CHAPTER 663: WE CAN ALWAYS HIDE FROM EVERYONE

For a brief moment, she paused, caught between who she used to be and who she was now.

"Not bad," she murmured softly, giving herself one last look before heading out to meet Carl.

She found Carl waiting just outside her room.

"I figured you might get lost if I didn’t wait," he said, as if reading her mind.

"Thank you. To your point, I was actually wondering how I would find my way downstairs," she admitted with a small smile.

"You look good," Carl commented, giving her a quick once over. "That dress happens to be one of my favorites."

"You handpicked everything?" Nnenna asked, surprised. "There were at least a thousand dresses in there! Not to talk of the shoes and other accessories. When did you even have time to choose them all?"

He shrugged lightly. "What can I say? I’m a very productive person."

"Productive and attentive," Nnenna teased. "All of them were according to my taste. And yet I ended up choosing one of your favorites."

She laughed softly, the first genuine laugh since arriving in Elyndra. It was like a breath of fresh air to Carl, one he hadn’t realized he had missed so dearly.

"Come on," he said, gesturing for her to follow. "I’ll show you around."

Slinging a casual arm over her shoulder, he led her to the elevator.

"Let’s start with the grounds, then we’ll work our way up," Carl suggested.

"Five, seven, ten... so many floors," Nnenna murmured, eyes flicking over the glowing icons on the elevator screen. "Do we even have time for a tour this long?"

"Actually, we don’t," he admitted with a grin. "But I’ll just show you a few places today. When all this is over, you’ll see the rest."

"What about tomorrow?" she asked.

"You’ll be meeting your council members," Carl replied.

"So... no time for sightseeing?" Nnenna said, though she already knew the answer.

"Okay then," she decided with a small shrug. "Let’s start with the grounds."

"Sure," Carl agreed easily. Then, with a playful glint in his eyes, he added, "But if you want, we can always hide from everyone tomorrow and explore more of the castle."

Nnenna didn’t respond. The phrase hide from everyone echoed in her mind like a whisper from another time. It felt familiar, too familiar. Like déjà vu, a buried memory surged forward.

Hiss!

A sharp pain shot through her head, and she staggered slightly.

"I don’t want to attend any classes today..." a little girl’s voice echoed faintly in her mind.

"Nnenna? Nnenna!" Carl’s gentle voice cut through the haze, calm and grounding.

"I—" She tried to speak, her voice trembling. "I think... I’ve been here before."

Carl froze, surprise flickering across his face. "You’re remembering," he whispered, almost in disbelief.

His thoughts raced. With Somto and King Ikechukwu gone, and Queen Chioma refusing to speak of the past, no one had been able to shed light on what truly happened in Elyndra twelve years ago, or how Nnenna ended up in Lionara.

But if Nnenna was starting to remember...

Then maybe, just maybe, the mystery was finally beginning to unravel.

"Nnenna, listen to me," Carl said softly, his voice steady, warm. "Don’t fight it. Just breathe. Concentrate on my voice, okay?"

His tone was calm, practiced, the kind that had pulled many minds back from the edge before. As a doctor trained in psychology, he knew the signs: the tightening of her jaw, the tremor in her breathing, the faint dart of her eyes as her mind fought between resistance and release.

"You’re safe," he assured her gently. "You’re just remembering. Let it come... slowly. Focus on what you see. What’s around you?"

Nnenna’s lashes fluttered. The ache in her head pulsed once more, then eased into clarity.

"I... I see..." she whispered.

The walls around her blurred, the cold marble and gold accents shifting in her sight, not changing, but remembered. It wasn’t another place at all.

It was this elevator.

The same faint floral scent in the air, the same polished buttons glowing softly on the panel. Her pulse quickened as the realization sank in, she had stood here before.

She was five again, Anastasia. Her small hand clutched the hem of her pale blue dress, the one her mother said brought out her eyes. Beside her stood a boy, tall for thirteen, his expression composed yet faintly anxious.

Arthur.

Even at that age, his composure had been unshakable, sharp eyes, careful tone, an almost adult stillness. Yet whenever he looked at her, that stillness softened.

"You’re frowning again," little Anastasia said, puffing her cheeks as she stared up at him.

Arthur’s lips twitched, almost a smile. "You should be in class right now."

"I don’t want to attend any lessons today," she said firmly, folding her arms. "Just today."

He sighed quietly, glancing at the elevator doors as if to hide the fondness tugging at his mouth. He had taken three days off from school just to be here, though he had never admit it aloud. His parents knew, of course, they always did.

Anastasia tugged at his sleeve. "You came all this way to see me, and I can’t even play with you?"

Arthur looked down at her, the corners of his eyes softening. "You’ll get in trouble again," he murmured, but his voice lacked its usual firmness.

"Only if they find us."

Her mischievous grin drew out a quiet, helpless exhale from him. Then, after a moment, he said the words that would linger for years, words that now echoed through her mind like a pulse.

"We can always hide from everyone."

Anastasia gasped happily. "Really?"

He nodded once, a rare, boyish smile breaking through. "Really."

The elevator doors opened, light spilling in as the two children darted out hand in hand, one laughing, the other pretending not to.

The image dissolved.

Nnenna gasped softly, her eyes snapping open.

Carl was still there when her eyes fluttered open, one steady hand on her shoulder.