Chapter 4.3

Violet found his clumsy bravado cute and suppressed her twitching lips.

Of course, the letters sent during life-and-death situations would be touching even without reading them, but his childlike simplicity, expecting praise, sparked curiosity about how great the letters were.

She reached out to the bundle of letters. The bundle was old, filled with rough paper not commonly seen in the palace.

“It was difficult to find fine parchment or stationery on the battlefield.”

As the paper in Violet’s hand made a slight rustling sound, his body, which had been leaning back, returned upright.

It was a cute excuse, but the problem wasn’t the stationery. The content was such that the rough paper he had painstakingly obtained seemed too fine.

After the greeting about the weather, it was mostly about how many people he killed or how much land he occupied.

The clumsy writing, akin to records, took less than thirty minutes to read through the bundle.

“It’s a relief I knew everything through reports even without receiving them.”

As she folded the last letter in her hand, Violet deliberately teased him with a joke.

Dein erased his initially confident expression at her indifferent reaction. His face turned sour as he muttered an excuse, holding the letter she had put down.

“I’m a man who only held a sword, so I don’t have the writing skills of a noble. I’ve never written before.”

“The handwriting looks like a child’s.”

Unable to hold back, Violet burst into laughter, tracing her name written on the stationery.

Momentarily captivated by her clear laughter, Dein twisted his mouth in a crooked smile and snatched the letter.

“Perhaps it’s fortunate the first Princess got it first. If you’d seen it before this, you’d have been disappointed by a man who can’t even write.”

“No, I would’ve liked it more because it felt new every time I received it.”

“….”

“I meant the handwriting was unexpectedly soft and cute.”

Violet blinked her round eyes even more roundly. She knew he was deliberately teasing her, but even that was cute.

In front of Violet, Dein was a very simple and easy man. He quickly relaxed and pulled his chair closer, pouring out childish complaints.

“I write better when I’m not in a hurry. It’s just that I often had to write suddenly because it was rarely safe enough for a courier to bring news to the palace.”

Even in those moments, he explained each short letter, saying he thought of her whenever he found a moment.

This one was written here, this one there, and he wanted to send a flower branch but couldn’t find an intact one due to a sudden fight.

It was a scene so talkative that one might wonder if it was the same man who had kept silent except for polite greetings and formal questions in front of her.

She had never imagined such a Dein. But Violet liked this new him.

The hot and persistent gaze that didn’t hide his heart, the slightly rough and rude words mixed in with affectionate speech.

She preferred the man in front of her much more than Sir Dein, who kept his manners and didn’t even glance at her to avoid making mistakes.

Smiling slightly at the old memories, Violet lowered her gaze to the scattered letters again.

Her fingers brushed against something different from the rough paper, an unfamiliar texture.

“Huh?”

With a surprised face, Violet cleared away the rough paper. A pink female handkerchief hidden in the gap caught her eye.

The handkerchief embroidered with violets was high-quality silk, yet couldn’t hide its old traces.

It was surprising that the cloth, which seemed like it would have been torn by the man’s grip, was preserved intact.

“Do you know what it is?”

Dein’s eyes sparkled with genuine anticipation this time. Yet, a peculiar tension preceded joy, causing him to clench his fists unconsciously.

“It’s originally… yours, Violet.”

“I know. I gave it to you at my sister’s coming-of-age ceremony, Sir Dein.”

“Do you remember?”

His voice trembled at the end. His heart was filled with overflowing joy.

Hearing Violet’s confession that she slowly came to like him felt like having the world, but there was actually no day among the days Violet claimed to have accumulated when she truly held him in her heart.

On the day Violet became a ‘special person’ to Dein, he remained just a ‘dazzling person’ to her.

Olivia’s coming-of-age ceremony.

The day the empire’s first viscount-born knight commander danced with the empire’s finest lady.

Countless envy, jealousy, contempt, and admiration were poured upon Dein. Though he was clearly climbing to his desired place, everything felt suffocating to him that day.

Standing with an unfit speech, posture, and attire, he felt like he wasn’t himself.

Finding the fake smiles and sneers disgusting, Dein finished the necessary greetings and left the venue. His plan was to hide until it ended, unable to leave completely.

Though the wind was a bit chilly, it wasn’t a problem for him.

Avoiding people, Dein wandered here and there and met Violet in a corner of the splendid and quiet imperial garden.

He recognized her at a glance. Meeting Olivia naturally led to meeting Violet. There were only two Princesses in the empire, so it was impossible not to know them.

However, to Dein, she was remembered a little differently. Amidst people entangled solely by interests, filled with those seeking to satisfy their own desires, Violet, despite being in the highest position, had the cleanest and fairest eyes.

‘The wind is chilly.’

For some reason, he had come avoiding people, but Dein wanted to speak to her.

When he draped his uniform over her shoulders, Violet turned around, surprised, and then smiled brightly. She thanked him casually, as if it was only right to express gratitude.

Though she attended to celebrate, she couldn’t enjoy the ball as she hadn’t yet had her debutante, so she grumbled, her small lips moving cutely.

Playfully, she mentioned sneaking out without any guards because she was bored. The meeting almost ended lightly, thanks to a servant who came looking for her.

If it had ended like that, the small interest Dein had in Violet wouldn’t have sparked into a flame.

But it didn’t end there—Violet grabbed his hand before he could take his coat back.

“That time, it was the handkerchief you personally tied around my wrist after seeing the scar.”

Dein grasped her wrist. His thumb lightly brushed against the wrist, tracing the handkerchief he held.

“Even though it was just a minor wound.”

“What do you mean minor? It was bleeding!”

Violet responded sternly, as if she vividly remembered. Her reaction, just like that day, made Dein chuckle softly.

His body, marked with countless wounds from the battlefield. A small cut from a training partner’s mistake on such a body.

It was merely aggravated by the grip on his wrist while dancing with Olivia due to neglecting proper treatment.

Yet, despite his words that it was nothing, Violet fussed over him, wrapping and staunching the wound with a handkerchief.

Even at the moment of parting, she didn’t forget to insist he treat the wound.

“You were the only one who cared about what nobody else did.”

To him, it was one among thousands, hundreds of wounds. His comrades considered it trivial, and those who demanded his service naturally didn’t look after him.

He himself was the same. He didn’t attach meaning to scratches that wouldn’t affect his ascent.

Only she worried and cared.

“That was the day.”

Thanks to her, a powerful desire sprouted in him, who had been chasing honor without purpose.

“The day all my life’s goals changed to having you.”

Dein smiled, his eyes curving. The face that seemed cold and stern looked somehow gentle and kind.

“From then on, I liked you, Violet.”

Sweet words of confession flowed from his lips.

“Even before you did. Much deeper and greater.”

As Violet savored the dream-like words, she blinked twice and slowly loosened her lips.

Her smile was a mix of joy, surprise, and a bit of shyness and excitement.

Dein caressed her small cheek and pulled Violet’s slender waist.

Her body, which had been on the chair, settled on his lap. Her soft back met his firm chest, and her small figure was snugly enclosed.

Violet slightly lifted her head to look at him, and their lips met immediately.

His tongue gently brushed her lips as if caressing them, then parted the seams. It passed through her even teeth and bound the defenseless flesh, stimulating her by sweeping the roof of her mouth.

A small moan escaped between her lips as the heat rose. As her breath became slightly rough, he sucked in the saliva threatening to overflow with a sound, biting her lips.

“If I had said it sooner, I wouldn’t have handed this over so late.”

Panting lightly, Violet looked down at her hand that he had been fiddling with throughout the kiss.

A ring slipped onto her finger sparkled in the sunlight.

“I’m sorry for giving it to you like this. I wanted to propose properly on the day of the return ceremony…”

His tone was filled with regret, as if this was truly unfair.

But Violet didn’t mind at all. This moment, where genuine sincerity was conveyed more than any formal gesture, was precious.

Her heart, once beating with the pain of unrequited love, now pulsed only with excitement.

“It’s okay. Sir Dein, you have already fulfilled my dream.”

“Was your dream to marry or to receive a ring?”

“Not that.”

“Then? What was your dream?”

Her clear face, looking at the promise’s symbol sparkling on her finger, turned to him. A small gesture called him, and Dein leaned toward her.

For my first love to come true.

The sweet whisper flowed into his ear like music. It was perhaps, like a dream the knight himself had once dreamed.