VCHM 07

Chapter 7

“Don’t trail off at the end of your sentences. Tell me properly.”

“Whew…. No, never mind. More importantly, we really don’t need to buy a bed. We’re going to have to leave this house anyway.”

“What?!”

At his sudden revelation, Violet’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Leave here? Why? Do you have to go off to another war or something?”

That can’t be. I waited for three years, and now I’m supposed to spend another indefinite amount of time waiting? Absolutely not.

Besides, Violet had just begun to like Aldric more than she had expected, which made the thought of leaving all the more upsetting.

“No. I said ‘we.’ We’re going together.”

“Where? Why?”

He paused briefly, choosing his words before answering simply.

“I distinguished myself in the war. So I’m going to be given a title and a fief.”

The statement was so matter-of-fact that Violet didn’t properly register what he had said at first.

He spoke as casually as though he were telling her that he had borrowed a farming tool from a neighbor.

“A fief and a title?”

“Yeah. I heard I’m going to receive a count’s title. That’s probably right.”

“A count’s title….”

That was a much higher rank than the meager barony held by her father, Antonio Cerotta. Violet was speechless for a moment.

“And you’re getting a fief, too? You’re going to become a lord?”

“Probably.”

“Why are you only telling me something this important now?”

“…I was a little out of sorts yesterday.”

“My goodness, a fief. A title. What in the world is happening? When do we have to leave?”

“First, I have to go to the capital for the investiture ceremony. It’s in two months, so we still have some time. But after the ceremony, we’ll have to leave for the estate immediately. The people there will have a hard time if their lord isn’t present. So, about that….”

He hesitated slightly before continuing.

“It’s a bit of an impulsive plan, but I thought it might be nice to travel with you on the way to the capital. You must have been bored staying here for three years, and, well….”

The man who had spoken so dryly about his fief and title was now blushing again and stumbling over his words.

What is he trying to say?

“W-we, we couldn’t even go on a h-h-honeymoon after our wedding, so I thought you might like seeing some places along the way, and I—”

“Okay. I understand, so calm down!”

To calm him down, who had become completely flustered, Violet grabbed his arm.

Perhaps his embarrassment had rubbed off on her, because she could feel her own face growing hot.

Maybe it was because the words he had suddenly brought up were so embarrassing.

Wedding. Honeymoon.

Violet’s face burned.

In truth, she had long since erased that hasty, almost elopement-like wedding from her mind.

For three years afterward, with Aldric gone, there had even been times when she forgot that she was a married woman. Now, however, Aldric had suddenly brought up something as innocent and youthful-sounding as a honeymoon, and she couldn’t have felt more embarrassed.

Apparently, Aldric felt the same way, because he couldn’t meet Violet’s eyes either. Even the breath escaping from his nose seemed hot with embarrassment.

“Fine. Everything’s fine. Since it seems certain that we’re leaving anyway, I agree with everything you said. So let’s leave whenever you’re ready!”

Not daring to mention the word honeymoon again, Violet blurted out a jumble of words and fled the room.

Her ears were burning, and her heart was pounding in a way that felt terribly unfamiliar.

So… do I dislike this feeling?

She asked herself.

No. It’s not that….

Her heart answered.

She didn’t dislike it. In fact, Violet was even a little moved by Aldric’s suggestion.

Their marriage had been as rushed as roasting beans over a flash of lightning, but it was still touching to realize that Aldric regarded it as a proper marriage.

Of course, Violet hadn’t completely ignored their marriage vows either. That was probably why she had stayed here all this time, waiting for him.

But until now, she hadn’t known what he truly thought.

She hadn’t even had a chance to find out.

Just now, it felt as though she had caught a glimpse of his feelings.

So we really are husband and wife now.

I really am Aldric’s wife, and Aldric really is my husband….

Husband and wife.

It was a word with such an intimate resonance.

Just as Violet’s heart was beginning to swell with happiness—

A frightening thought suddenly flashed through her mind.

It was because of a memory that had suddenly surfaced.

A honeymoon… husband and wife….

Does that mean… we have to consummate the marriage?

Violet didn’t know why the thought had suddenly occurred to her.

It had flashed through her mind as suddenly as a bright light being switched on.

And once the thought had taken root, it refused to disappear.

Violet’s face went pale.

That was right.

They weren’t technically a proper married couple yet.

There was still something between them that they hadn’t done.

In Illore, even if a couple held a wedding ceremony, their marriage was not considered official unless they consummated it.

As for Aldric, there had apparently been no way to prove anything, so perhaps he had received approval from the commander of the knights with nothing more than a scrap of paperwork.

But this sudden realization left Violet feeling uneasy.

She didn’t want to consummate the marriage.

Violet still remembered those horrifying stories. She had heard that it was extremely painful, agonizing, and something that brought women nothing but suffering.

But she couldn’t avoid it forever.

Now that she had finally begun living as a normal married couple with Aldric, if they didn’t spend their wedding night, then everything would have to be considered invalid.

Violet’s pale face grew dark with worry.

I suppose we have to do it somehow.

As she always did, Violet began trying to think as positively as possible.

If everyone did it, then perhaps it wasn’t as difficult as she imagined.

After all, every married couple in the world managed to get through it….

Violet didn’t actually know exactly what it was or what the act involved.

But she couldn’t be afraid of something she didn’t understand.

She forced herself to be brave.

Besides….

If it was Aldric, somehow, she felt as though it would be all right.

If it was him, then perhaps nothing would be so bad.

I’ve imagined worse marriage partners than him, haven’t I? If it’s Aldric… yes. It’ll be fine.

Violet reassured herself.

But then, why hadn’t Aldric said anything to her?

From the bits of knowledge she had picked up, the wedding night was apparently something the husband initiated and led the wife through.

But Aldric had asked nothing of Violet on the first night after their wedding.

And he hadn’t asked anything of her yesterday, either, after returning from the war.

Suddenly, that became a question in Violet’s mind.

For the following week, Violet and Aldric were busy preparing to leave.

And during that time, nothing happened that Violet needed to worry about.

Like an exemplary knight, Aldric was a man with a strong sense of chivalry.

He was always gentlemanly toward Violet, and despite his enormous size, he had an exceptionally gentle and quiet personality.

For a man who possessed such tremendous strength, he was almost excessively mild.

Violet was grateful for that.

Through indirect experience, she knew all too well how rough a man like Aldric could become if he deliberately chose to be cruel.

Preparing for the journey didn’t take very long.

They didn’t have many belongings to begin with.

After discussing it, Violet and Aldric decided to leave within a day or two.

However, Violet couldn’t help feeling sad about leaving this house behind.

She had grown attached to it over the three years she had lived there.

There wasn’t a corner that hadn’t felt the touch of her hands, and she had carefully tended to the place through all sorts of trial and error.

“It’s such a shame that we’re leaving so suddenly. Look at this place. I worked so hard cleaning and fixing everything….”

As they prepared for the journey, Violet showed Aldric around the garden and spoke almost to herself.

“What are we going to do with these chickens in the yard? If we let them loose in the mountains, a fox will eat them before the day is over. Ah, I won’t be able to see Mrs. Margaret from the cloth shop anymore, either. Should I at least say goodbye? She gave me so much work even though I had no connections, and I’m grateful to her.”

Before Aldric came, Violet had never realized that she could talk this much.

Perhaps because she finally had someone to listen to, Violet chattered away quite happily.

And Aldric listened to everything she said without showing the slightest sign of fatigue.

From time to time, he even responded with things like,

“The house has changed so much that I barely recognize it. I can tell how hard you worked.”

Or,

“You don’t have to do those things anymore. When I think about how difficult it must have been for you all this time, it doesn’t sit well with me.”

His words pleased Violet immensely.

In the end, Violet came up with one idea that solved the problem of leaving the house behind.

“Let’s rent this place out to someone.”

The idea had suddenly occurred to her.

There was always a shortage of houses for commoners.

The location was somewhat remote, but in exchange, it was a large and clean house, so they should be able to find someone willing to live there.

“We don’t even have to charge much. We can just ask them to take good care of the place. Then we could come back and visit someday. What do you think?”

Since Aldric was the owner of the house, Violet sought his permission.

As always, Aldric simply answered,

“Sure. Sounds good.”

That was how Aldric generally responded to Violet’s opinions.

It was one of the reasons Violet thought he was far too gentle.

He agreed with almost everything she said, as though he barely had opinions of his own, and accepted every suggestion she made.

However, there was one thing he absolutely refused to compromise on.

The matter of the bed.

He still stubbornly refused to let either of them sleep on the floor.

Ever since Violet had remembered the matter of consummating their marriage, sharing a bed with him had become somewhat uncomfortable.

She liked the warmth of his body and the solid strength of his physique, but having to sleep pressed so closely against him made her uneasy.

She was also afraid that Aldric might do something while he was half-asleep.

But even after a full week passed, there was no sign whatsoever that Aldric intended to do anything.

After several days passed without anything happening, Violet came to one conclusion.