Chapter 569 - Secret Room (6)

Alex was a hard opponent. He didn't give into any of my flattering for the last twenty minutes. Meanwhile, both Luke and Charles were surprised by the number of things I came up with. They knew I hated Alex, frequently getting angry at him while bȧrėly listening to what he said. It was a signal to Charles to work harder on finding the document once I managed to convince Alex.

However, I could notice Alex was slowly beginning to give in. I continued with my compliments, "you're too good for anyone. You have an excellent sense in fashion as well. I secretly liked all those dresses you purchased for me. If Luke let me have access to them, I would wear them more often. I'm even wearing all the bracelets you bought for me."

Luke listened to me flawlessly lie to Alex. He had to force those bracelets onto me this morning. Threatening me multiple times in the process and extending our morning routine by almost an hour. All the dresses Alex bought for me were also the same. Everything had to be tailored multiple times since he had a hard time convincing me to wear them. But Alex didn't know what happened behind the scenes.

It wasn't hard to continue flattering him for another two hours. I had great skills in making things up from trying to convince my friends in changing turns with me. Although Alex was stunned, he stayed in his spot. Only Luke knew most of the compliments were lies. It was time to ask my objective again, "so only one hour?"

"Let go of my leg Rika," Alex didn't fall for my trap.

"I can't let go of your leg. It's too stunning," I knew I was going over the line.

"I don't think I will be able to let go for the next month," I began to threaten him.

Alex finally exploded, shaking his leg with all his strength. I hid my smile, loosening my grasp to be kicked onto the table. My back crashed against the chair, a few meters behind where Alex was positioned. I slid onto the ground, my bones broken from the crash. This was the best time to earn more pity. I crawled on the floor, ignoring the pain that started to spread everywhere in my body.

"One hour?" I coughed some blood on his shoe.

"I can do more than an hour," Alex's face was filled with great guilt.

I didn't think he would be easier to convince than my friends. Whenever any of us got injured, we knew that everyone would work together to heal each other later. Alex began to heal me, pouring a tremendous amount of mana in the process. It was like I was never injured, moving all my limbs again to check if they were working. I vomited some pent-up blood rising up into my mouth, "do you swear on your family name?"

"I do," Alex wondered if he didn't heal enough.

I instantly changed my attitude once the deal was sealed. Wiping the blood off my lips, I brightly smiled, "you're easier to convince than everyone else. And you thought begging wouldn't work."

"You actually planned everything?" Charles couldn't close his mouth.

"I told you, I did this for a month," I shrugged.

The room went silent again, everyone being completely surprised. Since I was starting to feel hungry now, I took a bite of my salad before walking towards my bedroom. I ignored Alex who felt like he was scammed while Luke silently checked for any remaining injuries. When I was about to leave the dining room, Luke grabbed onto my wrist to stop me, "finish everything on the plates and apologize to Alex afterwards."

This was how the three of us ended up having teatime with Kristie. Jules immediately went to the office to help Charles, not bothering to greet us. Although the atmosphere was extremely awkward, it was better than just having Luke with me. I could move onto better games that was done in groups. I decided to start with a gentle one, "we can play house. I can be the father while Luke is the youngest child and you can be his older sister."

"Is this what you did yesterday?�� Alex turned to Luke.

"How about another game Rika?" Luke nodded his head.

"Can we play the hand game for a while? There's one we can play with the three of us," I suggested an alternative.

"We can play hide-and-seek next. Alex can be the one who counts down for five minutes," I repeated the schedule from yesterday.

I hid under Luke's bed, a place I wouldn't normally enter. Surprisingly, his bedroom door was open. Taking a quick glance of his room, everything was perfectly organized, resembling his bedroom at school. All the furniture remained simple but elegant, choosing modern patterns with rich fabrics. The colours were toned in blues and greys, the opposite of my pink and white arranged room.

I hoped Luke wouldn't willingly lose as I needed to stall for time.. I stiffened and began to hold my breath as I heard footsteps coming towards my direction.