Violet Zerotta’s Hasty Marriage - Chapter 62

“Madam—no, Violet—if anyone had known Aldrick before he met you, they would say the same as I do… In truth, I was opposed to the marriage at first, but in the end, he met a woman as good as you and fell in love, so I suppose that too is part of his fortune.”

With those scattered words, another glass of wine was emptied cleanly. Thus began Simon Lambert’s drunken ramblings.

Even in her tipsy state, Violet found Aldrick’s past—which she had never known—immensely fascinating.

Aldrick rarely spoke of the past, and Violet had stopped asking at some point. So, if Simon was the one to bring it up first and tell her Aldrick’s story, it was something she would welcome with open arms.

“I first met Aldrick when he was just beginning to pretend to be a knight… That must’ve been when he was about fourteen.”

With slightly slurred speech, Simon looked off into the distance as though searching his memory.

At the same time, Violet, momentarily forgetting the effects of the wine, became completely absorbed in his story.

***

Aldrick Winter was a knight of common birth and an orphan.

In the Kingdom of Illo, knights were typically of noble blood—or at the very least, from merchant families. Within such circles, Aldrick was a glaring anomaly.

The knight commander who brought him in personally cherished him regardless of his status, but that only bred more jealousy and resentment.

It was only natural that there were more than a few who kept Aldrick in check. However, no matter how much they tried to belittle his origins, no one could deny his skill.

He was a born knight. Though he had not received formal training like the other squires, his swordsmanship was innate.

“A lowborn brat swinging his sword as he pleases. How is that swordsmanship?”

“With no education, he’s fighting like some back-alley bandit.”

Of course, there were many who refused to acknowledge him. And Simon stood firmly on the exact opposite end of that crowd.

He was a rare noble who did not obsess over social rank, and he had been captivated by Aldrick’s skill and upright character. In his eyes, Aldrick lacked nothing to be called a friend.

He once thought Aldrick’s excessive quietness and gloom were flaws, but as they grew closer, that impression faded. The Aldrick he came to know was warm-hearted and discreet.

There were nobles who gossiped about Simon befriending a knight of common birth, but Simon never once regretted becoming his friend.

On the contrary, he was grateful. There were many times when Aldrick’s help had saved his life.

Simon had watched firsthand as Aldrick’s swordsmanship—often scorned as base and undignified—revealed its true worth on the battlefield.

To noble-born knights, swordsmanship meant form, decorum, and textbook technique. To them, Aldrick’s ruthless precision in exploiting openings during duels appeared disgraceful.

But on the battlefield, no textbook saved lives. In brutal real combat, Aldrick’s aggressive, unrestrained style was far more effective.

Moreover, he possessed a natural instinct.

With acute senses as if raised in the wild, a strong yet agile body, and a clean, unhesitating way of taking lives, Aldrick became an expert in tracking and assassination.

Some continued to argue he wasn’t a true knight, but the more enemy commanders’ heads he returned with, the more those voices faded.

That’s the kind of man he was. A boy who somehow survived the filth and clawed his way up a cliff on his own—a man who overturned his birth with nothing but his sword.

Simon knew all too well that boys in Aldrick’s situation could easily take a darker path.

Even becoming a knight by luck, they could break under the weight of criticism and abandon their path halfway. But Aldrick endured scorn and hardship and walked the knight’s path with unwavering resolve.

If there was one thing Simon worried about, it was that Aldrick seemed desperately lonely.

Even up to the very moment the war ended, the shadow of solitude never left Aldrick’s face. That was why Simon worried all the more—especially when Aldrick, preparing for deployment, had bought a bride with money.

Simon had even advised him not to go through with it, saying it would be better to avoid deploying altogether than to push himself that far. But Aldrick ignored his advice and, in the end, went off to war with a marriage certificate in hand.

The real problem, however, wasn’t during the war, but after.

In the heart of battle, one could push aside feelings like loneliness.

But after the war?

When the goals of survival and victory were gone, all that might remain for Aldrick was emptiness. And that was not something even comrades like Simon could fill—a deep-rooted emptiness.

Simon believed Aldrick needed a family. Not a bride purchased for appearances, but a true home built with a woman he loved. That, he was sure, was what Aldrick truly needed.