A Price for Everything (9)

In the end, my family never ordered takeout. We gathered in the living room as my mom had sliced some fruits as desserts. The plate was untouched by Luke as he watched me to make sure I did the same. Instead, he brought out a plate of a sliced piece of strawberry shortcake.

"You've never been to the grocery store before?" Evan seemed fascinated by the fact.

I shook my head as everything was available through the school cafeteria. Except for the few occasions like social week and going on missions, I never left the school. It was a sad life and a wasted childhood.

"What about cram school?" Evan moved onto the next question.

"We call tutors to my house," Luke answered for me.

"That's right! I suffered through more than three weeks of tutoring!" I complained, almost slamming my hands on the small table.

"There wasn't a single break in between," I shuddered.

Evan, not knowing all my suffering appeared a bit envious. He didn't know how intense the studying was in the first district. It was nothing compared to the days in kindergarten where we attended the special class in the third district.

"Your family seems to be treating Rika really well," my mom smiled.

"Of course, we're family," Luke didn't hesitate to bring up our engagement.

I continued to eat my strawberry shortcake, not noticing Evan watching me. Luke, who saw him staring at my cake asked, "would you like a plate?"

"Can I?" Evan seemed to be excited.

Luke pulled out another plate of strawberry shortcake. I wondered if he had more. I could never predict what Luke had in his inventory; it was like he was prepared for everything. Unlike mine that went under an inspection by him every few weeks at random, he never showed me his.

He passed the plate to Evan. When Evan took a bite, his eyes sparkled like he had entered a whole new world. He couldn't stop his fork from scooping another piece until he frowned when the plate was empty.

"Is this what you eat all the time?" He asked us.

"Only for dessert after our meal," I sadly smiled as it couldn't replace my actual meals.

"You mean those food you just ate?" He recalled.

I nodded my head, "usually there's more options, but Luke only brought the minimum."

"There's more?" He appeared stunned.

"Isn't there always?" I was too used to the meals in the first district.

"Will you be staying for the night?" My mom turned to Luke.

"We will!" I answered before he could say anything.

"We can stay until Sunday," I recalled Luke saying we could visit them then.

Luke stayed silent, brightly smiling at me. This meant he wasn't planning on staying that long. But I wasn't willing to go back to the first district that I had just escaped from. I could have the chance to relax here.

"We'll stay over for the night. The rest of the days, we will be spending time in my family's villa in the third district," Luke tried to negotiate with me.

"You can go stay in your family's villa while I can stay here," I was indirectly telling him I wasn't going to change my decision.

"One day here and the rest at the villa or we can go back to the first district," Luke was giving me one last choice.

"Fine!" I couldn't believe my family was staying silent, letting Luke get his way.

"I apologize, but are there any extra rooms Rika and I could use for today and tomorrow?" He turned to my mom.

"You can use the spare guest room," my mom recalled the extra room that was barely used.

Luke nodded as we soon went upstairs to sleep. Before I went to my room, he transferred me an extra nightgown. I forgot that Luke always carried around extra clothes. I accepted the item and flopped onto my bed. I would use this time to heal.

I stretched my arms after the sun rose as Luke didn't wake me up as usual today. However, a folded outfit was already placed on a small desk. It made sense since I had no clothes that would fit me here. All the clothes Luke had previously brought into the closet inside this room were already too small for me.

Once I managed to button through all the complex ribbons and accessories attached to the clothes, I was exhausted. It was hard changing without Luke or the servants helping. With my new appearance, everything appeared flawless even without Luke managing my hair. I never thought I would miss my crazy hair.

It was no wonder Luke never had the problems I did. With his good genes, everything came naturally to him that he didn't need any of the same things I did to accent his beauty. Once he dressed up, no one could take his eyes off him unless they were used to his appearance like I was.

"Is this breakfast?" I rubbed my eyes.

On the table were simple pancakes topped with eggs and fruits. A bottle of maple syrup was present on the middle of the table. My eyes glittered as I have never eaten something like this before in this life. This would be considered pure junk food to Luke.

However, it was strange. There were only three plates, but there were five people in this house. It couldn't be that my portion was the one left out?