My Bothersome Life

Life Inside a Cage

I have the maximum amount of mana that my body can possess without exploding. My mana grows as I get older and when I become a full-fledged adult, I am supposed to have an unlimited amount of mana. It was unfortunate I didn’t have unlimited mana right now.

The last time I was out of this mini hospital room was on the ground made of mud. I was on a flat surface of a small house that was about the size of my current room. The house had one room, which combined the kitchen, bedroom and living all together. It was as expected of a flimsy house of a villager who had suffered through a drought for the last decade.

The cold air felt refreshing, it drew me away from the fire in front of my eyes as I was viewed as a spectacle. When I was about to get up, Luke gently pushed me back with both of his hands.

“You have to stay still for this to work,” He chided me.

The faint, warm glow of mana came from his hands as I felt my wounds melting under the light. My mind became fuzzier as the familiar light became stronger and stronger. I almost forgot I was stabbed multiple times in the stomach to get me unconscious before tying the ropes made of thick hay. Everything numbed down as I felt pleasant under the kind healing spell.

A healing spell drained so much mana that normal people in the first district couldn’t use it. It was impractical to the point where it easily drained half of my mana when I possessed the most mana in the first district. The only person who came close to the amount of mana I had was Luke, who was conducting an intense healing spell on my stomach.

It was a strange feeling to find yourself gushing blood like Camila flowers blooming on the wound. It never closed as the flowers spread faster and faster with every breath. Its dried petals asked for more as it linked with the other fields on my arms and legs. Luke began to pant as his concentration wavered for a split of a second from the loss of too much mana at once. His hair, drenched with feverish sweat looked terribly beautiful under the moonlight.

I stared at my hair, starting to lose its colour as the light overwhelmed the darkness that used to swallow the house. The same silver hair that shined in front of me was eating my vivid red hair like a delicious meal. My eyes reflected horror at the sight of my companion disappearing into thin air like it had never existed.

By the time the light was starting to dim down, there was no trace of my dazzling cherry hair. My vision darkened into the deepest pit of the well as I fainted from my new appearance. I had never imagined that Luke’s mana would ever overpower mine when I was close to death. The frightening control and precision he possessed was astonishing powerful combined together, even with his disadvantage.

The next time I woke up, I found myself in this pretty room inside one of his many mansions. I could tell it was not the miserable times of the middle ages with all the futuristic robots outside maintaining the garden. Everything in the first district was advanced to the point that if things did not have to do done by humans, they were automated.

I could spot the large gates with the Roselia family crest embellished into the design with my great eyesight developed with the use of mana. It was a familiar sight by now with the number of times I have been stuck in his mansions that all resembled each other. Although each mansion was decorated differently, the layouts were mostly the same.

I lifted up my silky nightgown to find no scar had remained on my stomach. When I lifted up the long sleeves of my dress, there was no sign of the torture on my arms. My legs were soft and smooth, unblemished to the point it was like a mannequin doll. I faced myself in the mirror to find one difference in my appearance.

I looked like another person in the mirror. I wasn’t Rika Shanes anymore, the daughter of Brian Shanes and August Shanes, but a clear member of the Roselia family. I possessed the famous silvery hair that shined like a prism in the daylight with overflowing mana that all its heirs had. I looked horrifyingly like the boy who opened the door to check up on me.

Behind him was one of the many doctors that the Roselia family could call upon at any minute around the clock. He carried a briefcase like a businessman more than a medical professional. He warmly smiled, trying to sooth me down while Luke stared at me in disapproval as usual.

Knowing this was a cue, I walked back to my bed, for a checkup. The doctor quickly got out his tablet that produced a blue light when it scanned my body for any abnormalities. When the device beeped, he quickly hid his frown before turning around to Luke to announce the results.

“After getting proper treatment, she can get back to her daily activities again.” He declared while writing down detailed notes simultaneously.

After his job was done, he promptly exited the room like an actor leaving the stage after fulfilling its role. There wasn’t much for a doctor to do in the first district with the medical technology being extremely advanced to the point most of the process was automated except for the diagnosis. The machines that filled the rest of the room waited to be used as Luke swiftly reviewed the report.

“Can I view the report?” I reached to grab the tablet in his hands.

“It’s nothing much,” Luke avoided my arms with one step.

“He says you should stay in bed for the rest of this week,” Luke carefully inserted the needle into my arm like an experienced professional.

The medicine quickly flowed through my veins as Luke soon covered me with a blanket when I slumped down onto the bed. It was funny how most remedies made you sleepy when you were full of energy before. Once one of my eyes were closed, he left the room to give me some time to rest. This was not the beginning of a cage in the making with the door surely to be locked like a prison cell.

This personality of his that liked control everything never changed since our childhood. He didn’t want me out of this bed or this room so he locked the door. He didn’t even bother to give me any proper explanation of what the doctor implemented. I was sure that report was at least ten pages long as I counted each time the doctor flipped the page for more space to write on.

It was more disguised when he was younger, but got worse as we grew up. We were always stuck together whether we wanted to or not. The memories to how this all started and we met rolled through my head like a cinematic film through hours of boredom that dizzily tried to put me to sleep.