The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Ines stopped listening to Enrique's good-natured yet prejudiced concerns and began to look at the duke's children more carefully.

'Dante Ihar?'

He was a stubborn guy, following family customs. There were a few light rumors about him, but nothing particularly memorable. Playing around behind the scenes, but always cautious not to cross dangerous lines, he prioritized safety above all.

'Leonardo Helves?’

He's barely one or maybe two years old now. Whatever he might become, he was still a baby in someone's arms. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Even though she was merely six years old, from the eyes that made an eleven-year-old seem utterly insignificant, he was by no means a comprehensible counterpart. His grown-up appearance was beyond imagination.

Her eyes passed through Dante Ihar and Leonardo Helves, and then back to Escalante's eldest son.

A legendary face who will create the most uproar in the social world in the future.

'Cárcel Escalante...…’

It was just a casual use of the name to tease Oscar, but maybe it wasn't a bad thing.

Ines paid more attention to the young noble daughters surrounding Cárcel than to him, who was indifferently giving short replies.

They were expected to continue looking at Cárcel in the same way, standing there like that even ten years later. And even twenty years later, with various spouses by their sides.

'…This isn't that bad.’

For the current Ines, it might be at a merely amusing level, but nevertheless, the female conquests that Ines remembered Cárcel being involved with were quite famous. There was a time when she looked down on and scorned such behavior.

“… Ines……?”

“…….”

“You look really strange. Should I take you to Duke Valeztena?”

Enrique was still watching Inés with concern, but he was now completely out of her focus.

As if she couldn't hear anything, Ines simply examined Cárcel’s delicate features with benevolent eyes.

He might turn into a mess despite his perfect exterior, but on the flip side, he's a man who simply follows a carefree life and rejects anything that requires responsibility.

An answerless man who vehemently rejected marriage proposals one after another, and even refused to marry when his father passed away, so he was never able to inherit his title.

People had mixed opinions on whether Cárcel’s reluctance to marry led to giving up titles, or if he avoided inheriting titles because he didn't want to marry. Despite the divided views on his decision, one thing was clear: he shuddered at the thought of taking responsibility for anything.

But how good is it? He has met only a very small number of the women that come flooding in like a tidal wave, and he has never had a wife who was as deceitful as anyone else.

She thought his behavior was light as he didn't meet a single person seriously, but to put it another way, it means that there was no woman he could betray, not only legally but also emotionally.

To resist all those advances without making any moves is praiseworthy in itself... Ines muttered sympathetically.

Rather than a swindler who looks at women's bodies and spills false sincerity, it's better to have a body that, even when keeping quiet, can make women want to undress themselves.

‘At least he's not a swindler.’

After all, the woman was the one who saw the other person's body first.

Moreover, he's a famous playboy, but unlike some, he doesn't have serious s*xual diseases, he's moderately messy, surrounded by many women, never engages in prostitution, does not engage in sodomy, and has s*x within the limits of common sense. It was hard for her to believe that all the potential she needed was within that young boy.

This was Oscar's guarantee. If Cárcel Escalante had done any of these things, whether it was contracting a venereal disease, engaging in prostitution, or buying a male prostitute, the Crown Prince, who was driven out of his mind by jealousy, would have been exposed him to the world a long time ago. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] The reason Cárcel's exploits with women were so famous was also because Oscar could not find a bigger flaw.

Ines gradually began to have confidence in Cárcel Escalante. It is possible to have a child cleanly even without a perverted relationship, and divorce will make it possible for him to have numerous blemishes that will be left behind.

Moreover, how reassuring it is when someone's past is so transparent... Even Ines, who had no contact or interest in Cárcel, remembered so much from what she had heard at the night parties. Because the women he slept with were all talking.

For Mendoza women, Cárcel was a goal they must achieve at least once in their lives. A man who is a dream to some and a medal to others. No matter how much a woman hid her love life and acted like a young lady, she couldn't keep her mouth shut after sleeping with Cárcel.

They were even proud of their one-night stand mistakes. Under the surface, there was even talk about what positions he preferred. All of them received rave reviews, saying it was ‘big and good’. There were so many bedtime stories floating around, but unlike everyone else, none of them were common sense, so they didn't stick in my memory. This means that he just has a lot of desires and is not a particularly perverted person.

The weight of the fuss was different between any man sleeping with ten women and Cárcel Escalante sleeping with one woman. That didn't mean he wasn't a slu*, but he was just a very noticeable slu*. For the sin of being proud of one night with women without the slightest shame.

Therefore, once she got married, he would be a spouse who would conspicuously spread his faults on the street.

“… Perfect……”

He was so perfect that words would not be enough.

If it were Cárcel Escalante, even the Empress would never interfere. While she desperately wanted a union with the Duke of Valeztena, she did not like Ines for a moment as his Crown Princess. The more she saw Ines' shortcomings, the more she could not bear it.

Like many of Ortega's mothers, Oscar's mother was a great person who thought her son was the best in the world.

No matter how much Ines lived in the praise of the social world, she was a mere scum who undermined Oscar's reputation. The way she looked at the six-year-old girl childishly playing with her son wasn't much different.

Nevertheless, the Empress's great efforts to encourage the marriage between the Crown Prince and Ines had a single reason. It would be far worse if Duke Ihar, in disagreement with Duke Escalante on political matters, or Duke Helves, still not supporting the Crown Prince, became family with Duke Valeztena.

However, if the trouble goes not to the world's best redhead, but to his statuesque nephew who keeps turning his normal son into a weak creature.

If only she could pass on such unpleasant troubles to her brother and prevent the great nobles from uniting.……

'Rather than hindering me, I'm sure he will bless me and help me.’

Is there any other man this good to marry? The thing that can upset Oscar the most is a bonus.

'He is also smarter than I thought.’

This is evident from the fact that he never got married. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] He made such a wise choice because he knew very well that he had little sense of loyalty.

But now it was Cárcel Escalante's turn to take an unwise route.

‘And you can pursue your former freedom amidst the oppression of marriage and find your own freedom as well.’

Have you ever heard that some men imagine a married life with a woman if she smiles just once? Ines went one step further and even imagined in her head that they would divorce and take their children to their respective homes every season.

“Father, I have decided.”

"Huh?"

“I decided to marry the most handsome man in the world.”

Ines created the voice of a girl full of dreams and hopes, in complete contrast to the unimpressed gaze she gave Cárcel. A child who has an adult's memory knows the mind of an adult best.

The more naive the statement, the less likely an adult will be to suspect the child.

“……By any chance, you mean Cárcel Escalante?”

Duke Valeztena shifted his gaze to the place she pointed to with her finger. The handsome boy, surrounded by layers of girls like flowers, did not understand Ines' pointing and tilted his head.

Duke Valeztena, seeing this, immediately contorted his face grimly. However, he did not share the details of his pessimistic sentiments with her only young daughter. He was wondering what kind of a father he would be, what would happen to that guy who already has a lot of girls for him when he grows up, etc.……

The duke closed his lips patiently for a moment and then asked again kindly.

“…Do you want a guy like that?”

“Yes.”

“Is that the only reason? Because he is handsome?”

“Yes.”

“My daughter, you’re really only looking at his face……”

"Everyone has a similar family, and if so, all you see is that face.”

The duke looked surprised for a moment at the reasonable basis provided by Ines. Then he suddenly smiled faintly and asked again.

“But what about the Crown Prince? They say he’s good-looking and he’ll be the emperor too.”

"He seems to be resembling the Escalante Duke and heading towards becoming bald.”

Pffft…… A windy laugh flowed undignifiedly from Duke Valeztena's serious lips. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] It was a ridicule full of personal sincerity.

In other words, they were close friends who had studied together with the Duke of Escalante since childhood, but in reality, rather than building a friendship with each other over a long period of time, they had a strange relationship, engaging in all kinds of childish competition and hating each other.

“But Oscar is the future emperor, Ines. Won't you regret it? You are turning down an opportunity to rise to a very high position. If you marry that person, your father will also have to bow to you.”

"I'm not interested in my father bowing to me... And even if it's His Majesty, I don't like bald heads.”

Suppressing laughter in his mouth, the duke said.

“Then Cárcel is also dangerous.”

“Luckily, Cárcel Escalante does not resemble the Duke of Escalante. He is similar to the Duchess, so maybe Escalante’s forehead will be fine too.”

"...Your Highness indeed bears a resemblance.”

It wasn't clear whether her father found the prophecy about ‘resembling Duke Escalante and becoming bald’ very appealing or whether he found credibility in the prophecy about ‘the prince eventually going bald.’

In any case, the Duke of Valeztena cheerfully accepted his daughter's serious whim.

“My one and only daughter can’t live with a bald guy for the rest of her life…….”

“As expected from my lovely father”

“Ines Valeztena. If a good-looking face is that important to you, you should marry the best looking guy.”

Well, habits can be corrected even with a bit of force.…… The duke muttered meaningfully, pating his daughter's shoulder. This was the part where it could be seen where Ines' hot-tempered nature came from.

For a brief moment, she felt sorry for Cárcel Escalante.

But is it that bad that a playboy gets punished in advance?