Cousins (1)

"Let's have a talk April," my aunt dragged her out of the living room.

Since everyone was focused on April, we had forgotten about Adam, continuing to yell and play on his own. With April gone, Alex's source of irritation came from him again. Not many young children were as immature as them in the first district, who were thoroughly educated since their birth. I pretended not to notice Luke surrounding us with a sound barrier, adjusting the noise levels. Meanwhile, Ally began to fangirl Luke and Alex, asking if she could take pictures of them.

"You're really good-looking. I don't think I've ever seen anyone as beautiful as you before in my entire life. Can I get your signature?" Ally passed her phone towards them.

"We will have to decline," Luke brightly smiled.

"I'm going to post your photos on PicUs to gain more followers. Can you smile and pose for me?" Ally switched her focus to me.

"Please don't take any photos of us," Luke blocked her.

"I don't mind," I never got to open a social media account.

"Don't think about it, Rika. We're going straight to the first district as soon as your picture is taken and uploaded," he warned me.

"How about videos?" Ally found a loophole.

"No videos, pictures, signatures, and other violations regarding our privacy," Luke listed.

"Can I shake your hand?" She wanted some fan service.

I was surprised when Luke passed her a package of wet wipes, finding her to be unclean. However, Ally didn't seem to think much, and used them to wipe herself.

"Can I shake your hand now?" She struck her hand out.

"You missed some spots on your hands," Luke coldly faced her.

"What about Rika?" She targeted me.

"I make sure to keep Rika clean. I wipe any signs of filth often," he revealed.

I lightly blushed, wishing I had more privacy from them, and elbowed him to stop. Ally went speechless, and began to intensely stare at me. I couldn't face my family anymore, knowing what they would think. They would look at me in the same light as my former friends inside the club room, thinking I was spoiled. Unfortunately, the bug-lover, Ethan, treated me like I was less than an elementary schooler after tutoring me. Meanwhile others just thought that getting high marks on that exam was a fluke. It was frustrating, and I was massively disappointed in them.

I understood Luke disliking Ally, but he didn't have to drag me into it. When I slightly raised my head, my family increasingly looked at me like I would be helpless without Luke. I could do things by myself, the problem was their side, not allowing or giving me the chance. If I tried to brush my hair on my own, Luke would instantly swipe the hairbrush away from me. In the past, he claimed I was creating more damage than good since I was using too much force. In the end, they were super overprotective, and were carefully controlling my environment to the point I felt suffocated.

"I usually shower and take a bath once a day by myself," I tried to improve my image.

"Are you related somehow?" Ally leaned closer towards us.

"Your eyelashes are extremely long, your hair colour is the same, both of your faces are clear and glassy, just like your memorizing eyes," she bluntly stared at us.

"We're family, your cousin's name is Rika de Impalia Roselia," Luke stepped back.

"You're engaged to each other?" Ally slowly pieced together.

I miserably nodded my head, confirming her thoughts. Maybe both my uncle and grandma didn't know, looking like they were taken aback. What else did they expect? There was no way my other family members had any relations to them. But I was always searching for an opportunity to escape from the Roselia family. Although all my attempts were failures, it was sadly better than nothing.

"That's why you do everything for her," grandma realized.

"By the way, how old is Rika?" Ally turned to my mom.

"Both of them are fourteen," my mom answered.

"You're only two years younger than me! I thought the age difference would be larger," Ally began to study us again.

"Did you think I was eleven, maybe ten?" My forehead irked with annoyance.

"Around ten," she admitted.

This meant she thought I was the same age as her younger sister! Didn't she ever hear that me and Evan were twins? She was slowly on the edge of being added to the list of people Rika held a grudge against. Since I was focused on holding back from exploding, I didn't notice someone touching my hair, lightly playing with it. Unexpectedly, both Luke and Alex were the same, focused on trying to hide their discomfort and annoyance towards my aunt's family.

"Your hair is pretty. Candy! Candy!" Adam interrupted us.

I stiffened when his lollipop covered by his saliva touched my hair, wrapping sticky syrup onto it. Instantly predicting it was going to be hard to untangle later, maybe unrepairable to the extent it had to be cut if the syrup dried. Wait. This was the perfect excuse to cut this despicable length! These cousins were helping me out. Noticing my odd behavior, Luke's eyes went wide when he found the lollipop was still touching my hair.

"We need to wash your hair right now," he grabbed my wrist.

"Maybe later," I stayed in my seat.

"Rika!" He tried to pull me up.

"Are you really going to do this?" Luke resorted to carrying me.

In the end, my hatred towards Luke increased more than tenfold. Peeking behind his back, I discovered even April thought of me as lesser than her. This was extremely offensive and humiliating, and I poked his back to vent some of my stress. Not expecting him to eventually place me in his lap, not trusting me to sit alone. I could tell he was trying to prevent the incident with Adam from repeating again. I agreed with April when she mumbled, "it's like he's holding a doll in his arms."

I was basically his doll, a supposedly pure girl in the ideal image of a princess. Trying to move out of my spot, his grip was tighter than steel as usual. My eyes soon glinted with misery, finding the same things repeating in different places. Although I hoped someone would notice my pleas, nobody did. Raising my head to study Luke's face, I stiffened when his eyes burned with anger, targeted towards my aunt's family.

"I am disappointed in your children's lack of manners. Your son's actions could have led to severe consequences. I have been carefully managing Rika's hair for more than half a decade, her hair is priceless," Luke blamed his parents.

"You will have to compensate us for our loss if this accident repeats. Including all our time and effort during the past years in addition to the money spent from the products we used on her," Alex lifted a section of my hair.

"I will make sure to keep a better eye on my children," my aunt's voice wobbled.

"Let's eat dinner now," grandma tried to disband the stiff atmosphere.

However, none of my cousins touched their plates, too focused on staring at the meal Luke separately prepared for us. Motivated to improve my image, I ate everything on my plate without complaining as usual. My eyes sparkled when Luke gave me more cake than normal, rewarding me for being more cooperative. Using my spoon to take a bite, I instantly melted under the light cream and strawberries perfectly harmonizing with each other. Not realizing the eyes of April and Adam getting filled with jealousy from watching me.

"I want a bite," Adam ran to me, pulling on my dress.

"I don't have any to give," I wasn't willing to share.

"You have an entire plate," he complained.

"You have an entire pie for your dessert," I pointed out.

"Yours look better," he shook his head.

"I barely have any for myself," I turned to ignore him.

I was surprised when he directly grabbed the slice from my plate, not giving me time to react. Licking his fingers, Adam ran back to his seat, trying to escape as a cake thief. Desserts were the one thing I wasn't willing to forgive when someone touched what was mine. A source of motivation in helping me survive in this world. My eyes instantly welled with tears, pleading to Luke to give me another slice. When Luke continued to focus on his meal, I began to break down from missing out on my source of comfort for the day.

"She's crying," Ally noticed.

"How could you? I let you go when you touched my hair and now you target my cake?" I yelled at Adam.

"You didn't give me a bite," Adam blamed me.

"You have your pie. I don't have that pie. I only have my cake!" I screamed.

"If I don't get my cake, you don't deserve your pie," I wanted revenge.

"You should be easier on Adam, he's four," my mom tried to convince me.

"He touched my cake. You know I only have the chance to have three slices per day. Am I really your daughter? Why are you taking his side?" I angrily stared at her.

"I normally kill people who dare to touch my desserts," I showed I was being lenient.

"I'll give you another slice Rika, apologize to your mother and follow the proper dining etiquette," Luke attempted to disband the fight.

Luke didn't know he was the cause of this entire fight. If he gave either of us more desserts, all of us would be satisfied. After apologizing, I carefully searched for any cake thieves before starting to enjoy each bite again. Not falling for the same trick when Adam sneakily crawled under the table, stopping around my seat. Stepping away from the table, I continued to eat while standing. When he dashed towards me, I instantly kicked him away, finding this mannerless child horrible.

"Cry all you want, but you will never get any cake from me," I tried to intimidate him.

"Mommy!" Adam ran to my aunt.

"You can't give him a bite Rika?" My mom sighed.

"You can ask Luke, why are you targeting me?" I refused.

"Is it possible for you to give one slice to Adam?" My mom turned to Luke.

"It will be coming out of Rika's portions," he revealed.

"Don't you dare give him a slice of my cake," I instantly spun to him.

"It is unfortunate I did not bring enough cake for others," Luke listened to me.

"Adam, here is a slice of pie," grandma tried to comfort him.

"It tastes horrible compared to the cake," Adam cried.

"I want the cake!" He yelled.

"Look at that greedy child, he definitely won't be satisfied with a bite," I pointed out.

"Come on Rika, he's only four," my mom wanted me to give in.

"I already gave him an entire plate, I'm not giving more," I found them asking for too much.