Summer Start (3) - Shelly's POV

"I offer my congratulations to my grandnephew and grandniece, Julian de Pelargonium and Yulee de Pelargonium once again," Luke's grandfather raised his glass.

I awkwardly imitated everyone's actions, and raised my glass slightly in the air.

An arm was missing, right where Rika was seated, too busy with eating her cake to notice.

Luke slightly elbowed her, urging her to follow us, gesturing everyone was waiting for her. Once Rika got the hint, she nearly tipped her drink while placing her spoon down.

Luke's grandfather sighed before he continued to present his speech, pretending her mistakes never happened. Nobody in Luke's family, including his relatives, had any expectations for Rika.

Once the last sets of plates were taken away, Alex escorted me to one of the guest bedrooms. Like the previous year, I was the only person who was given a room on a different floor.

The second floor. The awful place where you could see everything below you and almost hear everything above you.

I gripped my hand into a fist and stared at it. There was no use complaining.

It was partly my fault. Since this celebration was bigger and had more attendees, I thought I would be treated better. However, I regretted not fighting more. I should have argued more with my parents that I didn't want to attend.

They didn't know this invitation was only a formality, these people expected me to decline their offer. But I had dumbly accepted, and I wasn't getting any closer to Luke's relatives like my family wanted me to.

I wasn't going to give my family an opportunity to gain more connections. I was probably going to be excluded like last time.

But a breath of fresh air would help. Stretching my arms, I walked to step out of my room, unsurprised when I discovered everyone was gathered on the first floor without me.

A professional set of photographers were muttering amongst themselves, moving various walls around. Other workers were either focused on spellcasting the perfect lighting or moving family members around, and one- looked in my direction?

I quickly hid behind a wall and caught my breath. I reminded myself, they didn't want me here. It was best to remain out of sight and move closer towards the scene using more walls.

"How many outfits do I have to change into?" Rika groaned.

"We have three main themes. One with our extended family, the other with our grandparents and another with only our parents and siblings," Luke dragged her.

"So three outfits," she concluded.

"Around nine," Luke revealed.

"Nine?" Rika's shoulders slumped.

After a few jabs, she brightly smiled in their family portraits, perfectly in line with the rest.

She shone when the photographers leaned towards the more playful scenes, creating moving photos with the videos. And somehow, my heart painfully panged. It was odd. I wasn't jealous, I did the same with my own family when I was much younger.

"It's pretty hard to watch, isn't it?" Yulee appeared behind me.

I froze. Instead of panicking, I awkwardly tried to explain, "my parents wanted me to attend."

"Mine did in the past too. They didn't understand it made no difference whether I attended or not," she sadly smiled.

I smiled back. Yulee was the same, comforting me just like when we were inside the same position last year.

But I was alone this time. Unlike me, she was one of the protagonists this year, and her family was part of their events this time.

"Accept whatever offers they give you and stay in your room otherwise. It makes it less painful," she advised.

"But you'll never be treated the same way again," I pointed out.

"I signed a contract with their family earlier this week. I officially belong to the Pelargonium family for the rest of my life. This is why they trust me now," she looked at her hand.

"My parents are attending this event in a way to send me off to them," Yulee became slightly emotional.

"Julian is a good partner," I attempted to console her.

"He is better than the others," she agreed.

I began to pity Yulee, finding she wasn't happy as she appeared to be. Her parents were more calculating than mine, using this time to connect with Julian's relatives rather than focusing on her. Once this event passed, Yulee would be estranged from them, placing the Pelargonium family before her own.

"You're like Rika now," I slowly discovered.

"I'm not like Rika. The Roselia family treats her like she's their biological child," Yulee scoffed.

She placed her hand on her hip, "just look at the picture they're taking."

"That silver hair and prominent fairy-like features that look very similar to the features from the Pelargonium family," she stared at them.

"No one would think she's out of place," she nearly rolled her eyes.

"But Rika doesn't look like Luke or Lucius," I studied them.

"Only her orange speckled eyes create the difference. If you saw them for the first time, would you not think they were related?" Yulee showed the difference between Rika and Belle.

"But Rika didn't initially appear like this," I couldn't disagree with Yulee.

"It wouldn't make much of a difference. They started raising her at the age of three, nearly a baby," she explained

"Her current appearance just makes them adore her more," she shrugged.

"What about Rika's real parents?" I wondered.

"It's obvious they're nearly unrelated to her. Maybe considered to be her nanny at most," Yulee described them as hired help.

"Rika isn't marrying into another family as I am, she has always been a part of the Roselia family," she seemed a little jealous.

However, Rika never thought this way. She always missed her real parents, considering the Roselia family to not be her own. On the other hand, Yulee's perspective was reasonable when hearing all the facts. Watching how Rika interacted with Luke's parents from afar, I was getting more convinced. Luke's father melted under her, his hand gently adjusting her headband while she spoke to him. Luke's mother soon joined their conversation, her eyes oozing with warmth. The whole family was more energized by Rika, who was laughing in the middle of one of the photos.