章 112: Distracting Embrace

I cast my eyes downwards in silence as I admitted to myself that perhaps Raphael was right, I wasn't at all ready to know the truth or to bear its consequences. After closing my eyes, I sucked in a deep breath and slowly let it out to clear my head. Whatever the truth was, it wasn't clean and simple. However, one thing was clear to me, and that was I needed to protect my mother above all costs.

Suddenly, Raphael leaned in closer, his eyes searching mine as if looking for an answer.

"I advise that you stop torturing yourself endlessly with these questions that you're not ready for the answer to. Right now, the only thing you need to worry about is to get enough rest," Raphael said before he placed his large and warm hand on the top of my head. Before I could respond, his hand slipped down to cup the side of my cheek, and I found myself staring upwards into his eyes.

"Rapha..." I murmured his name, but I couldn't complete it.