Astoria watched as the images disappeared, and Keya wiped the tears that had been making their way down her cheeks. She was utterly speechless at everything she had just watched. She had no idea that the princess witnessed such a terrible thing, let alone lived with such trauma.
"The king was only able to arrive the next day," the elf told her.
"He would have come to the palace earlier, but he told me that on the same day, as they were wrapping up the conference, black smoke surrounded the entire building interior and exterior, blocking off all entrances. There was also no phone signal, and no one was able to cast a spell no matter how hard they tried or how powerful they were."
"Was the black smoke the same as the one that attacked us?" She asked the elf, to which she nodded.
"Yes, when the king described and mentioned how it had tentacles, I knew that it was the same thing creature that attacked us. I showed him my memories of what transpired that day, and he looked so heartbroken as he watched."
Astoria stared at the ceiling. Nexi was probably hated by her siblings since that day because the orcs, and that black smoke, just wanted her. They probably believed that no harm would have occurred to their mother if Nexi had gone with the orcs. That may be why they blame her for their mother's death.
That was very sad for her to conclude as it must have been hard for the princess to remain so cheerful. Could it then be possible that another suspect of what led to her getting amnesia was that smokey figure? Is it possible that it has come back to find her and maybe kill her?
"Um, Keya," she said, her mind trying to put two and two together.
"Has the Smoke Monster ever come back to harm my family or me?"
"Smoke Monster?" the elf asked, confused.
"Yes, the smokey figure. We'll just call it the Smoke Monster for now. Anyway, has it?"
"Oh well, not that I'm aware of. No one has seen it ever since that day, although others state that they did, but all those sightings were confirmed to be false."
"Ah, I see," Astoria muttered.
'So the Smoke Monster may be alive, but why has it been silent for all these years? Was it planning something big? If Nexi has the power to destroy it, she may seriously be in danger.'
No wonder Nexi had her own personal maid who had some form of magical power to protect her. It could also be the reason why the king was so protective of her. He is scared that she will disappear, just like his wife and her mother. When Keya noticed that the princess was deep in thought, she softly spoke.
"Nexi," she said, "no matter what your siblings say, what happened that day was, and is, not your fault. You did not choose to be given the power of the Silver Ocean; the Goddess bestowed it to you. There's a reason for her choosing you."
She stared at the elf.
'How can someone be so kind?'
No wonder she found that Nexi perceived Keya as a mother figure and protector. She was also beginning to adore this elf. Keya reminded her of Officer Stan, a man that was always on her side no matter what rumours other officers spread about her.
"Thank you, Keya," she said, a smile plastered on her face.
"You should get some sleep now," Keya told her.
"Oh yes. Of course."
She hugged her pillow tightly.
"Do I have any classes tomorrow?"
Keya abruptly sat up, stunned by her question.
"What? Why are you looking so stunned?"
"You are unwell. You should get some rest first and then-," Keya was interrupted.
"No, I need to get back on my feet and hit the books. Besides, I've been in bed for days now. This amnesia has made me forget how to cast spells and such."
Keya frowned, but upon looking at Astoria, who had a puppy face expression plastered on her face, she nodded.
"Fine," she resigned, "I'll make sure to get your uniform ready before breakfast."
"Yes, thank you- "
"But," the elf interrupted her.
"You have to make sure you tell your father about this, although I am not so sure he'll allow it."
Astoria nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes, ma'am," she saluted with a tiny laugh.
She needed to go to the Academy as soon as possible and start learning how to cast spells. How else would she survive against an evil force like the Smoke Monster? She had to know at least one powerful spell so that she could protect herself. She was not planning on dying in this world.
It was definitely not something she wanted. She needed to learn magic and figure out how to get back to her world. She had a job to finish in her world, which was finding out who the chairman of Cosmo X was and taking him and the company down for good.
The only thing she was certainly sure of was that the man who calls himself the 'chairman' of the company was NOT the real chairman or boss of the company. He was more of a stand-in and could fool the rest of the world, but he could never fool Astoria Chambers. The day she met him, she asked him questions which any chairman would intelligently answer.
Still, this so-called chairman stuttered when he replied to every question. She even mixed up a famous quote with another quote, which most business moguls knew, to test if he would correct her. The fraudster did not correct her. Instead, he was smiling like a fool and mumbling, "Yes, yes, that man did say that. It is one of my favourite quotes."
"Yeah, right," she mumbled sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
"What?" Keya asked, thinking that she was speaking to her.
"Oh!" she said, realising that she was thinking out loud.
"It's nothing. Anyway, goodnight, Keya," she told the elf.
"Goodnight," Keya replied and clapped her hands, thus turning all the lights off in the room.