Raising Capital (3)

"Because you're a nice person- I mean fairy," I rubbed my elbow.

I immediately stood when Micah turned his back against me. He was planning on leaving, one of his legs was already inside the portal. I grabbed his arm, "please. Just this once."

"I only have you left- ."

Micah frowned in disapproval and then turned to Julian.

"What about the boy behind you?"

"He's on their side. He's not going to help me- ."

"What makes me different?" Micah shook his arm in wide strokes.

"Give me a reason or a deal like you usually do," he yanked my hand off.

A deal? A reason? I had to tell him it was because I realized my friends were fake? My hands grabbed my head, and my knees buckled onto the floor. Looking down at the ground, I began sobbing, "my friends betrayed me."

"I mean- they pretended they understood me and I spent years with them like that," I whispered.

I raised my head to face Micah, finding his face devoid of sympathy. He silently tapped his foot, matching the typical rhyme of a waltz. It was a signal. He was willing to at least hear my story until something that demanded more of attention came up.

I had to take this chance. I laughed at my situation, and wiped my tears away.

"It was only me. They thought I was this privileged, spoiled rich girl this entire time- ."

"And you're not?"

"You're supposed to be on my side," I glared.

Micah shrugged. He disappointedly shook his head.

"Out of the goodness of my heart, I am giving you this advice."

"What advice?" I tensed.

"It'll get easier for you if you start acting in your rightful position." He turned to Jules.

"No betrayals. No gossip. None of that, isn't that right?" Micah gestured towards me.

A moment of silence followed as a rush of heat ran up to my head. I clenched my hands into fists as Jules showed a flash of pity before looking at his palm. He then took a deep breath as his voice seemed weak- almost somewhat vulnerable.

"I mean- it doesn't help to act out, does it?" He seemed sad.

"You fight and fight. And you realize, you'll never get to that position you want to be- ."

"You're jealous," I was surprised.

"You're jealous, aren't you?" I smirked.

It was obvious. He was jealous of Luke. He was also jealous of Alex. I could see it, the same face that looked angry but helpless, taking all of Alex's accusations when he was blamed for Luke fainting during social week. That day when he was almost certain he was innocent but had to act within his position.

"Isn't it unfair?" I laughed.

"You're letting them order you around because your family is weaker than theirs," my face turned serious.

I waited for Jules to answer, and watched him brush off the non-existent dust on his arm. He casually took my spot on the sofa and began to look down on me.

"The world is unfair. So what?" He awkwardly laughed.

"If I endure this unfairness, I'm at least respected and looked up to by the people below me- ."

"But you don't deserve that. It's not right that they get to look down on you and pretend to be respectful because you're older than them," I shouted.

But I could scam him all I wanted. My hands clenched from his words that woke me up. I realized I was being unreasonable. I was naive to think I would get what I wanted because I was emotional.

I didn't want to become a fool. The same way his eyes had widened from my scream of somewhat honest and fake words, almost surprising and touching his heart at the same time.

He was getting used and played with since he was more emotional than Luke and Alex. I turned to Micah and smiled, "let me go inside that portal."

I began to pull myself up and then stood confidently.

"I'll give you my ideas. I know at least a few of them will be valuable to you. You admire them sometimes," I took a step forward.

My heart pounded for every second that seemed to pass by. My hopes were increasing as Micah studied my face, displaying clear interest twinkling through his eyes. And eventually, he sighed and stepped aside for me to enter the portal.

"You have an hour to convince me in my office," he gestured.

I nodded once before I immediately ran to the other side. The fairy world, where my shoes touched the polished wooden floors and my face nearly touched a wall that was a collection of tree branches.

Maybe I should have just stepped inside the portal. Micah's office was smaller than I thought. A couple meters was all it took to reach the other side of the room.

I turned to check on the portal, nearly sighing in relief when it didn't exist. Instead, all that remained was the smell of ancient paper in the air. And above me, the ceiling was magically plastered with moss and flowers, calming me down even further.

"What are your ideas?" Micah asked behind me.

Ideas? I didn't have any. I needed to stall for time. I glanced at the bookshelves beside me.

"I need information to get inspiration," I pretended to be interested.

"Let me give you one for your level," Micah immediately pulled out a book.

Darn. I hated reading. But I smiled as my hands reached out to receive the book.

The office was a safe place for me, and it wasn't bad to learn more about the various items in the fairy world. It could be helpful when deciding what materials to use for the waterpark.

But, that project was probably canceled. There was no way they would continue it after I ran away. Taking a peek at one of Micah's scrolls, I gave him my input, drawing my suggestion in the air, "your event will become more impressive if you arrange the food this way."

"Is this your way of payment?" He plainly stared at me.

"Did you expect more?" I closed his book.

"You're more of a distraction than any help."

"But I am helping, right?"

"...I would have kicked you out a long time ago if you weren't."

Unfortunately, this was the reality of my situation. Although I wasn't ready to leave, I had to keep my original promise. I stiffened as Micah got up from his chair to open a portal, gesturing to me to go inside.

"Can you return me to the time around two months after I entered your office?" I blurted.

I thought about it for a long time, and the best time was near my summer vacation. It would all work out. Once I got there, I would attend my graduation ceremony, and not repeat a year. I also wouldn't have to face my fake friends. Instead, I would be able to enjoy the second half of summer with my parents.

Micah studied my desperate face, nearly begging him. Since I had helped him for hours for his event, he eventually agreed, "I will keep this a secret and alter the time for you."

I thanked him with teary eyes as I watched the portal opening into my bedroom in the school dorms. Taking a deep breath, I stepped onto the other side, mustering all my courage to lift my feet. Once I stood on the normal carpeted floors, the portal, my safe haven, disappeared. Looking around my room in more detail, nothing had changed like I had never disappeared. I started to wonder if Micah really brought me to the time I wanted.

Activating my marble, I tapped my screen to check the date. I sighed in relief when it was one week before my graduation date. When my stomach grumbled, I decided to visit the cafeteria first. Since I knew it may not be safe to use the front doors, I began to open the windows, not checking for any alarms attached. Nearly a second afterwards, my door was opened, Luke's hopeful face staring at me.

This was bad. I was struggling to open the windows as he quickly broke out of his trance. I regretted not sticking to the usual teleportation. Luke ran to me to check if I was real, tightly hugging me to the point I felt suffocated. I was stunned when he began to silently cry, my uniform slightly wet from his tears. Did Jules not tell him anything? It was a possibility Micah messed with his memories to keep everything a secret.

"Let me go. I have to go to the cafeteria to eat," I looked away.

"I couldn't find you for two months. Our family exhausted our connections to search for you," Luke's hands shook.

"I stayed inside the school. I was inside my room the entire time," I lied.

"Where else would I go?" I added when he was silent.

"You found Rika," Alex interrupted us, entering my room.

"I'll message my parents to stop with the search," he began typing.

"Like I said, I ran away to my bedroom," I stuck with my cover.

I would be dead meat if they knew I went to the other dimension. My hands clenched from all the possibilities, starting from sealing my mana to being strictly confined to one of the Roselia mansions.

To show my innocence, I stomped my feet, trying to show I was frustrated. I started to whine, "I've only been here for a few hours."

"Why is it my fault you didn't check this room properly?" I screamed.

An odd moment of silence passed as Luke took a step back, deciding to study me from a distance away. His hands remained clasped onto mine, "you're wearing the exact same things as two months ago."

"That's what I have been saying! There's no way two months have passed. You can drop your acting now," I hoped my acting would work.

"I'm going to call Micah, he should know," Alex unfroze.

Unfortunately, Micah was only the bare minimum to keep his promise. I crossed my arms, trying to look wronged as much as possible as Micah shamelessly walked around the room, acting like he was the owner.

"This room is unique. It's an interesting phenomenon," he tapped on the wall.

"The mana accumulated inside this room went haywire to the point it changed the flow of time. She's been here for a few hours at most within a different dimensional space that was temporarily created," he pretended to be surprised.

He wasn't spending much effort on this, was he? I didn't believe him, Luke didn't believe him. I was going to die as Luke watched him silently like he was waiting for another answer.

I immediately shot Micah a look, 'I die, and you can't touch my mana for the next decade.'

'You think I care?' Micah glanced at Luke, his backup mana supply.

Of course he favored Luke! I sadly smiled, and pitifully raised my head.

"But what if, if I accidentally revealed your party plans- ."

"It's probably because of the mana leaking from her body, her control needs to be improved." Micah scarily shot me a look.

"It's probably because of the mana leaking from her body, her control needs to be improved," he pretended to be disappointed in them.

"The rings are not enough?" Luke finally believed him.

"You know she has the potential for an unlimited amount of mana. As she ages, it grows with her. The rings may have worked for the previous months, but it's barely holding itself together now," Micah flawlessly lied.

"I can teach you a way to replace the spells to make them stronger," he offered.

"If you are available, I would like to learn as soon as possible," Luke didn't hesitate to accept.

And since it wasn't supposedly my fault, I was off the hook. After Luke placed the new rings on me, he began to update his family on everything. Reading the messages, the only consequences were increasing the lessons regarding my control and the usual study sessions. In fact, I was surprised that the construction for the waterpark and beauty sauna never stopped.

"Is this the new schedule?" My eyes went wide.

"You need to graduate, the school is giving you the opportunity to take supplemental exams," he explained.

This was not possible. It was extremely cruel, using the time-space feature in the club room to slow time for three entire months. How was I going to survive through this? All my meals were to be taken while studying. Meanwhile, Micah would visit during the nights, the time where everyone left to return to their dorms.

I nearly fainted to see even my sleeping time was planned, and this was all in addition to the normal workload from school.

"There's no way I'm suffering through this hell! I didn't do anything wrong!" I passed Luke the schedule back.