Ch 11. Restless Night (I)

Lord Hector studied the man in front of him. Dressed as lavishly as possible, he didn't have to ask if Ursinus had purposely dressed as he had to make a statement to the prince, his pupil. He knew that there was a grudge being held against Cyrus but he would never have guessed that the man was so obsessed and insane to be committing a crime.

Wulsapa, which was two days away from Hauwitet on horseback, was a beautiful city that was home to many Milikreean citizens, especially young blonde haired girls with blue eyes. Unfortunately, it wasn't a safe place for these specific girls as for some time now, there had been mentions of the random disappearances of girls ranging between the ages of 12 to 20. Coincidentally or not, it had started not long after Ursinus had begun to despise Cyrus.

Coincidence? Hector thought not.

"Many thanks, Ursinus. For your hard work, you shall be rewarded properly just as you deserve," Hector insincerely said while Ursinus who was confident that his actions could not be discovered arrogantly lifted his head high with a wide smile, "In two days time, you will receive it. In the meantime," Hector shared a quick look with his fellow comrades, "please continue working hard."

"Of course!"

"May the gods bless you a peaceful night," the men parted to their own rooms.

Ursinus, who had stayed behind watching them leave, dropped the smile he had been forcing. He was annoyed. Frustrated. But most of all, he felt insecure.

Turning away from where the rooms were located, the man walked to a door that the servants used to enter and exit his residence. The guards that had seen him walk by were aware of where he was going as some had even participated in Ursinus' acts while there were some who were completely unaware of his disgusting and wrong doings.

Because of this, Ursinus was able to be quickly assisted to visit his secret place. Unaware that Hector's men and Sir Magnus himself were following his trail.

As the night reached its peak, Idalia had awoken. She was aware that her body was weak and that she should be taking all that time to stay in bed resting but she couldn't. Cassandra had left some time after noon and Idalia woke up at what she assumed was midnight. Therefore, she had slept almost twelve hours so how could she be in bed sleeping some more? In fact, she was tired, tired of sleeping.

Sitting up she saw a vase and a cup so she assumed that naturally there would have to be water in the vase. Moving to the edge of the bed, Idalia tried to stand which proved to be difficult. Her legs were shaking, her arms were lifted to try to find her balance, and due to having overslept, she was dizzy. With a grunt, she went to sit back on the bed.

How tiring, she sighed. After taking a minute to collect herself together, she tried once more to stand up and walk to pour herself a cup of water. She was finally able to do so after having moved at a tortoise speed to reach the table. Finishing the cup, she saw the window which had been opened earlier was now closed. Making her way to it, she pulled the wooden shutters and was met with a breathtaking sight.

Having passed out in a different room before waking up to being in this room, Idalia hadn't known that she was on another floor level. She saw buildings in front of her with the same architecture she had seen in her history textbooks, in those war movies, and wherever else she had seen them where it revolved around the portrayal of war and romance in Ancient Greece.

But that's not what had taken her breath away (well kind of), it was the clear view of the stars sparkling in the dark sky that had. It was a scene that she had never seen in the city where she lived and grew up in.

Sure, she had seen stars at night but not as clear and bright as the ones that were shining above her at that moment. Turning her head a little, she saw the moon shining more brilliantly than she had ever seen.

Her eyes drank in this scene, trying to imprint even the smallest detail in her mind. It was so beautiful.

Yet, it was so scary.

Idalia had brought her hands in front of her to rest on the ledge so when she felt that wet drip fall on them, she realized then that she had been crying. And the realization only made her cry more.

"Augh!"

Bringing one of her hands up to cover her mouth, Idalia let out a wail. Her body bent over while she tried to support herself with the window's ledge with the other hand. But with the injury from yesterday and with how naturally weak her body was, Idalia shakily slumped to the floor.

A terrifying painful shock that sprouted from her chest and traveled to the tips of her fingers shook her body. Her breaths quickened but in short takes while her heart terrifyingly accelerated in beating.

In a kneeling position, Idalia buried her face in her hands while she sobbed as quietly as she could in fear that someone outside could hear her. Although that wasn't possible as she couldn't contain the feelings that she had earlier hidden.

At first, she had thought she was dreaming, a rather exciting dream as she felt that her surroundings were too vivid and dreamlike. To find herself in a kingdom resembling those of ancient times, she never thought that it was the real deal until realization had hit her. Now, all those feelings of excitement and curiosity had been replaced by loneliness, distress, but most of all, fear.

Her cries came out muffled but could still be discerned. "M-mom... hng!" She wailed as she moved her body to now be sitting with her knees up and her arms embracing herself. "M-mom! Augh... d-d-dad... ugh... Mom!"

In such a situation, she missed her parents, she needed them. As much as they had distanced themselves from her, they had still made sure that she was alright. She wondered what had happened back at home, what her friends were doing, Milly, Sandra, and her parents. She let out a gasp when a sudden thought struck her. D-d-did she d-die?

"Agh!" She sobbed. "Mom! Dad!...hng God, please!" She begged but unsure on what specifically. To go back home? To explain what the heck was going on? To let her atleast see her parents one last time? She didn't know.

Idalia was scared. Her emotions had completely taken over therefore she wasn't aware of what she was doing and what was happening around her.

Prior to Idalia's breakdown, Catherine hadn't been able to sleep and after informing her husband, she found herself walking slowly in the corridor. She had been thinking on her daughter's strange behavior or more like on the weird feeling she had been having since yesterday. Everyone in Milikree was aware that spirits taking over a person's body was rare but possible, the most recent one having been a few years ago. So when she had noticed her daughter not acting like her usual self and with Catherine's senses, she considered the thought that a spirit was inside Idalia. Whether the spirit was good or bad didn't matter as they weren't supposed to reside in a person's body and should be taken out as soon as possible to let the spirit go back to where they belong. Hence, Catherine had decided to first speak to the Gods and then act from there.

That was the plan until she realized that she was standing in front of her daughter's chambers.

"Madam!" The guards standing in front of their young lady's room, bowed their heads when they saw the lady of the villa.

Unconsciously, she had walked here. Coincidentally, she heard a faint heartbreaking sob from inside.

Mom... Dad...

Catherine froze. She had heard Idalia call her that word yesterday and was not sure what it meant or what language it was from. But she strongly believed that they were used for one's parents. So was this spirit in her daughter's body calling for her parents?

Catherine contemplated on entering the room with a very conflicted look on her face. That was until she heard a scream come from inside the room.

"Open the doors!"

As soon as the doors opened, Catherine was met with the sight of a trembling Idalia, her bandages had come undone and she was hugging herself so tightly that Catherine was scared she would hurt herself. The girl was sobbing uncontrollably and didn't seem to know that she was there.

Catherine rushed to her daughter and enveloped her in her arms. "Idalia!"

"M-mom?"

"Everything's alright," she caressed her hair softly, avoiding the injury, "everything's alright."

Idalia was clinging onto her mother's clothes tightly. She had felt so lonely and afraid until she felt a warmth cocoon her and a familiar voice and face comfort her. She didn't care if it was the other mother or not but just seeing her mom's face and feel her warmth was able to calm her down.

Hiccuping and trying to catch her breath, Idalia stayed in Catherine's arms and didn't realize that due to using so much energy from her weak and injured body, she had fallen unconscious again.

Darren who had been alerted from his guards about what had happened also arrived at the scene with the physicians. Worried, he and Catherine once again spent another restless night due to the scare their daughter had given them.