Chapter 600 - Same Past and Present (1)

"We're not returning to the Suilett family mansion, are we?" I watched Luke pack everything.

My time in school was too short. Spending two days at the club room wasn't enough and depressing with none of my friends interested in games. Luke made me return to the dorm room earlier today since he wanted to prepare for social week sooner. As usual, I had no authority in anything, waiting for them to tell me their plans.

"We're visiting one of the older Monete family mansions," he started to check his inventory.

"The hover car should be coming in ten minutes," Alex walked into my bedroom.

I wondered if the Monete family mansions would be different from the others. There was a chance there would be some entertainment devices present. However, I had no time to search for them, finding myself inside a large walk-in closet after leaving the hover car. Surprisingly, most of the items Alex had bought for me were inside, nicely organized like I was inside the Roselia family mansion. Taking a closer look at a necklace, I discovered it was stamped by the Monete family crest.

"I thought the family crests could only be worn by direct family members. These aren't for me, right?" I got confused.

"Why wouldn't they be for you? Only you can fit in them," Alex didn't give me an answer I wanted.

"But why are they all here?" I couldn't understand.

"Try this dress again Rika," Luke switched the topic.

Both of them weren't telling me anything again. After going over my outfits one more time, I was confined to a bedroom before I could go anywhere. I wasn't surprised when both the windows and doors were locked. How long were they planning this for? I noticed one of the dresses they picked was purchased by Alex's mother. Although I knew both of them didn't trust me, it felt frustrating to be always left out.

But I had a plan to escape from social week and join my friends in travelling later on. Since both Luke and Alex were busy, it was the perfect chance to contract some of my connections. I began to call my subordinate from the criminal organization, hoping he would pick up. Surprisingly, his face popped up on my screen, "chairwoman? You're back again?"

"I'm in the arms of an enemy. I need you to kidnap me to safety at this location and time tomorrow as a secretive mission," I knew the gist of Luke's schedule.

"This place is hard to break in, the security is high," he didn't question my orders.

I was glad that the hierarchy was strict in the criminal organization. All my subordinates would have to follow my orders, only advising me when I asked for it. Fortunately, my place in power remained, the organization running smoothly on its own from one of my past rivals leading them. I figured this out by reading the news before the stalker incident blew up. Although there were some settings blocking what kind of news I could read, the information about the criminal organization wasn't one of them.

"Will it be easier if I'm near the gate?" I suggested.

"I'll need an entire team with me. I need the branch offices to help," he nodded his head.

I ended the call, going through my plan on my own in more detail. Both Luke and Alex couldn't always be with me. Many people dėsɨrėd to talk to them, trying to network their way to become one of their connections. As long as I followed everything that they wanted from me, I had the freedom to enjoy the event alone. With everything finalized inside my head, I closed my eyes to eventually wake inside the hover car going to its first event.

My eyes widened, finding myself already in the clothes we picked out yesterday. I wondered why Luke didn't wake me up like the previous years. I stopped leaning against the car walls, finding a small pillow in between us. A light blanket covered the rest of my body, placing it to the side since I didn't need it anymore. It was also strange that I wasn't feeling hungry from almost skipping dinner last night.

"Why didn't you wake me?" I turned to Luke.

"I tried for three hours, but you never showed any signs of waking. You were tired to the point you slept in your uniform when we visited your room," he explained.

This didn't make sense. Although it was right that I was too lazy to change, I slept earlier than normal last night. Instead of focusing on what happened while I was unconscious, I started to look outside the windows. Unfortunately, the familiar scenery of large mansions and their wide gardens never changed. When we started to get close to the first destination, Luke went over the rules again, "avoid the other guests when possible, don't touch the food and when you feel unwell remember to contact one of us."

"No sleeping on the ground like last year," he recalled the previous year's incident.

"She slept on the ground?" Alex didn't seem to know.

"I checked her inventory to get rid of the blankets and pillows this time," Luke nodded his head.

"I wasn't planning on making beds this year anyways," I had enough sleep.

"Is there anything else I can't do?" I showed I was willing to listen to them.