Raised From The Wild-Chapter 80: Nostalgia

Amaya supported her grandmother as they went inside the spacious building. The museum was like a big circular disc. People can go through the main entrance and the artifacts were arranged in the outside ring of the disc. There was a resting area in the middle that can be accessed from twelve different points from the sections where the artifacts were displayed.

The first thing that Amaya saw was a replica of the main house on the beach where she and her father lived. The floor that they were standing on was a simulation of the beach. Amaya walked a few steps toward the log cabin and she felt that floor change into the sandy shore. It was not real of course but it was just a simulation.

Amaya was feeling nostalgic. Suddenly she saw images flash before her mind. She saw Ibrahim come out of the log cabin door smiling gently at her and reminding herself to rinse in the back because she just came from her morning swim at the beach.

"Aya, are you alright?" Marx tapped her shoulder when he saw her in a trance. Amaya turned around and gave him a forced smile as she blinked away the tears that pooled in her eyes.

"This is where the house I grew up with. Daddy made a few renovations and this is the most improved version." Amaya went inside. The wooden circular table made from a tree stump and chairs where she and her father would sit and play games were placed exactly where they used to be.

Amaya saw a parchment at the table. She looked at Marx with confusion.

"This is from your father’s journal. He described in detail how he built the first house and how he modified it over the years."

Amaya showed her bedroom to her family. The clay tablets and some of her paintings were displayed on the walls of her room. The dress she wore on her seventh birthday was encased in a glass container along with the tiara. The painting of her seventh birthday was also displayed in her room.

Queen Lucinda can no longer hold her tears. King Duncan held her in his arms and let her cry until she calmed down.

"Don’t cry, Grandma. I did not suffer at all. Daddy Ibrahim made sure that I was comfortable." Amaya said honestly. At that time, she indeed felt that she was comfortable as there was nothing she can compare to. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂

They moved to Ibrahim’s room and there was only the bamboo bed and a display shelf. On the wall opposite the bed were mostly portraits of Danaya. Amaya’s portrait starting from a small girl up to when she was twelve years old where displayed on the wall near the doorless door.

Crown Prince Ibarra pursed his lips and clenched his fists. The portraits looked different when he saw them in Usturia as they were arranged differently. Looking at the position of the headboard, Ibarra can easily tell what Ibrahim’s intent was. The last thing he would see when he closed his eyes in the evening and the first thing he would see when they opened them again in the morning was the different faces of Danaya. At that moment, there is nothing he wanted to do but lie down on that hard bed.

Princess Consort Nelida calmed her raging heart when she noticed Ibarra’s reaction. "My brother-in-law was really a great painter. He was able to capture my sister’s facial features very well."

"Look at Aunt’s eyes. They looked lively." Donello blurted out. "Why did Uncle Ibrahim paint Aunt Danaya? Wasn’t she your first wife, Father?"

Ibarra did not know how to answer his son. He cannot tell him that Danaya and Ibrahim were a couple and about to get married but he stole her from him, right? Ibarra looked at his father asking for his help.

King Duncan cleared his throat. "Princess Danaya and your Uncle Ibrahim were actually childhood sweethearts. But then your uncle was assigned to different missions which caused him to live far away and they drifted apart. In the end, your Aunt Danaya married your father."

Queen Lucinda glared at her husband but did not say anything. That was all in the past now. Danaya and Ibarra were not meant to be. At least at the last moment of her life, she was with the man she loved, and her daughter was brought up by her biological father. Though Danaya died early, fate was not so harsh on them.

They moved to the third bedroom which was Ibrahim’s workshop. The wall was littered with different paintings of Ibrahim and Amaya. There were also half-finished tiaras or completed tiaras that were crooked or done badly. On the wooden shelf which was now encased a tamper-resistant glass, fragments of metals and gems were neatly arranged.

"How did you remember all these things? You must have a photographic memory" Amaya asked.

"I took photos of them," Marx answered briefly.

They get down from the rooms to the kitchen and the dining table. All the jars and the cutleries were in the right places.

"How ingenious. Can I hold the wooden spoon and fork?" Dave cannot hold his curiosity anymore.

Marx glared at him. When Amaya nodded, Dave held the cutleries and run his fingers over them.

Amaya saw the two sets of the golden spoon, fork, and knife that Ibrahim made which they used during special occasions. They were encased in tamper-resistant glass.

"Marx, can we just create a replica of those? I want to give them to Grandpa and Grandma as gifts."

Marx nodded. "I will have them placed in a box later."

Tatiana and Zanzara who were closely following Marx earlier lingered in Amaya’s bedroom. Her parents and her uncle were also there.

"Father, are those gems on Amaya’s tiara real?" Tatiana asked as her eyes scanned the tiara greedily. The lower band was made of gold and the gems were made of diamonds and amethysts.

"Yes, they are real gold and diamonds. How beautiful!" Her father answered her without taking his eyes off the tiara.