Abnormal Standards (1)

Joanna wanted me dead. My mind struggled to work after finishing the terrible schedule for today. Meanwhile, Sparky was taken to live inside a volcano, far away from this mansion. This must have been her plan from the start, using my familiar against me. William was right, I should have hidden Sparky. Joanna was worse than Luke, hating pets for no reason. Their existence itself was a sin in her eyes.

I yawned as I leaned against the sofa inside the closest living room from my bedroom. Although I wanted to enjoy my free time, I always fell asleep after the first hour. And I somehow found myself on my bed every time I woke up the next morning. It was frustrating, my precious summer vacation being used up this way. I couldn't help but throw my marble on the floor when my former friends sent me pictures of them traveling like the previous year.

It was a lie that top-ranking families were stricter, some of the photos even came from Charles and Jules. Especially when I eavesdropped on a conversation Luke had with Alex. Sticking my ear against the wall, where the other side was Luke's bedroom.

"It must be hard not being able to travel," Alex pitied Luke.

"My parents want me to progress further in my studies. Especially when I have to teach everything to Rika later as part of my training," Luke sadly replied.

"I didn't think it would be this intense," Alex admitted.

"It's always been like this," Luke wasn't bothered.

"Did you visit the villa in the southern islands last year?" He switched the topic.

"I used one of my family hotels," Alex corrected him.

I stopped listening as I realized Joanna was worse than Juliana. Alex only spent half of his vacation with his family tutors and the rest of the time, he went traveling. In addition to his schedule being more lenient than Luke's, appearing equally if not more exhausted than me. Only Luke remained fully alert and sane by the end of the day. Several days later, I managed to eavesdrop on a conversation Joanna had with Juliana.

"My son's grades have improved. He has never consecutively achieved perfect grades before," Juliana was pleased.

"It's not enough if you send them to the tutors. Making them teach Rika later is a great way to review and apply everything they learnt," Joanna advised.

"This is why you personally entrust them to create her workbooks by themselves," Juliana discovered.

"Luke has always brought perfect grades since the beginning of elementary school," Joanna revealed.

"Is it too much trouble to entrust Alex to you even after he increases his mana potential?" Juliana planned.

"Alex is a well-behaved child. He's nothing compared to Rika. I'll always welcome my nephew," Joanna accepted.

Was I supposed to be glad Alex would suffer with us from now on? Maybe I could get my revenge by convincing Joanna to make their schedules more intense. Although our relationship was terrible these days, there was room for negotiation. Mustering the courage, I knocked on her office a few hours after her call ended. I had to be extremely careful to make sure it wouldn't backfire on me.

"It's Rika," I waited.

"Come inside, I have a maximum of ten minutes to spare," Joanna answered.

I tried to confidently enter the room, ensuring my posture was perfect. One mistake and she could send me to the tutors again. I stood in front of her desk, pulling myself together to pass her my report, detailing everything I wanted. In the midst of getting my revenge, I could regain my otaku goods, and wouldn't have to hide them anymore. Within a few minutes, she threw my report into the shredder, "I can't fully approve this. Although I'll take a few of your suggestions in adding more classes for them, you will never see this trash under my watch."

"They're research materials. I outlined the saved costs from using these sources," I pointed out.

"This trash will lower your level of reading and speech. I can't have you be more behind. I don't care about the saved costs, your future is more important to me," Joanna harshly faced me.

"It will strengthen my negotiation skills," I argued.

"You're not at that level yet. Do you want more classes added to your schedule?" She warned me.

"What level am I at then?" I wondered.

"Around the same level as when Luke was about to enter kindergarten," she thought.

I was sure Joanna's standards for Luke were insanely high. At least I had Logan on my side, who made my schedule more reasonable. I needed a way to lower Joanna's expectations. Before I turned to leave, I added, "I want Sparky back. You sent her away on purpose."

"I'll return your pet when you enter the dorms," she was annoyed by the mention.

As I silently closed the door, I was filled with more determination to loosen my schedule. From now on, I wasn't Rika. I was the high dark lord from another universe who traveled to come here by using a dimensional gate. I had to somehow find an eyepatch to cover my evil eye, and my thoughts landed at the infirmary.

Thankfully, none of the cabinets were locked, giving me free access to the medical supplies. I brightly smiled when I discovered a drawer full of white bandages. I could wrap them around my arms to hide my dangerous tattoos that were actually ancient scriptures.

***

"Rika, it's time for breakfast," Luke shook me.

"I'm not Rika. I'm a nocturnal ruler from the night universe," I mumbled.

"This means I'm awake during the night and sleep during the day," I tightly gripped onto my blanket.

"It's night in other parts of this district," Luke pointed out.

"I'll die from the sunlight. It's a critical weakness for dark creatures such as I," I covered myself.

"You're under the rays of light from a star called Sol. It's not harmful towards warm blooded beings from this location," he twisted the facts.

"I've been fooling you this entire time. I'm actually a cold-blooded being," I added to my profile.

"Cold-blooded beings don't need blankets," he pulled my blanket away.

"I'm calling the servants to help you get ready. I've already arranged everything," he left my room, carrying my blanket.

Thankfully, Luke chose a short-sleeved dress today, perfect for the warm weather. After the servants finished carrying out their orders, they left me alone. This was a great time to put on some extra accessories. Looking at my reflection in the mirror, it wasn't bad for my first attempt. Although I was too lazy to properly wrap the bandages, and parts of my arms resembled a messy mummy, and my eyepatch was close to falling apart, loosely fitting around my head, it was somewhat decent. I grinned as I practiced my first pose, trying to appear like an evil overlord.

To make sure Luke wouldn't check up on me, I quickly dashed to the dining room doors. As the servants opened the doors for me, I was the last one to arrive, and everyone else was waiting for me. I confidently strolled towards my usual seat to join them and ignored the cold atmosphere falling onto the room, disapproving my appearance. Before I decided to sit down, I made a grand speech, "be honored that a high dark lord from the night universe is eating with you lesser beings. I decided to reveal my true identity after finding you stupid underlings unable to catch the many hints I gave out."

"Rika, sit down," William warned me.

"I'm not Rika. I'm the high evil dark lord from the night universe. I refuse to use these poor chairs anymore. I only sat on thrones before I came here," I stuck with my character.

"I'm extending basic manners and etiquette classes by four hours," Joanna noted.

"Do you actually expect a perfect and high being such as I to dine with you?" I scoffed while flipping my hair.

"You lost the privilege of sitting on your own," William sighed.

My eyes widened when he resorted to trapping me inside his arms, and carried me to sit in his lap. I didn't have a chance to fight back, my pathetic stamina was unable to summon the strength. And he ordered the servants to move my plates so they would be in front of him.

I couldn't lose here. I turned my head away when a spoon was in front of my mouth. My face twisted with disgust, "this utterly horrible creation is poisonous to the residents of the night empire."

"You agreed to finish your meals for letting you raise your pet," William reminded me.

"It was only for a week, it ended a few days ago. This high ruler will not be tortured under your attacks anymore. I have been generous to tolerate your terrible subordinates. No longer will I listen or meet with these undeserving human beings," I immersed myself in my role.