John didn't answer right away.
The question sat between them, "Would you like to ask her?", and John let it sit there the way you let something sit when you're not ready to pick it up but can't find a reason to leave it alone either.
Then, slowly, his head turned toward the wall.
Selene hadn't moved from her spot. Arms folded, chin slightly down, eyes somewhere between the floor and the table. She looked exactly as she had for the last hour. Except her jaw was different now, after hearing Lys's sudden proposal. Less held. As something she didn't expect Lys to drop as big as this out of the blue, after what happened between them.
"Selene," John said.
She didn't respond to his words at first.
The hearth had burned down to almost nothing while they were talking, just a dull red glow in the dark of the room. The cold from the floor had been creeping up for a while now, and Elara had shifted her weight against the wall without seeming to notice.
Then just as John was about to speak her name again, Selene lifted her eyes.
She looked at her father first, briefly. Then she looked at Lys, the way you glance at someone you've already made your decision about.
That look was different, and everyone in the room could feel it somehow.
It was not soft. Not open. But something that had changed from the start of the night, something that had been building so gradually it was only fully visible now that the room had gone quiet enough to see it. She looked at him the way you look at something that surprised you, and that you are still, quietly, turning over inside your head, on how to take it.
"Okay," she said, suddenly shocking everyone.
She took a big breath and said it again. "I'll do it."
John's chair scraped back an inch. "Selene…"
"Let me finish."
Her voice was quiet and firm. Like she didn't care what his opinions were anymore.
She unfolded her arms. It was a small thing, but it changed how she stood.
"You made me do something nobody's ever dared to make me do," she said to Lys. Her voice was even, each word placed carefully. "You made me feel what it's like to have no ground under me. Everyone watched while my ego was dragged on the open market, yet nobody moved to help me, not a soul." She took a short breath. "At that moment, I hated you for it. I still do, a little."
Lys said nothing. He just looked at her, steady and quiet.
"But I couldn't stop thinking about it, after that moment passed," she said. "Not just the humiliation. The other part." Her eyes dropped briefly, then came back up. "You saw something wrong in me, and you did something about it. Without asking anyone. Without checking whether the crowd would back you first or not." While saying this part, something shifted underneath her voice, very slightly. "Most people don't do that. Not even close to something like this."
Sara, against the far wall, had gone very still. She wasn't believing that these words were coming out of Selene's mouth.
Selene glanced at her father. Just once, briefly. "Father, I've spent my whole life watching you hurt people." Her voice didn't crack, like before. It stayed level, which sounded somehow worse for John. "You hurt me, continuously, all my life. And this boy, this peasant you keep calling him, he's the first person who made me think that maybe I don't have to be like you."
The kitchen went quiet all of a sudden as she said it.
Before anyone could see, John's hand came out, reaching for her arm. "Selene, don't…."
She stepped back. Not dramatically, just one small step, enough that his hand couldn't stop her anymore. "I'm not done."
He stopped. His hand dropped. Disbelief flashed in his face.
Selene turned back to Lys, and her expression was the clearest it had been all night. "I'll do it, but I have my own conditions."
Lys waited for her to finish.
"One year," she said. "After that, we decide together what comes next. Not you, not my father. Just the two of us."
"Hmm, fair enough," Lys said.
"Also, I get my own room. Nothing about how I live changes unless I decide it does."
"Agreed," Lys says flatly, like he didn't care anymore what conditions she places on him. Like whatever she asked of him, he might just agree to it.
"You treat me with respect in public. Actual respect. Not performance for others to see."
The corner of Lys's mouth moved, just slightly. "Understood."
Her voice dropped a fraction, quieter, meant for him alone. "And you never raise your hand to me. Not once. Not ever. For any reason."
The silence inside the room held.
Lys looked at her. Something in his face settled, without drama, without ceremony. Just finding the right place.
"I was never that kind of person to begin with," he said.
Selene held his gaze for a moment longer, considering if he was telling the truth or not. Then she gave one short nod. "Then yes, I agree to your marriage proposal."
Sara let out a breath, without her knowing, so quiet only she heard it.
Mira had both hands over her mouth, eyes bright above them.
And the most shocking change was that Elara was crying without making any sound, hands flat against her apron, tears moving down her face while she stood perfectly still.