Chapter 127: ¹²⁷: what is this place?

"There is nothing that serious, Damian!" I said quickly, stopping Mother Elena before she could say anything to him.

Damian looked at me, but his serious expression didn’t ease even a little. His eyes remained fixed on my face, as if he were trying to find something hidden behind my words. I could feel his gaze making me increasingly uncomfortable, but I forced myself to remain calm.

I sighed, picking up the water bottle he had given me earlier before slowly getting up from the bed.

"In the morning," I continued, deliberately keeping my tone casual so he would understand that the matter wasn’t that serious, "when I was waiting for Mother Elena in the waiting area, two staff members were talking about how curious they were about where I was from and what relationship I had with you guys."

I carefully placed the bottle onto the nightstand before turning back towards him.

I gave him a small smile, hoping my explanation sounded believable enough for him to finally drop the topic.

"Those girls were just curious about who I was. There was nothing for me to take offense to, and certainly nothing that would influence me to not want to live with you guys."

I paused for a moment before glancing towards Mother Elena. "Mother Elena is just too caring. She might have thought I was affected by those words when I’m perfectly fine. Those girls have absolutely nothing to do with my decision."

I tried to make my smile brighter, but Damian’s expression remained unchanged. He looked at me with a half-believing expression, his brows slightly drawn together as if he still wasn’t convinced by my explanation.

I suddenly felt the urge to disappear from the situation altogether. I lowered my eyes for a moment before letting out a quiet sigh.

"Let’s just end this topic here, then," I said, trying to wrap up the conversation. "Now that even Mother Elena has suggested that I shouldn’t go against Luna Selene’s order, let’s not talk about this anymore."

I moved forward and stopped beside Damian.

He still didn’t respond. His silence made me even more uncertain about whether he had believed anything I had said. I glanced at him from the corner of my eye, but he simply stood there with his thoughts seemingly occupied by something else.

"Mother Elena, I’ll go with Damian to grab my things, then. I’ll see you back at home," I said, turning towards her.

I silently prayed that she would understand my hint and wouldn’t tell Damian what had actually happened that morning. I didn’t want this conversation to continue.

Because judging from Damian’s expression earlier, it seemed better for everyone if he simply didn’t know about what those girls had said. I didn’t want him getting angry or confronting anyone because of me.

Mother Elena glanced at Damian for a moment, seemingly noticing the strange tension between us, before looking back at me with a gentle smile. "Okay. You guys go, and make sure you stay safe."

I nodded quickly, relieved that she hadn’t questioned me further. "We will, Mother Elena."

With that, I gave her one last smile before turning towards Damian, keeping a smile on my face. "Shall we leave, then?"

Damian looked at me without saying anything for a few seconds, making me grow increasingly anxious.

His eyes remained on me, his expression still unreadable. I couldn’t tell whether he was still thinking about what I had told him or whether he had simply decided not to argue with me.

Finally, he sighed and turned towards Mother Elena. "We’ll leave then, Mom."

Mother Elena nodded back at him with a smile.

Without waiting for me, Damian moved towards the door, and I quickly followed behind him, not wanting to waste another second.

I had thought he would simply walk ahead and leave me to follow him on my own, but instead, he stopped near the door and held it open for me.

I blinked in surprise before walking through it. He didn’t say anything. The moment I stepped outside, he released the door and continued forward. I just sighed and followed him quietly.

I kept my head lowered and maintained a little distance from him all the way to the clinic’s parking area. I didn’t want anyone else to see us together again after what had happened that morning.

Even though I had tried to convince myself that those girls’ words didn’t matter, I couldn’t completely forget them.

As we reached his bike, Damian moved towards it and handed me the helmet without saying anything.

I took it from him, looking up at his face as I tried to understand what was going on with him. He still looked serious.

"Are you angry with me or something?" I finally asked, unable to bear the silence any longer.

I waited for his answer. Instead, he simply moved aside and got onto the bike before looking ahead, waiting for me to get on behind him.

I stared at him for a few seconds, hoping he would at least acknowledge my question, except he didn’t. With a quiet sigh, I put on the helmet.

Damian started the bike without saying anything.

I climbed onto the back, and before I could ask him again, the bike suddenly moved forward, making me instinctively hold onto him for support this time.

I quickly steadied myself, my hands tightening for only a moment before I relaxed them again.

Within seconds, we had moved away from the clinic. Damian continued driving without saying a word. I sat quietly behind him, my thoughts becoming increasingly restless.

I needed to do something. It wasn’t as though I was close enough to Damian to simply demand that he talk to me, but at the same time, he had already done so much for me. He had found me when I was in danger, stayed beside me when I was struggling, and even helped me through my difficult moments.

I didn’t want the little bond of friendship we had formed to be disrupted because of this. I looked at his back, wondering whether I should apologize again or simply ask him what was wrong.

But before I could decide, something else caught my attention. I looked around. The road didn’t look familiar anymore. My brows slowly furrowed.This wasn’t the direction of the place where I used to live.

But it wasn’t the direction of Damian’s home either. I sat up a little straighter, confusion replacing my earlier thoughts. Where was he taking me?

"Where are we going, Damian?" I asked, looking around as I tried to recognise the unfamiliar surroundings.

No matter how much I looked around, nothing seemed familiar to me. I had spent so little time in this part of the pack that there was no way I could guess where he was taking me.

Damian didn’t answer. He simply kept driving, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. I waited for a few moments, expecting him to eventually respond, but when he didn’t, my curiosity only grew stronger.

"Damian?"

Still nothing. Instead, he increased the speed of the bike as we moved farther forward.

I tightened my grip slightly, leaning forward so I could see past him. Why was he refusing to tell me where we were going?

The unfamiliar road continued ahead, surrounded by greenery that seemed to become denser the farther we travelled. I tried to memorize the path, thinking that perhaps I would recognize it later, but every turn only made the place feel more unfamiliar.

"Damian, where are you taking me?" I asked again, raising my voice slightly so he could hear me over the sound of the engine.

Before I could ask him a third time, something in the distance caught my attention.

My eyes widened. At first, I thought I was seeing the wrong thing. But as we moved closer, the sight before me became clearer.

An entire stretch of land was covered with flowers. Not just flowers...Countless wildflowers spread across the landscape, stretching so far that I couldn’t see where the field ended.

There were flowers of every colour I could think of; some bright, some soft, and others blending together beneath the sunlight.

The gentle wind moved through them, making the flowers ruffle and sway together in waves. From a distance, it almost looked as though the entire field was breathing.

I stared at the sight, completely forgetting my earlier confusion. For some reason, the peaceful movement of the flowers made my chest feel lighter.

They swayed beneath the breeze as though they were being cradled in the soothing embrace of their mother, protected from everything beyond the field.

I didn’t even realise I had been holding my breath until I finally let it out.

"Damian..." My voice came out softer than I intended.

The bike finally slowed down. Damian brought it to a stop at the edge of the field.

I looked ahead, my eyes still wide with awe as I took in the endless flowers before me.

"What is this place?" I asked, almost gasping in wonder.