Elysium: Desired by the Cold-hearted Princess [GL]-Chapter 70: Trending

Electra's Pov

I was enjoying the most peaceful sleep I'd had in days, wrapped in my silk sheets, when a loud and incessant banging at my door jolted me awake.

My first thought was to ignore it, assuming one of the idiots had accidentally drunk too much and gotten lost on their way back to their room. It happened sometimes, but the knocking didn't stop—it only grew louder and more frantic.

Grinding my teeth, I threw the blanket off and climbed out of bed, every muscle in my body protesting. Whoever had the audacity to disturb my sleep was going to regret it.

By the time I reached the door, I was ready to set the culprit on fire, figuratively or literally—I hadn't decided yet. I yanked the door open, and there they were: Deena, Penelope, and Roxana.

Deena stood in front, her hand still raised mid-knock, as if she had no intention of stopping until I appeared. My eyes zeroed in on her hand, and without thinking twice, I grabbed her by the ear and yanked her into my room.

"Are you out of your damn mind?" I hissed, pulling her inside while she winced in pain. "What part of 'don't disturb me' is so hard for you to understand? You don't knock like a rabid animal unless someone's dying."

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she whimpered, clutching at my hand to ease her poor ear's suffering. "But you need to hear this—it's crazy, I swear!"

I let go of her ear with a sharp tug, and she stumbled back, massaging it as though I'd taken it clean off. "This better be good, Deena," I muttered, turning my attention to Roxana and Penelope, who lingered in the hallway like two schoolgirls waiting to be invited inside. "And what the hell are the two of you doing here at this hour?"

Roxana rolled her eyes, as she always did when she thought I was being unnecessarily dramatic. "Relax, Electra," she said, brushing past me into the room without waiting for an invitation. "You're trending."

I blinked at her, my annoyance only growing. "Trending?" I repeated, trying to make sense of her words. "What are you talking about?"

"You're all over the school forums right now," Penelope chimed in, her tone too excited for my liking as she followed Roxana inside. "Everyone's talking about you. About Seraphina. About... well, everything."

I frowned, crossing my arms and leaning against the doorframe. "Be specific, Penelope. I don't have time for riddles."

Roxana sighed before walking closer to me with her phone in hand. When she turned the screen to face me, I saw a picture that immediately set my blood boiling.

It was a picture of me and Seraphina, and I could immediately tell that it was taken last night. In the image, my hand was in her hair, and the way the photo was framed made it seem like we were... close. Affectionate.

I frowned, leaning closer to study the image. The picture had been taken after we snuck back into the school, and I knew for a fact that little dove Seraphina had been anything but affectionate with me at that time.

She had been furious, and I had been trying to tease her even more on purpose. Yet, here was this picture, posted in just the right way to make it seem like we were... together.

"Who posted it?" I asked Roxana, my voice low.

Roxana shrugged, her expression nonchalant as she handed me the phone. "It was posted anonymously," she replied. "But whoever did it is clearly trying to sell the narrative that you and the new girl are... involved."

I cursed under my breath, scrolling through the comments under the post. Of course, it was already spreading like wildfire. Students were tagging each other, adding speculative comments, and some had already jumped to conclusions.

Words like "Electra's new conquest?" and "Guess the princess has a thing for newbies" made my stomach churn with irritation.

The problem wasn't the idea of Seraphina being tied to me—it was how poorly timed this all was. I wasn't done with her yet. I hadn't even properly secured my hold on her, and now this picture was throwing everything into chaos.

If Seraphina saw this, she'd likely panic, and if she panicked, she'd resist me even more than she already was.

And then there was the question of intent. Whoever posted this wasn't trying to do me any favors. No, this had malice written all over it. The question was whether the malice was directed at me or if someone was trying to hurt Seraphina.

The latter seemed less likely since Seraphina was too new and too inconsequential in this school to have made any real enemies yet.

Letting out an exasperated sigh, I turned to Roxana. "Find out who the hell posted this picture," I ordered. "I don't care how you do it—just figure it out."

Roxana frowned at me, clearly hesitant. "What if I can't find out?" she asked, her tone cautious.

I glared at her, my fury evident. "Then try harder," I snapped. "I don't want excuses."

Roxana raised her hands in mock surrender, smirking slightly. "Alright, alright. I'll try my best."

Turning my attention to Deena, I gave her the next set of instructions. "You, find someone who can get this picture taken down. I don't care if the whole school's already seen it. I just don't want it staying up."

Deena shrugged, unimpressed. "Does it really matter now? The damage is done."

"It matters to me!" I shot back, my tone seething. "Just do it."

"Fine, fine," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "Consider it done."

I looked at the picture again, trying to figure out who could have done something so stupid, but before I could settle on a theory, the door to my room flew open, slamming against the wall.

My head snapped up, and I was about to go off when I saw Irina standing there, breathless and visibly shaken.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I demanded. "Why did you barge in here like that?"

She leaned against the doorframe, trying to catch her breath. "It's... Seraphina," she managed to say between gulps of air.

I frowned, a strange sense of dread creeping up my spine. "What about Seraphina?" I asked.

Irina straightened slightly, her expression still one of shock. "I just heard from some girls—apparently, she's been reported to the principal."

"For what?" I asked, instantly confused.

"For beating up two of her roommates," Irina said, the words coming out in a rush.

The room fell silent. I blinked, unsure if I'd heard her correctly. "What?" The word escaped my lips before I could stop it.

Irina nodded quickly. "You heard me, Electra. She beat up two of them, and apparently, it was bad enough that one of them reported her directly to Astor. Let's just say your little dove is in big trouble."