Chapter 79
“Even if it’s an order… do you really have to go? It’s dangerous. What could a kid like you possibly do there? Can’t you just say you won’t go?”
Still being treated like a snot-nosed kid by Violet, Aldrick bit back the rising irritation and forced himself to remain calm. If he reacted too strongly here, she’d only treat him even more like a child. Besides, he couldn’t afford to lose his temper right before saying something important he hadn’t managed to bring up yet.
There was a reason he’d asked Violet to meet him today. Of course, he wanted to see her as soon as he returned to his hometown after a long while, but the reason he’d sought her out so urgently was because there was something he absolutely had to say.
That thing was…
A proposal… I need to propose…
He needed to ask Violet to become his wife.
In the Kingdom of Illo, there was a custom that knights had to marry before participating in a war. It was possible to become a knight without marrying, but to be officially recognized as an adult and deploy to war, one had to be wed.
So Aldrick had hoped that by telling Violet he was going to war, she might bring up marriage first. But whether it was fortunate or unfortunate, Violet seemed completely unaware of that fact.
Even if she had brought it up first, it would’ve flustered him. But having to take the lead himself in opening the topic was no less difficult.
In truth, the entire journey back to Wölze, Aldrick had been preoccupied with how he could naturally bring up the topic of marriage to Violet.
“Anyone who meets the requirements can be deployed. Surprisingly, the people in the Order don’t think of me as a kid like you do.”
Grumbling from the tension, Aldrick muttered.
Still, he was officially knighted. Maybe I’ve been treating him too much like a kid?
Feeling a bit guilty, Violet pulled an apple she had brought for lunch from her lap and wiped it on her skirt before handing it to him. She also wiped hers off and took a big bite before continuing.
“Still, it seems way too dangerous… If you were to get hurt or something happened to you…”
But she trailed off. She had lost confidence in the words she was about to say.
If something happened to Aldrick, then what? What are you trying to say, Violet?
Even when she asked herself, she couldn’t find an answer.
What she had originally wanted to say was something like, ‘If you were hurt or something happened to you, I’d be heartbroken.’ But when it came time to actually speak the words, she felt incredibly awkward.
Well, who am I to say something like that…
Violet wasn’t his family or a relative. It would be strange for someone who was just a neighbor from the same village to worry about him so excessively.
Well, if she dressed it up nicely, maybe she could be considered a childhood friend?
Ah, right. A friend.
Biting into her apple again, Violet reassured herself. It’s perfectly normal for longtime friends to be concerned about each other.
Just as she had the right to worry, Aldrick had the freedom to act as he wished. So if he insisted on going to war, there was no way she could stop him.
She had no reason or right to oppose his decision. And if he were to get hurt—or, though she didn’t even want to imagine it—lose his life, all Violet could do was cry.
Thinking that far made her a bit downcast. She felt foolish for making a fuss when he had already made up his mind so casually, and she fell silent.
Her lips, bitten into the apple, were moist with sweet juice.
Not knowing what Violet was thinking, Aldrick was struggling to tear his gaze away from her lips.
Contrary to her worry that she might seem overdramatic, Aldrick was happy that Violet was worried about him.
The concern in her eyes, directed at him, was unbearably endearing.
So endearing, he wanted to hug her smaller frame tightly and whisper that he’d return safely.
If only he could, that’s what he’d do, but…
Just the thought made his face feel like it was burning, so Aldrick steered the conversation elsewhere.
“They say the pay’s good. If I’m lucky, I might even earn a better rank. Like Senior Knight, maybe.”
He didn’t really crave money or status, but if either could help make Violet happy, he would do anything to achieve it.
Having watched her since childhood, Aldrick had a rough idea of the situation in the Zerotta household.
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