As soon as Father told me what had happened, Raymond, who had stood firmly against Father's orders for the first time, fell limp as the words finally caught my ear.
"Rosalynne, you must sacrifice yourself to belong to that creature."
"What... do you mean? What's really going on? Please explain everything to me," I said as softly as I could, even though my chest was already starting to feel tight.
"I'm sorry, Milady," Nicolas said. But...."
Father raised his right hand, beckoning Nicolas not to continue. "Ravela has been terrorized by this ferocious creature for several days now. People's fields have been destroyed, their livestock eaten up, and some people have disappeared, some even found dead. We couldn't face that creature because it was so powerful and dangerous. Even the best people in town can't match it."
"Wait! What is that creature?" I asked in a half-whisper. I was getting impatient. I hoped it wasn't the creature Edgar Marveille had told me about the other day.
"People from the past called it Bete, a monstrous being, the ferocity beast. Some say it's a creature punished by God for its ferocity and cruelty. Others say that it's a demon that has disturbed the Garden of Heaven. Others say that it is a creature created from the vengeance and darkness of human beings," Nicolas explained, "Hebexisted a long time ago, but he disappeared. Now he has reappeared. Last night we met him in the forest and we talked to him. He said he wouldn't mess with Ravela on one condition...."
"He wants a bride," said Father.
I didn't know what else to say. My body felt so weak that I could no longer feel the comfort of the back of the sofa I was sitting on. My voice seemed to be stuck in my throat. The air in this room also seemed to be getting thinner, making it difficult for me to draw in all the oxygen in this room because there wasn't enough oxygen here anymore.
"But why Rosalynne?" said Raymond. His voice was slightly muffled, but I could still feel the anger.
In the midst of the tense atmosphere, Thérèse banged on the door and emerged with a scowl on her face. The muffled stomp of her steps on the carpet did nothing to quell her anger.
"Tell me that what I just heard is a joke!" said Thérèse angrily. She walked straight to her father's desk, ignoring her surroundings. "I know you can't take a joke. But please tell me that this is just your joke. It's a bad joke, Father!"
"Too bad, Thérèse," Father interrupted with his eyes closed. He opened his eyes again, then looked at his eldest daughter with a piercing gaze. "You know I never joke. Besides, do you think this situation deserves a joke?"
Thérèse's lips trembled visibly, and her shoulders and arms seemed to stiffen. She clenched her fists vigorously, forming a fist that she finally brought down on the hard surface of her father's desk.
"How cruel of you to sacrifice your own daughter to a vicious monster just because you didn't want her!" Thérèse exclaimed angrily. Her tears erupted at that moment, making me even more weak and shaky.
Father didn't answer.
"I've just lost my mother, and now I have to lose a sister?" continued Thérèse in an increasingly sobbing voice.
Father got up from his seat. He walked to a narrow space behind his chair and looked out of the window, his back to all of us who were drowning in uncertainty. "This is the biggest sacrifice I've made for this city. Of course it's also very difficult for me."
There was silence in the room again.
"I have no other choice. That horrible creature asked for it." Father turned his body around and looked back at me intently. "Rosalynne, you are my daughter. I have high hopes for you."
It hurt. I don't know why it hurt so much to hear those words come out of the stiff mouth of Father who had rarely paid attention to me. Why did he say it this time?
"No, I don't. I don't want to." I said, making everyone in the room simultaneously glance at me. At that moment I knew everyone was surprised, though I didn't know what they were surprised about—my tears or my refusal. But, aside from all the shocked stares that assaulted me, it was Father's gaze that made me feel like I was being hit by a wave of heat that was slowly burning my skin. I'd never seen his eyes buy at me like that before. But the more he opened his eyes wide, the louder I wanted to scream.
"I don't want to, Father! Don't leave me to that thing! I want to stay with you! I don't-"
It wasn't a request, but it was an order. I should have realized it immediately when Father called me here, when I started to enter this room. What he said in this room was always an order for me. I should have realized it. But, at this moment, I didn't even realize Father was standing in front of me right before I finished my sentence, with an angry face and hands flying in the air. Father slapped me. And it was only then that I realized that I had made a very big mistake.
"Don't argue with me, Rosalynne!" he scolded.
Silence fell again. Everyone was so shocked that they couldn't do anything. But moments later, a furious Raymond was about to run at Father if Thérèse hadn't held him back.
No, she didn't. It wasn't Thérèse who held back both Raymond and his emotions. She was also held back by something. Or rather someone who was now standing in the doorway.
I followed the direction of everyone's gaze at that moment. Edgar Marveille was frozen in the doorway. he was as surprised as everyone else. perhaps no one was more surprised than he at the sight of Father tugging at the collar of my dress with his reddened hands.
"What... what happened?" murmured Edgar Marveille slowly.
Father didn't answer. No one else answered.
Edgar Marveille walked toward us with heavy steps. "I've heard everything about you sacrificing my future wife to that creature. I just want to ask you one thing."
Everyone fell silent.
Edgar Marveille made it to Father. He then pulled the cravat around Father's neck just as Father had done to me a few minutes ago. "Why are you doing this, Earl Favre? Why should Rosalynne obey you until you slap her with your rough hands because she won't leave you?" shouted Edgar Marveille angrily.
An explosion of anger erupted at that moment in Father's study. Edgar Marveille almost punched Father in the face if Nicolas hadn't stopped him immediately. Raymond, who was becoming increasingly incensed, was about to join Edgar Marveille, but was held back by Thérèse, who wanted to vent her frustration too. Everything seemed to be in chaos.
It hurts. It really did hurt when Father spanked me to the point of giving me a hard slap. But that's not it. That's not what makes me feel so miserable right now. Why did Father, who had rarely paid attention to me, say such a thing? Why did he entrust something this important to me this time? This made it even harder for me to ignore him, even though it was possible for me to refuse him. I had already refused, but it turned out to be something I couldn't refuse, especially after seeing Father's sad eyes that were almost punched out by Edgar Marveille.
"Stop it!" My shout brought everyone's attention back to me, who was becoming increasingly flooded with tears. "Please stop. Let no one scold Father again. Please."
"Rosalynne...." murmured Thérèse.
As the tears slowly melted into the cold atmosphere of the entire room, I nodded even though it felt so heavy. "Father, I will do it. I will fulfill your command. For Ravela's sake—for Father's sake."