"I think we can go back inside now," she said.
She needed some alone time in her room. The elf nodded, and when they got back to the room, she told her to call her if she needed anything. Astoria nodded and watched as Keya left her room. She sat down on the bed and, with her hand covering her face, internally screamed. She summarised her predicament as she paced back and forth in the room.
"Okay, I seem to know a bit of what's happening. I really feel sorry for this lady. We were both mistreated and victims. She most probably got attacked by someone close or an enemy. This is similar to my case."
'Either way, we are both in a similar situation right now. Maybe the only way to go back to my body is to solve this attempted murder case. Is it attempted murder, though? I have to secretly conduct an investigation. No one can ever know that I'm someone else. Absolutely not.'
She walked to the dresser and began rummaging through each shelf, hoping to find something with helpful information. As she opened the last shelf, she noticed a tiny crack on the side. Running her fingers down the gap, she found a secret opening and put her fingers through it. She discovered a book under the pile of undergarments. Taking the book in her hands, she sat down on the bed and read the cover. 'Nexi's Diary' was written on the cover.
"Wow, even diaries exist in this world? Well, I guess it kinda makes sense since this room looks a bit modern."
The room really had a modern look with its short and tall half-round windows, allowing enough light to enter the room. One large window overlooked the garden. The spacious, square bedroom had coordinating silver glass furniture, the dining seating was cushioned with adorable animal plushies. The carpeting flooring gave the bedroom a warm, natural beauty and felt both soft and warm under her feet.
Colours can affect someone's mood, so this must have been considered as the walls were painted in warm colours. One would notice the memorabilia collection of ornaments and figurines as the first things they see when they walk into the room. Turning the cover, she sat down by the window which overlooked the garden and quietly read the first page.
"Dear diary. It's been eight years since my mother passed away. I'm thirteen now, and father told me I can finally start practicing magic. It took eight years for my magical energy force to awaken. Father called it the power of the Silver Ocean. He said that I could start attending Leararts, one of the kingdom's best academies, to learn and practice sorcery. My first lesson is tomorrow, and I am really excited. I hope I don't make a fool of myself."
She turned to the next page.
"I tried to talk to my sister, but she just ignored me. I think she really hates me. I won't give up trying to befriend her, though. We are a family, after all. My brother also ignores me every time I try to converse with him during dinner. I do not know if I hurt his feelings somehow. I asked father, but he just told me the same thing he always tells me, "Your siblings are tired from all the magic they had to do at the academy. You know how magic can drain your energy." I hope he is right. Anyway, I am excited for tomorrow so let me go to sleep so that I can feel refreshed and energised."
At the bottom of the page were drawings of red and purple hearts. Astoria rubbed her neck and read the next page.
"Dear diary. Oh dear, I really made a fool of myself today! I am so embarrassed!!! I wish the Earth could have swallowed me at that time. Mrs. Elless, my Mentalist Magic teacher, might still be angry with me tomorrow. Why did the spell go wrong? I said exactly what was written in the textbook, so why did that happen? Mrs. Elless told us to cast the spell, Imbetus, which shrinks an object. We all had to shrink the pen on our table, but instead of shrinking my pen, I enlarged her! How does that even happen!?"
Astoria paused to laugh.
'Indeed, how does that happen?'
She continued reading the page.
"I was so ashamed and bewildered! Fortunately, she reversed the spell, but she was not pleased with me one bit. My first impression was ruined! The whole class laughed at me, and no one wanted to befriend me because of that incident, that one accidental incident. Even writing about it is embarrassing. You should see how flushed my face looks right now. When father asked me how my first day went, I just said, "Not too bad," because there was no way I could tell him what happened. Tomorrow will be better, right?"
Astoria read for about an hour without being interrupted. She obtained new information thanks to the diary, although she did not finish reading every diary entry. Through the diary, she found out about Nexi's early school life. She read what looked like the latest entries and managed to find out who Nexi's former teachers, current teachers, her two friends, and what she liked and hated to eat.
"Hopefully, this helps me, even just a little."
Someone knocked on her door.
"Who is it?"
"It's Keya, Princess Nexi. It is now time for dinner. I was told to escort you to the dining hall."
"Just a minute!"
Astoria rushed to put the diary back in its place. She opened the door and followed the elf to the dining hall, and boy was it a dining hall. There was a highly elongated table made of glass. On top of the table was a variety of delicious and appealing food.
Her mouth began to water as she did not realise she was that hungry. Lifting her head to look at the King, she noticed two people sitting beside the King, a male and a female. They were Nexi's older siblings.
"Please, come sit."
The King gestured to an empty seat beside Nexi's sister, who she noticed was subtly glaring at her, making it only visible for her to see.