Special Honeymoon (4)
“……I have a different dream.”
Those were the words Violet finally uttered after hesitating for a long while.
“If I get married, I’ll have to help with my husband’s heir training—the one my parents pair me with—and just take bridal lessons. I wouldn’t dare dream of anything else.”
“…….”
“I don’t want to end up like that before I even get a chance to pursue the dream I hold. I wish I could at least have one opportunity.”
Her eyes, glistening with moisture, gazed at Aracila with a piteous expression. This made Aracila feel extremely awkward. Ignoring it would remind her too much of her own past, which was painful.
“Um, may I ask what Your Highness’s dream is?”
“……I want to become a knight.”
Violet’s cheeks flushed with shy embarrassment. It was mortifying to say this in front of the wife of one of the empire’s top knights.
Aracila wore a surprised expression at the princess’s unexpectedly bold dream. Even she, a mere noble, had been called a weirdo for dreaming of becoming a mage—if this got out, the princess would earn even harsher nicknames.
“Have you ever mentioned it to Their Majesties?”
“…….”
“You’ve never spoken to them seriously about it?”
Violet affirmed with her silence. Complex emotions emanated from her downcast eyes, filled with sorrow.
Fidgeting with her fingers, Violet softly opened her mouth.
“To my parents…… I just couldn’t say it.”
“Why not?”
“Because I’m the eldest daughter.”
As the second of three siblings, Aracila couldn’t fully empathize with the reason that spilled out. Violet continued with a weary smile.
“Both Mother and Father have high expectations of me. Even though yesterday at dinner, they spoke a bit harshly about me…… That’s just Mother’s bad habit.”
The queen often employed a speaking style that belittled her three daughters while elevating the other party.
It wasn’t done with the intention of placing anyone above the princesses. She was simply accustomed to speaking that way.
It was her way of effectively showing favor to the other person, while believing that objectively pointing out her children’s flaws would help them improve—in her own mind, it was a form of care for her daughters.
“The truth is, both of them expect a lot from me. It’s not like I asked to be born as the firstborn.”
“……I see.”
“Yes. Knowing my parents’ feelings so well, even when it’s hard, I can’t show it, and even if I want something, I can’t say it.”
Violet’s expression turned bitterly wry. It was difficult to offer hasty comfort, so Aracila simply listened quietly to her words.
“And if I show a weak side, it’ll burden my younger siblings. The load I’m supposed to carry would shift to them. Thinking about that, I feel like I should just accept the state marriage…….”
Seeing guilt shadow the face that still hadn’t fully shed its youthful innocence, Aracila impulsively grabbed Violet’s hand and said,
“For now, don’t think about your siblings—think only about yourself, Your Highness.”
“Haha. I want to do that too, but it’s not easy. After all, as the older sister, I have a sense of responsibility to be a role model…….”
Violet awkwardly lifted the corners of her mouth, rubbing her lips as she murmured softly.
“That’s why I often think it would be nice if I had an older sister or brother. Then I could let go a bit more and live comfortably.”
Revealing a vulnerable side she couldn’t show in front of her family, Violet smiled faintly.
Aracila kept seeing Iris overlapping with her. The sacrificial, responsibility-driven older sister.
Is this how all firstborn daughters are? If so, had her own sister ever harbored thoughts like Violet’s?
When she saw herself in Violet, it was just a moderate sense of kinship, but seeing Iris made her strongly want to help. Still holding the princess’s hand, Aracila spoke.
“I’m sorry, but no matter how I think about it, I can’t fulfill Your Highness’s request to persuade Their Majesties.”
“……I figured as much.”
“Instead, I’ll help you get your parents to acknowledge your dream.”
Violet, who had been slumping her shoulders in disappointment, jerked her head up in surprise. Aracila was looking at her with a gentle smile.
“R-Really……?”
“Yes, I want to help you, Your Highness.”
“Thank you, Duchess!”
Violet beamed with a wide smile. Seeing her delighted like a child made Aracila feel good too.
Though she was an uninvited midnight guest, Aracila had grown close to her rapidly.
Meanwhile, Damian, who had returned to the room alone, stared at the ambiguously messy table.
The overturned glass, the bottle precariously placed on the edge, the flower fallen on the floor.
It had ended up like this because he’d rushed out upon hearing the scream. Damian tidied them up and sat calmly on the sofa, waiting for Aracila. She took much longer to return than expected.
‘……This feels a bit uneasy.’
An inexplicable ominous premonition began to creep up. Somehow, he had a feeling that interruptions like this would continue in the future.
And this became reality.
“Damian, I have something important to tell you.”
Aracila, returning around dawn with a solemn face, began like that, then methodically laid out Violet’s situation.
How she was being forced into a state marriage, how she’d refused and come to the mansion seeking help, how her dream was to be a knight.
And how she couldn’t bring herself to turn the princess away, so she’d decided to help.
“How…… do you plan to help Her Highness?”
After calmly listening to his wife’s explanation, Damian asked with a hint of anxiety. In response, Aracila took both of his hands and said,
“The princess said she really wants to show the two princes her potential as a knight, just once.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. So, Damian, I was wondering—could the princess stay at our estate for a few days and receive some training from you?”
Aracila pleaded, her eyes sparkling like glass beads. Damian twitched his eyebrows and hesitated in his reply.
Accepting this would create a major obstacle to their honeymoon.
Since he wasn’t eager and remained silent, Aracila widened her eyes even more like a rabbit’s and brought her face closer.
“I’m sorry to burden you. But I can’t turn away from her because she reminds me so much of myself and my sister. You’re the best knight I know, Damian. There’s no one else I can ask.”
“…Ahem, well, if that’s the case, I suppose there’s no helping it.”
Completely swayed by her earnest plea and the sincere praise it carried, Damian decided to go along with her wishes.
In truth, even if Aracila had just stayed quiet, he would have eventually given in to whatever she wanted. He had no idea how to win against his wife.
“But does the royal family know that the princess is staying at our estate?”
“She said her escort knights reported it from the moment she came here. I’ll need to send a maid in the morning to inform them that she’ll be staying for a while.”
“Understood.”
“Thank you so much, Damian.”
Aracila beamed a radiant smile and kissed him on the cheek. Damian, his lips quickly curving into an arc, followed her with his eyes as she lay down on the bed.
“Are you going to sleep?”
“Yes, I’m tired. Come and sleep too.”
They had spent quite a bit of time soothing Violet and talking. The night was so late that the moon was already tilting, and drowsiness hung heavily around Aracila’s eyes.
Damian, still lingering on the sofa with reluctance, eventually lay down beside Aracila. She was already sleeping soundly, like a child.
He poked her round yet pointed nose tip gently, then forced his eyes shut and tried to sleep.
Their wedding night ended in failure.
* * *
The king and queen had not permitted their eldest daughter formal knight training, but Violet had secretly learned swordsmanship through her escort knight.
However, since she had never shown her skills to anyone but that knight, she had no objective sense of her own abilities or whether they were sufficient to aspire to knighthood.
Damian, the empire’s youngest sword master and the leader of the Red Hawk Knights, stepped forward to personally test Violet’s aptitude.
He faced her directly with wooden swords.
“Hiyah—!”
Damian easily dodged Violet’s confident strike and twisted his body to the side.
As a result, Violet tumbled with a thud and sprang up with a frustrated expression. She charged at Damian once more, but in the end, she dropped her wooden sword without touching a single hair on him.
“…Ha, damn it.”
Devastated by the miserable outcome of the spar, Violet flopped down on the ground. Her chest heaved sharply up and down.
It was an utterly undignified behavior for a princess of a nation, but she was too exhausted right now to care about such things.
“How was it, Damian?”
Aracila, who had been watching the spar from a distance, approached and asked. Damian said nothing as he sheathed the wooden sword.
Violet, who had been catching her breath with her forearm over her eyes, spoke in a gloomy voice.
“You can be honest. Even if you say I was utterly hopeless, I’ll humbly accept it.”
“It wasn’t that bad.”
Damian replied calmly. Though he was displeased with the uninvited guest who had suddenly settled into the estate, he hadn’t lost his neutrality as a knight.
Violet’s fundamentals were quite solid. Because she hadn’t received advanced training and had only repeated the basics, it had actually strengthened her foundation.
Moreover, during the spar, she had shown a few sharp attempts to exploit openings. Of course, none had landed as effective hits, but that alone marked her as a promising sprout.
“Your Highness, you have talent. With proper training, you’ll grow quickly.”
“R-Really? You’re not just saying nice things to me on purpose…?”
Violet mumbled, her face a mix of joy and fear as she chewed her lip. Aracila kindly took her hand and helped her up, saying,
“Damian is a man with strong pride as a knight, so he wouldn’t lie like that. Especially since right now, Your Highness is standing before him not as a princess, but as an aspiring knight.”
There was no reason for Damian to flatter an aspiring knight rather than a princess. Violet’s downcast face brightened radiantly.
“So, does that mean I really have potential?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“I can’t believe it…!”
Violet burst into tears of overwhelming emotion. It felt profoundly moving that her secret efforts, hidden from her parents all this time, were finally bearing fruit.
She vigorously wiped her eyes with determination and gripped the wooden sword firmly once more. Watching Violet swing it energetically again, Aracila smiled with fond approval.
After the grueling morning session ended, the three of them had lunch together.
“Ah…! This is the first time I’ve practiced swordsmanship for so long, so my muscles must be shocked.”
Violet, her trembling arms making her drop food from her fork, explained with an embarrassed expression. Aracila gently responded by personally serving food onto her plate.
“Of course that could happen. I’ll help you, Your Highness.”
“Thank you. The duchess is beautiful not just in face, but in heart as well.”
“I hear that a lot. Thank you.”
Even at the shameless reply, Violet smiled warmly. Since she couldn’t handle the utensils freely, Aracila went so far as to feed her with her own fork.
Watching the scene from across the table, Damian was enveloped in a strange jealousy. It was a childish, petty feeling of dislike at having his wife’s attention stolen.
Disliking himself for feeling so small-minded and unable to show it, Damian silently chewed his meat alone. The sauce, made with pineapple, was sweet, but to him, it somehow tasted bitterly sour.
“Duke Vandemir, I’ll be in your care from now on. No matter how tough the training, I have the confidence to endure it, so don’t hesitate to push me hard.”
Violet, who needed to be recognized as a knight before her national marriage was officially arranged, steeled her resolve and declared her determination.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. I’ll teach you intensively.”
Damian curled one corner of his mouth upward. He was determined to rapidly improve the princess’s skills in a short time and send her away from their honeymoon as soon as possible.
While the two’s interests oddly aligned in this quirky way, Aracila alone wore a serene expression, smiling peacefully.
