Violet Zerotta’s Hasty Marriage - Chapter 48

Anger. Resentment. Pain. Concern. And a faint fear…

Suddenly, Violet felt the overwhelming urge to forget everything and kneel at his feet like a madwoman.

It only truly hit her how pathetically she had behaved when she saw the gaunt lines of Aldrick’s face.

Up until now, she had simply ignored the pain he must have felt in order to relieve herself of guilt.

But deep down, she had known it all along.

Still, she had her own reasons—excuses, if one wanted to be harsh.

“Yes, I was wrong. I’m sorry. I misjudged everything, and I handled it the wrong way. But… I had no other choice!”

“…No. From where I stand, it seems like you don’t have the faintest idea what you did to me.”

The words stirred something in him. Having been frozen in shock upon discovering her, Aldrick’s eyes flared again with fury.

Before his strong hand could reach her, Violet reacted instinctively—like a startled deer—trying to run.

But Aldrick, like a seasoned hunter, caught her effortlessly.

And then, as if she really were his prey, he slung Violet right over his shoulder.

“Aldrick! Let me go! Put me down!”

Dangling precariously from his shoulder, blood rushing to her head, Violet thrashed and kicked.

But Aldrick, unlike before, showed no intention of going easy on her.

“Lord Lambert, Lord Viol. I’ve secured the target. I’ll take it from here.”

He shouted to the party watching them as he walked away.

His face remained stone cold, his voice dry and devoid of emotion.

“Servants, return to the manor in Saint-Lour. Follow Lord Lambert and Lord Viol back into the manor.”

Everything about Aldrick today felt unfamiliar, but what Violet found most shocking was seeing him give commands to other knights.

He actually… looks like a real knight…

A wildly misplaced thought intruded upon her panic-stricken mind.

Even as she hung like a ragdoll over his shoulder, she found herself watching the knightly version of Aldrick in stunned silence.

Well… Technically, all she could see was his broad back.

Suddenly, Violet remembered a familiar name among the ones Aldrick had called out. She squirmed frantically and twisted to look around.

“Excuse me! Lord Lambert! Count Lambert! Please help me! Lord! Please!”

Overwhelmed by the fear of what a furious Aldrick might do once they were alone, Violet screamed at random, calling out.

But not a single knight or servant came to her aid.

In fact, Count Lambert responded in a cold tone.

“Frankly, compared to your wrongs, this is nothing. Accept it. As Aldrick’s friend and while remembering what he’s been like these past months, all I feel is the urge to resent you.”

Watching his figure disappear upside-down in the distance, Violet was stunned.

So much for the legendary chivalry of Illo!

Her sense of injustice boiled over, and she pounded her fists against Aldrick’s back.

But even that didn’t faze him. His body might as well have been made of stone. Without a flinch, he hoisted her onto the horse.

‘……?’

That wasn’t all.

“Aldrick, what are you—”

“You’re currently a wanted person. I have no choice but to restrain you like this, or you’ll try to run again.”

He expertly bound her wrists, arms, and waist with a rope pulled from somewhere, securing her to the saddle.

“Ha…!”

The whirlwind of intense events left Violet speechless.

Did he really… just tie me up?

Since leaving Aldrick, she had imagined countless scenarios.

Of course, one of those was inevitably running into him again.

She had assumed that when it happened, she’d be left speechless, too ashamed to say anything.

But she hadn’t imagined it going quite like this!

Being tied up and transported like a criminal was not on her list of outcomes.

Regardless of how stunned she was, Aldrick mounted the horse behind her in silence.

She was used to sharing a saddle with him. What she wasn’t used to was the tight knots binding her body.

“Aldrick. My wrists hurt.”

She whined with a hint of exaggeration, trying to appeal to his pity.

He faltered briefly at her pitiful voice, but quickly returned to the stern demeanor of a knight.

“…I’ll untie you when I can trust that you won’t run again.”

Violet said no more.

After everything that had just happened, her strength left her in a wave of exhaustion.

And so, bound and unable to resist, Violet had no choice but to be paraded through the town on horseback, under the watchful gazes of the townsfolk, all the way to the manor of the Lord of Saint-Lour.