Chapter 1

Prologue

“Violet, you’re getting married. This month.”

She was twenty years old, and her father had found her a husband.

“He’s a junior knight who’s about to be sent to war against Aslan. Apparently, he hasn’t been allowed to depart because he hasn’t married yet.”

Of all the marriage prospects he could have found, he had somehow managed to find one that was utterly wretched.

“I’ve agreed to a generous dowry.”

That, in the end, was the real point.

In Violet’s homeland of Illore, it was customary for the bride’s family to prepare a dowry when she married.

But for a man to give a dowry to a woman? He must be quite the undesirable catch.

“Of course. A mere knight from a commoner’s family is taking a daughter of House Cerota. Isn’t this much only proper?”

Violet scoffed inwardly.

House, my foot.

Her father, Baron Antonio Cerota, was a typical fallen noble. He was so poor that even maintaining the shabby little house they lived in was a struggle.

He had nothing left but his pride, yet he still insisted on acting like a nobleman. The whole spectacle was ridiculous.

But if she said what she truly thought, she might get beaten, so Violet simply kept her mouth shut.

Her father had probably gone searching for some way to pay off the gambling debt he had recently incurred with Count Beaumont, and had somehow come across this awful marriage proposal.

“All right, Father.”

Even though she knew exactly what was going on, Violet offered no objections. As the youngest daughter of Baron Cerota, she knew reality all too well.

Now that her father had brought it up, he would somehow force her to marry this unknown knight.

After all, there was no one else in this family suitable for such a role.

She had two older sisters. One was already married, and the other would never be sold off like this.

Because—

“My, you really do care so much about Violet, don’t you? How wonderful of you. Child, where could you find a father who takes such an interest in arranging his daughter’s marriage? You should be grateful.”

The baroness spoke in a coy voice.

Violet found herself wondering whether she would have said the same thing if Violet had been her own daughter.

That was right.

Violet was the illegitimate daughter her father had brought home from outside the family. Her biological mother had died long ago.

She was an unwanted burden who was perfectly suited to being traded away in a situation like this.

Having grown accustomed to playing the role of the unwanted nuisance all her life, Violet had no choice but to give them the answer they wanted once again.

“Thank you, Father.”

And so, Violet calmly accepted her own marriage.

1.

The wedding took place in the blink of an eye.

A few days after hearing Violet’s answer, her father returned with a pouch full of jingling gold coins.

Of course, not a single one of them went to Violet.

Exactly one week later, Violet stood in a shabby rural temple wearing an old wedding dress and a worn-out veil.

She still had no idea who her groom was.

He hadn’t arrived at the wedding yet. Apparently, he was due to leave for war tomorrow.

Even so, what kind of groom was late to his own wedding?

Violet was certain that her future was going to be a miserable one.

In the Kingdom of Illore, an unmarried man was not recognized as a true knight. Even if he had received his knighthood, he had to marry before he could be considered a proper knight in the true sense of the word.

The reason was that, without completing the traditional rite, he could not be recognized as an adult.

Which meant that Violet’s future husband was having this rushed wedding purely because he needed it for himself.

How undesirable must he be for a knight skilled enough to go to war to have remained unmarried until now?

Violet imagined that he must either be very old, bald, or hideously ugly.

Or perhaps he had a truly terrible personality.

Surely he isn’t the kind of man who beats his wife?

Whatever the case, she hated it.

Violet tried not to imagine the future in which she would have to spend the rest of her life with such a man.

It’ll work out somehow.

As always, she decided to think that way.

It was a piece of wisdom she had learned about life after turning ten.

Her future husband finally arrived at the wedding after quite some time, accompanied by another knight who would serve as his witness.

Violet’s witness was her father, Baron Cerota.

It was a wedding so modest that it was practically pitiful.

Violet simply wanted the ceremony to be over so she could rest.

It took a full week by carriage to travel from her hometown of Völze to this place, Saint-Lour.

After being battered around inside a cheap carriage for the entire journey, her body was utterly exhausted.

Besides, Violet had only arrived here that very morning.

Standing there with equal parts resignation and boredom, Violet saw the groom suddenly appear at the entrance of the temple.

He strode toward her without hesitation and came to stand beside her.

Violet didn’t even bother looking at him.

Judging by the clinking sounds, he seemed to have come wearing armor rather than formal wedding clothes.

It was unbelievably rude.

Couldn’t he at least show the bare minimum of courtesy?

Already irritated by everything, Violet decided to completely ignore her husband.

However, when the priest finished the brief ceremony and blessing and instructed the bride and groom to face each other, she had no choice but to obey.

Violet slowly turned to the side.

Through the sparse lace of her veil, she could see the chest of a man clad in silver armor.

What? Why am I looking at his chest?

Frowning, Violet lifted her gaze slightly.

But no matter how far she raised her eyes, she couldn’t see the face of the man standing before her.

In the end, she had to tilt her head back almost completely before she could finally see her husband’s face.

…?

The first thing that caught her eye was his abundant blond hair, sparkling in the sunlight streaming through the temple windows.

Compared to her own ordinary brown hair, the color was so beautiful that Violet was slightly taken aback.

Hmph. At least he isn’t bald.

She would have to see just how hideous his face was.

A little nervous, she lowered her gaze.

……?

Emerald-green eyes gazed down at Violet with an indifferent expression.

The man was neither ugly nor old.

Rather, he was a young knight with strikingly handsome features and a solid build.

No, rather than young…

Is he… young?

His strong jawline and tightly pressed lips were unmistakably masculine, but there was still something boyish about him.

Only then did Violet realize that she didn’t actually know her future husband’s exact age.

In fact, she knew absolutely nothing about him.

She had vaguely assumed that he would be older, but she certainly hadn’t expected a man who looked younger than her.

Trying not to show her surprise, Violet bit down firmly on her lip.

She was extremely flustered, but for some reason, she didn’t want him to know it.

She should have been relieved that her husband wasn’t some hideous monster, yet instead of feeling relieved, why was she even more nervous?

Regardless of her confusion, the ceremony continued.

Following the priest’s instructions, the bride and groom placed their hands over one another on top of the sacred relic and recited the prayer.

His large hand completely covered Violet’s.

It was surprisingly warm.

He was the first unrelated man to touch her hand in her entire life, apart from her father.

Violet didn’t even realize that her face had turned red.

“Now, exchange the rings, the symbol of your marriage.”

The rings?

Only then did Violet come to her senses.

She had no memory of preparing anything like that.

When she turned around, her father rummaged through his clothes and handed her a ring wrapped in cloth.

…It was a thin silver ring, almost as slender as a thread.

It looked every bit as miserly as Baron Cerota himself.

Feeling her face grow hot with embarrassment, Violet held the ring out to him.

Ha!

The ring wasn’t even large enough to fit properly.

In contrast, the man’s hand was excessively large and thick.

The tiny ring her father had provided couldn’t even fit on his little finger.

Seeing Violet struggle with it while wearing her gloves, he finally took the ring from her.

Then, without a word, he took the ring he had brought and slipped it onto her finger.

To Violet’s chagrin, his ring fit perfectly on her ring finger.

The gold ring was clearly expensive, though it wasn’t extravagantly ornate.

At the very least, it wasn’t as thin and pathetic as the one Baron Cerota had prepared.

For several reasons, beads of sweat began to form on the back of Violet’s neck.

Soon afterward, the priest asked them the customary question of whether they would remain faithful to one another and devote themselves to each other for the rest of their lives.

The man answered in an emotionless voice.

“Yes.”

His voice was extremely deep and heavy.

The priest urged Violet to answer as well.

“…Yes.”

Violet barely managed to reply in a small, timid voice.

And with that, the ceremony was over.

After the wedding, her father collected the rest of the dowry from the man and left without even looking back.

Violet felt as though she didn’t even have the energy left to be disappointed anymore.

She hadn’t expected a lavish reception.

She hadn’t wanted a beautiful veil, fragrant flowers, or any of that.

But even so, she hadn’t imagined that her father would simply leave her behind in this unfamiliar place and walk away like this.

She had thought he would at least stay for a day.

Violet stood there in a daze as she watched her father’s back disappear without so much as a goodbye.

The baroness was one thing, but Baron Cerota was still her biological father.

Even the poorest and most ill-mannered commoner wouldn’t dispose of a marriage this way.

Violet felt as though she had been sold into slavery for a few coins.

Then again, what could she possibly expect from him?

He was a gambling addict obsessed with money, and he was the one responsible for ruining Violet’s life like this.

Perhaps she should simply be grateful that she had finally escaped from the baron’s household, even if it had happened this way.

After the baron left, only Violet and the man she had met for the first time today remained in front of the temple.

He carefully tucked the marriage certificate, whose ink had probably not even dried yet, into his clothes.

Violet felt strangely unsettled as she watched him.

Should I just snatch it away and tear it up?

Would that make this marriage invalid?

It was a pointless fantasy.

Unaware of Violet’s troubled thoughts, he strode off somewhere.

Only after the knight who had been standing some distance away whispered something to him did he finally turn around and return to her.

It was as though he had completely forgotten that she was there.