Violet Zerotta's Hasty Marriage - Chapter 21
“…What?”
“Of course, it’ll be a matter for the distant future. But since I hate the cold, make sure I’m buried somewhere with good sunlight. And decorate it with flowers… Aldrick?”
Violet tilted her head, noticing his expression had turned unusually serious.
“Violet. Are you sick? Or is something wrong with your health?”
“What? No?”
“Even setting aside the burial robe… why do you think about death so often?”
“Well, to be honest, I didn’t mean anything by it.”
She hadn’t thought about it deeply. It was something she just said without much thought, but Aldrick’s face remained grave.
“I’ve seen a lot of death on the battlefield. So I know how sudden it can be. I also know how fleeting life is…”
“Ah… I didn’t think that far. And anyway, this is all just talk about the future. I’m going to live a full life and die of old age. So don’t worry.”
“Before you die, I’ll make sure you’re happy. So let’s stop talking about graves now.”
His face looked so troubled that Violet figured he must have some very bad memories tied to death.
And from then on—for a while, or maybe forever—Aldrick behaved like he was afraid of losing Violet.
***
During their travels, the two of them stayed at inns in various villages. Sometimes they were small lodgings, other times high-end inns.
When they stayed in a large coastal trading city, Violet learned for the first time what a hotel was.
The fact that they could stay in such a place that looked like a grand noble’s mansion amazed her. In fact, it was her first time ever seeing the sea.
When she was moved by the sight of the ocean, Aldrick changed their route so they traveled along the coastline on the way to the capital.
Traveling with him was truly enjoyable. They could’ve gotten a carriage, but riding horses side-by-side and chatting was just as fun.
In every village they visited, they ate delicious food and bought little souvenirs.
Having spent her whole life in her hometown of Wölze, then holed up in Aldrick’s house in Saint-Loure afterward, everything was a new experience for Violet.
Just a month ago, she never would’ve imagined herself dining at a fancy seaside restaurant with her husband.
Much less that said husband would treat her like a queen, something Violet had never even considered.
Aldrick truly was good to her.
When mounting or dismounting a horse, when walking, during meals, at bedtime and upon waking. Every moment, he was attentive to her.
Sometimes his behavior, as if she were the only person in the world, felt like a bit too much. But she didn’t dislike it.
Of course, there were times she wondered, Why is he being so good to me?
It was clear he didn’t dislike her. No sane person would go that far to pamper someone they hated. If anything, he probably liked her.
But when it came to the emotion called ‘love’, Violet felt a little uncertain. Was this the ‘love’ she’d only ever heard about or read in books?
Violet liked him too. Considering how worried she’d been about marriage, he was truly a good person. But at the same time, she hadn’t known him for long.
Could someone really fall in love with another in such a short time?
Having no experience in such things, she couldn’t even assess her own emotions.
Besides, deep within her, there lingered a final bit of doubt she herself hadn’t fully recognized. The kind of doubt that comes from never having been loved.
Even if—just if—Aldrick liked her, or even loved her, she didn’t believe that kind of feeling could last forever.
If anything, she thought it might be a momentary passion, the sort that flares and fades between men and women.
Violet, a child born of such fleeting passion, was living proof of that.
Love fades with time. Violet didn’t believe in such ambiguous things. People believed in what they were familiar with.
So Violet concluded that Aldrick’s feelings toward her were closer to desire than love. After all, he was only twenty years old—a young man.
And judging by his behavior, he was just as inexperienced as she was when it came to matters between a man and a woman.
The way his hands hesitated or trembled when holding her wrist or embracing her lightly made it impossible to doubt that Violet was his first woman.
He was, essentially, a boy ignorant of love.
Of course, that was far better than having a husband who was a womanizer. But in some ways, it was also more unsettling.
If Aldrick was simply swept up in excitement because he didn’t know better, then wouldn’t there someday appear a woman who could shake his heart even more than Violet did?
