Both Henry and I smiled when we heard footsteps heading towards the ballroom. Our excuse of keeping Luke here because of the guests would finally work! I perked up as I waited for them to come.

"Where's Rika?" He asked us, not bothering to introduce himself.

Was this how Rika felt when our classmates came to look for us? I immediately felt dejected as he searched for Rika inside the ballroom. When I opened my mouth to utter my excuse that she was inside the garden, he made me close my mouth, "I looked for her in the garden, asking all the hosts and other guests until Delia from the Ellison family mentioned she was inside the ballroom."

"How do you know Rika?" I attempted to keep the both of them inside the ballroom.

"We're classmates and in the same fraction," he glanced at Luke that he wasn't able to find her.

I shot a worried look at Henry as I realized Luke was using few of the guests to find him find Rika. I hoped he was the only one as Henry slightly smiled from Luke's ingenious mind like the world was falling on top of him. At this rate, one of us would have to stand against Luke alone while the other kept an eye out in the garden.

"I apologize for not introducing myself. I am Charles de Lumiere," He realized he never introduced himself.

I never wanted to escape to the garden more than this moment. A powerful family, rivaling both the Nuelle and Roselia families came to support Luke. But I thought Rika was only inside three fractions from what I knew of. Something must have happened as Delia did mention that Rika was close to few of the members in the rival fraction as well.

I sighed inside my heart as there was still forty long minutes to stall. I couldn't believe we only managed to stall him for ten minutes after our classmates left. I started to pity Rika as what I went through with my classmates was nothing compared to how she lived with Luke.

I did sometimes think that Rika had some fast and quirky thoughts that she implemented in real life. Like the decorations in the garden that happened on a whim. But it actually came from living with Luke. She had no choice, but to search for opportunities to escape from Luke who thought of everything one step ahead of her.

"I am Sienna Auclair Clarence and this is Henry de Blanc," I elbowed Henry for help.

"Rika used to be in the ballroom but is now in the garden. Would you be interested in joining our conversation instead?" Henry was getting worse at this under Luke's pressuring stare.

"We're interested in how someone in our neutral fraction joined a fraction like yours," he continued.

"Unfortunately, I promised my fiancée that I would meet her in the garden soon," Charles declined our offer.

"Just thirty-five more minutes. She'll come back here after thirty-five more minutes," I apologized to Rika inside my heart.

"Can you please leave Rika alone for thirty-five more minutes?" Henry politely asked.

"Is there something going on?" Charles asked the same question as Luke.

"Not really. There's really nothing going on," I felt exhausted from fending off two opponents.

"If you know Rika well enough, you know anything can happen in thirty-five minutes," Charles brightly smiled.

"Look. If you stay with us, we'll lead you to where she is in fifteen more minutes instead," Henry threw me a glance for my approval.

I nodded my head as it was the best choice we had. Instead of searching for Rika on their own, they decided to stay with us during the remaining period. The ballroom was filled with icy silence as no one bothered to speak a word. I sent an apologetic message to Rika that they would be coming in ten minutes instead of the original thirty.

When the cold ten minutes passed. I began to lead them where the makeshift bed was located. Both Henry and I were doomed now because they would figure out about the bed unless Rika got rid of it from our message. Charles looked around the abandoned part of the garden as Luke kept his eyes on us.

Focused on joining the others in the crowd, none of the guests stepped into the clever part we chose to hide the bed. Many tall hedges were nicely groomed, blocking the view of the decorations as they spanned for metres. I carefully lifted my skirt as I found a small hole in one of the hedges that would lead to another route.

Henry appeared a bit surprised, seeing how much effort we put into this third location. His reaction was the opposite of both Luke and Charles who seemed like they expected something like this. I began to crawl on the cobblestone path as the space was small that no big animals would be able to get in.

Finally, a hedge with an odd rose placed as an indicator appeared in front of my eyes. I gestured with my hands, "Rika is behind this hedge."

I stood up to walk behind the hedge to find the blankets still messy on the ground. However, the pillow had been utterly torn as its feathers were splattered all over the area. There wasn't anyone inside the blankets. Rika wasn't here. Rika was gone!

I gasped as I slowly turned my head to the audience behind me.