VCHM 08

Chapter 8

It was clear that Aldric had absolutely no intention of trying anything with her.

Violet thought carefully about why he wasn’t doing anything. Eventually, she came to her own conclusion.

He’s simply too young and completely ignorant about these things.

For Violet, it was an enormous relief.

As long as Aldric didn’t know about it, the terrifying thing she had been afraid of was never going to happen.

Maybe I can live like this forever without ever having to experience that wedding-night thing. We can just remain a happily married couple like this! As long as we don’t tell anyone else, it’ll be fine!

Violet felt her affection for Aldric grow even deeper.

Ah, how could my husband possibly be this wonderful?

He had an excessively handsome face, an impressive height, a broad and muscular build, and on top of all that, a flawless personality.

At this point, Violet almost felt she ought to thank Baron Cerotta for finding her such an excellent marriage prospect.

And so, Violet secretly hoped for one thing.

She wished that her exemplary husband would remain this pure and kind-hearted man forever.

Of course, things in this world rarely went according to one’s wishes.

It was the last day at Aldric’s house.

After spending one more night here, Violet and Aldric would leave.

Not forever, exactly, but they would be going somewhere far enough away that returning easily would be difficult.

Renting out the house had been simple.

They had gone down to the village for a while and asked Mrs. Margaret to look after the house. She gladly accepted the proposal.

They had set the rent exceptionally low and arranged for the profits to go to Mrs. Margaret, which left her deeply touched.

After taking care of everything, Violet was now packing her very last belongings.

She was sorting everything she might need and putting it into a large sack.

Naturally, Aldric helped her.

He folded the smaller articles of clothing and tied various little belongings together with string.

His hands were surprisingly deft, making Violet realize that he had probably spent quite a long time living on his own.

“Violet.”

Just as Violet was making one final inspection of every corner of the house to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything, Aldric suddenly called out to her.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“Do we need to take this with us? It looks important.”

He placed a bundle wrapped tightly in red silk in front of her.

“Oh, this….”

Violet’s expression became somewhat complicated at the sight of the bundle.

Of course, Aldric, whose eyes were sharper than they appeared, didn’t miss her reaction.

“It’s fine. Let’s leave this behind. I don’t need it anymore.”

“Why? What is it?”

Curious about the strange expression on Violet’s face, Aldric asked what it was.

After thinking for a moment, Violet decided there was no real reason to hide it from him and opened the bundle.

“It’s nothing special. Just….”

When she untied the red silk cloth, a ceremonial cloak made of dark green satin, embroidered with gold thread, was revealed, neatly folded inside.

Violet had made it herself.

The only skills Violet really possessed were sewing and embroidery.

Since she had so much free time, she often found herself lost in unnecessary thoughts whenever she was alone at home.

She had started making it to distract herself from those thoughts.

And it had already been nearly a year since she finished it and put it away.

“I bought the fabric and thread with the money I had left over after saving as much as I could. At first, I thought about making a dress, but I wasn’t exactly going to attend any balls, so I didn’t think I’d need one…. I just made this in case it ever came in handy. Now that you’re a lord, you can have something much better made for yourself. So let’s just leave this here.”

Violet covered the bundle again.

She didn’t want him to pick up the cloak.

However, Aldric, who had been listening silently, reached down and picked up the green cloth bundle without saying anything.

He stared down at it in his hands with an unreadable expression before looking back at the bundle.

Violet’s hand, which had been about to hide what lay beneath it while he wasn’t looking, stopped in midair.

“There’s something else underneath?”

“No, it’s….”

Aldric’s hand reached out again.

What Violet had wanted to hide wasn’t the ceremonial cloak.

It was the item beneath it that she didn’t want Aldric to see.

When he lifted the cloak, the garment underneath naturally came into view.

Violet knew the fabric well.

She had bought that material herself and sewn the garment by hand.

Anyone from this kingdom would recognize it at a glance.

It was an Illore-style ceremonial garment made of white silk.

But it was also a garment that would never normally be worn by the living.

It was clothing meant to be put on the dead.

It was a burial garment Violet had made while thinking of Aldric.

Hmm. I hope it doesn’t look too gloomy….

Now that he had found it, she would somehow have to explain it away, but she certainly wasn’t pleased about the situation.

She had no idea what he would think.

“Don’t take it the wrong way. I just thought this was the proper thing to do…. You were going off to war, after all. Even though our wedding was rather hastily arranged, we did get married, and on paper, you’re my husband. But there wasn’t anything I could do for you as your wife. Ah, of course, I wasn’t praying for you to die or anything. I only made it in case the worst happened. What if you suddenly came back as a corpse? I thought I should at least have a set of clothes ready to put on you—”

Violet was hurriedly spilling out one disjointed explanation after another when she suddenly had to stop talking.

Aldric had pulled her into his arms.

They slept pressed closely together every night, but this was the first time Violet had been held in his arms in broad daylight.

She could only breathe in startled little gasps.

Against her ear, pressed to his chest, she could hear the loud pounding of his heart.

“Um, Aldric?”

He didn’t answer.

Instead, he gently pulled her away for a moment and looked down at her face.

“Are you angry?”

Still, no answer.

Aldric was looking at her with an expression Violet couldn’t put into words.

There was something intense in his eyes, as though his emotions had suddenly surged to the surface.

Violet was about to ask whether he was upset.

But the words never left her lips.

Aldric had silenced her with his own lips.

It took Violet a long moment to realize that he had kissed her.

It was the first kiss she had ever experienced in her life.

And it was an incredibly heart-stirring experience.

Perhaps Aldric felt the same way, but at least for Violet, it was.

Her heart was beating so hard and so quickly that she felt as though it might leap right out of her chest.

From the warmth, pulse, and slight trembling she had felt in their briefly joined lips, Violet could tell that Aldric was just as nervous as she was.

In truth, Violet could barely understand what was happening.

Aldric remained completely still after pressing his lips against hers, almost as though he had frozen.

But when Violet began to struggle slightly because she was running out of breath, he suddenly startled and pulled away.

When their moist lips separated, there was a faint, damp sound.

For some reason, it made her stomach feel strangely ticklish.

“Violet…. I’m sorry. I-I made a mistake. I mean, suddenly, without realizing it, I just… my head was so hot….”

Had he really done something serious enough to apologize like this?

Their lips had merely touched for a brief moment before separating.

“It’s okay. You didn’t do anything.”

Seeing how terribly flustered Aldric was, Violet decided that she should at least remain calm.

Even though she herself felt as though everything around her were spinning from the sudden situation.

Whenever she was around him, she always felt that way.

Her own heart was in complete turmoil, like an earthquake was shaking it, yet whenever she stood in front of Aldric, she strangely wanted to pretend she was perfectly composed.

However, perhaps he misunderstood Violet’s words when she said, You didn’t do anything.

His gaze became slightly sharper.

At the same time, from the way his eyes were trembling violently, Violet realized that she must have said something wrong.

“Would it… be all right if I did more?”

“Huh? Wh-what?”

“The kiss…. You didn’t dislike it when I touched you, did you? Would it be all right if I did it again?”

Because of the sudden change in Aldric’s gaze and the question he asked, Violet became completely flustered.

“Uh, well, since you’re my husband… I suppose it’s okay?”

Without meaning to, she ended up giving such a dazed answer.

Upon hearing Violet’s response, Aldric let out a long, heavy sigh.

It wasn’t a sigh of resignation.

It was the sigh of someone finally releasing the tension he had been holding inside.

After a brief pause, he finally asked Violet a second question with an incredibly solemn expression.

“Violet.”

There was such desperate earnestness in his eyes that Violet instinctively swallowed.

“I want to become… your husband in the truest sense of the word…. Will you really allow me to?”

His green eyes met hers.

They had now grown dark and deep, like a dense forest.

The two of them were sitting side by side on the bed.

In the painfully awkward silence, Violet could do nothing but fiddle with the hem of her skirt.

A moment ago, when Aldric had asked his question, Violet had unconsciously nodded.

Deep down, Violet wanted to postpone their wedding night for as long as possible.

But when Aldric looked directly into her eyes and asked her like that, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse.

As soon as he heard her answer, Aldric carefully pulled her into his arms again.

And before Violet had a chance to stop him, he lifted her up and carried her toward the bedroom.

However, despite entering with such determination, Aldric carefully lowered Violet onto the bed and then quietly sat down beside her.

And that was where they remained.

He looked like a man struggling with some incredibly serious inner conflict.

“Aldric.”

Unable to wait any longer, Violet called out to him.

Her anxiety had reached its limit, and she was beginning to think that perhaps they should just get it over with quickly, whatever happened.

When he heard her call his name, he jumped as though he had been burned.

“Are we supposed to just sit here like this?”

He shook his head.

Then do something already!

Violet was just as nervous and trembling as he was.

So remaining in this state indefinitely was difficult for her, too.