Violet Zerotta’s Hasty Marriage - Chapter 78 - IF Story

IF Story

“You said what? War?”

Violet widened her eyes and asked again.

“Yeah. That’s what happened.”

Aldrick looked down at her and answered shortly. But soon after, Violet’s sharp gaze flew at him, as if demanding whether that was all. Meeting her clear brown eyes head-on, the back of his neck suddenly felt warm.

Worried that his sly intentions might be found out, he hastily averted his gaze and added a brief explanation.

“They issued a sudden order. I have to pack up and go to the capital next week. The commander gave me about two months of leave, so I came back for a bit.”

Perhaps still dissatisfied with that explanation, Violet pouted her plump lips.

And Aldrick looked at her as if she were unbearably lovely.

It was a gaze practically dripping with honey.

Though Violet herself didn’t notice, Aldrick looked quite different today than usual.

Whenever he dealt with others in the knight order, Aldrick’s expression was always cold and hard.

Partly it was because of his rough upbringing and his naturally curt personality, but more than that, many people used his age and origin as excuses to look down on him.

Aside from people like the commander who had personally approved his enlistment, or Count Simon Lambert, who had coincidentally grown close to him and didn’t care about status, most people treated him that way. As a result, Aldrick maintained an even more stoic attitude, just to avoid being underestimated.

So whether they were enemies or friends, anyone who knew Aldrick even slightly wouldn’t have believed the way he looked today.

The face that was always cool and expressionless had softened before Violet, even forming a faint smile. Of course, Aldrick always showed such expressions in front of her, so Violet didn’t find it particularly special.

She only felt that there was something unusually unfamiliar in Aldrick today, perhaps because it had been a while since they last met. When had she last seen him…? Maybe about half a year ago?

Violet briefly tried to calculate how much time had passed. Since he had gone up to the capital for his third round of training before the year had turned over, Aldrick, who had been sixteen at the time, must be seventeen now.

For a boy, half a year might have been a long time.

Unlike Violet, whose height had already stopped growing, Aldrick seemed to have grown another handspan taller, and the angle at which she had to look up at him had noticeably changed.

And it wasn’t just his height.

From his now-broadening shoulders to what seemed like a thicker overall frame, Aldrick had clearly returned with a larger build.

Was the knight order training really that grueling…?

Violet tried not to examine Aldrick’s changed physique too closely and came to that conclusion.

Today, the two had met briefly in the forest at the village boundary.

Aldrick had reached out first to Violet, who had been spending an ordinary day. After receiving a note from a messenger boy, she made time and came out to the forest.

When she met Aldrick in the woods, he hadn’t even taken off his armor. It seemed that, having just finished training in the capital, he had come straight here to see Violet without even going home.

Wearing thick metal gauntlets, leather armor, and a long sword at his waist, Aldrick somehow felt like a different person, and Violet blinked.

In truth, it wasn’t the first time she’d felt that way around him. She didn’t want to admit it, but it had started a year or two ago.

After joining the capital’s knight order, Aldrick spent most of the year there. Unlike before, when they could meet whenever they wanted, now Violet and Aldrick barely saw each other once every few months.

With such long intervals between visits, the changes felt even more pronounced.

When had it started? Aldrick had overtaken Violet in height, and the once-pure green eyes had deepened, to the point where Violet could no longer look him straight in the eye.

Ever since she became aware of how much Aldrick changed each time they met, Violet found herself plagued by a strange fluttering in her chest. But each time, she stubbornly ignored her feelings.

Violet had seen Aldrick since he was a seven-year-old child, and to her, he was practically like her own little brother.

It was still the same now. Violet forced herself to calm her trembling heart. Being flustered over a kid like that? Absurd. Shoving her feelings aside by force, she forced herself to meet his eyes again.