Raising Capital (1)

The nine hundred billion Aris was for the use of creating the beauty sauna. When I showed the design plan to Luke and Alex, they were impressed, instantly letting me add another project. I had to admit the beauty sauna was more impressive with the extra changes I made from Joanna's initial proposal. Since the club room had the time-space feature, it was an excellent time to spend on creating more design plans.

"You're still working on the blueprints?" Oili watched me.

"I need to find ways to work with the strained budget," I sighed.

"You have nine hundred billion Aris," Ethan was in disbelief.

However, there was only so much human technology could do. It was expensive to hire the fairy workers once the humans left for the day. Micah's connections were impressive, giving me the possibility to do whatever I desired as long as I had the money. Unfortunately, I knew both the allowances of Luke and Alex were starting to run dry. I needed a way to obtain more capital to complete my waterpark.

"You don't understand. That money is nothing compared to what I need," I was frustrated.

"The nine hundred billion only lasted for a few days," I added when they were silent.

"Didn't Luke and Alex give you more money?" Delia recalled.

"It didn't last more than a couple of hours," I found the fairies' demands to be high.

"You can ask more family members," Oili suggested.

This was when an idea shot across my head. Charles possessed a decent amount of money and I knew a way to get it from him. I slightly smiled as I could use the paper dolls to threaten him and Jules to visit the club room. They wouldn't want others to know they played with dolls, completely clueless I had an incredibly good sense to take the pictures back then. As I expected, they burst into the club room within a few minutes.

"Delete them," Charles wheezed for more air.

"You're practically betraying us," Jules agreed.

"Listen to my proposal first," I gestured to sit down.

"I need more funds for my waterpark and I'm willing to let you be a part of it. We're using the fairy technology for the things the human one lacks. I can implement some of your ideas inside," I offered.

"In addition to purchasing some legendary items for you using Micah. Didn't you say you wanted them?" I continued.

"How much do you need?" Charles was jealous of my staff.

"How much money do you have?" I planned to steal everything.

"The most I can go is one hundred billion Aris," Charles showed me his bank account.

"I can do around eighty billion," Jules seemed interested.

"Here's the catalog, pick the items. You should know the exchange rate is harsh," I passed them my screen.

It was common knowledge between family members that Memors cost an enormous amount. However, they didn't know to what extent it commonly changed. Anything inside the catalog would give me around ninety five percent profit margins from the lack of information they had. Thankfully, both of them were greedy and curious about the common items inside the fairy world. A deal was quickly struck as I placed the barrier down after closing my screen.

"Here is one hundred and fifty billion Aris," Charles transferred me the money.

"You're giving her that much?" Ethan was nearly speechless.

"Why not? We're family," he urged me to accept it.

"Meet me in my dorm room later today," I had already sent the order to Micah.

"It's one hundred billion Aris, right?" Jules tried to confirm with me.

I nodded as I accepted the money while ignoring the stares coming from my friends. Oddly, they were crossing the line with all the questions about my waterpark money lately. Instead, I turned my head towards Luke and Alex, who were thankfully both distracted with fraction work.

Although they glanced at our direction several times, they weren't against being with family members. The tough part was getting the items to Jules and Charles later in the day without them discovering anything.

"It amounts to two hundred and fifty billion Aris in total," Cillian was in awe.

"It's a lot of money," Sienna watched our exchange.

"What's going on?" Luke heard our conversation.

"They're giving her two hundred and fifty billion Aris to help build her waterpark," Cillian explained.

"We're implementing some of our ideas in exchange," Charles passed him his requests.

"Include this in the design plan too," Jules sent a small file.

"We'll add them in," Luke surprisingly agreed.

Unfortunately, the two hundred and fifty billion was a stepping stone towards my goal. As soon as I was separated from Luke and Alex, I called Charles and Jules to visit me. The items had quickly arrived inside my bracelet since Micah was good at long-distance spells. Passing them the items, they were extremely satisfied with the deal. After shooing them out of my dorm room, I started to list a couple of places to visit since Charles and Jules were sucked dry of their money.

"Can we visit Lucius and Belle during the weekend?" I asked Luke.

"Let me send them a message," Luke started to write.

Thankfully, Luke was still trying to convince me his family didn't hate me. He would never deny my request to visit them. He didn't know I saw both Lucius and Belle in a new light. Joanna insulted them for hours, revealing their weaknesses. These two appeared very easy to take advantage of in my eyes now.

Unexpectedly, the Suilett family was a harmonious family with warm and loving relationships. They would never think someone in their family would try to use them, especially someone in my position.

It was a great weakness in my eyes. I planned to present them with some flower bouquets to give them a better impression of me.

As the hover car drifted above the landing space, I jumped off to run towards the garden. Since the garden was abundant with extravagant roses, lilies, tulips and others, they wouldn't mind if they were picked.

I planned to present them some flower bouquets to give them a better impression of me. Since the garden was abundant with extravagant roses, lilies, tulips and others, they wouldn't mind if they were picked.

Intentionally poking myself with the thorns, I began to form the flower crowns after gathering the bouquets. My fingers worked quickly as I had to finish before Luke and Alex would wonder what I was doing.

The last time I took a quick glance at them, they were still inside the hover car as they worked on reviewing the fraction documents. Normally, they would use the entire weekend to catch up, but the visit changed the schedule.

When I noticed they were beginning to step out of the car, I dashed towards the original pathway. Even though I knew the front doors were open, I knocked on the grand entrance. Like I expected, Belle confusedly opened the door for me when I continued to stay outside, wondering why I was acting like a guest. I brightly smiled to greet her, passing the large flower bouquet to her.

"Rika wanted to give these to you," I shyly slid my hair behind my ear.

"Your hands," Belle noticed.

Everyone appreciated the gift when someone worked hard to give them something. The scratches on my hands were an indication of my efforts, all part of my plan. I pretended to be disappointed, tears welling inside my eyes, "do you not like the flowers?"

"No, they're beautiful," Belle slightly panicked.

Joanna was right, Belle was very pure and good hearted. My poor acting skills worked on her as her eyes faintly filled with guilt. When Lucius joined us at the door, wondering why we were at the entrance, I passed him the other flower bouquet inside my arms. He came later than expected, Luke and Alex a few meters behind me. This was the perfect timing to place the flower crowns on their heads.

"Rika always thought older sister looked extremely pretty. She made these for you since older sister is more beautiful than a fairy princess!" I started my flattering.

I went on my tippy toes to attempt to put it on her. Thankfully, Belle immediately lowered herself since she knew my intentions. After finishing with Belle, I turned to Lucius, "Rika always thought older brother is more breathtaking than a fairy prince. These are for you."

Although Lucius was colder than Belle, he accepted the pitiful flower crown. Staring at the both of them, I had to admit my last-minute presents were nearly crumbling apart. I smiled even brighter when everyone noticed my poor hands, placing them behind me to hide it. This plan was at a great start, most people speechless from my actions. It took Belle a few minutes to unfreeze to let us inside.

"Let's start with healing your hands," she led us to the infirmary.

Everyone frowned as Luke pulled out the thorns inside my hands, sanitizing them before using heal. I hid my surprise when Belle whispered to Lucius, "we should replace the flowers inside the garden. We can get the species without any thorns."

"She does pick flowers really often," Alex recalled the drowning incident.

"This is nothing if it's for older brother and sister," I made my eyes slightly glimmer.

"If Rika had any money. She could purchase the presents for you, but she doesn't get any allowance. But she doesn't mind since she knows she was never truly part of the family anyways. Although she knows everyone dislikes Rika, she can't do the same," I hinted I wanted money.

It was a total lie that I never received any money. I used them faster than what they could supply me, making my bank accounts empty. However, both Belle and Lucius never knew about this and the family card worked best in the Suilett family. Before Alex could argue otherwise, Belle instantly gave into me, "how much do you want? We can give you some allowance."

"Rika wants three hundred billion Aris," I spat out the planned number.

"I only want to give you the best presents, and Memors are expensive," I fidgeted with my hands.

Maybe the number was too high with everyone going awkwardly silent. I instantly prepared tears inside my eyes to stream down my face. Pulling out my most pitiful eyes, I clasped my hands together to beg them, "we're family, aren't we?"

Belle struggled to look at me, urging Lucius to combine their allowance together to give me the money. To help her, I tugged on Lucius' sleeve, facing him appearing absolutely miserable. I always had the chance to practice my begging skills on Luke and Alex, slowly perfecting them as time passed. This was why I wasn't surprised when the money was soon transferred into my bank account as I silently cheered inside my heart.

"They fell for it," Alex was stunned.

"Let's have a talk Rika," Luke knew my true intentions.

"I have the presents right now. I made the purchases as soon as I got the money," I blurted before they could take it back.

"Rika knows how older brother and sister risk their lives sometimes to complete the missions given by the school. These bottles allow you to reverse the time on your body to what it was one minute prior," I passed them the items.

I had made these purchases beforehand from Micah. I predicted something like this would happen, choosing a precious item to humans but nearly useless to fairies. These bottles didn't have any effects on fairies but were made of common ingredients that only existed in the fairy dimension. This made the prices extremely cheap, most of the cost going towards the person who synthesized them together. If I had no talent in creating the item, I could pay someone to do it for me.

"You have a talent for business," Micah was impressed.

"Isn't it obvious?" I wondered.

"My past contractors focused on obtaining the items they already knew. They never thought of taking advantage of worthless items to fairies," he explained.

"You're like a living dictionary, why wouldn't they ask you for them?" I hated reading books.

"Your ideas are innovative and people who live long lifespans are fixated on things they know. This is why many people want to study you for more research ideas," Micah explained why my fairy instructors still taught me.

"You know I have no choice but to be creative. The Roselia family takes away practically everything from me," I sighed.

Since Luke and Alex didn't know my secret transaction with Micah, they were equally surprised by the bottles I gave to Belle and Lucius. They couldn't always supervise the transactions I made. I was the main agreement holder with Micah, placing me as the priority over them. This was how I managed to hide more things from them. Studying Luke and Alex, they truly thought I was less than a child.

"What did you want to talk about?" I turned to Luke.

I wasn't stupid enough to not have a plan to prove my claim of wanting more allowance to buy them presents. It was harder on Luke's end to lecture me for scamming his older siblings when I had the bottles. As I expected, he didn't answer me, staying ignorant of my true intentions. Meanwhile, Belle appeared like she was starting to get emotional, knowing these items were nearly priceless here. It was obvious she thought I used all the allowance they gave me.

"Rika always wanted to buy them for you," I added to increase the impact.

"I really loved the flowers you gave me. They're equally as valuable as the bottles. I'll make sure you'll always have money with you in the future," she hugged to thank me.

"You really used everything we gave you," Lucius was stunned.

Once I entered the hover car to return to school, I finally broke my act. It was hard not to feel a little guilty when both of them appeared extremely thankful. However, I managed to obtain another source of income to add to the waterpark project. I stared outside the window as I began to plan how to persuade Luke's father as the next target. He would be easier than the rest since I had Joanna on my side.

"I thought you would use all the money for your waterpark," Alex found it suspicious.

"Do you not know the term 'investment'? I invested some of the money into the bottles," I shrugged.

There was no point lying anymore since both of them knew my true intentions. This was the sad reality of the untrusting relationship between us. It wasn't only me who hid stuff from them. They were much worse than me as they controlled the information I could access. My face slumped when they summoned Micah to get an explanation. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything holding Micah back from exposing the transaction.

"She has a talent in business. She managed to procure each bottle for two Memors," Micah praised me.

"Two Memors each?" Alex was surprised.

"She's creative to get what she wants," he continued.

"You can go now Micah," I urged him to leave.

"She's more calculating than you think she is," Micah left at my command.

"You spent at most one hundred Memors for the bottles," Luke added the numbers.

"I already converted everything into Memors," I blurted.

"You can't do this to family members Rika. We help each other out," he began to lecture.

"We can stop the construction if you attempt this again," he warned me.

"It's a fact we need more money to continue the construction. The whole project goes to waste if we can't finish it," I squeezed the edge of my seat.

"There are other ways we can get the money, but not this way," Luke couldn't disagree.

"Can I sell the bottles to the general public then?" I had limited options.

"As soon as these bottles are revealed, you'll become another target," Alex threw that option away.

"You never let me do anything on my own," I found it unfair.

I would be rich by now if I wasn't with the Roselia family. All the discoveries I made immediately went to them, leaving me a small amount of money compared to what I contributed. If I really wasn't a tool to them, they would give me some of the profits in return. This is what people did with equals, not taking advantage of them. The Roselia family wasn't willing to let me go since they wanted to squeeze all my value out of me.

"You're not giving me the option to obtain the money through a different way. There are two ways to get the money. One is starting my own business and the other is asking your family," I pointed out.

"We can negotiate with our parents to increase our allowance. As long as it's reasonable, they don't have a reason to reject your request," Luke planned.

I nearly rolled my eyes from Luke's innocence. Like Joanna's beauty sauna, no one would increase their allowance for a waterpark. There was a reason why Joanna couldn't trust Luke. My distribution channel in obtaining the bottles would become stolen as Luke wouldn't hesitate to reveal everything. At this rate, both the beauty sauna and waterpark were at stake. I sighed as I decided to call Luke's mother as the last resort.

Surprisingly, Joanna immediately answered the call, her face popping up on my screen. Taking advantage of both Luke and Alex being surprised, I sent her the messages to explain the situation. I wasn't going to let my hard efforts become useless. Thankfully, Joanna didn't seem to mind that I stole her son's allowance. Instead, she was happy Belle was robbed of her money. Was I supposed to be glad her grudges ran deep?

"Although Rika's approach was wrong, it was your older siblings' fault for falling for her act. They can learn from their mistakes and take it as a lesson. However, they should figure it out by themselves without you telling them. How inadequate do you think they were to fall for it? Would you also fall for her act?" Joanna tried to educate them.

"I wouldn't give her the money the same way," Luke couldn't disagree.

"Rika is better than you for wanting something in exchange for her distribution channel. You have no leverage against us if you readily reveal it. I'll ask your grandfather to cancel the upcoming reunion for you to visit us this weekend. We can prepare more tutors so you can learn to become more like Rika," Joanna was on my side.

I happily smiled as I ended the call. It was time for Luke to end his naivety anyways. I could tell Joanna was frustrated with Luke for putting her beauty sauna at risk. To persuade Luke, I smirked, "even if I do the same with other family members, how inadequate would they be to fall for it? Do you think your parents would fall for the same tricks?"

"Your mother is trying to tell you to practice your persuasion skills on them. It's obvious she thinks you're lacking and doesn't want you to make the same mistakes outside of family," I continued when he was silent.

The Roselia family was extremely calculating and cold. Luke was being taken advantage of all this time since he obediently listened to their orders without any contemplation. Even Joanna negotiated her workload with Allison as I recalled listening to their conversation when I was with her. The only reason why Joanna didn't teach Luke the same skills was since she wanted to push all her work onto him later.

"You already have a plan to convince them," Alex noticed.

"I'm not stupid. You're the ones who are slow. How could you not get the hints so far?" I attempted to convince them.

"What's your plan?" He mocked me.

"Why would I tell you if you're not going to cooperate with me? I told you I'm not stupid," I had the upper hand.

"We'll cooperate with you," he threw a look at Luke.

It was obvious that both of them thought my plan would fail. Luke reluctantly agreed with Alex, acting exactly the way I wanted. I brightly smiled as I placed my screen in front of them. Getting the money would be easier with them helping my act. I started to explain my plan, "information is extremely important. I managed to source the weaknesses of most family members. This is what we will take advantage of."

"Where did you get this from?" Alex was stunned.

"Who do you think gave them to me? It has to be a family member. That's exactly why you're slow," I pointed out.

"Do you really need tutors to explain everything to you?" I pretended to be disappointed in them.

The next weekend, the three of us visited Luke's parents. While Luke and Alex were sent to the tutors, I spent time with Joanna. Slicing a piece of my cake, I revealed my general plan, "how much money should I steal from your husband?"