Chapter 57
And the feelings Aldrick had as he acknowledged that were extremely complicated.
The sight of Violet, now dressed in her ordinary clothes again, did nothing to ease that turmoil.
Even on the day of their wedding, Aldrick had thought she was very cute.
Now, three years later, seeing her in person, she was far more beautiful than in his memories or imagination.
In his memory, Violet had been a rather bold girl.
He remembered how, with a fresh and youthful face, she proudly declared she was three years older than him.
But three years was enough time to turn a girl into a woman.
The more refined contours of her face, the deeper gaze in her eyes, and her gentle aura naturally drew Aldrick’s gaze to her.
The problem was that Violet seemed entirely unaware of how he looked at her.
On the first day they went to the village together, Aldrick grew exhausted from constantly bristling at the gazes of the many men who were drawn to her.
There was even a man who boldly said he wanted to make her his wife while Aldrick stood right there.
He hadn’t drawn his sword on the spot only because Violet was present.
Afterward, Aldrick broke into a cold sweat just imagining what might have happened had she gone about without a disguise in his absence.
He was only fortunate that he hadn’t known she was staying here while he was at war. Had he known, the worry might have driven him mad.
***
Violet was a very kind and gentle woman. It was something anyone could see after spending just a single day with her.
She was good to Aldrick for no reason at all, always treating him kindly.
He had never spent time so intimately with anyone in his life.
To him, Violet was a truly unknown creature.
The fact that such a warm and lovely person was staying by his side moved him deeply. At first, it all felt surreal, but little by little, it became real.
Violet was taking their hasty marriage seriously, and she was sincerely fulfilling the role of a wife. That meant, as long as the marriage certificate existed, nothing could separate them except death.
Realizing that sent a shiver down Aldrick’s spine.
He couldn’t believe that he was her lawful husband.
Nor could he believe that, barring any special reason, she would not leave his side.
Above all, the fact that he now had a true family was the hardest to believe.
And the more he etched her presence into himself, the more painfully her three years alone here weighed on him.
Not knowing she had waited for him here alone for three years, he felt like a complete fool for crawling through the war unaware.
He had known nothing.
If only he’d known she had suffered like that…
But even so, there likely would’ve been nothing he could have done. That’s why he felt endlessly sorry to her.
And so, he didn’t dare be greedy.
Though it was painful, for a time he was content just to hold her small body and sleep beside her.
It wasn’t as though Aldrick didn’t understand matters between men and women. Though Violet treated him like a younger brother, he was still a man who had been through the mire of war.
Spending time among knights, soldiers, and mercenaries on the battlefield, one inevitably came to know things one didn’t want to. Matters of lust were no exception—on the battlefield, men were often consumed by such things.
But Aldrick felt guilty even just revealing that dirty desire to Violet. Touching someone so pure with the same hands that had killed so many people filled him with shame.
At the same time, his body suffered torment from a hellish hunger.
Each night, watching her sleep peacefully in his arms, Aldrick suppressed his desire with the resolve of a penitent monk.
But the day he learned that she had even made him burial clothes…
Aldrick finally yielded to his own longing for her.
The moment she gave him permission, he craved her like a madman. And once he had her, his body couldn’t stop needing her.
But it wasn’t just his body.
After returning home, Aldrick realized something.
The monster that had always lurked within his heart was no longer rampaging.
The loneliness, isolation, and sorrow he had carried his whole life had been pacified and soothed by Violet’s presence.
By the time he realized it, it was too late. He had already fallen so deeply for her that there was no turning back.
From the moment he saw her at the doorway of the house where he had always lived alone, on the day he returned from war, he knew. He could never let her go.
Everything he did with her was a first.
Strolling through the garden with someone while laughing, sharing meals, sleeping side by side while exchanging warmth— Every moment with her was happiness itself, and he was determined to do everything for her that he hadn’t been able to before.
Whatever she asked for, he would give. He just wanted to make her happy.
She was Aldrick’s only family, the wife he had to protect with his life.
And yet, that woman…
Left him overnight.
Leaving behind only a single letter bearing her breath.
That feeling of the world collapsing. Violet would never understand it, not even if a lifetime passed.
“The target is Violet, Countess of Winter. Description: brown hair, brown eyes, medium height, average build. She couldn’t have gone far—start by searching the nearby villages.”
Barking the order like he was spitting it out, Aldrick gave the command to the retainers summoned through Simon and began his pursuit.
He would never let her go.
Even if he had to go to the ends of the earth, he would bring her back.
Even if it meant hurting or killing someone along the way, it didn’t matter.
Until he found Violet, his heart would remain frozen.
Jamming his hands into his cold gauntlets as frigid as his frozen heart, Aldrick stormed out of the room in fury.
—Extra Story, End.
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