Christoph and Carry.


At the time, Christoph was a doctor. He had been operating for over 70 years, which by rule, made him an Elder/Elite Doctor of Nortrig (thus higher than the ordinary ones, wearing a black coat instead of the classic white).
He was a totally different man than he is now. He was cheerful, patient, caring and even sweet, while still being a very hard worker, obseesed with clean and an insanely precise person. All qualities that suit a doctor of Nortrig. And his career was literally shiny.
The Master Doctor of the time, Hermer Hartz, decided to go to his well-deserved retirement after an honorable carreer lasted 602 years and the two canditates between which he'd have to choose his successor, were Christoph, his favorite, and Loris Robstein (the current Master Doctor).
Everything was going according to his plans, he only paid attention to his carreer, after all, as a doctor he couldn't get married, thus he found it beyond pointless to care at all about his sentimental life. That is, until a "fateful" day.

It was Winter II and as always, there was a state of alarm all over the North. The Hospital was insanely crowded, emergency requests arrived at an insane pace making all the doctors and healers stressed and overwhelmed by patients. In that chaos, a specific request of assistance was sent by a noble man to Doctor Hartz himself, who, being already busy, decided to sent Christoph instead, to check it.
Christoph accepted without complaints, after all, he DID want to be chosen as next Master Doctor, so, he left the hospital and headed to the mansion of the man, Quentin Collier (Lydia's second husband by combined marriage her father forced her into), a nobleman of the Dukedom of Sturmland.
There, he was welcomed quite coldly by the man, not pleased by the fact the Master Doctor sent someone else. It made him feel less important, not because he cared at all that his step-daughter would be taken care of by the best of doctors.
Ignoring the attitude of the man, Christoph behaved professionally and went to take care of the young woman, who was lied on her bed in her bedroom, holding her arm, looking in pain.
It took Carry just one glance at Christoph to know he was the man she wanted. It was love at the first sight to her, and how gently and kindly Christoph treated her while taking care of her broken arm only "added wood to the fire" in her heart.
At the time, she wasn't happy. Her mother wasn't happy with that man, he mistreated them all, insulted her dead father, working class, basically everything that was in any way linked to them. It was like a war in their home, no one liked each other. Thus, the doctor's attitude was like a breath of fresh air for her.
On the other hand, Christoph did notice her for sure, as she was stunningly beautiful, but knowing his place and position, he didn't look at her as anything else than a patient in need of assistance. He really gave her the same treatment he would give to anyone else in her position.
Sadly for Carry, it didn't take Christoph more than an hour to be done with her and being it nothing so serious in a moment of national emergency, he wouldn't return to check the state of it daily nor anything, he told her what to do and that in three days everything would be fixed as if nothing had happened. Which was a big disappointment to her now. She wanted to see him again, she wanted to get to know him more. She tried to ask him to return to check the arm the next day, but all she was given was the address of his clinic, being told that should she notice any issue, she could come to visit him there. And it was a good start to her.

For the days it took her to heal, she just spent the entire time thinking about an excuse to go out of home and that would justify her absence of some hours for who knows how many days in a row. She literally planned to stalk him like a spy until she would get the chance to meet him properly.
Carry was an extremely ambitious and determined woman, she always obtained what she wanted and sometimes, she was even willing to go against whatever rule or law in order to reach her goals. Where other young women would stop, because of the fact that man was a doctor who couldn't marry them, she proceeded, not even caring what their future would be, as long as it would exist and it would imply them two being together. Anywhere, in any way.
But she wasn't, in any way, a bad person. She had many qualities and was extremely kind and good-hearted.

The following days, every day, she went close to Christoph's clinic, never approachig too much, always keeping herself somewhere that could justify her presence there. (Close to a store, a cafè, a house, always to have an excuse as for why she was there, should anyone notice her) That way, she learnt part of his daily schedule, at least, she learnt at what time he went there and at what time he left.
For about two weeks, she kept spying on him, until one afternoon, before he would arrive, she decided to try the "all for all".
She went to the clinic and spoke to the healer-assistant there, asking for an appointment, but with a weird, specific request: making sure to be his very last appointment of the day. It was essential to her, with the nasty plan she had, to not have anyone outside waiting for his/her turn. She wanted total freedom, also knowing that the healer always left a couple of hours before Christoph.
She knew that it couldn't be as easy as speaking to him, she knew that she had to show him how much she wanted him. And she was ready for everything, in order to make him love her as much as she loved him.
The next day, she spent whole hours preparing herself to go to the appointment. She put on a lot of very fine makeup, perfume, wore one of her best dresses and got herself an extremely difficult hairstyle. She wanted to impress him and if needed, seduce him.
At the right time, she went there, by now she knew the place by heart in every single detail, but just the outside. She went with some minutes of advance of course, as proper, and just waited until the doctor would be done with the previous patient and call her for her turn. The man who came out of the room after some time, gave her a weird look, as NO ONE would get that elegant to go to visit a doctor, but being a total stranger he just left without a word. A couple of minutes after, Christoph called "Lady Teller" in, ready to receive her.
Needless to say. her appearence left him speechless for some seconds as he found her beautiful beyond imagination. For a moment, he felt his heart pump faster, but quickly snapped out of it, intending to be professional and focused, as always.
He asked for the reason of her appointment, as he indeed remembered her and wondered if something indeed went wrong with her broken arm. And she said that it was the case indeed, but as Christoph started to check, he could tell it was perfectly and flawlessly healed. Which definitely gave him some strange suspects.

«My apologizes, Doctor Riddle, I just had a wrong feeling about it. Or maybe all I wanted was to see you again.» She told him while starting to stroke his hand. To which, he took a step back.

«I would appreciate to know the truth, m'Lady. Far from my will to be unwelcoming, but being I a very busy man, I lack the time for childish games.» He got a little shaken by her behaviour, and while a part of him hoped that she would take her leave after his words, another part was intrigued and hoped for the very opposite.

Her words were of course not enough to discourage her. «My apologizes again. Having I come this long way, I would appreciate to make sure of my actual health state. May I be granted a careful check up?» Her voice sounded serious but at the same time it had something of seductive.

He nodded, he couldn't do otherwise anyway, so he started to prepare his tools. «For a complete check up, you will need to undress. Staying in your undergament. ("Victorian-like" underwear, basically, a whole other almost fully covering dress)» He spoke with a slightly colder tone than usual, fearing she had something in mind.

She mentally smirked at his words, she asked for a complete check up for the exact reason of taking off her clothes. What he expected was a common, normal, plain, white undergament, just like every other woman who went to a check up? Because that was totally not what she had under her dress. Nothing really obscene or tasteless, but for the standards and habits of the place, that was nothing a woman should or would wear if not in a very private moment in the only presence of her husband.
It consisted in a tight black corset with a white skirt barely reaching her knees. And yes, it was scandalous to go in front of a doctor that way, it still is in the North and it will be forever.
Again, Christoph was left speechless. It was clear she was trying to seduce him, but he pretended to not have noticed. He took his stethoscope to check her heart-beats, but no, she had indeed other plans and seeing that every attempt to catch his attention otherwise had failed, she literally jumped on him. Which soon led to a very censored situation.
It was so unlike him he couldn't recognize himself at first. He felt as if he had just been overwhelmed by a huge wave which dragged him to some far, peaceful shore. The passion immediately converted into a deep feeling of love which became deeper and deeper the more the two met.
And for several months, she went to him at the clinic every evening, as his "last appointment" of the day. The two weren't thinking about anything else than how they burned to spend more time together. All that mattered to them were those few hours they spent together, they didn't care about anything else, it was as if in the end of the day, Carry and Christoph left the world for some hours to find their peace and happiness. But it wasn't meant to last for long.
It was Richard to bring his younger brother back to reality. At the time, after the death of Bartholomew I (Christoph's twin), to help him recover, Richard used to spend a lot of time with him, becoming closer than they used to be. The mathematician noticed immediately that something was different with the brother, that he was up to something unclear, but he avoided to intromit, until a night.
Richard was walking by the clinic in the early night, when he noticed lights still on. Thinking Christoph was there, working till late on some paperwork, he decided to take him something to eat, so he went to a nearby restaurant and bought him some of his favorite foods. When he went into the clinic though, by just entering the waiting room, he could hear chuckling, including a feminine voice...and not just that. It was rather clear what Christoph was doing, so, with discretion, he left the food in the waiting room and left the place.

About two hours later (basically, as soon as Christoph found the food in the waiting room, when closing the clinic after Carry left), he rushed to Richard's mansion, in the absolute need to speak with him. If their father had come to hear about it...the very thought of it terrified him to death, he had to explain to Richard, to make sure he wouldn't let anyone hear anything about the matter.
The older brother was asleep and thus awakened by his knocking, but soon went to open the door to let the conversation happen. Of course, he had no intention to speak about it to anyone else than him. After all, even though doctors couldn't formally get married, nothing prevented them to have relationships; most of the doctors had a partner and there was nothing wrong in Christoph having one too. Problem was, Carry was not a widow of some failed combined marriage. Neither she was some low middle-class woman who could be with any man without following any formalities. She was a noble, even though just step-daughter and not biological. She was meant to get married and with someone important. Her stepfather had the right to choose her partner, to give her for a combined marriage that would bring him advantage. She was pure, and Christoph "ruined" her. It would bring problems, to both, as it couldn't stay hidden forever. It would cause a huge scandal, it would end up straight to Morgan and the consequences wouldn't be pleasant.

Both Richard and Christoph came out with only one possible solution that would keep them, as much as possible, "unhamed": he had to marry her and soon. That way, a scandal would be avoided, which would leave the two to deal with just some displeasure and disappointment of their parents, rather than the fierce, fiery, deadly rage of Morgan-

Christoph pondered the situation very well. If he had not married her, when eventually rumors would starts to spread and the truth would be uncovered, the two would be parted, in a way or another. And he believed that what his father would have done to him in that case would definitely make sure he would never have the guts to even glance at a woman again.
But marrying her meant that all of his life that far, all of the terrible efforts it cost him to become a doctor, all he achieved in life was to be thrown away with no chance to get it back. He could no longer be a doctor and it would happen just so close to earning the most prestigious title any doctor could dream for (Master Doctor)...but what would that title really mean to him? What actual improvement would it bring to his life? What would it be, if not a bunch of ashes to cover the emptiness and bitterness of what he would lose?
Her love meant everything to him now, it meant more than anything, more than any stupid title, achievement, more than his father's anger and disappointment. Nothing mattered compared to her. His future had to be with her, only and forever.

Doctor Hartz was astonished, when he found Christoph's dismissions on his desk. He couldn't believe it. He sent word to the King immediately, refusing to accept them at first. It was ridiculous to even think that a doctor of Christoph's rank and success could decide to leave everything.
Morgan was furious beyond imagination. He was, because he thought that Christoph was screwing everything up for the first woman he liked. (As of course and fortunately for him, his father was not aware of how things actually went between them, but neither he could be aware of how much and deeply they loved each other)
Nothing, though, was enough to make him return on his decision. Eventually, Doctor Hartz was forced to accept his dismissions and Christoph and Carry fixed the date of their wedding.

Carry didn't mention anything to her family until he asked her to marry him, and the reactions weren't positive either.
Her mother was extremely displeased by the fact she chose to marry such an high ranked noble. The terrible experience Lydia had with her second husband and his family was enough for her to hate nobles badly and she was convinced that for Christoph, it was just like a spoiled kid satisfying a tantrum and that sooner or later, he would get tired of her and make her unhappy. Also convinced that his family would never fully accept her for being lower ranked.

At the wedding, none of the parents of the couple came. In fact, an extremely restricted number of people came. Of the Riddle, just Richard, William and, surprisingly for everyone, Edward. (Just at the ritual at the Temple, of course, not at any sort of party) and Madre, with Richard and William being his Best Men. While of the Teller-Collier, only Carry's brother, Philip came. And two friends of her. Just six people plus the couple. And they had of course invited their whole families. Not even Benjamin went, keeping (at the time) his unmotivated hostility towards his older brothers.

Despite everything, the two were happy. They found their balance, their perfection. And they thought it would last forever, but it was destined to end even too soon, just an year after the marriage, when Carry died giving birth to their son, Bartholomew II. It was Carry to propose they should call the child in memory of Christoph's dead twin if it had been a male. If it had been a female, her name would be Adelheid, like the name of Carry's beloved grandmother (Lydia's mother).
Her death destroyed him in unthinkable ways. He was a totally different person afterwards, it was as if he was no longer able to feel any possible happiness. And it of course reflected very negatively on Bart, which built the base of their totally hostile relationship (until the current days, when they finally clarified).
After Carry's death, he has never been with any other woman, nor he ever will.
Only after that, he started his job as researcher and started. Before that, after leaving his job as a doctor, he moved to teaching, at first just at both Medicine and Applied Sciences Academies, then at Malicedom too, in addition to being called as advisor and assistant in many situations.
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1 | Nov 8th 2015 12:58