Violet Zerotta’s Hasty Marriage - Chapter 90

Around the time Violet had spent half a year in the capital, visitors to the Lambert estate were all very curious about the Countess’s new companion.

“Lady Winter is the wife of Sir Winter, who joined the campaign. Sir Winter is my husband’s dear friend,” Doris would answer gently and gracefully.

Her response made it clear that Violet was a married woman, but even so, people’s—especially certain shady men’s—interest in her did not wane.

Violet thought she was starting to understand what Aldrick had meant. In the city of love, Mallo, it seemed that marital status wasn’t all that important when it came to romantic affairs.

Even knowing she was a married woman, there were gentlemen who would try to approach her for a bit of novelty and pleasure. But Violet never fell for such shallow tricks, and she quickly learned how to deflect unwanted attention.

To someone unfamiliar with capital culture, the behavior of those men felt downright shameless.

Above all, she never wanted to betray Aldrick.

She may have appeared to be an ordinary young lady on the outside, but Violet wasn’t as naïve as others assumed. She had lived through her share of hardships and learned how to judge people and assess situations.

Violet was well aware of the deal she had made with Aldrick. That’s why she was determined to fulfill her role as his wife faithfully until his return. When she saw him again, she wanted to face him with pride, without a trace of shame.

Most of all, she didn’t want to become a burden to him, but at the same time, there really wasn’t anyone else who caught her interest.

Just as Aldrick had said, most of the gentlemen in the capital were all flash and no substance, pompous braggarts with nothing solid behind them. Dealing with such men only made her realize anew how decent a man Aldrick truly was.

Even if it had been a marriage in name only, Violet was glad that her first husband had been Aldrick.

Perhaps fate had lent her a hand.

If their situations hadn’t lined up just so—Aldrick needing a marriage certificate, and Violet needing to flee her home—this kind of life wouldn’t even have been a dream.

While waiting for Aldrick to return, Violet met many people and had many experiences. But more than anything else, she found herself thinking about Aldrick.

Even while chatting happily with Doris, or when concentrating on a bit of needlework she’d been given, her thoughts would inevitably wander.

Where is Aldrick now? What is he doing? Is he eating well? Is he hurt?

The deep, tender feelings she couldn’t fully express simmered in her chest.

Sometimes she would remember the cute young Aldrick from her childhood. With his blond hair and green eyes, thin from never eating enough, he’d looked like a little fairy. That boy had grown up to offer her a saving hand, and had gone off to a brutal war.

The more she thought about it, the more grateful and guilty she felt. Violet wanted to repay him in some way.

The main reason she continued to live so steadfastly was Aldrick. She would stay quiet and behave until she saw him return alive with her own eyes. And when the time came, she would quietly disappear from his life, so as not to stand in the way of the brighter future that awaited him.

In the capital, she met many young and beautiful ladies.

Especially when she saw girls around Aldrick’s age, teenage girls, Violet would feel a pang of guilt. To ease that guilt, she felt she had to let Aldrick go when the time came.

Once he returned, she planned to file for a clean divorce as soon as things were settled.

And she sincerely hoped that Aldrick would find someone he truly loved and be happy.

Whenever she had these thoughts, a dull ache would stir somewhere in her chest, but it couldn’t be helped.

Well, I’ll just have to find a good husband too, she told herself, forcing the thought to feel casual. And until Aldrick returned, her thoughts remained unchanged.

***

A little over a year later, Aldrick returned to Violet’s arms. The war, which everyone thought would drag on much longer, came to an abrupt end with the death of the king of the enemy kingdom, Aslan.

On the day the knights and soldiers returned from the distant front, Violet was anxious all day, pacing the gates of the Lambert estate with Doris.

As the sun set, when they finally saw Aldrick and Count Lambert at the entrance, both women wept tears of joy.

“Aldrick!”

The moment she saw him dismount, Violet couldn’t hold back her relief and ran to embrace him tightly.

“Violet…”

Aldrick, too, called her name as if choked with emotion. It was the face he had longed to see since the moment he turned his horse on the battlefield.

No, not just then. Throughout the entire war, he had endured each day by thinking only of the moment he would see her again.

When he was cutting down men like a beast driven mad by blood, when he was stabbed by enemy blades and rolling in the muck, Aldrick had forced himself to rise again—determined not to lose his life.

His efforts had been worth it. To have Violet come running and wrap her arms around him like this.

Aldrick felt as though this single embrace had compensated him for the entire war.