Chapter 291 - A Price for Everything (8)

I rang the doorbell, waiting for someone to open the door. My younger brother, Evan, was the one to open the door as he wondered who I was. It was as expected, how would my family who I rarely visited ever recognize my new appearance? I told myself not to become too disappointed, it wasn't their fault.

"Is mom and dad here?" I came inside with Luke.

"They'll be coming back from work soon," my brother awkwardly gave us a tour inside the house.

"You've changed a lot," he commented.

"Things happened," I didn't bother to explain.

I laid down on the couch, too tired to continue the conversation. Luke frowned as I lazily decided to wait for my parents here, not wanting to miss them by going to my bedroom. He shot an apologetic look at Ethan before shaking me to get up.

"I'm not getting up," I grabbed onto the couch.

"Evan are there guests here?" My mom was the first to arrive.

She placed her shoes off near the entrance to put into the tiny cabinet. Wearing an informal suit and holding a large black bag, she paused when she noticed us. My mom seemed to remember Luke's appearance, but unfamiliar with the person who was wrestling with him to stay on the couch.

"Mom!" I rose to sit.

"Rika?" She appeared extremely confused.

"I came to visit today," I walked to hug her.

"I apologize for the sudden visit," Luke studied her reaction.

"No, it's fine," my mom couldn't stop staring at my new appearance.

"I'm hungry," I looked up at her.

"We can order some takeout," she awkwardly separated from me.

"Really? Can we order some pizza, fries and fried chicken?" My eyes glittered.

"Rika!" Luke glared at me.

"We brought food of our own," he took out some fancy plates of food from his marble.

I couldn't believe he had food this entire time but didn't mention anything about it. He knew how hungry I was this entire time, unable to eat for days. He could have snuck in some food for me in between the tutors coming in and out.

There was enough for two portions worth of a full course meal. My mom and Evan stared at the sparkling food in front of them. I forgot that this was considered to be somewhat luxurious since I was too used to it. Luke passed me the utensils as we shifted our location to the dining room table.

"We just came from my parent's house. These are what our family chefs have prepared for us before we left," Luke explained.

So this was what Luke was doing while I was changing? I spent some time, wondering what to wear in my horrible closet filled with clothing stamped with the Roselia crest. As usual, I didn't have many options. I ended up choosing the simplest one I could find, which stood out immediately in the third district.

My waist was wrapped with a jewelled ribbon on top, otherwise covered by white lace in the other parts of the dress. I made sure I wore no accessories that Luke would force me wear whenever we went outside the school. Even my white flats shined, polished and clean like they were new when I remembered wearing them quite a few times since they were one of the more comfortable ones.

With my hunger taking over me, I neatly sliced my food and followed the minimum level of proper etiquette of the first district from habit. I could eat pizza after finishing this first. In less than ten minutes, the table was swiped clean as the empty places disappeared into Luke's marble. Meanwhile, my mom and Evan ate the food in the fridge which appeared like premade food from the grocery store.

I wondered what it tasted like. Just like how I barely had access to junk food, Luke never let me go near those kinds of food. I remembered eating some onigiri from the convenience store on my way home in my former life. It was a good snack before I would eat the dinner made by my mom.

"Can I have a bite?" I asked my mother.

"I'm curious how it tastes," I explained.

"It's just food from the local grocery store," my mom frowned.

"I never had food from the local grocery store. I have never been inside one before," I revealed how my life has been like.

Evan dropped his fork in surprise. He didn't know how futuristic the first district was. Robots skillfully cooked everything that we could order things through a tablet. Only food with mana inside them were made by humans, which I also got to eat when Luke brought me to fancy restaurants.

I was interrupted by my dad opening the door, coming back from work. Like my mom, he paused, noticing all of us seated near the dining room table. He hung his jacket before coming to join us.

"Is this you Rika?" He noticed Luke who sat beside me.

"Who else would it be?" I tried to hide my disappointment.

"It's just that you've changed," he tried to find my past features in my new appearance.

He grabbed a seat beside Evan. The three of them sat on one end while Luke and I sat on the other side together. This was the price I had paid. None of my family members recognized me the first time they had seen my new appearance. My fear has almost come true.