When you were little, the murder of your family in front of your eyes had a big impact on you. After that day, you didn't even dare to talk to anyone. People in your village called you timid, shy, coward and many other things, but in the end everyone came to the conclusion that you were mute.

However, as you grew up, a new word was added to the words used to describe you: beautiful. You had certainly grown up beautifully over the years, and there was no one who could deny that. But beauty was more of a curse than a blessing, especially in your case.

Almost all the men in your village liked you, single or not, young or old. This liking wasn't about your personality, it was about your beauty. And because it was such a purely physical thing, sometimes you couldn't even walk freely down the street without a man tagging along. People just thought you were mute, no one thought you were deaf, but that didn't stop them from making the most derogatory comments about you in front of you.

Ivar was one of these guys who liked you too, who wasn't? And at first, his love was all about your body, rather than his feelings either. He tried every way, dirty or sweet, good or bad, to make you trust him. Just like all those other men who want to impress you and possess you.

However... Your sweetness had changed something for Ivar, nobody knows when but the love and need he felt for your body had slowly turned into the love and need he felt for you. And he didn't even realize it yet.

Today, while you were helping one of the old women in village wash her laundry, Ivar was watching you, like the rest of the village. When one of the children of the village grabbed one of the shirts from your hand as if it was funny and ran towards where Ivar sat, it was not very difficult for Ivar to take the shirt from the boy's hand, even though he could not stand up because of his legs.

Ivar grinned as you approached him with your usual shyness. He handed you the shirt but didn't let you take it.

"No need to look so timid."