The Cold (2)

"I'm sorry, I'll be more careful next time," I mumbled.

"You should seal more than three quarters," Alex suggested.

"Are you trying to make me mana-less?" I wanted to kick him.

"Just wait when I turn sixteen," I looked forward to that day.

"Rika, we can always go with Alex's idea," Luke began to threaten me.

"I get it. I won't do anything anymore," I squeezed the blankets.

I didn't want to have my mana sealed, one of the few joys of reincarnating into this world. I liked it when I learned more spells, adding it to my current collection of chants. With the amount of mana I possessed, there was no limit in what I could explore inside the books. Sometimes, I would read the books about spells in Luke's mansion, being confined with nothing to do anyways. He was almost taking away everything I had in helping me survive in this hell.

"I'm sorry. I really am. Please don't seal three quarters of my mana," my voice wobbled.

"I'll listen to you from now on," my eyes glimmered from becoming wet.

"Apologize to Charles and Alex first," Luke gestured.

"I'm sorry for kicking you and complaining about the bed. I should've listened to you more when I knew you wanted to keep me safe," I turned to Alex, sniffling with my voice almost choking.

"I'm only giving you one last chance," Alex warned me.

"I know," I nodded my head, the blankets a little damp from my tears.

When Charles waited for his turn, I confessed, "I touched all your things on purpose knowing they would disappear the next day since I wanted revenge. I apologize for my actions and being noisy all the time when you wanted some sleep after suffering from helping us out."

"I knew it!" Charles barely accepted my apology.

"You have to listen to us from now on Rika," Luke was letting me go.

"I will," I wiped my face with my sleeves.

This was the life that I always lived. I could never win under Luke's threats, always begging for his forgiveness at the end. I didn't understand why people were jealous of me. I was living under his control all the time, not being able to visit my parents without his permission. I couldn't even choose my new hairstyle, my appearance complying to how Luke wanted it. It was like my body wasn't mine with how he took care of every single detail.

I couldn't stop crying harder when I realized the miserable life I lived. It was worse when I was stuck with the three of them, all merciless and strict. I knew if I made one more mistake from here, I would become a goner. Charles stopped blaming me, thinking I was really remorseful for my actions. He focused on maintaining the barrier, fortifying it.

"Stop crying," Charles began to feel guilty.

"You're too forgiving," Alex was harsh.

"It's not the first time this happened," he recalled when everything about the club got revealed.

Luke silently watched me, used to all the times I pleaded to him to take back his threats. I started to hiccup when my throat became dry. My eyes were slightly red from rubbing them too much. I knew that I was starting to get dehydrated, Luke passing me some snow to drink after filtering out other substances. The snow was almost like shaved ice, tasting a bit sweet once it touched my tongue.

Alex sighed when sounds of my crying continued, recharged from my drink. More than five hours passed as I became more depressed on how I could potentially live like this forever. I knew he was beginning to give in, not able to cover his ears. In some ways, he was better than Luke who barely felt anything. I wondered why my stalker couldn't take videos of Luke's cruelty, breaking everyone's illusions of him.

Sometimes I noticed Sienna spellbound by Luke. Admiring him a little inside the club room, sneaking in some peeks as he diligently worked in his office. Delia was the same, retelling her experience of when she lived with him together. The perfect partner who was too good to exist. The princess treatment they got around him, all the extra care from his strong attention to the details.

But they forgot in most fairy tales, the princess was always helpless in doing anything on their own. Most of them were confined somewhere, waiting for their prince to fix their messes. None of them thought of the possibility that the happy ending could actually become a tragedy. How could one good event define everything about to come in the future? Luke was forcing me to become that helpless princess whenever we were together.

This was why I hated it when people envied me for being treated like a princess. All those horrible comments not knowing anything behind the scenes. All the subtle hints and signs in my daily life that were controlled. Although I was a bit upset when losing my marble, my stalker was trying to show something to the people around me. Complaining was my only measure in making my life a little bit more bearable.

"You just have to listen to us Rika," Luke was still cold.

"I know, I'll listen to you from now on," I whimpered.

"This is what always happens," Alex turned to Charles.