Daughter of a Romulo

April 6, 2013

9:27 am

Christine Romulo

The taxi man just drops me by at the gate of our estate. I can't let him in inside. He must think me as some sort of assistant or applicant for the Romulos. He must have not thought that he brought the heiress to her kingdom. It is only when a guard opens up the door of the taxi for me. I went out of the taxi and gave him a generous amount of money for his service. After realizing who I am, he just went agape that he couldn't drive away immediately. All I could do is wave a goodbye to him as I enter through the gates.

The moment I enter the gates, I could immediately see a pathway leading up to the mansion. I see gardeners already greeting me a good morning. I greet them back in return. No, don't think about it. As I said, I don't sleep with just anyone. I have not slept with any of them. Frankly, I think they are far too afraid of me to even dare touch me. Still, I could see their eyes gleaming with some sort of intent, but too fearful to say anything.

I love our gardens. I love my mother for having to buy seeds from different countries just to recreate the garden of Eden. In this early of a morning, I could still hear the striking clacking sound of my stilettos. I walk up the stairs, leading up to the grand entrance of our home. The double doors are twice as tall as me. As I was just about to open the door myself, more guards open the door for me. With that, I greet them a good morning and they simply bow back.

At the middle of the grand lobby of our home, there is the majordomo waiting for me. His name is Louis Bautista. I call him Louis, but my parents insist that I call him Mister Bautista. Even at home, they teach me various formalities.

"Christine, you're early," he remarks sarcastically.

"I had to do some errands," I say casually. I remove my coat and hand it over to a maid waiting to pick it up. It needs a bit of cleaning after what happened last night, and she can see that. "Is everyone home?"

He just lets out a sigh. "They're waiting for you."

All I need ask is that question. "Everyone" means my parents and my sister. If they are all there, then I am seriously dead. With my stilettos clacking on our granite tiles, I think it is no surprise that everyone knows I am here.

I arrive at the dining hall, and there they are indeed. They are having a conversation.

"I just think that it is a terrible idea," my mother says to my father as she reads the papers. "A deal with the Silangs are not going to increase our sales."

"Their dynasty is literally revolving around sales," my father argues. "Their business is papers, magazines, news. Their business is the media. They control half of it in this country."

"They might not fulfill their end of the stick, Chris. And also, we have enough attention with the rise of this social media. We might as well throw out money down the rabbit hole if we hand them more money to promote our name."

A common scenario at the dining table, worry not. My sister is always silent. She is already a physician taking up her specialization in gynecology. Margaret knows to keep it silent when it comes to this business thing. Her field is medicine, this field is literal world. My family is a corporation that owns many companies from communications to energy to education to technology, they have it all. It is a dynasty that we built from a long time ago.

I sit next to my sister at the dining table. She seems to be bemused of what is going on. I see her slowly eat her food. She knows that she should finish at the same time as our parents. Any faster than that, and it will just come off as disrespectful.

"Where have you been?" she just asks me quietly.

"You know," I say frankly.

She knows. She knows my life. I need no more telling. "Do be careful," she whispers again before taking another small sip from the soup. "They have their suspicions."

As I prepare myself for breakfast, I can already see the chef setting my breakfast. I put a napkin over my legs and keep a proper posture.

"Mother is right," Margaret remarks again. "A deal with the Silangs is stupid. It's basically a scam for our money."

I literally know nothing what she or my parents is talking about. I just started taking sips from the soup. All of a sudden, they put their papers down and turn their attention to me. Great. I could have gotten away with it if nobody noticed that I was at the table.

"Oh, great, her highness has blessed us with her presence," my father remarked with his snarky ways. "Care to give your opinion on what your mother and I are talking about?"

Oh shit. Like, I don't really care about what you are talking about. I am not even here for the first part of it. I look at Margaret and I can tell she is already urging me to say what she said earlier. As I turn my gaze to my father again, I can tell that he is waiting for me to fail right before him.

"I… I… think that we should not pursue a deal with the Silangs," I stammer. "Though broadcast and print media are the best way for people in this country to be encouraged to buy our products, I think social media is a rising trend in advertising and… will continue to rise. And… I think it is a great way to advertise our products beyond this country. It could be a way to expand globally."

And with that, I left them in awe. I did nothing at all. I just came up with an answer from what my mother said and what Margaret had said. Even father is appalled. Of course, he will find a way to ruin it with his misogynistic ways.

"Yes, what a great opinion from a woman who is not here for the entire conversation," my father remarks. "Foolish answer."

I look around for my mother and Margaret to defend me. They say nothing. Instead, they are smiling. Wait? Are you seriously going to go on board with father's words? I look again at my father and I can see him smiling, smiling as if he is amused with a person's humiliation.

"The truth is, Christine, you are wrong," he says. "This conversation was just set up. The moment we heard your stilettos, we knew we had to come up with a way to get your attention. Anyway, the Silang deal is not going to pursue because the Silangs are already aligned with another company."

I… I have nothing to say. I would argue that my reasonings are right, but father's is much stronger. I just kept on eating what is in front of me.

"Are you not going to say anything?" father remarks in my silence.

I just give a tired smile. "No, you are right. It is not right to give my opinion on the matter of which I have not heard in full detail."

My father just looks annoyed. It was as if I had not answered him properly. He looks at my mother with half angry eyes and half laughing smile, an annoyed father.

Mother just lets out a brief sigh before speaking. "Christine, your father is not talking about you and your opinions. Frankly, I think he loves that. What he is talking about is your constant adventures at night. Rumors around certain households say that you have been invited to many… beds. It is not proper that there are rumors circulating about a Romulo."

"It does not only defame you, but it also defames me!" he exclaims. "You are my daughter, and therefore, I would like to hear nothing but virtue, purity, and brilliantness about her. I feel like I have no choice."

Wait. What does he mean? I look at Margaret, and she seems not at all worried. My mother even looks calm. "I have to give you to a church and let you use your talents there," my father continues. "There, we can erase those rumors and have things corrected. They will see an heiress living the life of chastity and purity. That makes you an eligible wife for the other families' heirs."

Eligible wife? Purity? Chastity? What the hell? This is not me. Also, the reason that I have to do those things is to fix what is wrong in this country. Bloody hell. And this is how they quell a rumor? By sending me to a become a nun?