Violet Zerotta's Hasty Marriage - Chapter 1
I.
The wedding ceremony was over in the blink of an eye.
A few days after hearing Violet’s answer, her father returned, jingling a pouch filled with gold coins.
Of course, not a single coin of it belonged to Violet.
Exactly a week later, Violet stood in a shabby rural temple, draped in a worn wedding dress and an old veil.
She still had no idea who her groom was.
He had yet to arrive at the wedding venue. Something about being deployed tomorrow? No matter what, how could a groom be late to his own wedding? Violet was certain her future was doomed.
In the Kingdom of Illo, unmarried men were not recognized as true knights. Even if they were knighted, they had to marry in order to be acknowledged as knights in the truest sense. Without undergoing the customary ceremony, they were not considered adults.
So, the man who was about to become Violet’s husband was going through with this rushed marriage purely out of necessity.
How incompetent must he be if, despite being skilled enough to go to war, he had still not managed to get married until now?
Violet assumed he must be either very old, bald, or hideously ugly.
Or perhaps he had a completely rotten personality? Surely he wasn’t the type to hit his wife?
Whatever the case, she hated it. Violet tried not to imagine a future where she had to spend her whole life with such a husband.
Somehow or another, it would all work out.
At least, that was what she always told herself.
It was the wisdom of life she had learned since she was ten years old.
The groom arrived at the ceremony after a long delay, accompanied by a single knight as his witness.
On Violet’s side, her father, Baron Zerotta, stood as her witness. The ceremony was not just modest—it was downright miserable.
Violet simply wanted to get it over with and rest.
The journey from her hometown, Wölze, to this place, Saint-Loure, had taken a full week by carriage. She had been jostled around in a cheap, uncomfortable carriage the entire way, leaving her body utterly exhausted. On top of that, she had arrived only this morning.
Whether he knew how resigned and bored she felt or not, the groom suddenly appeared at the temple entrance, striding forward with confident steps before coming to stand beside her.
Violet didn’t even glance at him. From the sound of his movements, it seemed he had come dressed in armor rather than ceremonial attire. How incredibly rude.
Did he not even bother to observe the bare minimum of etiquette?
Irritated by everything, Violet resolved to completely ignore her husband.
However, she had no choice but to follow the officiant’s instructions when he told them to face each other after a brief blessing.
Slowly, Violet turned to the side. Through the fine lace of her veil, she saw the gleam of silver armor.
What? Why was all she could see his chest? Frowning, Violet lifted her gaze slightly. But no matter how much she looked up, she couldn’t see the man’s face.
In the end, she had to practically crane her neck before she could finally see her husband’s face.
‘…?’
The first thing that caught her eye was a head of thick golden hair, gleaming under the sunlight streaming through the temple window.
Compared to her own plain brown hair, his was an absurdly beautiful color. The sight of it left Violet a little flustered.
‘Hmph. Well, at least he’s not bald, huh?’
Fine, so he had hair. But what about his face?
Feeling slightly tense, she lowered her gaze.
‘…?’
Emerald-green eyes stared down at her indifferently.
The man was neither ugly nor old. On the contrary, he was excessively handsome, with a sturdy physique befitting a knight.
No, rather than simply being young…
‘Is he… younger than me?’
His strong jawline and firmly set lips were certainly masculine, but there was still a trace of boyishness in his features.
It was then that Violet realized she had no idea how old her husband was. In fact, she knew nothing about him at all.
She had assumed he would be much older, yet the man standing before her looked younger than her.
Biting her lip to hide her shock, Violet tried not to show her surprise. She wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t want him to notice her reaction.
She should have been relieved that her husband wasn’t some monstrous old man, but instead of feeling relieved, why did she feel even more nervous?
Regardless of her confusion, the ceremony continued.
Following the officiant’s instructions, the bride and groom placed their hands together over the sacred relic and recited the prayer.
His large hand completely covered hers, radiating warmth.
Aside from her father, it was the first time she had ever touched a man’s hand. Violet didn’t even realize her face was turning red.
“You may now exchange the tokens of your marriage.”
‘Tokens?’
Only then did Violet snap out of her daze. She didn’t remember preparing anything like that.
Turning to look behind her, she saw her father rummage through his coat before pulling out a small bundle wrapped in cloth and handing it to her.
…It was an absurdly thin silver ring, as delicate as a thread. It looked as miserly as Baron Zerotta’s heart.
Feeling her face burn with embarrassment, Violet handed the ring to her husband.
‘Ha!’
To make matters worse, the ring was too small.
Meanwhile, the man’s hand was large and thick. The threadlike ring her father had given her wouldn’t even fit his pinky finger.
Seeing her struggle to push it onto his finger despite the obvious size mismatch, the man finally took the ring from her and held it in his palm.
Then, without a word, he took out a ring of his own and slipped it onto her finger.
To her dismay, his ring fit her fourth finger perfectly.
The gold ring, though not overly extravagant, was at least much sturdier than the flimsy thing Baron Zerotta had prepared.
For several reasons, sweat began to bead at the nape of her neck.
Finally, the officiant posed the traditional question, asking if they would remain faithful to each other for life.
In a low, steady voice, the groom replied,
“Yes.”
His voice was deep and weighty.
The officiant turned to Violet, waiting for her response.
“…Y-Yes.”
Her voice came out in a whisper, barely audible.
And with that, the ceremony was over.
