34 Space

"Can't you do that and I just be the model?" I whispered to Luke.

I definitely didn't say that because they complimented me on how pretty I looked. It was because I was better suited for that role rather than taking charge of them.

"Rika Roselia Shanes," Luke answered back to me warningly.

At first, Luke started referring to me as Rika Shanes to other people. But ever since we entered middle school, he started putting Roselia as my middle name. I didn't know the reason, so three months ago, I asked Shelly and Ellen what their full names were.

"Allan introduces me as Helena Krista Nicole," Ellen answered while indicating it was something like common sense.

"Why? Before you introduced yourself as Helena de Nicole." I asked in confusion.

Shelly nudged Ellen. "Ellen, Rika may not know this as she's not originally from the first district."

"I forgot, since we're always in the first district together," Ellen whined back to Shelly.

Since I spent more time in the first district than any other district, it was not wrong for Ellen to forget I was a person from the third district. Even I didn't consider myself to be someone from the third district anymore.

"In the first district, once we reach a certain age, the females put their fiancé's last name as their middle name to indicate their engagement to others."

"But why?"

'What would be the point of that?' I thought.

"Well, normally before middle school, your partner isn't always one person. It can change several times based on politics and the amount of mana you develop." Shelly explained.

What! But, I was stuck with Luke this entire time! I could've done something during the trial period to change my partner if I knew about this!

"But our partners didn't change even once!" I almost yelled.

"Well, In the first ranked academy in the first district, you almost always stay with one person. The families in the first ranked academy are a special case." Ellen replied as if she just discovered it herself.

"Well in your case, your partner would've never have changed." Shelly tried to console me.

Even I couldn't refute that. Luke and I were matched based on our mana and I was pretty sure there was no one else who could come as close as me in terms of the amount of mana I possessed. Who knew it would backfire on me this way!

"Fine," I answered Luke while sulking.

It was unfortunate that the big room was separated into two with a glass wall between the team and its managers. As I predicted, Luke assigned me to the other side of the glass wall where I was separated from the rest of the team.

The team would submit their designs through the network and we would barely interact with them in person. On the other side of the glass, Luke and I would evaluate the designs and give them the result whether the design would go into manufacturing or not.

"Yea-"

"Are we going back to school now?" I cut him off while thinking we were going back to dorms to relax.

"We're going back to my house." Luke seemed confused as to why we would go back to our dorms.

"Wait. Your house. Why?" Hoping that it wasn't the case. I didn't exactly have good memories of being inside Luke's house.

"We usually don't go back to school during our assignment. We just go back home like other typical workers do after they-"

"Wait. That means I don't have to go to your house. I can go back home to the third district" My eyes lit up in excitement.

"Rika. Don't you remember what happened to you the last time you went to the third district?"

"But it doesn-"

"We're going back to my house."

Before I could say anything to defend myself, I was already inside Luke's house. I ignored Luke and stomped to the usual room I stayed in and slammed the door shut. If this was going to be what it was going to be like for an entire week, it was going to be worse than being in school.

In school, at least I had some space for myself. After dealing with Luke, I could go to Shelly or Ellen for some healing. But in this situation, I would be stuck with Luke the entire time whether I wanted it or not.

I paced around the room while thinking about other ideas. I knew that I couldn't get rid of Luke during work because I needed those points to survive in school. If I stayed in Luke's house, I knew I would go crazy from the amount of control Luke had in this house.

Teleportation magic was easy to track due to seeing the unique footprint each person's mana left. Because this district was so immersed in magic, as long as I didn't get caught by Luke, I would be able to physically leave this place by running or walking out.

Wait. I could sneak out after dinner while assuring Luke I was still in his house! I would finally be able to explore the first district properly while getting some time for myself. When it was about dinnertime, I walked down the stairs into the dining hall.

Luke was already there eating his dinner, "I was going to ask the maid to deliver your meal to your room."

"No need, I'll be coming down to eat dinner from now on." I grabbed my utensils to eat.

Luke glanced at me once in suspicion and continued eating his meal. When I finished eating, I went back to my room and tore the curtains. With the curtains, I formed them into a rope and opened the windows. I tied one side of the curtain to one of the legs of the bed and threw the rest out the window.

Fortunately, this room was on the second floor. I was easily able to climb out of my room without using any of my mana. If I went through the front gate, it would be likely I would be discovered from those maids or other servants.

The back gate was no different as well. Luke's family was very rich in the first district. That's why there were no holes in the fences or anywhere that looked like it needed repair. However, since there were many servants in this house, I would be able to make it through the back gate undetected if I wore a disguise.

I quickly sneaked into the laundry room where I found some dirty uniforms and changed into the maid uniform. I scrambled to the back gate and walked slowly trying to get by unnoticed. After a few yards out of Luke's house, I jumped in celebration as I praised myself for thinking of this plan.

This was where I was thankful that Luke did not pay attention to his numerous servants taking care of his estate as most times he did not regard them as human beings, but hired help. Now, where should I go to have fun in the first district?

Most times, I was either at school or forcedly dragged along to Luke's house. I was never allowed to go anywhere besides going on field trips to be better acquainted with the area I lived in by the school.

Since the school had very high standards, I have never visited the places where the normal civilians of the first district would visit. All the restaurants were a very high quality that required a certain degree of elegance while eating. Definitely not eating to enjoy or have fun with food.

Maybe I should start off by going to a local cafe or an affordable restaurant. I commanded my marble to project a map of the first district. Currently, I was in the most prestigious area in the first district.

Thankfully, if I took the hover bus, I could go to the area where most people typically hung out around my age. I quickly ran to the hover bus just in time before it departed. Most people in Luke's area never bothered to use the convenience of the hover bus located like a minute away from their houses.

I sat down to see the hover bus almost empty. More like at this stop, I was the only person getting in with only one other person occupying a seat on the bus.

His piercing eyes that gazed outside the window memorized me with his slouched body against the seat. A charm that I didn't see for a long time with everyone around me that sat upright in those uncomfortable positions that made my back ache.

How was it that there were only good-looking people in the first district?