The Museum

At SkyScapes, the delegation from Lireya was welcomed by the City Mayor and some high-ranking officials of the Usturian government. Ibarra Rocas after all was the Crown Prince of Lireya and was a Head of State.

The delegation was escorted to the most prestigious banquet hall of SkyScapes. Amaya was awed by the grandeur of the hall. The ceiling was very high and in the middle of the dome-shaped ceiling was a grand chandelier that was said to be made of over a hundred thousand crystals.

Usturian officials were introduced first, then Princess Amaya of Lireya, and finally the presence of His Excellency, the Crown Prince of Lireya was announced. Lunch took more than one hour and it was obvious Amaya was bored.

Prince Ibarra was observing Amaya closely. He sighed and noted that he will have Amaya undergo training on etiquette. She doesn't have the bearing of a princess at all. She looked very carefree and does not care about appearance.

He noted that Amaya was very close to Marx Skylar. She would observe Marx and sometimes would copy him. This displeased Ibarra.

After lunch, Marx accompanied the Lireyan delegation and the rest to the SkyScapes Museum. He had an entire hall that exclusively showcased the work of Ibrahim and Amaya on the Island of Miraga.

It was the first time that Amaya saw the exhibit. She beamed with pride as she surveyed the work that she and her father did. The way they were displayed made the pieces look more interesting and attractive.

Marx was standing beside Ibarra as he showed him the exhibit. "You have one heck of a brother Your Highness. He earned my admiration and respect and for someone to do that, he must really be exceptional."

"Of course, my brother is indeed exceptional." Ibarra was jealous but there was nothing he can do but agree. His twin brother has always been an excellent child, better than him in all aspects. It was only because he was born fifteen minutes ahead of him that he became the heir to the throne by virtue of birthright.

There can only be one heir so Ibrahim was not exposed to the public since he was a child. Only a few people from the palace knew about his existence. He and his brother were very close when they were kids. They were identical twins after all. The corner of his lips curled up when he remembered how Ibrahim would sneak into his classes and take difficult exams on his behalf.

They drifted apart when they were in high school. Ibrahim studied in the Military Academy and pursued a career as a military doctor while Ibarra was trained to be the future King of Lireya. Ibrahim was contended living under his shadow. His brother loved him so much that he never thought of stealing the throne from him.

Marx said something and Prince Ibarra was brought out of his reverie. He brought him in front of a big LED screen where a clip of the plane crash from fifteen years ago was being played in a loop.

"I studied this video clip a hundred times and I still did not understand how they could have survived. I asked my technical team to enhance the video and I finally saw it." Marx said with pride as if he was able to solve the greatest mystery of all time.

He flicked a button in the remote control and the video clip magnified and played in slow motion.

"There! A second before the plane blew up, a body ejected from the tail of the plane. His trajectory cleared the explosion. I can't believe his timing was so perfect!" Marx explained.

Ibarra regarded the cold man standing beside him. He could sense the admiration in his voice. He seemed to be obsessed with Ibrahim.

"Did you find out the reason why the plane crashed?" Ibarra asked.

"Your brother recorded it in his journal. It was a case of hijacking. Your wife got unlucky to be taken, hostage. She died from a fatal knife wound on her throat." Marx narrated expressionlessly.

Ibarra's breathing hitched. So Danaya suffered in her death.

Marx started to walk slowly as he led Prince Ibarra, Amaya, and the rest of the crowd through the exhibits.

The gallery was arranged in chronological order, starting from the early years of Ibrahim and Amaya on the island. They saw how the tools Ibrahim created progressed from looking crude to better versions. Marx found the first axe that Ibrahim built out of polished stone in one of the shacks and it was proudly displayed along with Ibrahim's other tools.

Amaya did not realize that her father has created so many things in fifteen years. The crowd was awed by Ibrahim's talent. They soon saw that Ibrahim discovered metals and built tools and knives from iron. There were also jars and clay pots of varying sizes and shapes.

They came to the section where Ibrahim has cataloged all the metals and precious gemstones he discovered on the island. He chipped out small pieces of ores that contained those metals and gemstones and arranged them on flat wood. The ores and gemstones were securely glued to the wood with a latex-like material.

Amaya helped him with that. They also did a similar one for the herbs and the medicinal plants and then the different flora on the island.

"Oh, I did this one." Amaya pointed to the collection of Miraga's flora. "Daddy asked me to do this project for my biology class. He taught me biology and he said I can only pass his subject if I gather the rarest flora on the island." Amaya's sweet voice was suddenly heard which surprised the crowd.

'Was she talking about biology class?' Even Ibarra looked at her in surprise.

The flowers and the leaf were all dried up but were in perfect condition.

Ibrahim also has a few collections of preserved animal heads he and Amaya hunted. He also has a small chest full of different fangs of animals, fossilized insects, leaves, and flowers.

They came to a smaller hall where Ibrahim and Amaya's clothes and paintings were displayed. Marx asked Amaya's permission if he can display her clothes and she agreed. The dress and the tiara she used during her seventh birthday were put on a mannequin.

Everyone saw the many imperfect versions of the tiara that Ibrahim made. They could still see some blood stains on them. Just how much did the father love her daughter for him to work on something that he is not familiar with just so he could give her a dress and a tiara for her seventh birthday? The crowd was moved to tears.

Ibarra felt a complex emotion sweep over him especially when he scanned the walls of the room and saw the different portraits and paintings of Danaya painted from memory by his brother!