Fortunately for the hens, Violet decides not to kill one she has raised for so long. Instead, she plans to go to the village butcher and buy beef. She wants to make a rich beef stew with plenty of fragrant vegetables for Aldricās first dinner back home.
Before leaving, she finishes the sewing work she needs to deliver to the village. Even though her husband has returned, her work does not stop. She jokingly thinks about the sad life of a hardworking woman and feels a little proud of her own diligence.
Just as she is about to leave, Aldric comes out of the bedroom after apparently taking a nap. He is surprised by Violetās strange disguise: a deep hood and mud deliberately smeared over her face.
Violet explains that she dresses this way because she does not want people to realize that a young woman lives alone. Now that Aldric has returned, however, she realizes she no longer needs the disguise.
Aldric tells her to wash the dirt off and suggests that they go to the village together. Violet quickly cleans her face and changes into her nicest cotton dress. Going to the village with Aldric feels strangely exciting to her, almost like going somewhere for fun rather than working.
Aldric takes her on horseback, sitting behind her just as he did when she first arrived at the house three years earlier. Violet enjoys the ride and the autumn scenery, with the breeze and cosmos flowers along the road. She starts talking freely, realizing how lonely she had been during the years when she had no one to talk to.
In the village, Violet finishes her business quickly: she delivers the sewing work and buys meat and vegetables. She notices that people are looking at her differently because they are seeing her as a young woman for the first time rather than the disguised middle-aged woman they thought she was.
The butcher even jokingly says that if he had known she was such a pretty young lady, he would have tried to make her his wife long ago. Violet privately congratulates herself for having been so careful about hiding her identity.
When she turns around, she finds Aldric standing very close behind her. He asks whether she told the butcher that she was married. Violet points to her wedding ring, explaining that anyone should be able to tell from it.
Aldric, however, seems unusually serious about the butcherās comment and says he will go back and make it clear that Violet already has a husband. Violet stops him, explaining that the butcher was only joking.
This makes Violet realize how little they actually know about one another. She asks whether Aldric even knows her name. After hesitating, he says, āViolet Cerota.ā
Violet corrects him. She explains that she is no longer Violet Cerota but Violet Winter, because under the laws of the Kingdom of Ilore, a married woman takes her husbandās surname.
She likes the sound of her new name, Violet Winter, but when she looks at Aldric, she finds his entire face bright redāincluding his ears. She privately compares him to a very handsome tomato.
On the way home, Violet convinces herself that perhaps the sunset merely made his face look red. The two remain mostly silent during the ride, creating an awkward atmosphere.
Back at home, Violet escapes into the kitchen to cook. Aldric keeps hovering around the kitchen entrance because he apparently wants something to do. Violet eventually gives him vegetables to prepare and tells him to be careful with the knife.
Aldric looks slightly offended because she treats him almost like a child. Violet realizes that she has continued thinking of him as the three-years-younger boy she first met, even though he is now unmistakably an adult man.
She wonders whether she should start speaking formally to her husband, but decides to leave the issue for later and focus on dinner.
The evening turns out pleasantly. The beef stew they make together fills the table, and the sounds of dishes and spoons make the meal feel warm and companionable. After years of eating alone, Violet enjoys having another person at the table.
But after dinner, a new problem appears.
After washing and changing into comfortable cotton pajamas, Violet faces the question of where they are both going to sleep. Aldric seems equally uncomfortable and keeps pacing around the bedroom.
When Violet calls his name, he becomes startled. She asks him directly where he plans to sleep.
Aldric nervously answers that, naturally, he should sleep in the bed.
Violet realizes that this is indeed the problem she had been expecting: after returning from the battlefield, Aldric presumably does not want to sleep on the floor like he did while away.
