Chapter 608 - Same Past and Present (9) - Alex's POV

Luke wanted to keep an eye on Rika during the event, standing inside a tall boat that gave him the sight of almost the entire mansion grounds. Nobody could have predicted that the carelessness of his former fraction leader would lead Rika to be almost kidnapped earlier today. He always made sure to keep track of where Rika was between the conversations, finding her in a garden full of white and pink lilies. I sighed as I watched her pick some flowers, studying them with her eyes filled with curiosity.

Rika wasn't like a young child, she was less than a toddler. Nobody in our family had any expectations for her, we only required her to follow the bȧrė absolute minimum to not embarrass us. However, Rika had managed to drill those low requirements further into the ground every year. Luke had to bribe her to eat, spoon feeding her for almost every meal since last year. She could never wake up on her own, making us give up on shaking her for more than three hours today. In the end, Luke had to prepare Rika for social week while she slept.

All those study sessions couldn't be done without any threats mixed inside them, otherwise nothing got done. The begging, crying and yelling filled my ears almost every day, making me used to all the large tantrums she threw. Although Rika had claimed that she had been reincarnated from dying at the age of seventeen in another world, nobody believed her story. It was hard to believe she was reincarnated in the first place. This meant she had to be older than us, which couldn't be possible with how immature she acted.

Rika always wanted more freedom to the point she always tried to run away from home. She was so reckless, doing whatever it took, including endangering herself. How could she not understand we had no choice in confining her? Luke had to ban her from certain areas of the mansion from the times she went missing or almost destroyed the mansion. We couldn't give her any freedom when she ran into trouble all the time. Most times, she would return sick after we managed to find her.

The conversation to have her stop running away was ridiculous. Luke and I always provided her with everything she could possibly need, and she took them for granted. Who did she think nursed her back to health every time? Who were the people who wanted to keep her safe? Rika was always ingrateful, not thinking about our immense efforts to take care of her. Even toddlers understood to be appreciative of the people taking care of them.

Luke had a hard time watching over Rika on his own, many people wanting to talk to him. In his place, I checked up on her to see how she was doing, discovering she was playing the flowers. Since Rika wasn't breaking any rules, I turned my attention to the conversation around me. As the heir to my family, it was important to network with many people, trying to gain more knowledge of the current business field.

"We are interested in the newest Monete family hotel establishments in the new land you have recently gained," One of them directed the focus onto me.

"Thank you for your interest. Although the recent gain in the land is confidential, I can tell you we are planning to build another establishment next year," I was familiar with these topics.

"We have heard rumors about your cousin's fiancée for her pure and innocent appearance," a person switched the topic.

I brightly smiled as I wondered why this topic came up more than the business deals today. There was no way we could let Rika talk to the guests, she didn't have the skills. Her level of speech needed more work and she couldn't grasp all the mannerisms and etiquette yet. She would quickly become an embarrassment to us, needing more training. Rika wasn't even at the stage to gain experience with family members to improve her conversational skills.

Sneaking another peek at her from above, she was snapping a tree branch, leaning closer towards the lake. Why was she trying to pull a lily pad towards her when there were many surrounding her in the flower field? I continued to smile at the guests, pretending to listen to their conversation as it looked like Rika was the edge of falling inside the lake. Maybe it was a mistake to leave her alone.

I slightly elbowed Luke, letting him know what Rika was doing. Luke excused himself from the conversation and joined me in watching Rika. His eyes widened when Rika immediately fell into the lake in the next second, the stick too short, bȧrėly poking the flower in the lake. She instantly attracted attention, viciously kicking the water to push herself back onto the surface. Her arms were creating waves of splashes, faint sounds of coughing and screams for air. Why wasn't she using any spells to save herself?

"We should call the main host, that girl looks like she can't save herself," a person joined us.

"That girl is drowning," another person agreed.

More people joined us to watch Rika slowly losing her strength, increasing the intervals where she was able to access more air. Eventually, all the conversations had stopped, everyone focusing on Rika.. Slowly turning to face Luke, he had already teleported away to the lake.