"Sure, I'm Rika," I grabbed a drink from the waiter.

"Is that your full name?" They seemed curious about my real identity.

"Is my full name important?" I instantly realized they must not be close with Sienna.

Sienna hated people like them. Approaching her for her family name rather than just 'Sienna' herself. I crossed my arms as I noticed Luke walking towards my direction, sensing another discord.

"Thank you for keeping my partner company," Luke unfortunately came into the ballroom at the worst timing.

"I am Luke de Impalia Roselia and this is my partner, Rika de Impalia Roselia," Luke appeared like he originally came into the ballroom to take a break.

"You're from the other class," they immediately pretended they were more familiar with us.

"We have also heard about the other class as well," his angelic smile instantly captured their attention.

"We have heard that your class is a bit, particular," one of them replied to indirectly mention the rumors they heard swirling inside the school.

"I would like to believe the opposite is true. Our class may seem like this from an outsider's perspective as we disregard the concept of fractions in our class," Luke blew away the rumors to say that our class was better than theirs that was separated.

I never felt more thankful as Luke effortlessly talked to them until my marble vibrated. I smiled when Henry said he was on his way since his turn was over. Henry dashed towards the entrance as he greeted his classmates.

[Did anything happen while I was gone?] I received a message he typed behind his back.

[Luke distracted them while they were looking for you] I replied back.

[Won't he figure out if he stays longer?] Henry appeared a bit worried.

[I'll try sending him back to the garden] I sent him a glance.

"Rika did say she's really close with you," one of them noticed us exchanging messages.

"Well, we are in the same fraction," Henry came up with the same excuse as me.

"It's like you're closer to her than us," one of them complained.

"We knew each other before Luke and I entered the neutral fraction," I quickly made up a story.

"So we've known each other for a quite amount of time," Henry flawlessly lied.

[Are you close with your classmates?] I nodded my head to agree with Henry.

[Not much. Our class is split into two since we're in different fractions]

My head spun to Luke's direction as his previous remark of trying to buy time was actually an indirect insult towards them. It was no wonder they appeared more hostile once Henry came back.

[Then why were they looking for you?]

[Probably to pressure our fraction once they noticed my disappearance]

I pitied both Sienna and Henry as it meant they went through this every day. Compared to their class, mine was much more united. I guessed that was the only advantage of going through so many incidents together.

"Then you must be close to everyone in your fraction," another one of them asked in a mocking tone.

"That's right!" Sienna grabbed his other arm, noticing the awkward direction the conversation was going towards.

I sighed in relief as nobody noticed Sienna dashing towards us after her turn was over.

[I cleaned up the bed] She played with Henry's arm.

"We're all family," Sienna struck back.

I grabbed his other arm, going along with Sienna's plan, "that's why this is nothing!"

Nobody pointed out how Luke awkwardly stood quite a distance away from us, staying silent while watching our act. He seamlessly blended into the background as their classmates focused on us instead. For the first time, I admired his social skills as he could effortlessly get in and out any situation that was thrown upon him.

[Delia messaged she tried her best] Sienna explained how this all started.

[Apparently, she held them off for thirty minutes with Cillian in the garden] She threw me a glance.

[Did the sleep help?] I asked both of them.

They both nodded their heads as they smiled. In fact, some of their complexion came back as their eyes appeared more energized. While typing, I almost jumped when I saw the time.

[I'm planning to take my turn a few minutes from now] I decided.

[Can you keep Luke in the ballroom? I'm thinking of sleeping in the bed in the garden] My fingers were busy.

Both Sienna and Henry turned towards me from my message. By then, everyone noticed how we were secretly exchanging messages between the three of us. The frequent vibrations coming from our marbles revealed everything.

Sienna briefly stopped playing with Henry's arm while Henry froze from the news. They both knew how observant Luke was. It was definitely going to take more effort to cover for me.

Unfortunately, I had to take my turn now since we would be leaving this event in two hours to attend another one. Henry sighed as he suddenly grabbed Luke's hands. It was his cue to quickly escape into the garden.

I sprinted into the garden, well-versed in its hidden routes from placing all the decorations. I immediately set an alarm in my marble after finding the bed. I smiled as I laid on the blanket, acting as a mattress. I tugged the other blanket, covering me from the sunlight as my head sank inside the pillow.