Chapter 4

~ Five years ago ~

It was a hot day. The sun was shining bright and there wasn't a breath of wind. Kristof searched for a place in the shade. Right now he wondered why he decided to visit the town's market on a day like this, with these high temperatures.

He enjoyed visiting the market. It was something he used to do as a little boy with his parents.

He had wrapped up a thin cloth around half of his face. People could think it was for protection, because of the scorching sun, so this was a pretty handy disguise to cover up his scar.

A large tree provided a good place to have some rest. He sat down and rested his back against the lumpy tree trunk. He was sitting in the dry dirt, but he didn't mind. Happily, he looked at the people and the busy market life. Some people were bargaining, car’s drove around, farmers and merchants sold their goods. He could smell the different scents of leather, spices, horse poo, and whatnot. Children played, old people talked together, and young people laughed.

Then, suddenly, his eyes and ears were drawn to a young lady near the fountain. Maybe she was still a girl, and not a lady yet.

"What are you gonna do?" Another boy asked the object of his interest.

"I'm hot. I need to cool off."

While the girl said it, she jumped shamelessly in the fountain basin. Just like that! The puddle was small, and she could barely sit in it.

"Klaus, Bright, Peter, Timo, haha, come here, you guys!"

The others ran around the fountain and the girl began splashing around. She was aiming at one of her friends when she accidentally splashed a handful of water in the face of an old man!

"Well, you! Young lady, I will teach you some!"

"Spencer, look out! Haha." One of her friends laughed.

The old grandpa started hitting the girl with his cane. But the girl only laughed while apologizing.

Her friends laughed as well and even the grandpa began to chuckle as he chased another boy while waving his cane in the air, pretending to be angry.

But he couldn't hold in his laughter anymore. He probably enjoyed the cooling splash on that hot day.

Kristof watched the scene with a smile on his face.

The young girl had such energy. Such liveliness.

Her smile. Kristof felt something inside him. As if someone grabbed his heart tight and squeezed it.

Spencer. That was her name.

Kristof will never forget her name.

He watched the grandpa sit on the edge of the fountain, all out of breath, while the other children gathered around him and Spencer laid on her belly in the fountain, her crossed elbows hanging over the edge, and her head resting on her arms. Legs dangled all over the edge because she was just too tall to fit in.

They talked together for a while and laughed.

Kristof saw the little dimples in Spencer’s cheeks when she smiled.

He watched them for at least an hour, until they ran away, playfully chasing after each other.

The girl with the name Spencer had never left

Kristof's mind since then.

~~~~ present time ~~~~

Kristof has had a restless night, he barely slept. All he could do was ponder about the situation.

Sometimes falling asleep for what felt like a minute or two and then wake up again, only to keep thinking about Spencer, her father, and their marriage.

The horrible night seemed to last forever. He couldn't get the events of the previous day out of his head.

All those things that Spencer had said to him. He knew she had said those things because she was upset at the predicament she had found himself in.

Because Spencer’s father had basically sold her hand in marriage, Spencer was angry at her father, and by association, angry at him too. Kristof knew it would be easier for Spencer to take out all her anger on him, instead of her father, so it was fine with him being the one that was at the receiving end of that anger.

He thought all night about ways to fix the situation.

The solution he came up with would end up with him having to make a sacrifice. Again.

Kristof decided to talk to Theo before he left to go to the mine for inspection. Spencer’s family was staying in a small guest house near the mansion .

“She doesn't want this. You are her father; you should have known."

"She just needs to get to know you. You're a good man. She needs to give it a chance."

"We started all wrong, Theo. She will hate me and resent me. I decided to let her have a choice. She can stay here for 2 months. If she is still unhappy, then we can end this so-called marriage.

You can keep the money and I will make sure Spencer, and your family will be well provided for. For the rest of your lives."

Theo pursed his lips. He thought about it.

"You know you can't just divorce, you just got married, what will people say?”

“Do you care about what people will say, or your daughter's happiness?”

Theo looked up and Kristof, could tell the father knew what he meant.

Spencer, barely slept. It was a crappy night. She cried half the night, thinking about what had happened yesterday. Kristof, never returned to the room, thank goodness.

She felt a pang of guilt when she thought about all the things she yelled at Kristof. It wasn't really fair of her, she knew that. She just couldn't help herself!!!! .

Knowing that Kristof could have just taken her that night, but didn't, made her grateful because the thought alone of that man hovering over her in bed made her stomach turn.

But how long could Kristof wait before he would just take what was his to take?

After Spencer stepped out of bed, she called for a servant and someone with a sweet voice knocked on her door and opened it after spencer gave permission.

"Hello, ma. My name is May. I have some tea with me." A young lady walked in. She rolled a cart with a teapot and a cup on it.

Spencer looked at the girl. She was beautiful, but she saw it immediately. Her eyes. One eye was dark brown and the other was light green! Spencer never saw that before, someone with different color eyes.

"Your eyes." The words just spilled out of her mouth.

"Haha, yes it's remarkable, huh?" She smiled at her .

"But... how can they be different?"

"Even I don't know the answer to that. I was born like this. My mother had green eyes and my father had brown eyes, so I guess I got a little from both of them."

Spencer didn't know what to say. She didn't know what to think of it. She didn't know what to think of them, the people who worked here as servants.

She saw it yesterday and the day before as well.

Kristof wasn't the only person in this household with imperfections. She saw a woman with hair on her face, like a beard. A man with a wooden leg, a man with a missing finger. And now this girl with two different eyes.

May looked at Spencer and knew exactly what she was thinking.

"Sir Kristof gives us the opportunity to live. People like us are looked as weird in society. We are so lucky with such a good master who is looking out for us."

May wanted Spencer to know what a good man Kristof was.

"Do you want to hear more? Or talk a little?"

Spencer could use some company and she was kind of curious about what she had to say.

"Yes... I would."

May poured some tea into the cup. After she was done, she focused on Spencer again.

"Okay, let's sit here."

She guided her to the chairs in front of the window.

Spencer was still dressed in her nightgown.

Her hair was a mess, her face was pale and her eyes were all puffy with dark circles. May pitied her.

They sat down and May nodded to the cup she placed in front of Spencer on the table. "Drink it."

Spencer grabbed it and blew into the cup before taking a small sip. It was chamomile tea, which she gladly welcomed. Maybe it would make her feel a bit better than she felt now.

May started talking. "My childhood was a disaster.

I stayed indoors most of the time because my parents feared that I would be seen as some witch.

After they died, I was left all alone. I needed food, so I roamed outside in search of food and a job. I needed to earn some money. But of course, nobody wanted to hire me. It was hell."

Her eyes started to glisten with tears a little when she went on with the story.

"Then, I met Sir Kristof. He offered me a position and here I still am. Four years already. I could not wish for a better master or a better life than I have here. I probably would have starved to death if it wasn't for him."

Spencer didn't really know what to say to her story.

She smiled a little and took another sip of the tea.

"If you are hungry, you can sit in the dining room for breakfast. Sir Kristof already left."

"Okay, I am a little hungry."

Spencer almost ate nothing yesterday. She could feel her stomach protesting.

"Good, ma, I will look for clothes and after you're finished getting dressed, you can come to the dining room."

She walked over to the wardrobe and searched for proper clothing. Spencer had a closet full of new clothes made of the finest designer’s.

"Before I forget. Sir asked me if you have everything you need. Sir knows you like to paint, so he bought you the best painting equipment there is.

Shall I have it brought to your room?"

Spencer didn't know if she felt like painting now, but she nodded. "Yes."

"He also asked me to give you the message to please dine with him tonight. He doesn't want to force you, but he has some urgent matters to discuss.

May did as she was told and had all the painting supplies brought over.

Spencer still felt a little awkward with the fact that she had so many servants who would do all she wanted.

She stared at the empty canvas in front of her. She picked up the brush and started painting.

After a good three hours, she looked at her creation.

A portrait of her former lover was to be seen.

Roan's face. His beautiful smiling face. The man she had given her body to for the first time in her life and never heard from since. Who hadn't even come to say goodbye.

Spencer stood up and grabbed a pair of scissors.

After a couple of minutes of staring at the painting, she rammed the scissor through Roan's smile with great force and cut the canvas into pieces.

That felt good.

During dinner, they sat opposite each other, both at the head of the table.

"This way we can talk easier, don't you think?"

All Spencer could think about right now was why

Kristof had decided to sit at that side of the table. If he could just sit on the other side, Spencer would see his better profile. Not the side of his face with the scar.

"I have something I wanted to discuss with you,"

Kristof continued.

"Uh-sure," Spencer replied.

"I have been thinking about it all night. There-there is a way to end this marriage. You don't have to worry about money. I will provide you enough to be comfortable for the rest of your life and I won't ask anything back from your family."

There was a way to end it? Armin had tried to think of how. All he knew was that once married, she thought she could never divorce him thus to whatever contract he had with her father.

"All I ask in return is for you to stay here for a 2 months and try to be a little happy. Maybe see me as a friend instead of an enemy. It pains me to see you like this."

"How can we end it?" That was all Spencer wanted to know, she didn't want to be this man's friend.

"The marriage isn't consummated yet. However, to annul the marriage, you must give a valid reason for not becoming physical after the wedding.

Spencer didn't understand but then it hit her that Kristof was speaking about sex.

"I thought about it," the older man continued. "I will permit you to say it's my fault. You can say I wasn't able to perform in the bedroom. That way, only my reputation will be harmed. I don't mind if this can bring you the happiness you seek for. My reputation is damaged already by my looks."

Spencer could see Kristof's Adam's apple bobble up and down when he said: "that way you don't have to stay here and you can marry someone else.

Someone you do love."

"You... you would do that? For me? Why?"Spencer asked.

"I don't want you to be miserable with me. Believe it or not, Spencer... but I'm not a bad man."

Spencer took a bite of her food. She was relieved, so relieved. She would remain married to Kristof for only 2 months . She could survive that.

"I accept your offer, I will try my best."

"Good. In 2 months, we will throw a big party.

It's something I do every year. I would like you to attend it. And after that, you are free to go to court."

The two of them ate the rest of their meals in silence.

Spencer sometimes looked up at Kristof's scar that went up and down and up and down as the man chewed.

When Kristof looked up at her, Spencer quickly looked away.

"I... I'm sorry... About what I said to you last night.

That was mean of me." Spencer spoke softly, almost whispering.

"Did you have a crappy, restless night too?" Kristof asked, half-smiling, before he put a piece of potato in his mouth.

"I did." Spencer sighed.

"What did you do today?"

"I painted...Thank you, by the way, for the material."

"You're welcome. What did you paint?"

"Oh, nothing special. Nothing worth mentioning."

"Paint me something. Before you'll leave," Kristof said. It was a way for him to have something left of Spencer’s in the house after annulling the marriage.

"I will."

This was already enough for Kristof. Just talking to her like this. Spencer seemed to be able to breathe again. He knew he could never make Spencer have feelings for him. He could never make her fall in love with him.

So this was enough.