Bright green eyes greeted them as the girl gained her consciousness. She blinked her eyes several times to clear her hazy vision and stared back at a silver-haired middle-aged man. His amethyst eyes were warm as he gazed back at her.
She frowned when a sharp pain shot through her head. Everything was a blur in her memory, she was not able to remember anything about herself which made her panic. With narrowed gaze, she questioned nobody in particular, "Who?"
Duchess Amalthea rushed towards her daughter and helped her to sit on her back supported by a pillow, "How are you feeling dear?"
The girl looked back at the beautiful middle-aged woman with black hair and green eyes in confusion, "Who are you....? Wh-who am I?" her question faded as she finished her words.
She clutched her head and glanced around hastily, "Where am I?"
The girl was panicking, 'why the hell was she not able to remember her name?'
"Answer me!" she demanded in a sharp voice making everyone baffled.
The ducal couple who were used to their daughter Iris's gentle demeanor were dumbfounded hearing the girl's fierce voice. Whereas Clifford was intrigued listening to his new sister's furious voice.
The girl now felt frustrated, they didn't answer her question and just looked at her like some kind of rare spectacle. She tried to get down from the bed but winced in pain because of her shoulder injury, "Ouch!" she held her shoulder and whined, "What the hell!?"
Duke and Duchess came out of their daze hearing their daughter's crude words. Lady Amalthea moved and helped her daughter, "You are injured, Iris. Don't move around carelessly"
Iris blinked her eyes and pointed her fingers towards her face, "My name is Iris?"
Her mother glanced at her husband before answering Iris, "Hurry and get the doctor"
Duke went out and came back with Dr.Stanley in no time. The doctor came near Iris and smiled gently, "I heard from your father that you are not able to recall your memories, Is it true?"
Iris glanced in the duke's direction and frowned, "He is my father?"
The duchess was the one to answer her question, "It's true, you are the only daughter of kenworthy duchy, Iris kenworthy" then she pointed at the two handsome men inside the room and said, "This old man here is your father Duke Augustus Kenworthy, and the handsome young man beside him is your elder brother Clifford Kenworthy"
"And this old woman here is your mother Amalthea kenworthy"the duke added earning a glare from his wife, "Did you just call me an old woman?"
"You started it" he snapped
Clifford chuckled at his parents' banter, "Stop it both of you, It is making the doctor uncomfortable"
Dr.Stanley just smiled at the ducal couple and turned back at his patient, "You received a heavy injury on your head which might be the cause of your missing memories or it may be from trauma after getting hurt. I will prescribe some medicine that might help you in recovering your past but I'm not completely sure"
"What do you mean by that?"
"It means that you may never recover your memories" the doctor replied patiently.
Iris sighed, she was not able to point it out, but her heart felt heavy. She was not able to erase the thought that there was something important in her memories. Then she glanced at her family, "Can I get a hand mirror?"
Her brother rushed towards the vanity and retrieved an oval-shaped mirror for her. Iris held the mirror in front of her face, she smiled brightly and declared, "I have confirmed it! I for sure belong to this family"
Her elder brother chuckled at her, "What made you so sure about that?"
"My pretty face" she answered without hesitation, "I got my silver hair from papa and green eyes with this exquisite face from mom"
"You are right sweetie" her father joined the conversation after hearing his daughter calling him 'papa'. He longed for his late daughter to call him that, but she always addressed him as 'Father' Ah! he missed his daughter.
"I know," she remarked arrogantly. Then her stomach complained making her sigh, "Ah I'm hungry"
"I'll prepare something for you to eat," her mother said and went out of the room.
Iris stared at the closed door and looked back at her father, "Papa are you poor?"
The Duke was caught off guard by the sudden query, "No way" he denied it immediately, "Your papa is currently the richest man in this empire, only next to the royals and grand duchy"
"Then are you a bad husband?" came her quick retort.
Her father pouted, "I'm the most loving husband in the empire, I love my wife very much"
"Oh" she nodded agreeing because she was not able to think otherwise seeing his defeated look, "But why is mom preparing the food? Are there no servants in the duchy?"
Duke chuckled and explained, "They have a day off today sweetie"
Iris just smiled sheepishly at him, "Sorry papa, I misunderstood you"
Her father just grinned at her, "It's alright sweetie" he simply loved being addressed as 'Papa' by his precious daughter.
After their family reunion, Clarence her mother's lady in waiting helped her in taking a bath and readied her.
Iris wore a simple peach-colored flowing gown with meshed sleeves. The dress perfectly fit her small waist without any corset because she refused to wear that in her current condition.
After walking with Clara for a certain distance, they finally reached the grand dining hall. The space was decorated with precious gold and gems on the walls, in the middle of that, a huge round dining table covered in red satin rested. A simple dinner consisting of soup and steak was spread on the table. Clifford noticed his little sister and smiled, he wanted to ask her to sit beside him but his ever-enthusiastic father beat him for it, "Come and sit beside me sweetie"
Clifford glared at his father and turned back to finish his soup. Iris made her way towards the seat beside her father and took her seat. Her parents and brother consistently supervised her eating making her warm in her heart. She felt guilty for not remembering such a loving family, but the question that bugged her the most was that her parents and brother didn't seem to mind her losing memories. Even Clara and butler Peterson, who seemingly saw her from a young age didn't mind her different behavior. Everything was so confusing, her father said that she got injured by falling off the horse but the pain in her shoulder was different from that of a wound from a simple horse fall. Her only consolation in this matter was that she was in her house and not at some dangerous place.