Summer Start (7)

I was annoyed from being dragged out of my bedroom earlier than normal. Before I was fully conscious, I found myself inside the garden, in front of a round table under the pavilion. A tablet was placed on the table, giving me the chance to order whatever I wanted for breakfast. Since it was a rare opportunity, I began to order the cakes I recalled from the menu yesterday. My eyes began to glitter when an abundant number of desserts were waiting to be eaten, slowly filling the remaining space.

Taking a bite, I nearly melted from the fluffy texture and sweetness oozing into my mouth. Logan had really outdone himself, those cakes were nearly better than the ones inside the café. As the plates quickly disappeared, I noticed someone joining me, asking, "can I join you?"

Slightly raising my head to take a glance, Charles' father was using an illusion spell, lightly enveloping him. Although I did wonder why he was here, the cakes came first as I generously let him join me. When he asked if I could share the plates, I knew something was off. He was here to confiscate my cakes away from me! I passed him the tablet, pulling my plates closer to me. Oddly, he was acting like a stranger, asking me weird questions.

I decided to go along with his act, "why do I have to tell you? What will you give me in exchange?"

"I can offer you better desserts, my mansion is near here," he threw an interesting topic.

I was surprised when he offered to help me escape from this place, wondering what he would gain from this. I revealed some tips to speed up the process, leveling up my acting in case someone could overhear. Remaining ignorant when he abandoned his illusion spell, I pressured him to work faster, "I told you I would help cover for you. Don't waste your mana, I have experience in these kinds of things. Do you want to land in jail?"

I was totally not venting my stress on him from yesterday's betrayal. It was just that violence motivated people to work harder and faster. I was gradually kicking his back harder each time, and carefully avoided all the dangerous pressure points. It was probably a massage at best since no one had ever mentioned to me that my kicks ever hurt.

I crossed my arms, "you can tell me what organization you come from later, I expect you to be competent enough to have those blindfolds and handkerchiefs with you."

"Do you say this to all your kidnappers?" Charles' father abandoned working on the gate.

"They don't normally take this much convincing," I wondered why he was taking so long.

"Rika!" Luke interrupted us, abruptly joining us.

"What do you want?" I groaned from getting caught.

Luke didn't answer me, and dragged me further away from the gate. Unfortunately, he was the same person who pushed me to this place from the start. I stiffened when I faced his parents with the door tightly behind me. Where did my ally go? Why did she look upset and disappointed? We all knew this was an act, was I supposed to continue with it? Maybe she was sending me some hints as I quickly got the cue.

"You can't ever follow strangers Rika, no matter what," William appeared serious.

"They're good people," I found strangers to be generous.

My ears began to hurt from the countless hours of lecturing while I occasionally took a glance at the clock to keep track of time. And I eventually covered my ears as I watched William's face go nearly red, unable to control his anger issues.

I avoided looking directly at them, wondering why I had to suffer through this. Since it was unfair, I fought back sometimes, only freed when they let me go once it was near mealtime, knowing we couldn't skip it.

"Who would fall for that poor illusion spell?" I mumbled when only Joanna remained.

"You went along with his act to kick him to get your revenge from yesterday," she knew.

"It's a great excuse," I revealed.

"But you were serious about leaving this place," Joanna displayed why she was upset.

"It doesn't hurt to know," I decided to be honest.

"The more you try to run away from us, the more we will have to confine you," she warned me.

This was why my allies weren't exactly solid. Once our common goal was gone, I had no power over them. Joining everyone in the dining room, the atmosphere was oddly tense, and no longer possessed the celebratory mood. In fact, Shelly's seat seemed fabulous compared to mine, isolated from these cruel people, near the edge of the table. I stopped eating to run to her, nearly begging her, "can we switch seats?"

"I don't know," she hesitantly replied.

"Come here Rika," Logan icily called me.

Of course she wouldn't want to give up her amazing seat! Meanwhile my seat was changed to sit beside Logan, a worse location than the former.

After suffering under Luke's family for the next few days, I was nearly crying tears of joy when I was on my way to my grandma's place. My mom suggested we should meet there from now on, knowing my sensitivity to the air quality. My grandma's place on my mom's side lived inside the deep countryside. I couldn't stop staring outside the window, excited for my summer vacation to actually start.

"I can't believe we're staying here for a month," Alex complained.