Unwelcome Change (5)

"Did you rent this entire mall out?" I mocked the idea.

There was no way Luke could have rented the entire mall within a few hours. The afternoon was one of the peak times and would take a lot of time and effort to empty the mall for us. It would be going over the line for a simple shopping trip. During our field trips in elementary school, he entirely avoided going to these kinds of places in general.

"I rented it for the rest of the day," Luke revealed.

"Seriously?" I yelled.

What was I going to do with these people? My plans of looking around without buying anything were shattered! All the staff inside this mall was currently waiting to serve us as its only customers. This was going to be super awkward, ignoring the gazes of the workers with high expectations. The only decent place was to visit the food court, filled with mouth-watering junk food.

"The shopping mall is so dangerous, there's so many kidnappers," I sarcastically commented.

"It is dangerous for you," Alex disagreed.

"Don't tell me you also made reservations at a fancy hotel to avoid using the food court," I predicted.

"If we travel further into the city, there should be a hotel," Luke had made the reservations.

My hands slightly shook in anger from underestimating these sensitive people. They were taking some of my joy away. I switched my route to run to the food court, wondering if it was open. If it was closed, they were really asking for a scolding. Following the directions on the map, I arrived at the oddly clean food court. The flimsy plastic tables were sparkling, the floors gleaming to the point it reflected everything above it. But none of the restaurants were open, the usual bright signs dim, metal covers concealing the usual open area to prevent theft. This meant the aroma of food came from eateries not part of the food court.

"Why? It's not only us using this mall. My parents, grandma and my aunt's family have no place to buy their meals," I turned to them.

"That's why we left the food stalls and individual eateries open. They're higher quality than the businesses inside the food court," Alex pointed out.

"But they should have the choice to use the food court. Just because you don't like me using it doesn't mean you should entirely close it down," I found it ridiculous.

"The way these businesses cook their food is unhygienic and can affect the air with its aroma," Luke explained.

Why was Luke suddenly so educated about the shopping malls in this district? He wasn't like this when we went shopping together before I entered middle school. In fact, we ate spaghetti in one of the individual eateries in the past. In addition to helping me choose my clothes and carrying my bags. My eyes widened as I realized Luke had miserably changed, less open minded and curious. And his cousin would obviously support everything he did.

"You weren't like this the last time we went to a mall in the third district together," I mumbled.

"You were healthier back then. There wasn't an information leak and anyone after you. And I shouldn't have left you alone that summer. I should have known to bring you with me to our mansions from the start," Luke blamed himself.

This was really bad. If he had dragged me to his mansion that summer, I would have never gained access to any of my otaku goods. It was the same for the junk food and snacks. The saddest part, I would have thought my parents never loved me, thinking they abandoned me. The debit card I received from my parents was the only source of money that wasn't supervised. Was this why he never let me go to the third district on my own afterwards?

"You can't always control my environment and everything I can do," I argued.

Although Luke didn't answer me, his eyes were adamant in controlling everything. My legs began to slightly wobble, getting weaker, realizing he was close to obtaining the ability. I couldn't live the rest of my precious reincarnated life like this. I was really going to have to work harder on planning my escape from the Roselia family later. I didn't want to think about my hopeless future anymore.

Abandoning the food court, I ran to the bookstore. I needed to console myself with some manga and light novels. Thankfully, I managed to find the corner I wanted after quickly scanning the area. My eyes were faintly filled with hope, facing the shelves with overpowered protagonists. I would eventually join them someday, the day where the seal on my mana fully unraveled. My hands trembled as I reached out to grab a book.

"This is where you always buy them," Alex discovered.

"I want to extort more fairies. I can copy the ideas from these books," I quickly made an excuse.

"You can't buy anything at this store. The most I can give you is the time you can spend here before your family arrives," Luke checked his marble.

I planned to secretly purchase them later as I went through the contents now. Unfortunately, time quickly passed as I didn't want to separate from this place. I was soon pushed to the entrance, facing my family, who wondered why the parking lot was nearly empty.

"Is this mall closed?" Ally looked around.

"It's open, it's just that they rented the entire mall out," I gestured.

"You're joking, right?" She didn't believe me.