Chapter 636 - Opportunity (5) - Ethan's POV

The infirmary was trashed to the point of no return. Many empty bottles were scattered across the floor, making them more careful to avoid them. The elixirs made the floors slippery, precious items wastefully used. Luke continued to chase Rika around the room as she aimed to pour more elixirs on Alex. Meanwhile, Alex was completely drenched, extremely annoyed and starting to get angry.

"I'm not going to die Rika!" Alex yelled.

"Who knows? You're the person in bed!" Rika shouted.

Rika was horrible in taking care of others. She overfed Alex by pressuring him to accept the spoons of soup. Alex didn't have the heart to reject her goodwill, knowing the amount of effort that went behind them. Even the creams and oils she tried to apply were making more of a mess on his skin than doing any good. She wasn't using enough force behind them, taking hours to do something it would take Luke a couple of minutes.

Instead of a massage, Rika weakly pinched his skin, making Luke guide her more extensively. Alex was very generous towards Rika, his skin slowly turning red from her failed attempts. Everyone knew Rika was trying her best, slowly losing her energy, not taking a single break. Watching them was a strange concept to me. Whenever someone got sick in my family, we would take some medicine to recover on our own.

There were servants to help us if we needed them. If our condition worsened, we would call our family doctor. No one had enough time to personally take care of another person. However, the three of them appeared to have a tight bond. They didn't hesitate to take care of each other if one of them got sick. Rika cried for them as she asked if there was anything more that she could do for them. I could tell both Luke and Alex were touched by her actions.

Although the rumors were overblown, they weren't completely unfounded. When Luke was still recovering, Alex did everything for Rika in his place. During the event, he networked with others while holding Rika so she could catch up on her sleep. There was no other place he could entrust her, the spare rooms not accessible. It had to be hard for him, enduring the weight. Many guests couldn't stop staring at them, trying to sneak a peek at the sleeping girl.

"May I ask about the girl?" A guest was curious.

"This is my cousin. She is currently feeling a bit ill," Alex repeated the same answers.

"Is she perhaps your cousin's fiancée?" One of them recalled.

"Yes. My cousin is Rika de Impalia Roselia," Alex introduced her to them.

"I heard about her. The present leader of the Impalia fraction, and the next fraction leader for three major fractions," another guest whispered.

The same conversation repeated countless times, more than the business deals. When Rika started to slightly shiver, Alex took off his blazer and covered her to keep her warm. Increasing the misunderstandings as the guests began to make their own ȧssumptions. Rarely did a guest have an attentive partner like Alex, who noticed the tiny details. I never did the same for Flora, we were purely business partners.

I was closer to Rika than Flora. Although Rika always warned me that she could reveal Sprinkles, she helped me with Sprinkles' food supply. As the heir to my family, part of the training was hatching a familiar. But it was hard to take care of the seed on my own. Flora constantly searched our dorm room to get rid of the cages of bugs. We got into fights often, eventually avoiding each other whenever it was possible.

"The magical girl!" A guest gasped.

Alex stiffened as he stepped to stand further away from them. He was protective of Rika, shifting her position to cover her face. I could have never imagined the magical girl incident would be the start to extreme fans. I slightly shuddered from the times I found my face posted on her deleted fan page. It was no wonder Luke tried to keep Rika hidden inside a close circle of friends and family.

"I'll leave you alone after you let me pour one thousand more elixirs on you!" Rika attempted to negotiate.

Alex was close to snapping while Luke struggled to catch Rika. You wouldn't be able to tell she came back from the dead earlier today. When Rika muttered a spell to pour a hundred bottles on Alex at once, everyone became drenched. In fact, the watery elixirs drifted near my ankles, swallowing my shoes. However, Rika continued to pour more into the room, causing it to leak outside the door.

"Rikkkkaaaa!" Alex exploded.

Alex separated himself from the machines and rose from his bed to help Luke catch Rika. It was hard to believe the elixirs inside my inventory were precious anymore. For the past few days, they were used as disposable drinks, abundant and overflowing in number. Even the legendary herbs started to look common as grass, there was no end to them as I collected them. As I watched the herbs and elixirs failing to create anything, it was hard to think they were useful.

"I did it! I'm saved for tomorrow!" Rika suddenly cheered.

My eyes widened when Rika fainted the next second.. Luke immediately hooked her to the machines, trying to find the cause of the sudden change in her health.