Ch 6. Milikree and Idalia of House Midas (I)

"Did you really lose your memories?!" Cassandra exclaimed for the nth time.

Idalia, who had already eaten a light meal and had been lying in bed for about three hours, patiently answered once again, "Yes." Her head had been treated with some ointment and was currently bandaged. She had, also, been drinking many cups of water to quench her thirst.

"Really?!"

"Mhm."

"Who am I?" Cassandra asked her, as if she were testing her.

"Cassandra," Idalia answered.

"Who am I betrothed to?"

Idalia didn't know so she shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know."

"Alright," Cassandra sighed in an upset manner but she continued to ask her, "What's the name of our kingdom?"

"I don't know," came the quick answer from Idalia, again.

Cassandra was staring at her dispiritedly, her eyes started to water and Idalia who had wanted to dismiss her with the excuse of being tired, froze. "Why are you crying?"

She didn't expect Cassandra to throw herself at her as she cried, "Idalia!" Not knowing what to do in that situation, Idalia wrapped her arms around her awkwardly as if wanting to comfort her. "Why did you forget? What caused you to...If I ever find the cause of your lost memories and of that big bump on your head, I will curse it!" Cassandra quickly stepped away from her and stood up, an evil and murderous look on her face and her hands had formed into fists. Idalia's eyebrows had raised as if asking if she was crazy and her head had tilted a bit to the side. Cassandra, who had just resolved to doing something really bad, glanced at Idalia and saw the look she was giving her. "By the Gods, Idalia! What's with that judging look on your face?!" Instead of the previous warrior like stance she had been showing, she now looked like a dog that had been scolded by its owner.

It was an all too familiar scene to Idalia, hadn't Milly said something similar yesterday in class? Her right eyebrow twitched and she took a deep breath to compose herself and her face. It seemed that she would have to work on her "judgy look."

"Anyways, do you think you'll be able to help me in remembering some things?" Idalia asked Cassandra. She didn't know how she had ended up here and she didn't know when she would be able to return back to her real world but she knew that while staying here, she would need to know about this world, the other Idalia's life, and many more things. She hadn't even had the time to actually take in all this and miss her real family and friends. She was tired but she was also aware of how little she knew of her surroundings so she had asked Cassandra for help.

Cassandra nodded, "Sure." She then had a confused expression, "But how exactly would I be able to help you?"

"Well...right now, you'll just need to answer some of my questions honestly. We can then decide what to do after some time has passed and I still haven't recovered," that is if I ever get all of the other Idalia's memories, she thought to herself.

"Oh, alright," Cassandra said, "Do you want someone else to help, too?"

"Like who?"

"Maybe your parents? Or Valentina?"

Idalia furrowed her eyebrows. She had first thought of asking the other Idalia's parents for help but she didn't know how their relationship was, it was clearly loving but to what extent? Her parents had showered her with so much love when she was younger but now it seemed as if they were trying to keep at her at a distance. Hence, her thoughts at that moment could be justified. As for Valentina, she had found out that the girl was kind of like her personal servant but at the same time, she wasn't and since she didn't have any clear memories regarding her, Idalia had decided to observe her first. It was best to be careful since she didn't recognize anyone else in this household from her modern world.

"Let it just be us for now," Idalia concluded. She then asked Cassandra, "Are you not going to go buy fabrics?"

"Huh? Oh, not anymore. We can go together some other day. The Moon Shining Festivals will start in about ten days so we still have time to go buy some fabrics for that day," Cassandra answered.

"Then let's start our agreement with this first question," Idalia made herself comfortable on her bed before asking her, "What's the Moon Shining Festivals?"

Cassandra sighed, she was really upset at the situation her friend was facing and she once again resolved to curse whatever had caused her friend's situation. Looking up to meet Idalia's eyes, she explained, "The Moon Shining Festivals is one of the biggest events that we celebrate here in Milikree. Oh! Milikree is our kingdom which is currently ruled by King Andreios and Queen Minerva. There's a lot of things you should know about them but I'll tell you later. Anyways, four of the most biggest and important events and festivities we have are the Sky Clearing Celebrations, the Sun Blazing Festivals, the Night Rising Celebrations, and the one that'll be taking place in some days, the Moon Shining Festivals."

Idalia could already take a guess at what was being celebrated during these events but she kept quiet and let Cassandra continue explaining. However, she was confused with what she had learned about this place. Milikree? She had never heard of it in her textbooks and she was confused why she had never heard of it in school or through the media.

"The Moon Shining Festivals is to celebrate the seasonal changes that occur during this time. It gets chillier and the night approaches more quickly. I've heard in some cities, there's even something called snow that falls from the sky!" Cassandra looked excited about snow, Idalia realized. "One day, I'll visit one of those cities and see for myself this snow!"

She continued, "Anyways, the other events that I mentioned also have significant seasonal changes which is why we celebrate them. There are street performers, parades, and every year King Andreios invites noble and aristocratic families to attend his banquets around this time to celebrate his birth day which is also during the Moon Shining Festivals." She paused, Idalia noticed how her friend hesitated to tell her something so she asked her,

"What do you want to tell me?"

Cassandra knew that she would have to tell her what was on her mind so she told her, "You don't remember with your current condition but you had been forbidden to enter the palace grounds since you were a little girl." Idalia raised an eyebrow, curious as to what might've happened. Cassandra's face turned angry as she suddenly cursed, "It was because of that b***h of House Solon! Because of her, you haven't been able to attend the banquets for a long time!"

Idalia kept quiet, although she was surprised in the inside of how similar this Cassandra was to the modern one.

"When you were about six or seven years of age, your parents had brought you to attend King Andreios' banquet. Near the end of the banquet, however, that little s**t face had started to accuse you of stealing one of her favorite hair pins during the time that we had played in the Royal Garden! It wasn't true because I remember you keeping to yourself during that time and just admiring the flowers that were in the garden. But, at that time, House Midas was having some disagreements with the king and was also having some trouble with the other four noble families, therefore, House Solon took that opportunity to make you look terrible in front of the king. King Andreios, also, took that chance to deal with your family, too! No one came to defend you because you have always been distanced from the others and were envied by many for being the daughter of the great House Midas. In the end, you were forbidden to step on palace grounds until you were to be forgiven by the king!" Cassandra was huffing heavily as she had ranted out on Idalia's behalf.

"Was I forgiven?"

"No! Besides that Solon girl and the cause of your memory loss, I might as well also include that man..." Cassandra stopped herself, realizing what she was about to declare. Inhaling deeply, she composed herself and quietly said, "Nevermind."

Idalia was amused at how much her friend was willing to even almost curse at this king. She chuckled, "It's okay. However, I would prefer you to let go of your ideas, too much anger and grudges isn't good for you." She paused before deciding, "We'll get back at her some day." She, too, wanted to do something to get back at this House Solon girl on behalf of the other Idalia.

"Okay?" Cassandra confusedly asked, but Idalia had took it as her agreeing with her thought.

"Anyways, what's her name?" Idalia asked and Cassandra responded,

"Phoebe. Phoebe of House Solon."

"And I'm Idalia of House Midas, right?"

"Yes."

Idalia let out a hum to let her know she understood before asking, "Anything else I need to know that's important?"