Ch 4. House Midas

Idalia was led inside the huge villa to one of the rooms on the first floor. Her mom had her hands gently placed on her shoulders while leading her and was instructing some of the, what Idalia assumed were, servants to bring some light food to the room.

Idalia noticed that the walls seemed to be made of stone and clay. Coming to stand in front of a doorway with the wooden doors opened and covered by a transparent curtain hanging inside, Lady Catherine took a step forward and moved the curtain to the side with her arm. Still holding the curtain, she turned to her daughter and gestured to come inside. Idalia could already see some things that were inside and she noticed how colorful and rich the room looked.

There were four couches, all in red, around a polished wooden table. There were wooden windows that had still been left open so she could see how the sunset had already turned into night.

"Oh, the windows are still open. Valen- She's not here. Then, you," Lady Catherine pointed at a girl with short brown hair, "Livia, close the windows."

As the girl went to close the windows that were in the room, Idalia saw how there were curtains decorating the walls and there was a very eye catching blue rug on the floor. Come to think of it, she hadn't seen lots of blue and purple when she was out and Idalia wondered why that was so. She saw some gold accessories decorating here and there around the room as well. Some tall plants were also standing next to some couch or table.

"Come here, my child," her mom called out to her after taking a seat on the couch in front of a red curtain that was on the wall. Walking towards her and taking a seat, Idalia continued to look around the room before looking down at her hands that she had placed on her knees. She saw her shoes peeking out and noticing how they weren't the sneakers that she was used to wearing, she extended her feet out. They're sandals, she realized.

Feeling her mother's intense gaze on her, she turned to face her mom's eyes. Lady Catherine had a very concerning look on her face, her eyebrows were furrowed and her eyes were moving around on her as if trying to check her whole body. Realizing that she might've looked strange, Idalia with an awkward smile on her face brought her feet down and tried to hide them by crossing them and moving them underneath the couch. The servants that were at the side with their heads bowed but still tried to take a glance, noticed how weird their young lady looked.

The mother and daughter kept their eyes on each as if they were in a staring contest for a few seconds before Idalia's mom asked, "Idalia, did you hit your head?"

Idalia blinked before titling her head to the side, "My...head?"

Lady Catherine nodded. "Right here," she brought her hands up to hold her daughter's face before moving one of them to touch the top of Idalia's head and lightly pressed down on it.

Idalia immediately felt a sharp pain that started from the top of her head run down the left side of her face. She let out an "Ow" and moved away from her mom. Lady Catherine instructed one of the servants nearby to send for a physician immediately after seeing her daughter in pain.

That was the scene that Idalia's father saw when he rushed into the room.

"Idalia, dear! What's going on?" He had quickly moved to stand next to his wife, his expression screaming confusion and worry.

"Idalia must've gotten hurt when she was out-"

"Where is she hurt?" Her dad roared with worry. He gently but firmly grabbed Idalia's face and examined it before giving a confused look at his wife.

"Her head," Lady Catherine explained and Idalia's father went back to scrutinizing her head.

Spotting something, he brought a finger to figure out what it was. He poked it but it resulted in Idalia drawing back with another "Ow!"

Worried and angry at whoever or whatever had caused his precious daughter such a painful bump, he demanded, "What happened?"

Everybody in the room turned to look at Idalia for an answer. Feeling many gazes on her, Idalia who was holding her left side of her face, answered, "I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know?" Lady Catherine took a step towards her, her heart growing more uneasy with every beat it took.

Idalia turned to look away from everybody and pursed her lips, quickly coming up with an answer, she said, "I don't remember."

Lady Catherine gasped, one of her hands was covering her mouth as she quickly went to hold Idalia. "Oh! My child! What do you mean you don't remember? Are you alright?" Seeing how strange Idalia had been acting and then seeing a terrifying bump on the left side of her head, she had a feeling that something bad must've happened to her daughter. However, like any other loving mother, she didn't want to think the worst for her child so she had waited to hear Idalia's explanation. But at that moment, she was hugging her child and soothing her as if comforting Idalia while trying not to cry. Idalia, however, felt that her mother was trying to comfort herself but she obediently stayed in her place after noticing her mom about to cry.

Idalia's father seeing his dear wife and daughter looking distressed, turned to the nearest servant and demanded, "Where's the physician?"

Before the servant could answer, a raspy voice sounded at the door, "I'm here, Lord Darren." Judging by the voice, Idalia expected to see a very old man but when she turned to look at the door, she saw a man who seemed to be in his early fifties trying to make his way through a crowd that had formed at the door.

This crowd consisted of some servants, physicians, and some other men that seemed to be in high power that had all been unintentionally listening in on what had been revealed inside the room. With the trio finally noticing their presence and looking upset that they had heard what the young lady had said, the people outside with embarrassed faces made excuses.

"Lady Catherine, I brought the food..." One servant announced, her voice had diminished at the end though.

"Well, Lord Darren, it seems that there will be no more need for my soldiers to continue with the search for Young Lady Idalia. I'll call off House Midas' order and may the Gods grant you all a peaceful night," one of the men that was dressed more soldier looking awkwardly excused himself with some other men following his example.

"Thank you, Commander Lucius," Idalia's father, Lord Darren, gratefully said. So that's what Sandra was referring to earlier, Idalia realized. She didn't recognize the man or many other people that were present.

The other physicians entered and while everyone was going to each their own ways, a servant girl could be seen running towards the room. "Lady Idalia!" She had short black curly hair and had a thick accent when she spoke. Idalia paused. She tried to hear whatever talk was occurring and when she understood what they were saying but not the pronunciation of the words, she realized that this whole time she had been understanding and talking in a different language. It wasn't English and she who had studied few languages since little didn't know which language it was.

How strange, she thought. It only made her believe more that she was dreaming but then she thought of something else. People usually say "Pinch me" to feel if they're dreaming or not through touch and Idalia who hadn't thought of using that method before could feel whatever was around her. She grabbed her mom's hands who was closest to her and felt the smooth and warm skin.

"Lady Idalia, are you alright?" The servant girl had arrived to stand next to her and spoke while trying to steady her breathing.

"Valentina, you're here!" Lady Catherine, whose hands were still being touched by her daughter, recognized the girl and was about to scold her when Idalia let go of her hands.

She was panting, her eyes were shaking, and her hands were trembling. Idalia had been a bit weak compared to other children so she was often sick growing up. Thankfully, she had never had anything too life threatening due to the modern medicine and her taking extra care of herself. However, at her present time, with the excruciating bump on her head, with her body not having eaten much that day, and with the sudden revelation of everything that she was witnessing being real, Idalia fell weakly and collapsed into her mother's arms who had immediately gone to hold her when she noticed something wrong.

That night wasn't peaceful in House Midas as physicians and servants were running around carrying out whatever orders had been passed down while the masters of the place were alarmed and anxious with the sudden collapse of their only child.