t there, but the more I thought about it, the more certain I became.
No, that wasn’t my imagination. The voice I had heard... it wasn’t just familiar, it was hers. It had to be. There was no way I could mistake it. That voice belonged to Yuna, and somehow, even though everything I had been told said otherwise, I knew one thing for sure.
Yuna was alive.