After enjoying the view for some time, we turned back to return. Though the time we spent together was very little, it made me feel refreshed and energized.
"Chithak, I am pretty impressed to see you speaking my language so well. You are a guinea to learn a language in such a short time" I complimented him since I felt a little proud of him.
"I wanted to learn it as soon as possible because there is someone I was craving to talk with," he said with a smile.
"Talk with someone? Who? Ahh, you mean the other girls?" that was jealousy engraved in my voice. Chithak started laughing, seeing me looking here and there awkwardly.
"It cannot be me anyway. I was an accident from the beginning itself'" I thought to myself.
"Chithak, Do you know where the others are? I haven't seen them yet. Are they alright? Can you please tell me where they are?" I started questioning him nonstop.
I could see that he didn't want to talk about them. "They are fine. You don't have to worry about them," he replied reluctantly, leaving me after showing me the way back to the library.
"It would have been better if I could see and talk with others," I muttered. "I feel so alone staying all by myself."
I opened the library door slowly so that grandma won't hear me. But when I peeped inside, she was gazing at me directly with her arms crossed.
"Where did you go without my permission?", grandma sounded a little bit mad at me.
"I'm sorry, grandma. It was Chitha..." I paused suddenly. "I am sorry. I will ask for permission next time. Please don't get mad." I looked down with my guilty eyes.
"Darling, I am not mad at you." grandma said as she held my hand softly. "I am just worried about you. This is not your home, dear. It's a palace. You cannot run around like a small child inside this palace. You have to be very careful. Do you understand?"
"Yes, grandma. You're right. I will be more careful next time."
"Come here. I bought you a small present.", grandma handed me a box. "See whether you like it."
I opened the box carefully. Inside it was a mask. "A mask?" I was confused.
"Yes, It's a mask made out of the softest material," she said. "It's a must for everyone to wear a mask inside this palace."
"I thought people wore masks because they wanted to hide the burns and deformities on their faces. But, I don't have any scars?"
"Exactly," she said while helping me put on my new mask. "Some people wear the mask to hide the scars while some wear the mask to make those people feel more comfortable. Many on this planet suffer a lot because of their painful scars throughout their lives."
"Wow, it suits you so well," said grandma, smiling at me.
"I saw the scars once when I was on the spaceship. They indeed looked so painful,' I said. "But I don't understand how they got those scars."
It's the rays from the sun that cause them. Those rays burn you from inside." said grandma dreadfully. "That's why all the cities are built under the ground. But when the Bizamuls attacked our planet, the shields covering most of the cities were damaged. That's why people are getting exposed to the rays."
Our exciting conversation was interrupted by a palace maid. She said something to grandma. "we have to go now, Minashi" grandma said while getting ready to move out.
"How did you know my name?" I exclaimed.
"Our prince told me" she smiled.
I followed grandma to the most opulent room inside the palace. Everything inside the room was dazzling. There was a long table with a lot of dishes served. On one corner of the table, a man wearing something like a crown was sitting. Since everyone bowed to him before taking their seats, I guessed he might be the king. Grandma showed me the small tables placed on either side of the long table, so I sat on one of them.
Other than grandma and Chithak, all the others were new faces to me. They laughed and talked with each other while having their lunch. Everyone had many things to share except Chithak. He was quietly having his food with no smile at all. He looked sad and lonely.
Even the food the royals had was terrible compared to our food. I had a hard time pushing them down my throat as usual. It had no salt, no seasoning, and there was mostly plant-based. There was no meat at all!
"How long am I supposed to eat this?!" I was crying inside.
After the big event, I asked grandma about everyone who came. According to her, they were the royal family. The new faces were the sisters and brothers of Chithak. She told me that except Chithak, everyone else was allowed to go outside. So they live outside the palace. That explained why they had many things to talk about. It must be so very lonely to live inside this empty palace all by himself.
It's already been several months since I came to this planet. Though everything was new, I managed to get used to everything with time. Every time I went to the library, I tried looking everywhere to get a glimpse of him. But he was not a frequent visitor to the library. I could only see him on the day of the official meetings where the king, Chithak, and grandma discussed the issues of the kingdom. Chithak always looked very busy on those days, but he never forgot to smile at me at least once when everyone else was busy with their work. And I had butterflies every time he did that.
Spending every day trapped inside several rooms was not an easy task for me. Repeating the same series of work every day was irritating for me. But whenever grandma saw me distressed, she allowed me to visit the outer palace and have fun with my pet Casper.
One day when I was playing with Casper, I saw Chithak standing on the balcony and gazing aimlessly.