As I walked, the people in the paintings displayed along the corridor seemed to be watching me. One of them was a Lady with a silver tiara and a furry red coat, who kept looking at me intently with her brownish eyes that looked sad. If they were all alive, I'm sure they would mock me. Or maybe even pity me.
The dark teak door was closed tightly, as if not allowing anyone to enter. I almost turned around and went back to my room when I remembered that a moment ago Simon had said that Dad wanted to talk to me about something. I was still curious what he wanted to talk about. So I knocked on the door to Dad's study, then grabbed the doorknob and opened it slowly.
The whole room fell silent as I stepped inside. Father was sitting in his chair, with Nicolas standing next to his seat. Inside the room, Raymond was sitting listlessly on the sofa to the right of Father's desk. The weather outside was not good, but at least the cold sunlight showed a little sparkle on the surface of the large window behind his father's desk. Even so, somehow that sparkle seemed to bring cold air into this maroon-colored room. I felt trembling as I stepped on the matching colored zigler rug that lay on the floor of Father's study.
All eyes were on me. Raymond and Nicolas looked away as soon as their eyes caught sight of me walking into the room. As for Father, as usual he looked at me coldly.
"Rosalynne, sit down," Father said in a deeper voice than before.
I walked to the empty sofa across from Raymond. There was silence again. I looked back at each of the people in the room. None of them showed their usual bright faces. I then turned my gaze to the handheld-sized globe that was lined up with the small flag of the Ferios Kingdom on Father's desk. After that, I completely focused on the charismatic man who was closing his eyes for a moment. Since Father had returned, he hadn't changed his appearance at all. The moss-green velvet vest with the white cravat around his neck looked a little rumpled. The bags under his eyelids were still clearly visible. His entire appearance was rumpled—except for his neatly combed silvery hair. This was not the time to be concerned with appearances.
Seeing the gloomy faces of the people in this room really made my stomach churn.
"Father, I will never accept this decision! You're crazy if you're going to decide this!" Raymond's voice sounded as if his throat was on fire.
"I don't need your opinion and acceptance. I am still the head of this family. All my decisions are absolute!" Dad said coldly.
The tension on the faces of everyone in the room made me even more nervous. As if something was eating away at my body, I felt so itchy and uncomfortable. What's going on? What's really going on? What's going to happen?
"I have something to talk to you about. It's about the terrible events that happened last night." Dad's voice echoed back after a few moments of silence.
My heart started beating fast, as if a bomb inside my heart was waiting to explode any second now. The cold air returned, making me tighten my grip on the skirt of the dress I was wearing. I glanced at Raymond who was sitting across from me for answers, but all I got was a look of sadness mixed with annoyance that he was trying to hold back. Likewise, when I looked at Nicolas, he didn't give an answer at all. In the end, even though I had to swallow to clear my nerves, I nodded.
"Listen, Rosalynne! I know this sounds unfair to you, but I need you for the safety and peace of our small town." Father looked even more serious.
I still didn't understand. "I'm sorry, Father, but what do you mean?"
Raymond suddenly stood up. His hard fist slammed into the handle of the sofa beside him. Even though the sofa was made of the best material that felt soft, I could hear the sound of Raymond's fist muffled by the sofa foam. "I told you this was a bad idea! Do you want to sacrifice your own daughter just because she's not very useful to you?"
My body shook as I heard Raymond's angry voice. I felt like my world was turned upside down, even before I knew what was happening.
Even so, Father completely ignored Raymond. "That beast..."
"No!" muttered Raymond softly.
What was going on?
"It wants a girl," continued Father
"Father!" shouted Raymond
"I'm sorry, Rosalynne. I had to sacrifice you to belong to that beast."