The Elusive Prince

Chapter 20: Visits and Concerned Friends

Merideth

After that nap that I had after the questioning, I was once again checked by the doctors one last time because apparantly they heard all about the story and the kicking part and had to make sure nothing was damaged. Thankfully or not, I escaped that one with only some bruises and scrapes all over but that was better than having a bullet go through me.

Hailey didn't leave my side after that. She was faithfully stationed on the chair beside my bed, waiting for me to ask her something to do. Mother and Father had to go back to the Castle to make statements about the terrorist attack and to re-assure the public that everything was fine. Their scheduled press conference will happen tonight along with King Philip, who was the general of the Trost Military Police, to answer some questions. The terrorist themselves that got caught were currently being questioned but they weren't saying anything yet so their motives were still unclear.

Frieda also dropped by, crying while hugging me because she said she was scared that she would lose her older sister. Hunter also called to express his worry and relief about me not getting hurt. He also was very sad that he couldn't visit me personally because he had a test the next day. I shrugged that off because I really was fine after all.

Arcane also dropped by for a while because his husband had to visit Reagan who was wasn't really harmed but had to stay at the hospital because he had an asthma attack and fainted. Arcane was very concerned and promised that they will do their best to bring justice to the people that died.

I had a lot of family visits, had to listen to a lot of worrying messages and trying to reassure them. Hailey was closely looking at me for any signs of discomfort when someone asks about what happened. I wasn't really that affected because well, I've been through worst and even if this was traumatic, I'm just thankful I got out of it unharmed.

Well it was mainly due to the fact that Cloud helped me and got me out of that jewelry shop where I don't know would've happened when he didn't arrive on time. He really saved me, as much as I don't want to acknowledge it.

Currently, I was still in bed, scrolling through the messages I had from other people that heard about what happened when I hear someone knock. Hailey was out of her seat and proceeded to open the door for the other person, who was surprisingly Amity and Cassian.

Cassian had a gauze on his arm, probably where the bullet grazed, but he looked fine. Amity was looking tired but otherwise she was fine. They were just standing there on the door before I nodded and they came in.

Hailey made space for them as she fixed me a cup of water and handed it to me. She helped me to a sitting position to drink the water and also to talk to Amity and Cassian properly. After I finished drinking, I looked at them.

"So what brings you here? Aren't you supposed to be checked? Are you okay now?" I asked as I wiggle a bit to be comfortable. Amity smiled gently while Cassian fidgeted some more in his seat.

"We're fine Mori. Also shouldn't we be the one asking that?" Amity's soft voice filtered through the air and I couldn't help but remember the same conversation I had with Cloud from earlier. It seems we had something in common.

"I'm fine, I only got cuts and bruises but other than that I'm okay. How about you Cassian? I heard you got shot." I asked Cassian who looked at me with an indescribable expression though I could recognize relief, and was that guilt?

"It was just a graze..." he whispered quietly we barely heard it. He seemed to be in deep thought for now so I decided to move to Amity instead.

"Anyways why did you come here when you're supposed to be resting?" I asked and Amity just smiled softly before nudging Cassian a bit.

"Cassian wanted to talk to you about something so I went with him in here." She said gently and I turned my attention to Cassian. He wasn't looking at me but I can tell he was uncomfortable.

"Umm...I just wanted to say sorry..." he began which made me confused because what was he sorry for? He must noticed the confusion on our faces because he continued.

"Umm I heard from Ilana, the private investigator that you felt a little guilty about losing me in the crowd and I'm sorry for worrying you. If I would've stayed then...maybe I could've helped you..." his voice was getting smaller and smaller that we almost didn't hear the last part.

I threw a glance at Hailey who was looking concerned and Amity who was only smiling softly. I looked at Cassian and couldn't help but feel...soft. He really went out of his way to just say sorry for something that wasn't his fault at all. He really was a little sweet.

"That's okay Cassian. You shouldn't be sorry for something that you couldn't have controlled. You were dragged by the panicking crowd and got shot in the process. I was just worried about you because you were new to this type of life and then this suddenly happened. This concern wasn't only because of my duty but also because I'm your friend and friends look after each other." I smiled at him as his surprised gaze met mine. "Besides, thank you for worrying about me. Knowing you were unharmed in this situation is more than enough."

"I..." he couldn't say anything after that but he just smiled as if I lifted the burden off his shoulder. I can feel the room's mood turn lighter as the tension left him.

"So are you supposed to be out now?" I suddenly broke the silence in the room, still concerned about the gunshot or graze whatever, on Cassian's arm.

"Well Cassian didn't have to stay at his room for now and since he was awake a while now, his interview was finished." Amity supplied while taking the glass of water from Hailey and saying thanks while sipping.

"And since he was half passed out during the whole thing happened, the Police didn't stay for long. His wound was also disinfected already so he was pretty much okay now." she added and set the water down. Cassian was very silent in the sidelines as if Amity was his speaker that I couldn't help but snicker a bit which made them look at me confused.

"What are you laughing at Your Highness?" Hailey asked and I just cleared my throat as I try to regain my composure. Thankfully, years of concealing my laughter during serious events paid off because I was able to stop snickering.

"Oh nothing, it's just amusing how Amity acts like Cassian's speaker or something." I said nonchalantly and then I could hear them snicker in amusement too, even Cassian who wasn't saying anything in the sidelines.

"Well...that's funny but yeah. Hey try talking some." Amity gently nudged Cassian on the sides which made him laugh a bit.

"I'm sorry, it's just that I'm still thinking about all of the things that happened." He whispered the last words gently and I can't help but realize that he must've been traumatized with this. Remembering where he came from, these types of stuff may be common there and this event reminded him of those moments. We might need to talk about this sometime, alone. For now I'll settle in trying to reassure him.

"If you're still guilty about the whole abandoning thing, that you didn't do on purpose I might add, I'm just glad that everyone of us is okay and will be okay because we're in this together and Leontine is a family that sticks together." I said which got a nod from Amity as she tried to tap him on the back. He had a surprised look on his face as he understood the meaning behind my words.

'You're a part of our class and we stick together in these trying times and get through with it so don't be worried because we would be by your side on this.' is what he probably got from that because he just gave a small smile.

"Anyways, did King Philip visit or is he too busy with the conference and the damage control yet? Also speaking about the conference when is it going to air?" I asked suddenly a few minutes of us just surrounded with comfortable silence.

"Ah he did, he just checked if I was okay and then went out for the press conference. He said he'll probably drop by after that." Cassian said while rubbing the gauze on his arm absent-mindedly. King Philip must've been very worried. I couldn't blame him though. If I only met my son who I thought was dead for years then for said son to be in a terrorist attack not a week later, I would be worried to death too.

"And as for the press conference, I heard from Sir Yander earlier when he came to interview us, that the press conference will start..." Hailey said while glancing at the clock "now." she added and switched on the TV located in the wall.

She scrolled through the channels and when she found the right one left it there and sat down beside me while giving me the sliced apples she has on the table.

On the screen, came into view was the leaders of the Kaia region and a few head officers of the Military Police sat down looking stern and serious. There was King Philip in the middle with my Father, King Evander of Wiyelt, King Travis of Vian, King Marsden of Kreider, Yander, and Ilana who were the top representative of the Military Police.

The press conference just started and I just know that the media was going to explode with questions. And I was right because as soon as the representative gave the go signal, the journalists was all speaking making their questions uncomprehensible.

They manged to calm the crowd down as General Philip talked about the events that just happened.

"As we all know, one of the major malls of Wiyelt was attacked by terrorists just today. We were able to identify them as the terrorist group, Thorns, through the marks and pattern of their masks. The Thorns has been one of the major terrorist groups that has been trying to break the peace in Kaia. We have apprehended them a long time ago but it seems that they are under new management." General Philip said which made the flash of lights and noise to spike up again at the mention of the terrorist group.

"We have captured 20 members with 20 more either injured or deceased. They still haven't said anything at the moment but we still have them in custody so it's only a matter of time before we get information." Yander continued where the General left off.

"Morever, we don't seem to know who is in charge yet or even captured anyone from the group with information. All the people that were captured were all just lackeys and wouldn't open their mouths yet." he added.

"We will be doing our best to bring justice to those who were harmed in this attack and will try our best to prevent this from happening ever again." General Philip finished and all of them bowed down gently as the lights keep flashing.

"For now we're going to be answering some questions from you regarding the event." Father added which made the interviewers jump out from their feet to have their questions answered. He picked someone from the crowd.

"From the information we got, it seems that the Class Leontine was within the people that got attacked and it seems that they were separated from the civilians. Do you think that the terrorists knew about this and if so, are there any traitors from the inside?" he asked which made others follow up with their own questions.

"Regarding Class Leontine's involvement, based on the statements from the class themselves, they only planned this on the last minute so there shouldn't have been a traitor to inform the group on time and have them prepare for this big of an attack just the night before. And through their quick reflexes and thinking we were able to get the distress signal and had the Military dispatch early. As for the traitor speculation, we will look into this more and make sure that the people part of the council is clear and is in no shape or form a threat to society." General Philip said. The reporter clearly satisfied with the answer sat back down to let other people question. They continued with the questioning as they picked another one.

"Is it true that they blocked off the signal reception of the mall? If so, how did the students of Leontine Class send the signal?" one reporter asked which made us furrow our eyebrows at the question but the council just remained calm.

"It is true that we found a device that disables the reception in a place and we found it planted over the whole mall. As for how we got the signal, we wouldn't disclose how the thing works entirely so as to not defeat its purpose but we can say that Irini's pricipal came up with the idea." Father said gently and I can say, he handled that fairly well.

"What will the council do about the deceased family?" one reporter asked. The whole room fell into silence for a few moments with only the sound of the camera's flashing can be heard in the venue. Everybody was waiting for the answer with breaths held.

"We are going to be giving some help to the family of the deceased and will work extra hard in order to bring their deaths to justice. We will also make sure that this will not ever happen again. In behalf of the Council of the Alliance of Kaia, we are extending our deepest apologies and sympathy to the grieving family." My Father said and every single one of them bowed down to show their respect to the innocent people caught up in this attack.

After that statement, I told Hailey that I wanted to sleep and for her to turn the TV off already. I didn't really need to watch the rest of the broadcast because I know that they will do their best to help and bring justice to those that were caught up in this attack.

Hailey complied, as she turns off the TV and I lay down again, while bidding goodbye to a very tired looking Amity and concerned Cassian with a smile as I tell them that they can visit me anytime.

As soon as they were out and Hailey was busy trying to peel another apple, I couldn't help but think about Cloud's involvement with this. That guy that restrained me clearly knew him and based on the tone and choice of words of that person, he held a grudge against Cloud. What was his involvement with this attack? Does he know those terrorists? Did they have a fight or conflict?

I tossed around while thinking about the whole thing. Oh well, I'm not getting any answer any time soon anyways. Let's just hope that the next time I see him, it would be calmer and he can atleast tell me something about this whole thing.

'Cloud, you said we would meet again...I hope you keep that promise and meet with me soon.' were my last thoughts before I was slipping back into the void of sleep.