Chapter 55
Extra Story
“Aldrick, get married. Within this month.”
This was the order given by the commander of the knights of Illo, who was also the general-in-chief of the upcoming war against Aslan, in the year that lower-ranked knight Aldrick Winter turned seventeen.
“We must win the war against Aslan. You’re too valuable a force to be left behind. You’re going to the front. And to do that, you must be married.”
The command was irrational, lacking reason or justification.
“Understood, Commander.”
But Aldrick obeyed.
He was a knight, and the commander’s orders were akin to life itself.
On the day he hurried back to his hometown of Saint-Lour to prepare for deployment, he met up with fellow knight and Count Simon Lambert, who had just completed a mission in a nearby territory.
“Where the hell are you supposed to find a bride right now? The commander’s too much.”
Simon ranted as if it were his own problem.
“If I want to go to war, I have no choice.”
Aldrick only shrugged.
“You can just pay for a woman of suitable status. All you need is a marriage certificate signed by a priest anyway.”
“That’s true, but…”
That was when an unfamiliar, middle-aged man spoke to them.
With a vaguely anxious look and an unpleasant demeanor, the man approached.
“Did I hear you say you’re looking for a bride? I happen to know a suitable young woman.”
Though he spoke with urgency, his slightly pompous tone made it clear—he was a fallen noble.
Still, his offer caught Aldrick’s interest.
“You seem to be quite a skilled knight. Enough for me to be willing to offer my daughter to you.”
“You’d hand over your precious daughter to men you’ve just met?”
Simon expressed his displeasure, but the man was unfazed.
“I am Baron Antonio Zerotta. I have a twenty-year-old daughter, but due to our difficult family circumstances, I haven’t been able to prepare a dowry for her. Her mother was ill for a long time, and the cost of treatment and medicine was enormous. We’re in dire need of money, and if it’s with a knight like you, she would gladly marry.”
Aldrick did not think for long.
“Then I’ll marry your daughter.”
Simon tried to dissuade him for a moment, but Aldrick had already made his calculations.
At this point, marrying someone he truly loved was impossible. And he couldn’t just grab a woman off the street and have a wedding.
The man was a fallen noble and he needed money. The daughter’s age seemed appropriate. Aldrick made the decision without much care.
He didn’t believe everything the Baron said, but since it was a marriage of mutual convenience, he was at ease with it.
Even though the dowry the Baron demanded was absurdly high, money wasn’t something Aldrick cared about, so he handed over an advance payment on the spot.
He didn’t even bother to ask a single thing about the daughter.
Simon grumbled throughout the whole transaction with the so-called baron.
But Aldrick chose to be satisfied that things had gone surprisingly smoothly.
Even on the day of the wedding, as they made their way to the temple, Aldrick still hadn’t fully realized he was getting married.
Well, it wasn’t a real marriage anyway. The baron, after receiving the advance, said to Aldrick:
“But if you’re leaving for the front immediately, what my daughter does afterward has nothing to do with me—even if she runs away.”
It wasn’t pleasant to hear that the bride might flee, but Aldrick understood.
In the end, they had exchanged money and sealed the marriage, while being fully aware that it wasn’t a true union.
Aldrick didn’t feel like he was buying a woman with the dowry.
What he was buying was the marriage certificate, and once the ceremony was over, the Baron likely planned to take his daughter back.
Come to think of it, that was probably better. He didn’t want to be worried about someone waiting for him while he was at war, uncertain of when he might return.
As for the divorce process afterward—that could be handled later. Seventeen-year-old Aldrick thought lightly of it.
***
Even though it was only a sham marriage, Aldrick bought a small ring at a shop.
When he asked for something that would fit an average woman’s hand, the shopkeeper gave him a modest gold ring.
Aldrick considered the possibility that the Baron might not keep his promise and that no bride would be waiting at the temple.
But fortunately, the Baron kept his word, and the woman who would become his wife—on paper, at least—was standing in the small temple.
Even to Aldrick’s untrained eye, the woman in a worn-out dress looked extremely petite.
She was small in stature, but she also seemed somehow shrunken, as if intimidated.
Her face was hidden beneath a veil, but Aldrick could feel her nervousness.
The slender hand, trembling as it tried to place a ring that didn’t even fit him, was pitiful.
Aldrick thought she looked like a small bird.
Until now, he hadn’t taken the marriage seriously.
But seeing a real, living woman before him made him realize what he’d gotten himself into.
Still, it was all meaningless.
After today, she and he would be strangers again.
Aldrick signed the marriage certificate with a faint sense of discomfort.
Discussion
0 CommentsReactions
No comments yet.