Khanyi curled up on the bed, looking at her scarred feet. Tears of grievance fell; it seemed she had cried all the tears of her life in just a few days, and she couldn’t help but sigh at her fate.
She regretted it deeply. First, she shouldn’t have been so willful in her youth, ignoring her father’s advice to study music at a church school in America and be a good girl. Instead, she secretly switched to medicine. Second, she shouldn’t have volunteered to join the Red Cross and recklessly come to a Nazi camp.
Third, she shouldn’t have naively thought she could change anything. In a fit of passion, she was punished by that witch guard, Margaret, and imprisoned as a criminal in the concentration camp. She truly regretted it because they were a pack of real wolves, and he was the king of beasts, a bloodthirsty devil.
She was just a little girl, full of passion but utterly powerless against a brutal enemy. She feared pain and humiliation and dreaded death even more. Her opponent was too powerful; he was not in a hurry to swallow her whole but, like a wolf savoring its prey, slowly eroded her thoughts, making her aware of his ruthless methods that were so irresistible while simultaneously casting a spell of gentleness over her.
He still did that, lightly tapping on the door with two fingers before entering uninvited.
She stared at him warily, “What… do you want?”
“I have some gifts for you.” He smiled slightly, pulled her down from the bed, and, holding her arm, dragged her into another room. This room was almost identical in furniture arrangement to the previous one, but the bed was adorned with many beautiful boxes of various colors and sizes. She stood behind him.
He first opened the largest box, and Khanyi instinctively covered her eyes. What could this vampire-like man possibly reveal from the box? To her surprise, it contained an exquisitely luxurious golden evening gown. She could tell that the fabric was made from high-quality silk from her homeland.
Every spring, her mother would send the butler to the tailor to make new clothes for the sisters, and she had a few dresses made of silk. But that was back in her hometown; these silks had traveled across the ocean to Europe, and their price could rival gold. That wasn’t all; the gown was embroidered with intricate golden threads.
She knew the value of such craftsmanship; even in her wealthy family, they would commission someone to embroider a golden-threaded vest only for the grandmother’s birthday, which her father would present as a precious gift to win her favor.
“I know you want a dress. How about this one? Do you like it?” He leaned back against the bed, a smile playing on his seductive lips, raising his head to gaze into her eyes. “The perfect combination of material and craftsmanship, like a work of art.”
She stood silently beside him; the dress was indeed magnificent, but she had no idea what scheme he was brewing.
“Perhaps you’ll like this.” He gently opened another narrow box, and her eyes unconsciously looked inside… Ah, how beautiful! She couldn’t help but sigh softly in her heart. It was a long shawl made of purple marten fur, luxurious and exquisite, shimmering with a pure luster. His long fingers reached into the box, the fluffy, soft fur rolling like waves in his hand. He then lowered his head, resting his high nose on the soft fur, gently blowing a breath, and raised his ice-blue eyes, gazing at her alluringly. “What fine fur, pure as snow, without a single impurity. Women would go to great lengths to obtain this.”
She turned her face away silently, refusing to look into his eyes. He gently set down the purple marten shawl, a dazzling light flashing across her face. She looked back at the bed, and the item before her made her gasp in astonishment.
This time, he took out a diamond-studded necklace from a velvet box, densely packed with diamonds of all sizes, each one sparkling brilliantly. He held the necklace with the index fingers of both hands, “Each diamond is of superior cut and fire; don’t think it’s cheap. I am a perfectionist.”
Indeed, it was a perfect diamond necklace; she had never seen so many diamonds in her life. The women in her hometown loved jade, while the American girls at the church school were crazy about diamonds. Regardless, this necklace dazzled her eyes.
She controlled herself not to be swayed by these luxurious clothes and jewelry. The more beautiful and expensive these items were, the more they illustrated the extravagance and debauchery of these Nazi officers, who plundered the people’s wealth.
Noticing her steadfastness and stubbornness, he solemnly opened the most exquisite square box. “Perhaps you’ll like this.”
“This… what is this…” she couldn’t help but ask.
He held up a pair of transparent crystal shoes in his palm. They were truly a pair of crystal-carved shoes, flawless and sparkling, with very high and pointed heels, seemingly reinforced with golden filigree.
These shoes seemed to pull her into a fairy tale world, the story of the Brothers Grimm, where an ordinary girl was mistreated by her stepmother, and a kind fairy gifted her a pair of crystal shoes, which allowed the handsome prince who loved her to recognize her among many girls… Khanyi couldn’t help but reach out to touch the crystal shoes; they were simply too beautiful.
The man before her was a hundred times more handsome than any prince in a fairy tale. It was as if he had guessed her thoughts, “Jacob Grimm, Wilhelm Grimm, those brothers who practiced romanticism indeed wrote a beautiful story. I am glad you like this gift.”
His ice-blue eyes sparkled with a chilling light, pulling her back from her dreamy state. “What do you want?” Why was he giving her so many precious gifts? She had nothing worth buying; she was just a Red Cross nurse, with no military secrets to offer. If it was merely to possess her body, she was already in his hands; he could do whatever he wanted with her.
