Chapter 5 - My own castle.
Paris and Tybalt both sat on the sofa inside the study quietly with their heads low as Arthur reprimanded the both of them. "You are both to be careful around the child as she is still in a very vulnerable state! You do realize you are both big as oafs and even though she is 12 years old she is so deprived from the world she is more child-like compared to other 12 year old children, do you understand!"
Paris knew he wasn't wrong and he envied how much he managed to get closer to her compared to him. He wanted so much to pamper and hold his daughter but he had to be patient. Tybalt next to him pouted. "But I haven't even talked to her yet, you two did, it's not fair!" Arthur glared at Tybalt who paled and broke into a cold sweat under his gaze, knowing full well what he did wrong. "If you didn't storm into the room like a wild elephant you might have been able to see her." Tybalt laughed awkwardly, at his words and tried to change the topic "haha, my mistake...B-by the way, what's her name?" he asked.
Arthur narrowed his eyes at him knowing full well he was trying to change the topic but he has also wondered the same "I don't know." He replied. Paris felt happy being the first one she had told her name to and proudly said her name. "Iridesa." They both looked over at him, "My daughter, Iridesa." Arthur smiled, "Opal, named her after mother…" Iridesa Orion was the name of Paris and Arthur's mother and Iridesa and Tybalt's grandmother Opal knew how much this meant to Paris and kept it as her name. Paris had to know exactly why she had run away as he knew without a doubt she still loved him completely and that if she wasn't so helpless she would never run away, this also meant his daughter may be sought after too by the same danger that terrified his wife. "She may still be in danger." he said, Arthur and Tybalt both understood what he meant. Tybalt spoke with a terrifying glint in his eyes "Then we will have to protect her with everything we have, won't we. They better not expect us to show any mercy." Arthur smiled confidently. "Our forces are impenetrable, I'd like to see them try." Iridessa was now they're most precious treasure, anyone who tries to ever hurt her will have to go through the three of them first.
I sat in the bathtub that was large and luxurious. The water was warm and smelt like cherry blossoms. I scooped the bubbles in my hands watching them pop and float around. I loved playing with all the bubbles, the bath tub was full of them. I had never experienced such fun in my life. Miss Delphine laughed as she watched me giggle and play with the bubbles. She gently poured a jug of warm water over my head, I rubbed my eyes and laughed at the water pouring across my face. "You seem to really enjoy bath times. You must like taking a lot of baths." she said as she lathered some soap into my hair, gently massaging. My smile faded a little as I remembered sitting in the cold and dark alleyways when it rained so I could wash my hair and face. "I h-have never h-had a b-bath be-before…" her hands on my scalp stilled at my words.
"I u-used to s-sit in th-the rain. The Inn ke-keeper and his w-wife didn't want to w-waste w-water." Her fingers trembled a little, as I spoke. "W-well, I will make sure you get your daily baths a-and we can go buy lots of different types of soaps and make loads of bubbles! How does that sound!?" I smiled at her words excited "C-Can I, r-really…!?" She nodded her head and resumed massaging my scalp. "Ofcourse, this is your castle. Anything you ask for, your father will happily give to you." I smiled as I picked up the bubbles. "M-my own Castle…"
The thought almost seemed too good to be true, I don't know if I could let my guard down just yet, but it should be okay to enjoy what I can whilst I can, like a wonderful dream. After I had finished bathing, Miss Delphine wrapped me up in the fluffiest towel I have ever seen and wrapped my hair up in another. "Now everyone is waiting for you at the dining hall as it's dinner time.What would you like to wear? I recommend something comfy."
I looked at all the beautiful clothes in my closet, did these belong to someone else, considering there seems to be no other female family members in this family I couldn't help but wonder why do they have all these clothes. "W-whose clothes w-were these o-origina-naly, n-not that I m-mind I-i'm grateful to wear s-such clothes!" Miss Delphine laughed and replied, "Lady Iridesa, these are all yours. Lord Orion, had especially prepared everything for you these past 4 days, your room, clothes, any necessities…" I listened to her, shocked that someone would do all that for me. "Before your room was set he kept you in his own room and used the guest room for himself as he wanted to give you the best of the best until he made the perfect room for you."
I was absolutely speechless, I didn't know what to say. Miss Delphine pulled out two dresses, and held them both up. One was a green plaid dress with lovely white lace and trimming the other was a full length navy blue dress with full sleeves and a black lace collar. I thought carefully and the blue one seemed to remind me of the way my father dressed and I subconsciously held the dress. "Would you like to wear that one? I looked at the dress and then smiled. "Y-Yes please." She put away the other dress and we walked over to the mirror. She took off my towel, I looked at my reflection. I saw countless scars and bruises and my rib cages and spine were prominently sticking out.
My arms and legs were very thin and my face was hollow. I felt ashamed of myself and turned my face away. Miss Delphine seemed to have noticed this, "Lady Iridesa, your scars are a valuable statement of just how strong you have been and your body may be weak right now but with enough love and care we will have you healthy and glowing in no time. Most importantly your beauty won't ever fade as long as your heart is pure." I looked at myself in the mirror once more, it may not be now but maybe I can learn to love myself one day. "I-I want to b-become h-healthier…" She smiles at my words, "You will."
I put on my undergarments. I was a bit clumsy at first but Miss Delphine helped me get the hang of dressing myself. She placed my dress over my head and I pushed my arms through the sleeves and she zipped it up from the back. She took out a small chest full of exquisite gems and jewelry. I was intimidated by such luxuries but Miss Delphine excitedly spoke about how I have other bigger chests and more that my father is planning to buy. I really didn't need so much. It was too strange for me.I was gonna choose not to wear any but Miss Delphine really wanted to dress me up so I agreed to wear a pair of peach blossom hairpins. I sat down at the dressing table and she gently combed out my hair. She then braid my hair on both sides of my temple and braided the rest into one thick dutch braid. She placed the Peach blossom pins in my hair, one on each side. She smoothes out my dress and helped me put on a pair of black shoes, which felt so strange as I had never worn shoes before. I looked in the mirror and I almost didn't recognize myself. "You look beautiful, what do you think?" I blushed and touched my braid. My hair felt soft and clean unlike before when they felt like bristles. "I-I, Like it. T-thankyou, M-miss Delphine." She smiled at me in response, "It's my pleasure."
I walked down to the dining hall with Miss Delphine. The hallways were grand with beautiful paintings, statues and tapestries. I held her hand as I walked down. The maids and servants all looked at me curious, I hid slightly behind Miss Delphine, who smiled at me to ease my nerves. We reached the dining hall. The table was grand and the chairs were beautiful. The cutlery looked shiny and expensive and my stomach grumbled at all the lavish food set on the table. "A-am I really a-allowed to e-eat here…?" I asked too scared to wake up from this dream and find myself on the cold, dirty floor of the Inn basement.
Before Miss Delphine could reply, another voice that I didn't recognize spoke from behind. "Of Course you are Lady Iridessa." I looked back to see a woman in a suit with a short gray bob, she had a gentle look and wore a glass eye piece. She approached me and I held Miss Delphines hand. "There's no need to be afraid Lady Iridesa. This is Mia, she's the butler of the castle." Butler Mia knelt down before me and lowered her head in a bow. "I'm thrilled to finally meet you Lady Iridesa." I didn't want to be rude so I greeted her back. "N-Nice to meet you." She smiled at me. "You know, I don't know why you're worried about eating here, this whole castle is yours if you ask me you could command Lord Orion around if you wanted to and he would happily obey any orders you give him." I shook my head. "I-I couldn't d-dare!" she laughed at my reaction. "If you're not so sure you should try sometime, trust me your father would do anything for you."
It felt strange hearing those words. "M-my father…" I never thought it was ever possible to meet him, I still can't wrap my head around the fact that I found him. Just then the doors opened I startled holding Miss Delphine's, apron. Miss Delphine and Butler Mia both lowered their heads to greet my father, uncle and my brother as they walked in. I peered at them and met my fathers eyes. He didn't really smile much or talk much, I found him a little hard to understand, so I nervously averted my gaze. My uncle on the other hand smiled gently and so did my brother who was beaming at me excitedly. "You look so pretty, Iridesa" My uncle called my name and it felt nice, to finally have someone call out my name, "T-thankyou, U-Uncle…" I blushed at his compliment, "Hey there Iridesa! I'm your older Brother Tybalt. I'm older than you by 7 years, see how strong I am, you won't have to be afraid any more with me around!" I didn't feel as scared as before but his presence was still a bit overwhelming, but not to be rude I mustered up the courage to respond. "N-Nice t-to meet y-you…" He smiled at my response and nudged his uncle "See! I told you I won't mess up!" Uncle Arthur sighed, and pushed up his glasses. He looked over at me and spoke gently with a smile. "Now let's eat, you must be very hungry." Everyone went to their seats and Delphine left to serve so I wasn't sure what to do,(where should I sit? what if i sit in the wrong place!?) As I fiddled with my dress, feeling panicked as to what I should do I suddenly felt myself lift into the air. "W-wah-!?" I looked back to see my Father carrying me. He placed me in the head chair.
"I-I can't s-sit in Y-your p-place-!?" He sat down next to me unbothered and everyone else just smiled. "You can sit wherever you like, nobody here will dare say anything to you." Father said as he gently placed a napkin over my lap for me. I wasn't sure how to respond to that, I didn't feel right receiving so much special treatment. "If you ask me I think that place suits you, Iridesa.'' Uncle Arthur chimed in and Brother Tybalt agreed. "Don't worry I always used to sit in fathers chair and he threw me off but I still do it anyways!" I was going to protest that it is not proper for me but my stomach growled so loudly that I forgot how to speak and froze. Everyone looked at me and my face blushed bright red. I clasped both my hands covering my face feeling absolutely mortified! (How embarrassing!? What if they all laugh at me!?)