VCHM CH 09

Perhaps sensing her silent urging, Aldric let out a small sigh and moved.

Violet tensed at every movement he made, but Aldric merely knelt down on one knee in front of where she was sitting.

Settling himself at her feet, he gently lifted Violet’s left hand with both of his. It was the hand wearing her ring. His fingertips trembled slightly as he held it.

“Actually, I intended to wait until we reached the capital… No, until I officially received my title and returned to my estate. I thought I could wait that long. I never realized I was this lacking in self-control….”

Violet did not know exactly what he was blaming himself for, so she simply watched him in silence.

When she remained still, he carefully kissed the back of her hand. His lips were remarkably warm.

“I thought I had been patient all this time….”

He seemed almost as though he were performing some kind of ritual. After placing gentle kisses along the prominent bones on the back of her hand, he turned it over so that her palm faced upward. When his lips touched the center of her palm, a strange warmth and ticklish sensation spread through her.

Part of her wanted to pull her hand away, while another part wanted to leave it in his hands and simply see what would happen.

The warmth in her palm only grew stronger.

“You have never shown any interest in me, and you’re so young and innocent that I couldn’t bring myself to touch you with these hands of mine….”

His lips slowly moved along her delicate skin before finally reaching the inside of her wrist, where her pulse was beating rapidly. Violet unconsciously let out a small breath.

The warmth against her sensitive wrist seemed to travel with her pulse throughout her body.

“Are you really sure you’re okay with this? If you tell me you don’t want it, I can wait as long as you need. Of course, it would be very difficult for me, but—”

Violet couldn’t just stand by while Aldric once again tried to back away.

Wouldn’t this strange tension disappear only after they finally crossed that final boundary as husband and wife?

Even if only to put an end to the breathless feeling in her chest, Violet decided that she should simply go through with their first night.

She held his face between both hands and gently lifted his head. Aldric obediently looked at her. Because of his expression and gaze, he looked almost like a devotee reverently looking upon a deity.

His chin had appeared perfectly smooth, as though freshly shaved, but when Violet felt the slight roughness beneath her fingertips, she almost laughed.

He was still a man, after all.

“It’s not something I haven’t thought about either.”

The corner of his mouth trembled beneath Violet’s hands.

“You… You’ve thought about it too?”

“Yes. Not often, but after you came back, I thought about it enough. It may be a little sudden, but… if you hadn’t gone to war, this is something we would have done three years ago anyway.”

As Violet spoke softly, Aldric’s expression gradually became filled with desire.

Seeing his face made her suddenly self-conscious, so Violet lowered her eyes.

“So, since things have turned out this way anyway, I want to become your… real wife too.”

With those words, Violet slowly lowered her lips, just as Aldric had done earlier.

She had intended to share another gentle kiss, just like before.

But Aldric’s response was very different this time. As soon as their lips met, he kissed her more eagerly.

Violet froze for a moment at the unfamiliar sensation.

She had never experienced anything like it before, and she was too surprised to react when the kiss became deeper.

‘It feels so strange….’

Violet was at a loss, unable even to close her eyes at first. She could only watch Aldric as he kissed her with his eyes closed, her heart beating nervously.

The fluttering feeling in her stomach grew stronger, as though countless butterflies were beating their wings inside her. The warmth spreading through her body rose to her face, leaving her cheeks bright red.

The kiss gradually deepened, and Violet found herself overwhelmed by the unfamiliar closeness.

There was no force involved, yet she felt as though she were being drawn along by something she did not understand.

Aldric seemed to be asking something of her, and she felt that she was supposed to respond somehow. But she had no idea what she was expected to do, which only made her more flustered.

Before long, their embrace had grown closer, Aldric’s large frame pressed securely against her. His arms wrapped around her waist, and he gently stroked her back as though reassuring her.

Yet Aldric himself was obviously extremely nervous. His tension seemed to spread to Violet, and her body trembled slightly as well.

He eventually pulled back from the kiss, leaving Violet to catch her breath. The unfamiliar closeness was strange at first, but as she realized that it was Aldric beside her, it somehow became less frightening.

After all, this was simply one of the most basic expressions of affection between husband and wife. Violet had no objection to accepting her husband’s affection.

She relaxed slightly and carefully placed her hands on Aldric’s broad shoulders.

Perhaps thinking she was trying to push him away, Aldric paused and searched her expression.

Instead, Violet gently pulled him closer and kissed him again. Aldric let out a rough breath.

“Ah, Violet….”

Reading her gesture as permission to continue, Aldric seemed to finally let go of the restraint he had been holding onto.

He suddenly straightened and sat on the bed. At the same time, he lifted Violet and settled her beside him. It happened so quickly that she barely understood what had happened.

With her arms around his neck, Violet remained still as Aldric held her close.

She had not expected their kiss to become so intense, and she began to feel increasingly flustered.

‘Why is this suddenly becoming so overwhelming? Is this ever going to stop?’

Aldric’s earlier hesitation had disappeared, replaced by the emotions he had been desperately trying to suppress.

His warm breath mingled with hers as he held her tightly. Violet struggled to keep up, barely finding a moment to breathe.

“Al-Aldric, I can hardly breathe….”

She managed to say it when they briefly parted, but Aldric seemed too distracted to hear her clearly.

Fortunately, he did not continue immediately. Instead, he began leaving gentle kisses on her forehead, cheeks, near her ear, and along the side of her neck.

“Violet. Violet….”

Every time he called her name, she felt a strange shiver run through her.

“I’m going to undo the buttons of your dress. Don’t be startled.”

Aldric whispered the warning near her ear.

What was he going to undo? The buttons of her dress? Why?

Violet was simply confused. Aldric had clearly become more overwhelmed than before, yet somehow she felt as though she were the one who had completely lost her composure.

“I’m sorry…. I’m sorry, Violet. You have no idea how grateful I am to you right now….”

He paused repeatedly as he continued, his voice breaking whenever he stopped to reassure her.

Overwhelmed by his whispered words and affection, Violet found herself struggling to catch her breath.

One by one, the buttons of her dress came undone, leaving her feeling increasingly embarrassed. Soon, Aldric had loosened the dress enough for her to feel even more self-conscious.

Only her undergarments remained beneath it.

“When I heard that you had even prepared burial clothes while I was gone… that you had thought you might have to face that… I truly, truly….”

He muttered as though overwhelmed by emotion, then pressed a remorseful kiss to her exposed shoulder.

“But now that I’ve returned alive, don’t think about things like that anymore. I won’t leave your side. I’ll never leave you alone again. I want you to know that I’m here, alive, beside you. And I want to know that you’re here with me too….”

By then, Violet’s heart had already been touched by his confused and heartfelt confession.

‘All right. Fine. Whatever you want. I don’t know exactly what you’re asking for, but… let’s do it your way.’

There were still so many things she wanted to say, but all Violet could manage was to hold onto his neck and breathe unevenly.

Aldric’s warm hand moved gently along her waist before disappearing beneath the fabric of her clothing.

He hesitated, then spoke carefully.

“Your underclothes….”

Aldric stopped and swallowed. His throat moved noticeably.

“Your underclothes… May I… remove them?”

Violet felt relieved when she saw that Aldric’s face was just as flushed as hers.

If he had acted as though this were something completely familiar to him, casually removing his own clothes and proceeding without hesitation, she would have felt terribly hurt.

Violet was glad that Aldric was her husband. It was not the first time she had thought so, but she felt it especially strongly today.

Meeting his gaze as he looked directly into her eyes, Violet slowly nodded.

Something suddenly flashed deep within his green eyes, like a flame coming to life.

Even then, Violet had no idea exactly what she had agreed to or what her consent meant for what was about to happen.

‘This is what a first night is supposed to be? So this is what it really means?’

Lying in bed with her shoulders exposed, Violet stared blankly ahead.

By then, the sky outside the window had already grown bright with morning.

She could hardly remember how the night had ended. Violet had fallen asleep almost as though she had fainted, and she had only just opened her eyes.