Elysium: Desired by the Cold-hearted Princess [GL]-Chapter 64: Gone

Seraphina’s Pov

My phone screen lit up the dark room as I lazily scrolled through the endless notifications and posts. It was already past five in the morning, and there was no point in trying to sleep.

My thoughts were restless, a complete mess of everything that had happened today—Electra, and especially Yuna—and no amount of fatigue seemed to dull the chaos in my head.

I jumped slightly when I heard Ashleigh suddenly stir awake in her bed across the room. Her voice, groggy but clear, startled me further when she said, "Seraphina, you’re still awake?"

I turned to her, startled. "Yeah, why?"

Ashleigh sat up, rubbing her eyes, and gave me a look that was both concerned and mildly amused. "Are you awake because you’re sad about Yuna leaving?"

Her words froze me in place. "What are you talking about?" I asked, my voice hesitant. "Why would Yuna be leaving?"

Ashleigh blinked at me, her expression shifting to one of confusion. "You didn’t know?" she asked, her tone incredulous. "Your friend Yuna is being suspended. She’s leaving Elysium."

My heart skipped a beat, and I felt the blood drain from my face. "Suspended?" I repeated, trying to process what she was saying. "For what? Why?"

Ashleigh shrugged as if it was common knowledge. "For losing control of her... other side. You know, the snake thing. According to the rules, she disrupted the peace of the school and hurt a fellow student—you, obviously. Didn’t she tell you about the punishment?"

I shook my head; my throat suddenly felt dry. "No, she didn’t tell me anything," I managed to say, the panic rising in my chest. "I just saw her a little while ago, and she didn’t say anything about leaving or being suspended."

Ashleigh frowned, looking genuinely surprised. "Well, it’s true, but fear not; she’s not leaving forever, just for a month, I think. Probably just long enough for things to calm down and she gets herself back in control, and I’m sure she’s already gone. Knowing this school, they’d make her leave early this morning to get the chaos under control."

My chest tightened. Yuna... suspended? Gone? The thought of her leaving without telling me felt like a punch to the gut. She wouldn’t just leave like that. Would she? We’d been through so much together, despite the fact that we haven’t even been friends for that long, so how could she leave without saying anything to me, not even goodbye?

I shot out of bed, my heart racing. "I need to check," I said, hurriedly throwing on a sweater over my pajamas. "She can’t be gone. She wouldn’t just leave like that."

Ashleigh yawned and waved a hand dismissively. "She’s probably already gone, Seraphina, but it’s not a big deal. She’ll be back before you know it. Maybe it’s a good chance for you to finally make more normal friends instead of hanging around with snakes."

I heard Ashleigh, but I couldn’t accept that nonsense, especially when it was clear that there weren’t that many ’normal’ people in this damned school. I also couldn’t accept that Yuna had left, not without seeing for myself.

I rushed out of the room, not even bothering to put on shoes, and made my way down the dimly lit hallway toward Yuna’s room. My mind was spinning. If she really had left, why hadn’t she told me? Why hadn’t Yura said anything? The thought of Yuna leaving Elysium, even temporarily, made my chest ache with a strong sense of loss.

She was the only friend I had in this entire school, and without her being here for an entire month, I wouldn’t know what to do. How would I cope by myself? How would I deal with Electra in the coming weeks? Who was going to help me while I had a broken wrist and couldn’t even do a lot of things by myself? Just how was I going to survive?

When I reached her door, I hesitated for a moment, my hand hovering over the doorknob. Taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open. The room was awfully quiet, and the first thing I noticed was how empty it felt.

Yuna’s bed was neatly made, her belongings noticeably absent, and my stomach sank immediately.

"Yuna?" I called out softly, even though I knew she wasn’t there. I was hoping that, by a miracle, I’d hear her voice respond to me from the bathroom and that she’d walk out asking me what happened and why I looked so panicked.

Unfortunately, the silence I got in response confirmed my fears. She was gone.

I walked further into the room, looking for some sign that this wasn’t true, that Ashleigh was wrong, and Yuna hadn’t left without telling me, but there was nothing—no bag, no stray items, no sign of her anywhere.

My heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vice.

My gaze fell on Yura’s bed, where a folded piece of paper rested on the pillow. It was addressed to me, and my hands shook as I picked it up and unfolded it. The handwriting was unmistakably Yuna’s, and the letter was brief:

Seraphina,

I’m sorry. I wanted to tell you, but I didn’t know how. I hope you’ll forgive me for leaving like this and for hurting you. I’ll be gone, but it’s only for a little while, and I’ll be back before you know it. Take care of yourself, and be careful. Stay away from Electra if you can, and if you can’t, don’t offend her.

Love Yuna.

Tears blurred my vision as I read the note over and over again. She was sorry? That was all she had to say? My hands gripped the paper tightly as anger bubbled up alongside the hurt. How could she just leave like this? After everything we’ve been through as friends, she surely owed me more than a note left on a pillow.

I sat on the edge of her bed, the paper trembling in my hands. I started to think about how she had always been there for me, how she had protected me, stood by me, and now she was gone, and I felt somehow responsible for it because Electra hurt her, and she did it because of me.

The tears came before I could stop them, and I buried my face in my hands, letting the rush of emotions hit me. I felt guilty, abandoned, and confused all at once, but more than anything, I felt... alone.

I don’t know how long I sat there crying in Yuna’s empty room. All I knew was that everything felt wrong. Without Yuna here, it was like a piece of the fragile foundation I had been building for myself had crumbled away.

Eventually, I forced myself to stand. I wiped my eyes, clutching the note in my hand like it was the last piece of Yuna I had. As much as it hurt, I knew I couldn’t stay here forever. The world wasn’t going to stop just because my friend was gone.

Walking back to my own room, I felt a strange mix of emotions. I was angry at Yuna for leaving, at the school for suspending her, and at myself for feeling so dependent on her in the first place.

When I returned to my room, Ashleigh was still awake, scrolling through her phone. She looked up when I entered and raised an eyebrow. "Was she still there?"

I shook my head, my throat too tight to speak. Ashleigh gave me a sympathetic look but didn’t press further, and I climbed back into bed, clutching Yuna’s note and mentally counting the days till she’d get back.