Chapter 329: The need to save her

E’s POV

I was still trying to process everything they had just told me, and saying I was struggling didn’t even begin to cover it. Shocked, confused—those words weren’t enough either. My thoughts felt scattered, like someone had dumped a thousand pieces of a puzzle in front of me but stolen the picture I needed to put it together.

Hearing that the kingdom wanted me dead because I was half-human, half-phoenix? That wasn’t just harsh; it was ridiculous. Completely absurd. They weren’t calling for me to be sent away from the kingdom or hidden, which would have made a little more sense.

No, they wanted me killed. Executed, erased, as if I was nothing more than some mistake they could wipe out.

I sat there in silence, staring at the wall, my hands glowing faintly in my lap, and I couldn’t stop thinking how insane it sounded. Technically, I had done nothing wrong. I didn’t ask to exist, and yet somehow I had become their enemy just because I was proof of a law broken years ago.

Ridiculous didn’t even cut it, and to make it worse, I couldn’t even step outside, not even for a breath of fresh air according to Irina and the girls. The second I stepped out of this room, the second someone saw me like this, I was done. That’s what they told me, and that’s what I had to live with.

According to Irina, it was my father who made the call to hide me here. Apparently, he was already drowning in backlash, and it was so bad that the people were demanding that he step down and denounce his crown. They said he had tainted the royal bloodline. That he had soiled the crown itself.

And maybe he had. I didn’t know, and I honestly couldn’t care less about all of that. All I could think about was how much of this wasn’t my fault, and yet I was the one who had to suffer for it.

He had tucked me away here, in some place far enough that no one would find me easily. It was a hidden house, and they said it was safer, and that I needed time to recover, but it didn’t feel like safety. It felt like a cage.

Even my friends, Electra’s friends, really, had been dragged into this. Irina, Roxana, Penelope had mentioned that they had to leave school a few days ago, the academy I should have still been part of, just to come here while I was unconscious.

They had even changed their phones, changed their numbers, so no one could trace where they were. That was how bad my situation had become.

I sat there, silent, staring down at my hands, and hating the fact that the room was so quiet, almost like no one was sure of what to say next.

Finally, Roxana broke it. “You’re not going to say anything?” she asked, sounding kind of impatient. I didn’t know what it was, but it was almost like she was annoyed with me, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why. “You’ve been sitting there looking like a ghost. Do you even hear what we’ve been telling you?”

Her voice snapped me back, but I didn’t even bother lifting my head, and I also didn’t have the strength to argue with her.

Irina stepped in, her voice calmer. “Maybe she’s just exhausted. Should we help you back to bed, E? Let you rest for a bit longer?”

Rest. As if sleep would change any of this.

I finally looked up at them, my eyes stinging. “Rest?” I repeated softly, almost bitterly. “How am I supposed to rest when I’ve just been told an entire kingdom wants me dead just because they think my existence is an abomination, and it’s somehow my fault?”

None of them answered right away. Penelope bit her lip, her eyes flicking to the floor. Roxana’s frown deepened, but she stayed quiet, while Irina’s gaze held mine, steady but sad.

She stepped closer, her hand reaching out gently as though to help me stay calm as well, since it was quite obvious that I was this close to spiraling. “We just don’t want you to collapse again. You’re still weak.”

Her touch was a little more grounding, but I pulled back slightly. “Weak or not, I don’t care. I can’t keep lying down while everything is falling apart. Seraphina is in a coma, Electra is gone, and now I hear a kingdom is calling for my death. Tell me, how am I supposed to lie there and close my eyes?”

Roxana let out a long sigh after I spoke, her arms crossing tight against her chest. “Going back to my question from early, why do you even want to see Seraphina?” she asked bluntly, ignoring my rant. “You just told us a while ago that you don’t feel emotions the way humans do. So I’m going to assume that means you’re not in love with her like Electra was… right?”

I lifted my head quickly, meeting her eyes. “Maybe love isn’t the word I’d use for now,” I responded, trying to figure out the best way to explain my relationship with Seraphina. “The summary is, Seraphina is my literal soulmate, and she’s the only reason Electra and I have been able to coexist in one body without tearing each other apart.”

None of them interrupted, so I kept going. “I care about her, not in the way Electra does, and maybe not in the way you expect, but I do. If I could see her, I’d try to get her to wake up, and if I manage to succeed…” My throat tightened, but I pushed the words out. “Then maybe this weakness I’ve been feeling would finally stop, and there’s higher chance I’d even get Electra back.”

I lowered my voice, almost whispering. “I was initially confused as to why Electra has suddenly disappeared, but now that I know Seraphina’s situation, I understand that Electra and I are like this because she’s dying, and the very second Seraphina dies, I won’t need the kingdom to kill me since I’ll die on my own.”

Irina’s lips parted. “Wait,” she said softly. “Are toy trying to say that you think you can wake Seraphina when even the doctors haven’t been able to? How could you possibly do that?”

I rolled my eyes before I could stop myself. “If you could help me get to her,” I said dryly, “you’d see for yourself how, but for now, there’s nothing I can do without seeing her in person.”

Penelope shifted uneasily at my words, her eyes darting between us. Irina looked thoughtful, but Roxana only frowned deeper.

“You think walking into her hospital room is going to magically change something?” Roxana asked, her tone cold.

“I don’t think,” I shot back, meeting her glare. “I know. I can’t start explaining what I already know you can’t understand, but I can make an attempt to save Seraphina, and it’s likely to work. But if I don’t…” I paused, my chest tightening. “Then I know I’ll lose both of them. Electra and Seraphina, and there’ll be nothing left of me either.”

Irina sighed, rubbing her forehead. “Unlike the last time, getting you into the hospital where she is won’t be easy, Electra. We can’t just sneak you out of here and waltz into the hospital without anyone noticing, and your life is in literal danger.”

“I know what I’m asking is hard,” I said, my voice tired. “And you’re right, I can’t step outside without risking my life, but Seraphina doesn’t have time, and I’m getting weaker. I’m not saying it’s safe, but it’s necessary.”

Penelope looked torn, her brows drawn together. “E, if we help you, and you’re wrong… you’ll only be putting yourself in more danger. And us too.”

I clenched my fists at my sides. “Then let me take that risk. I’m the one they’re calling an abomination, and I’m the one they want to kill. If you want to play it safe, fine, leave me here to rot, but if you believe me, if you really think there’s even a chance I can help Seraphina, then help me get to her. Please.”

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