The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It was shortly after a brief rainy season.

The Santallaria Avenue, which runs through the capital of Mendoza, would usually be overflowing with all sorts of carriages and people at any given time, but it was unusually quiet, perhaps due to the unpleasant weather.

Only a few dull official carriages from government offices, a few wagons laden with goods, and a few private carriages rushing to their destinations cautiously ventured onto the vast road.

Even a brief walk would dampen the folds of one's clothes. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] And the puddles that had formed here and there on the wide road were another story. As soon as the coachman took his eyes off the road, the carriage swerved as if it were drunk.

The carriage of the House of Escalante was no exception.

"......"

The carriage wheel dipped into a puddle again and jumped over a stone, a sensation that could be felt distinctly. As elegantly as he was dressed, Carcel quietly muttered a curse.

However, the young viscount's mind, who had been cursing the inept coachman for a moment, quickly returned to that day.

That day, perhaps the sudden feeling of incongruity was due to his instincts as a rag-picker.

The reason why the image of Ines Valeztena, which he had conjured up, was so vivid was simple. It was reality.

Carcel thought as he tapped the cushion rolling around next to his leg. Contrary to his relaxed posture, leaning back with his blond hair tousled, his mind was a mess as he recalled the unsettling scene of that day.

That day, that day.....

Carcel recalled a few more words that the Countess had whispered in his ear.

"But look at the nun-like attire of the fiancée. Even at the royal reception... If anyone sees her for the first time, they would never think of the prestige of the Valeztena Marquis."

If anyone had eyes, they would have noticed that the nun-like attire was more expensive than her necklace. The Marquis of Valeztena didn't spare any expense for his only daughter.

"And how arrogant she is compared to the other noblewomen. If His Majesty were to see her like that..."

He wasn't a kind person. He wasn't the type to make friends.

"...So she heard everything."

She had only intended to listen. But she saw more. And so, Carcel found himself consumed by guilt.

Guilt. Guilt towards Ines Valeztena, that wicked woman.

He glanced angrily at the empty space across him, but for some reason, Ines' expression did not come to mind.

The reminiscence was as hazy as the unsettling feeling of that day. The face of that day, the expression of that day.

He was not one to dwell on unpleasant memories, but this... it wasn't that he disliked it, but...

"...We have arrived, Lieutenant."

Carcel lightly brushed his hair as he stepped down from the carriage. It was the Valeztena estate. A magnificent mansion that condensed the grandeur of the Perez province, which was governed by a duke.

The Valeztena Duke's residence overlooked the southern part of the Santallaria Avenue from a high ground, as if dominating the entire garden. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Thanks to that, anyone who arrived here would be greeted by the magnificent view of the Mendosa Empire, regardless of whether they were an emperor or not. A breathtaking spectacle. However, Carcel turned his body without feeling any excitement.

His father, the Duke of Escalante, had left a sarcastic comment that the mansion was so grand that it bordered on being shabby, but every time Carcel came here, he felt as if his throat was being choked. He mostly came here to escort Ines Valeztena or occasionally to impersonate her fiancé, and there was nothing else to remind him of their future.

In front of him, there were already suffocating moments that made it impossible to breathe, with a few hours of oppressive future or a distant lifetime spent with her. Just the imagination itself clogged his throat.

"Lieutenant Escalante, Miss Ines is waiting in the reception room."

Look at this. It was already unbearable to even breathe.

Carcel had always been trapped in a cluttered topic and a conservative mindset that one should not know any woman other than his wife after marriage.

It was a kind of moral consciousness that directly opposed the trash-like current of the Mendosa social circle, which said, "Let's just do it and see"—ironically, it became a trash-like motivation for him now. It turned marriage into a grave.

After marriage, one must not die. Then, he had to roll around even harder now.

That way, even if he lived like a nun for the rest of his life, he would have no regrets.

Carcel needed memories to cherish, like a rag, of the six-year-old girl who was informally announced as his fiancée. If it were just a fiancée who received one-sided notifications at the tender age of six, it would be different. But if it was a wife he vowed under the church's roof, it was different. Such foolishness would soon become the past. And it had to be.

Whenever Carcel thought of Ines Valeztena, who had chosen him freely and twisted the course of his life, he felt indescribable anger, annoyance, and other annoying emotions. But for the twenty-three-year-old Ines Valeztena, there was a solid obligation of a future like a prison.

The reality that had been postponed for over six years, through the military academy and naval enlistment, was approaching him as much as ever.

She was now a woman whose day of receiving blessings while kneeling beside him at the pastor's pulpit was closer than it was 17 years ago.

“Duke Escalante.”

“...Ines.”

And so, he confronted such unfamiliar guilt. A half-hearted guilt and confusion, at the very least, that he shouldn't have been caught by her.

"Come in."

A neat voice, without any fluctuations in tone, greeted him. Carcel approached her and placed a kiss on the back of her elegant hand.

In his sight, once again, he saw her attire that covered her neck without any gaps, just as always.

There was no imperfection on it, but it wasn't particularly beautiful either. It was a simple face with a consistently upright and solemn gaze, half of her hair neatly tied back with a black ribbon. In the hazy reminiscence where her expression didn't come to mind, her face became clear.

Yes, even back then, her expression was just like that. A gaze that silently observed people, as if she didn't know how to show anger or smile.

"I assume you have some business with me."

"There has been business before, three days ago, two weeks ago...."

"It has been the rainy season. I hoped it didn't cause you any inconvenience.”

The words that seemed to carry a sarcastic consideration were actually a way of casually brushing off even the history of ignoring his contacts.

It was the first time Ines had ignored him. And it was expected. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] What fiancée wouldn't be angry? Seeing her fiance entangled with a naked mistress for the first time.

Carcel's lips curled.

"—I know what you must have thought that day.”

In just one frustrating sentence, he dismissed the honorifics. After all, there were no honorifics in the beginning of their relationship 19 years ago when they were playmates. Of course, in the end, there were no more games or friends... Ines didn't like playing and didn't like friends, and that was why he didn't like her either.

With just one accusation pointing at the topic, she had pinned Carcel, not his cousin, the Crown Prince, to a dull life. Carcel tried to recall that fact.

Yes, he had to remember why he had to live the rest of his life like a monk because of someone. He had never desired marriage. He had to push away this guilt with an annoying and irritating feeling, but this situation...

"What are you saying? It's hard to understand, Duke Escalante."

"You know. You know what I'm talking about."

"Not at all."

His words were interrupted again by Ines' submissive voice. If she were truly submissive, she wouldn't interrupt others. In the first place, for Ines to be submissive to him was ridiculous. It was a ridiculous nonsense to wield control over someone's life with just a finger.

"Ines."

"—Anyway, it's not like we're having a pleasant conversation. Do we really have to do this?"

But Ines Valeztena liked him.

Because she liked him, she chose him. Because she liked him, she disregarded the will of the royal family and gave up the promised position in the royal family that had been predetermined before her birth. She also let go of several opportunities to start over from scratch.

Because she liked him, she waited for him. 17 years ago, even now. Always. In the same place.

And for Carcel, that was always the problem.

Ines Valeztena liked him, but he didn't like her at all.

Perhaps what suffocated him wasn't her frustrating dress or her dry expression. It couldn't all be attributed to the sense of victimhood that his life had been controlled by her.

He had nothing to give back to her. At most, he could pretend to protect her feelings, an insincere gesture, an unspoken confusion... and a long-standing guilt.

"I can explain."

Of course, an explanation would not be anywhere near a valid excuse. Ines had built a solid wall around her, with a tough demeanor hiding many innocent corners. There was no need to know everything. After all, they were supposed to get married, and sometimes it's better not to know certain things in the world.

However, even if she didn't truly know nothing at all, even if that were the case...

"I saw it with my own eyes, so the explanation is enough. So there's no problem."

Carcel didn't even have a chance to mumble a decent excuse. She shrugged her shoulders. He chuckled and asked.

“…Is that all you have to say?”

“Duke Escalante.”

"It was worth saying that much. So go ahead, get angry at me properly, Ines.”

“I'm not angry at all.”

She was even smiling. It was a smile that he would see once a year. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Carcel blurted out as if taken aback.

“You're angry.”

“I'm telling you, I'm not.”

“That's why you haven't seen me in two weeks.”

“It was the rainy season. I didn't want you to get all dirty.”

Even in the midst of it, her sincerity could be felt.

“And I'm tired of having these kinds of conversations, Duke Escalante. It's not like we've always had these kinds of conversations.”

“…….”

"Anyway, there is no shortage of women in the palace."

"……."

"….Don’t tell me, did you really think I wouldn't find out?"

The voice, as if in amazement, questioning Cárcel, bore a resemblance to their childhood days, with the same kind of friendly intimacy.

She wasn't a stupid woman anyway. Cárcel narrowed his eyes.

"...And yet, you're not angry?"

"There's no reason for that. Whoever you meet, it's your heart.”

"I'm your fiancé, Ines. We're getting married soon."

Realizing he had spoken like a madman, as if the roles had reversed, he nervously ran his fingers through his hair, as if he were actually more angry.

Instead of pointing out his contradiction, Ines spoke gently.

"That doesn't mean your freedom is running away right now. We haven't even gotten married."

“…….”

"So go ahead and do as you please from now on. Don't even worry about me. There's no need for explanations.”

"Is it because you're so 'tolerant' when it comes to your man's woman problem?”

Cárcel asked sarcastically.

"That's not funny. Ines, that kind of—"

"—Right, it's not about tolerance. Just as you said."

Instead of raising her head, Ines lifted her soft green eyes. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Her black hair swayed gently in the moist breeze flowing in from the window. She quietly opened her mouth.

"That's how little I care about you, Escalante.”

Twenty-three summers.

She said it like that. She said that, for now, everything up to this point was all just a misunderstanding.