Chapter 45: Do you want to be my girlfriend?
When I opened my eyes again, the first thing I noticed was firelight.
It flickered warmly above , casting dancing golden shadows across the canopy of leaves overhead. The flas were real... crackling softly, pushing back the encroaching darkness just enough to create a fragile illusion of safety. But not enough to let any of us forget exactly where we were.
Morvalis.
We were all gathered around the small campfire. The entire group sat in a loose circle, their faces illuminated by the unsteady glow. Eyes turned toward the mont I stirred.
They were waiting.
Even Thorne sat among them, silent and brooding, his sharp gaze fixed on the flas as if they held answers he refused to share.
Only Ashriel kept his distance. He sat a short way apart from the rest of us, leaning back against the trunk of an ancient tree, his posture relaxed yet detached. He existed on a completely different frequency, close enough to be part of the group, yet sohow entirely separate, as if he belonged to another world entirely.
"Finally awake? Miss Vaeloria " Kaden said, his voice sharp and thick with sarcasm and annoyance.
He leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees, eyes narrowed. "Now explain sothing to . Why the hell did you touch the flowers?"
I blinked slowly at him, my head still feeling heavy and clouded, as though sothing invisible continued pressing down from inside my skull.
Then I shrugged lightly, the motion slower than I intended.
"Because it was beautiful."
A small, involuntary pout ford on my lips before I could stop it.
"And It’s not my fault you don’t appreciate beautiful things."
Elion let out a soft, amused breath beside , clearly entertained by my answer.
Of course he would find it funny.
But inside, I wasn’t laughing.
Not even close.
Because the truth was far more unsettling, I didn’t fully understand why I had reached out. That impulsive decision wasn’t like . Not here. Not in a place this dangerous and deceptive.
Beautiful or not, I should have known better. I should have been more careful. The fact that I wasn’t... scared more than I wanted to admit.
"Don’t worry about it," Elion said lightly, his tone teasing. "It’s probably because you have the weakest mind here. That’s why the flowers were able to charm you so easily."
I turned my head to look at him.
Was that... an insult?
Or so twisted version of a complint?
I honestly couldn’t tell with him.
Either way, I didn’t respond.
I simply looked down at my hands resting in my lap, fingers tracing invisible patterns against my skin.
Quietly. Slowly.
And in that silence, I made a solemn promise to myself.
From now on, I would be careful.
No... more than careful.
I would be extrely, ruthlessly careful.
Because whatever Morvalis truly was, it wasn’t a garden. It wasn’t paradise. It was sothing far older, far cleverer, and far more dangerous than it first appeared.
And if I made another careless mistake like that...
I might not wake up next ti.
I had no plans to die here.
None whatsoever.
I was still lost in the heavy current of my thoughts when Ashriel suddenly rose to his feet.
Without a word.
Without even glancing at any of us.
He simply turned and started walking deeper into the forest, his silhouette quickly lting into the shadows between the trees.
I frowned, watching him go.
At first, I thought he might just need a mont of privacy... to relieve himself or clear his head.
But no.
He kept walking.
Further.
Deeper.
"Does he really need that much privacy just to pee... or is it sothing more serious?" I thought briefly, a flicker of dark amusent crossing my mind. But his life is none of my concern.
But then reality hit like a cold splash of water.
He was supposed to be one of my potential backers. One of the stronger ones I might need to rely on if things turned ugly.
I couldn’t just let him wander off and possibly get himself killed, not when his strength might be the difference between my survival and my death later.
So I pushed myself up slightly and called out after him,
"Where are you going, Ashriel? We were specifically told not to go deeper into Morvalis."
I made sure my tone sounded genuinely concerned. Soft. Almost caring.
Like I was looking out for him.
Like I actually gave a damn.
"I don’t need your advice."
His response ca imdiately... cold, flat, and dismissive. He didn’t even bother turning around.
I pressed my lips together tightly, irritation flickering in my chest.
Of course. Nothing was ever going to be easy with him.
Still...
I didn’t need him to like .
I just needed him alive and useful when the ti ca.
"I’m sorry," I said quickly, forcing the words out. "I was just looking out for you."
Even if it was a lie.
Survival mattered far more than pride or dignity right now.
"Thanks. I don’t need it."
Still no glance back. Still walking.
"She was just trying to be nice to you," Theo suddenly spoke up, stepping in to defend . "You don’t have to be so rude about it."
I blinked in surprise.
That was... new.
Soone actually defending ?
Interesting.
But Ashriel didn’t respond.
He didn’t slow down.
He didn’t stop.
He simply kept walking, disappearing further into the darkening forest.
"If you want to die in there," I called after him, my voice sharper now, edged with frustration, "then make sure you do it alone and don’t drag any catastrophe back here with you!"
He didn’t react. Not even the slightest pause in his stride.
I clicked my tongue softly in annoyance and sat back down by the fire.
To hell with trying to help him.
I just prayed no monster decided to follow him back and make the rest of us pay for his recklessness.
"Just let him be," Elion said quietly beside , his shoulder brushing lightly against mine.
I pouted slightly without aning to, a small, childish expression I couldn’t quite suppress.
Then, completely out of nowhere, he asked,
"Do you want to be my girlfriend?"
I turned to look at him very slowly.
My expression said everything I didn’t bother putting into words:
Confusion.
Judgnt.
Suspicion.
And a healthy dose of are you actually serious right now?
For a split second, I glanced toward Thorne.
He was still staring intently into the fire, stirring the logs with a stick as if he hadn’t heard a single word of the conversation.
"Seriously?" Kaden scoffed loudly, shaking his head in disbelief. "We’re stuck in the middle of a literal death zone, we don’t even know if we’ll survive the night, and you’re over here trying to ask soone out?"
Lyra and Theo exchanged amused glances, clearly entertained by the absurdity of the mont.
"Don’t mind him," Ivy said coolly, her voice dripping with disdain. "He says that to every girl just to get between their legs. Once he’s had his fun, he discards you like yesterday’s trash."
I turned back to Elion.
He simply smiled, unbothered, almost radiant in his confidence.
Like nothing Ivy said could touch him.
And then sothing clicked in my mind.
The blonde girl I had seen him with before...
That had been Ivy.
So if what she said was true...
He had already discarded her.
Ah.
That explained everything.
I almost laughed at the realization, but honestly?
I had zero interest in getting involved with a man like that.
I wanted soone exclusive. Soone whose attention wasn’t passed around like a communal resource.
So I said nothing.
And surprisingly, Elion didn’t push.
He didn’t ask again.
Instead, he casually reached over and began brushing away mosquitoes that had started hovering around , playing the part of an overly attentive boyfriend with effortless ease.
Strange.
Then...
A loud, rumbling growl suddenly broke the fragile peace.
Everyone’s heads snapped toward the sound.
Theo froze, his hand slowly moving to his stomach as a sheepish expression crossed his face.
"Sorry..." he muttered, cheeks flushing with embarrassnt. "I’m hungry."
"We don’t have any food," Lyra pointed out quietly.
A heavy pause settled over the group.
Then the full realization sank in.
"So they sent us here..." Elion said slowly, his voice laced with dark understanding, "...with no food at all?"
We all looked at each other in silence.
The truth settled over us like a cold, suffocating blanket.
We had nothing.
No supplies.
No food.
And according to Liora’s vision... it seed increasingly likely that one of us was going to die here from hunger .
From the way my own stomach had begun to speak in tongues and twist with sharp, empty hunger... even though it hadn’t started growling yet, I couldn’t help but wonder if that person would be Theo...
Or .
And honest I didn’t like the odds.
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