A Painting of the Villainess as a Young Lady
chapter-80

An innocent gaze was directed at Violet. Looking into his pale lavender eyes, not unlike her own purple eyes, Violet asked.

“Where did we meet?”

“……”

Once Violet asked this, he fell silent, and his expression changed more and more by the second.

He now looked so forlorn that Violet was almost about to apologize for not remembering him.

“No, if you don’t remember, it doesn’t matter.”

“……”

“You seem to be lost, but if you don’t mind, may I escort you?”

“Escort?”

“Ah, I-I mean. I’m not a suspicious person.”

The embarrassed knight scrambled to get something out of his inner coat pocket. Violet just said that she already knew he was a knight.

Feeling awkward, he coughed briefly. He showed her his identification card, and it said there that his name was ‘Aldin’ and he belonged to the First Imperial Order of the Black Wolf.

Violet wondered where she might have met him before. She rummaged through her memories.

He was tall and had a robust physique, but his face was still young. His dark hair was reflecting the sunset’s red hue, and, somehow, his lavender eyes contained within them the rain^[1].

‘I think I can remember him.’

Lavender eyes, not unlike Violet’s purple eyes. Somewhere in her memories, she could remember them vaguely.

However, she couldn’t pull out the exact memory.

“…If it’s alright with you, then please. I’m in your care.”

She knew the look in his eyes.

Those eyes, like serene lakes—horribly subdued.

Not knowing why, Violet suddenly felt awkward about staring at him. Her gaze slipped down.

“Please speak comfortably, Ducal Lady.”

“Do you know me?”

“Everyone knows that the esteemed daughter of House Everett has come to the capital.”

“No, I’m asking if you know me personally. And I wish to ask as well about what you meant when you asked me if I don’t remember you.”

“If you don’t remember, you don’t have to force yourself to remember. It was just a passing encounter.”

Though Violet asked him straightforwardly, Aldin replied boldly as well.

Surely if he was someone who was in Violet’s memories, Aldin’s standing couldn’t be ordinary.

“Sir Aldin, you…”

“……”

“You’re very tall.”

As Violet spoke first, she eventually trailed off and avoided looking at him. It was awkward.

When Violet was silent for a moment, Aldin felt a bit nervous because he didn’t know what she was about to say. But when she finally spoke again, he relaxed for a moment.

‘His is a face that I’d definitely remember.’

Violet was once again left to her own thoughts as they continued walking forward, and she could only wonder if her memory was this bad.

The man seemed to be accustomed to guarding people. Violet had a hunch that this fellow might have a high position, too.

“……”

“……”

While their surroundings gradually changed as they walked down the streets, the two of them couldn’t easily open their lips to speak again.

Is he just curt? Violet thought. Trying to gauge the man in front of her with narrowed eyes, Violet caught sight of her long-lost escort knights running straight to her. They looked frightened out of their wits.

“You— Who are you!”

Then, they pointed their swords at Aldin.

Violet was rendered speechless by the dumbfounding situation. It’s as if Aldin had saved the escort knights from drowning, but here they were, asking where their lost bags were.

But regardless of her reaction, the confrontation between the escort knights and the imperial knight continued.

“Your name, I asked! And state your affiliation!”

“……”

Was his mouth glued or something?

Glancing once at the man who wouldn’t say anything even as several swords were mere inches away from his throat.

“He is a knight of the imperial guard and he’s the one who helped me when I was in trouble. Even if you don’t have any manners, can you please refrain from being rude?”

It was not until Violet said this that the knights fell back and returned sheathed their swords once again. What a funny turn of events.

It could be said that this was Violet’s fault for going around so freely, but it also made no sense for escort knights to lose track of the person they’re supposed to be guarding.

Regardless of how crowded it had been back then, it was their job to stay by her side no matter what.

And yet, far from admitting their mistakes, it’s laughable to see them pointing their swords at the person who saved their butts.

These knights should undoubtedly be given more rigorous training the moment they’d return to the townhouse.

Still, Violet didn’t want to add more to her notoriety. She would be handing over the task of scolding these knights to Roen.

Anyway, it seemed like the knights still hadn’t noticed the mark of the imperial family.

Violet felt troubled by the apparent level of skill of her household’s knights. Well, of course the imperial mark was on the cloak, which was on his back, and they were standing in front of Aldin. They wouldn’t have seen it.

“Ahem, ahem. Pardon me. If you don’t mind, may I ask about your affiliation?”

“The Black Wolf.”

“Black Wolf? You mean, the first chivalric order?”

¹ I couldn’t quite capture the whole meaning of this word right here. Violet used the term 우수, which could mean rain(fall), melancholy or excellence. The first meaning parallels how Violet’s eyes are compared to lakes, so it somehow makes sense if Aldin’s eyes are compared to the rain.

Still, I’m not sure which one of the three meanings Violet wanted to say. Or, perhaps she meant all of them. ↩