VCHM CH 07

“Don’t trail off. Tell me properly.”

“Phew… No, never mind. More importantly, we really don’t need to buy a bed. We’re going to have to leave this house anyway.”

“What?!”

At his sudden announcement, Violet opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“Leave this place? Why? Do you have to go to another war?”

That couldn’t be happening. She had waited for three years, and now she was supposed to spend another uncertain stretch of time waiting for him? Absolutely not.

Besides, Violet had just begun to realize that she liked Aldric more than she had expected, which made the thought of him leaving even more upsetting.

“No, I said ‘we.’ We’re going together.”

“Where? Why?”

He paused for a moment, choosing his words before giving her a simple answer.

“I distinguished myself in the war. So I’m going to be granted a territory and a title.”

His words were so casual that Violet didn’t immediately grasp what he had said.

He spoke as casually as if he were telling her that he had borrowed some farming equipment from a neighbor.

“A territory and a title?”

“Yes. I heard I’ll be given the title of Count. I suppose that’s right.”

“A Count…”

That was a title far higher than her father Antonio Cerota’s paltry baron title. Violet was speechless for a moment.

“And you’re getting a territory too? You’re going to become a lord?”

“Probably.”

“Why are you only telling me about something this important now?”

“…I was a little out of sorts yesterday.”

“My goodness, a territory. A title. What in the world is happening? When do we have to leave?”

“First, we have to go to the capital for the ceremony. It’s in two months, so we still have some time. But after the ceremony, we’ll probably have to go straight to the estate. The people there will have a hard time if their lord isn’t present. So, about that…”

He hesitated for a moment before continuing.

“It’s a rather spontaneous plan, but I thought it might be nice to travel with you on the way to the capital. You must have been bored staying here for three years, and also…”

The man who had spoken so dryly about the territory and his title was now blushing and stumbling over his words.

What is he trying to say?

“W-We didn’t get to take a h-h-honeymoon after our wedding either, so I thought you might enjoy seeing different places, and I—”

“Okay. I understand, so calm down!”

To calm him down, who had become completely flustered, Violet grabbed his arm.

Perhaps his embarrassment had rubbed off on her, because she could feel her own face growing hot as well.

Maybe it was because the words he had suddenly brought up were so embarrassing.

A wedding. A honeymoon.

Violet’s face burned.

In truth, she had long since erased that hastily arranged, almost runaway-style wedding from her mind.

For three years afterward, with Aldric gone, there had even been times when she forgot that she was a married woman. And now that Aldric had suddenly brought up something as innocent and embarrassing as a honeymoon, she couldn’t help feeling incredibly self-conscious.

Apparently, Aldric felt the same way. He couldn’t meet Violet’s eyes either. Even the breath coming from his nose seemed hot.

“Fine. It’s all fine. Since it seems certain that we’re leaving anyway, I agree with everything you said. So let’s leave whenever you’re ready!”

Unable to bring herself to mention the word honeymoon again, Violet threw out a jumble of words and fled the room.

Her ears were burning, and the unfamiliar sensation of her heart pounding made her feel strange.

‘So, do I dislike this feeling?’

She asked herself.

‘No, it’s not that….’

Her heart answered.

She didn’t dislike it. In fact, Violet was even a little touched by Aldric’s proposal.

Their marriage had happened so suddenly that it was almost like roasting beans over a lightning-fast fire, but the fact that Aldric still regarded it as a proper marriage felt surprisingly meaningful.

Of course, Violet hadn’t completely disregarded their marriage vows either. That was why she had stayed here all this time and waited for him.

But she had never known what he truly thought about it. She had never had the opportunity to find out.

And just now, she felt as though she had caught a glimpse of his feelings.

We really are husband and wife now.

I’m truly Aldric’s wife, and Aldric is truly my husband…

Husband and wife.

The words carried such an intimate resonance.

Just as Violet’s heart was beginning to swell with warmth and happiness—

A chilling thought suddenly flashed through her mind.

It was because of a memory that had suddenly surfaced.

‘A honeymoon… Husband and wife… Does that mean… we have to consummate the marriage?’

She didn’t know why she had suddenly thought of it. The realization had flashed through her mind like a bright light suddenly being switched on.

And once the thought had taken root, it refused to disappear easily.

Violet’s face went pale.

That was right.

They weren’t truly considered a married couple yet.

There was still something between them that had not been done.

In Illore, even if a couple held a wedding ceremony, their marriage was not recognized as official unless they consummated it.

As for Aldric, there had apparently been no way to prove anything, so it seemed that the knight commander had approved their marriage based on nothing more than a scrap of paperwork. But this sudden realization left Violet feeling uneasy.

She didn’t want to consummate the marriage.

Violet still remembered the terrible things she had heard about it. They said it was extremely painful and that there was nothing pleasant about it for a woman.

But she couldn’t avoid it forever.

Now that they had finally begun living together as a normal married couple, if they didn’t consummate the marriage, they would have to consider all of this invalid.

Violet’s face, which had gone pale, now darkened with worry.

I suppose we’ll have to do it somehow.

As was her habit, Violet began trying to think as positively as possible.

If it was something everyone did, then perhaps it wouldn’t be as difficult as she imagined. After all, every married couple in the world managed to do it…

Violet didn’t know exactly what it involved or what kind of act it was.

There was no point being afraid of something she didn’t understand.

She forced herself to be brave.

Besides… somehow, she felt that if it were Aldric, it would be all right.

If it was him, perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad.

‘I’ve thought about worse people to marry. Haven’t I? If it’s Aldric… yes, it’ll be okay.’

Violet reassured herself.

But then, why hadn’t Aldric said anything to her?

From what little she had heard, the consummation of a marriage was a ritual in which the man took the lead with the woman.

But Aldric hadn’t asked anything of Violet on the first night after their wedding, nor had he asked anything of her yesterday, after returning from the war.

It suddenly became a question in Violet’s mind.

For the next week, Violet and Aldric were busy preparing to leave.

And during that time, nothing happened that Violet needed to worry about.

Aldric was a man with a strong sense of chivalry, just as befitted an excellent knight.

He was always gentlemanly toward Violet, and despite his large build, he had an exceptionally gentle and quiet personality.

Considering the tremendous physical strength he must have possessed, he was almost excessively mild-mannered.

Violet was grateful for that.

Through indirect experience, she knew very well how rough a man like Aldric could become if he ever chose to behave badly.

Preparing for the journey didn’t take very long.

They didn’t have many belongings to begin with.

After discussing it with Aldric, they decided to leave within a day or two.

Still, Violet couldn’t help feeling sad about leaving this house behind.

She had grown attached to it over the three years she had lived there.

There wasn’t a corner of the house that hadn’t been touched by her hands, and she had carefully tended to it through all sorts of trial and error.

“It’s such a shame that we’re leaving so suddenly. I worked so hard sweeping, cleaning, and fixing this place…”

As she showed Aldric the garden before their journey, Violet spoke almost as if she were talking to herself.

“What should we do with these chickens in the yard? If we let them loose in the mountains, foxes will eat them in no time. Oh, I won’t be able to see Mrs. Margaret from the cloth shop anymore either. Should I at least go say goodbye? She was kind enough to give me so much work even though I had no connections here.”

Before Aldric came back, Violet had never realized that she was capable of talking this much.

Perhaps because she finally had someone to listen to her, Violet chattered away quite happily.

And Aldric listened to everything she said without showing the slightest sign of fatigue.

Every now and then, he would say things like, “The house has changed so much that I hardly recognize it. I can tell how hard you worked,” or, “You don’t have to do those kinds of things anymore. Thinking about how hard things must have been for you all this time makes me feel bad.”

His words made Violet feel deeply satisfied.

Her sadness about leaving the house was eventually resolved by one suggestion from Violet.

“Let’s rent this place out to someone.”

The idea suddenly occurred to her.

Poor commoners were always short on houses anyway.

The location was somewhat remote, but the house was large and clean, so they should be able to find someone willing to live there.

“We don’t even have to charge much. Let’s just tell them to take good care of it. Then we could come back and visit someday. What do you think?”

Since Aldric was the owner of the house, Violet asked for his agreement.

As always, Aldric simply answered,

“Sure. Sounds good.”

That was generally how Aldric responded to Violet’s opinions.

It was also one of the reasons Violet thought he was excessively gentle.

He agreed with almost everything she said, as though he hardly had any opinions of his own, and accepted every suggestion she made.

But there was one thing he absolutely refused to compromise on.

The matter of the bed.

He still stubbornly refused to let either of them sleep on the floor.

Ever since Violet had thought about consummating their marriage, she had become somewhat uncomfortable about sharing a bed with him.

She liked his firm body and warm body heat, but having to sleep so close together felt burdensome.

She was also afraid that Aldric might do something while he was asleep.

However, even after an entire week passed, there was no sign of anything like that from Aldric.

After several days passed without anything happening, Violet came to one conclusion.