Violet Zerotta’s Hasty Marriage - Chapter 44

The next day, Violet secretly tracked down the Baron’s whereabouts without Aldrick’s knowledge.

The butler remembered the Baron’s visit, and since the Baron had shamelessly hitched a ride back in the Lambert household’s carriage, it hadn’t been difficult to locate him.

Violet went to see him completely alone without telling anyone, and soon fell into despair once again.

After observing a shabby inn in a back alley for some time, she realized that the Baron had even brought along the Baroness and his second daughter. It was as if the whole family had moved up to the capital.

They were clearly intending to follow Aldrick to his estate. The entire family, tagging along.

Her vision went black.

The Baron’s second daughter, Scarlett, was a year older than Violet. The fact that she’d come all the way to the capital likely meant she wasn’t yet married. Or perhaps they no longer had the means to marry her off.

‘They’re probably planning to extract even that from Aldrick too.’

The resolve she’d made the night before became even firmer.

After a sleepless night spent agonizing over it, Violet had reached a conclusion.

When she saw the Baron and his family, she could think of nothing else, like a rat cornered with no way out.

Divorce. There’s no other answer but divorce.

With her mind gone pale, that was the only thought she could cling to.

The man who called himself her father was a curse Violet had dragged along behind her. As long as she and Aldrick remained married, that man would eventually drag Aldrick down into the same abyss.

That one single thought consumed her.

Violet returned to the Lambert estate by carriage and, the following night, left Mallo.

Naturally, she said nothing to Aldrick. She left entirely on her own.

***

Despite the enormity of what she had done, time seemed to flow swiftly.

It had already been three months since Violet slipped out of Mallo’s city gates without anyone noticing.

Each day was filled with guilt and sorrow over having left Aldrick like that.

Not a single day had passed since that day when she didn’t miss Aldrick. Nor had there been a day when she didn’t feel sorry toward him. But no matter how many times she turned it over in her mind, the conclusion remained the same.

Her existence was of no help to Aldrick. No, if anything, she was destined to become the greatest obstacle in his life.

Looking back, she realized that the Baron’s sudden appearance had sent her into a state of panic. She should have slowed down, given Aldrick time to think, and then gone through proper divorce proceedings.

But in her panic, Violet couldn’t think that far. All she could focus on was the idea that she needed to disappear from his side as quickly as possible, before she caused him any further trouble.

And besides, she wasn’t even sure Aldrick would let her go so easily. Aldrick was a warm-hearted person. He would certainly insist on taking responsibility for her until the very end.

And so she had chosen this extreme method.

“Violet, are you all right?”

Mrs. Margaret, who had noticed her pale face as she was in the middle of embroidery, asked gently.

“Ah… yes, I’m fine. I was just lost in thought for a moment.”

At Violet’s reply, Mrs. Margaret looked slightly concerned but soon returned to her own work.

But as soon as Margaret’s gaze turned away, Violet’s thoughts began to drift aimlessly again.

Leaving Mallo on her own hadn’t been difficult. The royal capital was a place with a constant flow of people. It was strict about who entered, but no one paid much attention to who left.

The real problem had come after exiting the gates.

To avoid being seen by anyone from the Lambert estate, Violet had thrown on a large cloak and snuck out in the middle of the night. As a result, she hadn’t been able to take much with her.

Afraid of waking Aldrick, she had held her breath as she left the room. To prepare for her escape, she had even coaxed him into drinking more than usual during dinner.

The world she ran out into was dark and cold.

Violet had no idea where to go next.

Even traveling felt overwhelming. On the way from Saint-Lour to Mallo, Aldrick had taken care of everything, so she knew nothing.

Still, she was used to doing things on her own, so she decided to simply find her way forward.

She retraced the route she had taken with Aldrick and located the town closest to the capital. There, she spent a night at the same inn they had once stayed at together.

Being alone in a place where they had once been together was terribly painful. But she forced herself to ignore her emotions, focused solely on her resolve to get away from Aldrick.