Chapter 456: Denied

Seraphina's POV

One of the two female guards in disguise would ask me again to tell them why I was following the Mistresses, and at that point, with the way the woman was gripping my arm and staring at me like she was deciding whether or not I was dangerous, I realized that lying would only make things worse. My heart was beating painfully hard in my chest, and I was trying my best not to look as nervous as I actually felt, but I could already tell from their expressions that they weren't convinced by me at all.

Still, I figured honesty was probably the safest option available to me right now because the last thing I needed was getting arrested in a kingdom that wasn't even mine.

"I'm following them because I know who they are," I finally said, forcing the words out carefully. "My name is Seraphina Hook, and I'm a student at Elysium Girls High. Yuna and Yura Ashwyn both attended the school too."

The moment I mentioned Elysium, both women exchanged a quick look before turning back to me again, and somehow, that tiny reaction only made me more anxious. They didn't look convinced yet, but at least they looked like they were considering the possibility that I wasn't some random stalker. One of them narrowed her eyes at me before speaking again.

"If you're telling the truth," she said slowly, "then explain why you were spying on them instead of approaching them like any normal person would approach someone they knew."

I swallowed hard. Honestly, it was a fair question. From the outside, I probably did look suspicious just trailing behind them through the market while trying not to be seen. I quickly tried to think of the least terrible explanation possible before responding.

"I didn't want to scare them," I admitted. "I know what happened to Yuna back in school, and I just… I wanted to wait for the right moment before approaching them."

Even as I said it, I knew how weak it sounded, but it was the truth. I really hadn't wanted to upset Yura again, especially after the way she reacted when I showed up at the Ashwyn mansion yesterday. Still, I could tell from the skeptical looks on the guards' faces that my explanation wasn't enough for them.

"If you don't believe me," I added quickly before they could say anything else, "then take me to them right now. I promise they'll recognize me."

The words left my mouth before I could fully think them through, and immediately afterward, doubt started crawling into my chest. Was this actually a good idea? Yura had practically thrown me out yesterday and made it painfully clear that she wanted nothing to do with me. Worse, it was obvious now that the Ashwyn family was trying very hard to hide the fact that Yuna was still alive. Me suddenly showing up in the middle of the market probably wasn't going to help anything.

But what other option did I have?

It was either this or risk being dragged away somewhere for suspicious behavior, and honestly, I didn't think Prince Darius would appreciate hearing that I got arrested while snooping around a foreign kingdom's market.

The two guards looked at each other again, and one of them leaned closer to whisper something into the other's ear. I strained slightly to hear what they were saying, but the noise of the market drowned their voices out completely, and that only made me feel even more nervous. My mind immediately started jumping to worst-case scenarios while they spoke quietly between themselves.

Were they debating whether to arrest me? Were they deciding if I was a threat? Or were they trying to figure out if they should inform the Ashwyn family immediately?

After what felt like forever, one of the women suddenly grabbed my wrist firmly and started pulling me away. My heart jumped violently, and panic rushed through me so quickly that I almost screamed right there. For one horrifying second, I genuinely thought they were dragging me somewhere to detain me, but then I realized we were moving toward the jewelry stall.

Toward Yuna and Yura.

The realization made me stumble slightly before I quickly forced myself to keep up with them. My stomach twisted itself into knots as we got closer and closer, and suddenly, I regretted every decision that had led me here. From a distance, secretly watching them had felt manageable, but actually standing in front of them again after everything? That felt terrifying.

The guards finally stopped a few feet away from the stall before one of them called out loudly, "Lady Yura."

Both sisters turned around immediately, and the second Yura's eyes landed on me, her entire expression changed.

Her eyes widened sharply, and for a split second, I saw pure shock flash across her face before it quickly hardened into anger. It was the exact reaction I had expected from her, and honestly, it almost made me want to apologize for existing, but then my attention shifted to Yuna, and the moment I looked at her properly, confusion hit me so hard that I almost forgot to breathe.

Because Yuna wasn't reacting the way she should have been reacting at all.

She wasn't shocked, angry, or relieved in any way. She was just staring at me blankly, and not blankly in a distant or distracted way either. It was the kind of blank expression someone gave a complete stranger they had never seen before in their life. There was absolutely no recognition in her eyes, no flicker of familiarity, nothing, and that made no sense.

I wasn't some random person to Yuna, and even if we weren't as close as we used to be, there was no way she should have been looking at me like this.

My chest tightened painfully as I stared back at her, trying to understand what I was seeing. Yuna just continued looking at me with that same empty expression while standing quietly beside her sister, and suddenly, the way she had been acting earlier in the market replayed in my head again. The excitement, the childish curiosity, and the way Yura held onto her so tightly like she couldn't trust her alone.

Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong.

One of the guards stepped forward and bowed her head slightly toward Yura before speaking. "Lady Yura, do you know who this Seraphina Hook is?"

The moment the question was asked, I looked directly at Yura again, waiting for her response despite the dread already building inside me. I could practically see the anger radiating off her as she stared at me, and for a second, I thought she was going to explode right there in public, but instead, she did something I never expected.

With a completely serious expression on her face, Yura looked directly at the guards and said, "I don't know her."

For a moment, I genuinely thought I had heard her wrong. I just stared at her in disbelief, waiting for some sign that she was joking or trying to avoid me temporarily, but Yura's face stayed completely calm and serious as she continued standing there beside Yuna.

My mouth parted slightly before I could stop myself. "Yura…"

"I said I don't know her," Yura repeated coldly, cutting me off before I could say anything else.

The guards immediately looked suspicious again, their attention shifting back toward me sharply, and panic flooded through me almost instantly.

"She's lying," I blurted out before I could stop myself. "She knows me. We used to go to the same school."

Yura's expression didn't change at all. "You must be mistaken."

The calmness in her voice was what unsettled me the most. It didn't sound nervous or forced. She sounded completely in control, like she had already decided exactly how this interaction was going to go the second she saw me standing there.

I looked toward Yuna again desperately, hoping she would say something, anything, that would prove I wasn't crazy, but Yuna just kept staring at me with that same blank expression, her eyes moving over my face slowly like she was trying to place where she might have seen me before.

Then, softly, almost hesitantly, she looked at Yura and asked, "Do you really not know her?"

Her voice nearly broke my heart because it sounded so uncertain and so confused.

Yura's jaw tightened slightly before she answered her sister without taking her eyes off me. "No, I don't."

I felt my stomach drop completely.

At that point, even the guards looked uncertain about what to believe anymore. One of them loosened her grip on my wrist slightly while staring between me and Yura like she was trying to figure out who was telling the truth, but I barely noticed them anymore.

I was too focused on Yuna, because now that I was standing this close to her, I could see even more clearly that something about her wasn't right. It wasn't just the blank look she gave me. There was something softer about her now, something strangely fragile that hadn't been there before. Even the way she stood slightly behind Yura felt unusual, and suddenly, a horrible thought crossed my mind.

What if Yuna didn't recognize me because she genuinely couldn't? What if something had happened to her after the fall?

My chest tightened painfully again as I stared at her, trying to process the possibility. Meanwhile, Yura continued glaring at me like she wanted me gone immediately.

"You should leave," Yura finally said sharply. "Before you create problems for yourself."

I opened my mouth, wanting to ask a thousand questions all at once, but the warning in her eyes stopped me, and deep down, I knew Yura wasn't denying me just because she hated me, she was hiding something.