This long winter made me reluctant to get out of bed. The comfortable mattress had ensnared me completely. Even so, a gentle touch I felt on my big toe shook me awake and dragged me out of dreamland.
As I started to open my eyes, a girl in a soft pastel dress looked at me bitterly. Her braided red hair lit up like leaves in autumn, mesmerizing me for a few seconds. Her age is probably not much different from mine. Maybe a year or two younger than me. Or maybe we were the same age? I don't know. What is clear is that she still looks young.
When I threw her a faint smile, she just nodded slowly, then walked away. Strange girl. Who is she? There's no way she was sacrificed to become his bride like me. Or perhaps... is she the monster's captive?
I circulated my nets, scanning the entire room that was so unfamiliar to me. A medium-sized room dominated by a light brown color had two windows right next to my bed, and another window near a study table. There were no other interesting objects other than a patternless wooden wardrobe and an old bookshelf with a few worn books. This wasn't my room, or Alienor's room.
I turned my gaze to the view outside the window. The dreamy white landscape brought me to a new atmosphere. A glittering field covered in melting snow stretched as far as the eye could see. Rows of trees that looked small in the distance lined up languidly as if they were sleeping in the snow that covered them. This view made me want to immediately capture it on a canvas that was just as clean as the snow outside. However, as soon as I recalled that short memory, my heart ached.
Ah, yes. Yesterday the village people sacrificed me to the creature that attacked the village as its bride, and now I'm in her house. Quite a cozy house.
I don't really remember what happened after I entered this house, until I realized that I was still wearing the white dress I last wore. All I remember is being tired and extremely sleepy. Perhaps I fell asleep before I actually entered the house.
A beautiful pink dress was folded on the table, waiting to be worn. I walked over to the table, grabbed the dress with the beautiful patterned lace, and quickly changed my clothes—I hoped it was really meant for me. Maybe that girl had prepared it. Or maybe it was that monster.
Ah yes, Arlon.
What a charismatic name for a monstrous creature like him. I wonder where he got that beautiful name from. I also still didn't know what kind of creature he really was.
I didn't rush down after the beautiful dress was put on my body. I didn't know what I was going to do after this, I couldn't imagine it at all, until I finally decided to go downstairs.
My eyes opened wide as I stepped on the wooden floor of the ground room which was quite pampering to the feet. The inside of this house was cleaner and tidier than I imagined. The front room was spacious and warm with a large antique sofa and two long soft-colored sofas facing the fireplace. Leaning against the walls were several shelves filled with books and vases of flowers. There were also small tables standing in the corner of the room, also decorating the light brown room. There wasn't much decoration in there other than a few paintings perched on the east wall. The large windows overlooking the small garden in front of the house with moss green curtains, as well as the ornate oil lamp attached to the wall were enough to make the atmosphere in the room quite calm.
I turned to the kitchen which was attached to the dining room. The room looked so clean and cozy with some cheap wooden and porcelain furniture. The bathroom was fragrant and clean.
Walking to the back of the house, there was a garden inside a greenhouse containing a variety of plants—including winter roses blooming with sparkles—and a sizable backyard with a small frozen pond. The rough rocks scattered around in places didn't make the place look bad. I couldn't wait to see spring.
I imagined the colorful flowers that bloomed would make the yard colorful and would certainly make the yard very pretty. There were also some flower gates and canopies lining the back side, leading us to the outside world—even though none of the flowers bloomed in winter.
My enthusiasm began to peak, and my curiosity about this place grew. I wanted to explore this whole place and discover many other new things that had yet to be touched by me. However, a black shadow that appeared from the flower gate in the backyard made me wince. I saw Arlon standing in front of me with a stern look on his face, breaking my trance. He was still wearing the same robe, but now he looked more 'presentable' like a gentleman—with a white long-sleeved shirt, a black vest, a bolo tie with maroon stones on the collar, and long black pants.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, as cold as the air around me.
I lowered my head. "N-no. I was just walking around."
Arlon walked right past me. "Come on in. Breakfast is ready."
* * * * *
The dark brown wooden dining table was already filled with various dishes for breakfast this morning. Two bowls of Cassoulet were steaming, served alongside toast with strawberry jam and hot tea. I don't know who prepared all this. Despite its simplicity, the dishes on the dining table whetted my appetite.
"Sit down," Arlon said as he pulled out his chair and sat opposite me.
With some hesitation, I sat down and started to reach for my spoon. But I had no intention of touching it to the bowl of soup in front of me.
Arlon reached for his spoon, took a piece of meat and soup from the bowl, savored it slowly, and then put another spoonful of soup into his mouth repeatedly. He also picked up his toast, and fed it a little brutally in one bite.
"What are you looking at? Hurry up and finish your food!" Arlon half yelled as he found me watching him.
I was so stunned that I almost dropped my spoon. I started to dip my spoon into the bowl, but somehow my appetite suddenly disappeared. All my thoughts about the events that had happened recently plagued me. That dark shadow came back. Although I didn't see it directly, somehow everything was vividly imagined in my head. And the cause of all the chaos and terror was right in front of me, sitting and eating her breakfast beautifully as if it had never happened. And again, how could he be eating at a table with a normal human menu, when just a few nights ago he was tearing through the village, preying on the villagers' livestock like a wild animal and harming people?
"Why aren't you eating your food?" asked Arlon, sounding a little annoyed.
I really wanted to eat in peace, to feel the feeling of the morning that I usually felt even in a different environment like this. I wanted the morning I opened my eyes to go as it usually did. However, my heart was really weak. I still couldn't accept all this unexpectedness, which made me feel like I'd been dropped into an icy lake that was so cold, dark, and deep. The shadow of that fear still hadn't disappeared.
"Hey, why are you so quiet?"
....
Arlon hit the table so roughly that the cup beside him fell over and spilled all its contents. Shock and fear appeared simultaneously, making my whole body tremble, and my legs felt weak.
He stood up and leaned towards me, looking at me intently with his angry eyes. His stern jaws seemed to harden even more, and the sharp fangs he showed made me even more wracked with suffocating horror.
"How long are you going to keep brooding like that?" he snarled, "I told you to raise your head and stop thinking about what happened! I'm giving you the chance to live as my bride, so just live with it!".
The pain of biting my lip to hold back tears was nothing compared to the pounding of my heart. Maybe this was my fault. I was too wrapped up in the thoughts that were actually nauseating. Even though I tried to hold back, I finally burst into tears.
"I- I'm sorry." I bowed my head, rubbing my eyes with my limp hands to disguise the traces of tears that treaded on the recesses of my face. I didn't want her to get angry again because of my crying, but it seemed like I couldn't hide the tears. Right now, no matter how hard I tried to stay strong, I couldn't stop all the feelings that made me shiver.
Arlon said no more. He straightened up and walked away, leaving the dining table in disarray.
While I was still sobbing, the red-haired girl I had met in my room earlier peeked out from the kitchen doorway. Her eyes were slightly teary, with slightly furrowed eyebrows and curled lips. She looked worried. Or maybe she was feeling as scared as I was.
The girl didn't even smile to comfort me. She continued to hide behind the kitchen door leaf without moving an inch. I knew what it meant, and it didn't matter at all.