The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Yes, she liked me that much but...

What hadn't been entirely explained now had some sense of justification. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] It felt like the fog had cleared and Ines' suspicious face was half visible again.

However, simultaneously pricking a painful spot, Ines's face quickly disappeared. Cárcel's mind became hazy once again.

Things like that happening behind the scenes... He remembered most of the affairs ending discreetly, and even if not, there was never a secretly carried out sordid conclusion.

’It was certainly like that but..’

…Did she act the same way in front of him? Behind his back, relentlessly searching for weaknesses of a fiancée he doesn't love, circling around her with a determination to pry into anything found... It was unclear whether she then acted nonchalantly and discreetly in front of him.

Who to blame? This face was the real sin…... Cárcel nervously washed his face several times.

Anyway, soon, all of this will come to an end.

"...Does it bother you that much? But haven’t you already decided to get married anyway? You even sent a letter to Duke Valeztena... Now, even if you try to find weaknesses, what's the point?"

"...What weaknesses?”

"Well, because it's a weakness... Isn’t that what you were trying to use? I was wondering if you were planning to ruin the marriage now. But then again, I heard you sent a letter requesting marriage to the Valeztena family...”

"Why would I do such a thing?”

Cárcel made an incomprehensible expression. The same was true for Jose, who was asked the question again. They looked at each other incomprehensibly for a while.

“From the start, what kind of weakness would that be?”

Considering how many women he had dated so far, even a dog would laugh when he said, 'I can't marry a promiscuous woman like that because my fiancée must have had a lover at some point.' And that was long after the age of seventeen when marriage was promised... He would be lucky if the Valeztena family doesn't file a lawsuit.

Moreover.

“A promise is a promise, Almenara. Moreover, it is a marriage and a covenant between families. It would be troublesome if you thoughtlessly tried to stab the other person in the back like that.”

Although he was an a*shole, Cárcel was a stubborn man. From the time he was a six-year-old boy to the present, when he was a young man of twenty-three, Cárcel never considered a future without being Ines Valeztena's husband, regardless of how much he didn't want this marriage. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Even if that future turned out to be dreadful, even if it felt breathtaking, even if just thinking about it made him excited like a madman…

So, Jose's conspiracy-filled suspicions were no different from blasphemy, but since he was always more faithful than others thought, he gave Jose a deserved punishment by kicking his shins. Jose screamed silently.

“As if you were thinking.”

“No, I just follow orders for investigation and normally, when it comes to typical investigations...!”

“So you are the scum of Almenara. It's because of the bad nature of giving up promises to a dull subject and trying to stab others in the back. That’s why your father gave up on you long ago and dumped you into the navy.”

“Is the navy a garbage dump…?!”

Protesting as if unfairly treated, Jose suddenly looked at his superior and instantly looked convinced. The symbol of promiscuity was before his eyes. A stubborn piece of trash that would swiftly climb to a higher position and prattle on if he got married….. There was no way Cárcel could not have noticed that disloyalty. He kicked Jose in the shin again.

“Ah…!”

“You have it all on your face, so either just say it and get it right, or don’t even think about it, Almenara.”

“How can a person not think….”

"What did I just say? Almenara, your face is excessively big.”

"...It's not like I wanted to be this big.”

Jose, who grew up being insulted by his brothers by saying, 'That guy is just a head', had a difficult time trying to find the right balance for his gigantic body.

When Jose, who was stabbed by the painful wound without warning, answered in a weak tone that did not suit his size, Cárcel smiled softly.

"I know. Because it's big, it looks good. It’s easy to see, so every time you make that face, I want to hit you more.”

"What kind of face am I making?"

”If you’ve thought about it, say it, or if it’s something you can’t say, don’t think about it….”

As expected, the impure expression was not hidden. When Cárcel pretended to kick his shin once more, Jose flinched, moving backward, and said.

"Just…… Well, what can only be seen with the eyes.…… meeting this woman and that woman, being so messy and having some shady aspects, suspecting whether even calm Senorita Valeztena has a man even... suspecting like that...”

“…Did I tell you to blurt it all out just as you thought in front of the lieutenant?”

“Oh, isn’t it?”

Jose asked brightly, then kicked his shin again and groaned.

“Suspect? Me? Who? For what reason?"

"Isn’t it?”

'Or not', Jose nodded with a similar feeling and slowly widened his distance from Cárcel.

“Why me.”

"If not, don't..."

"You're always like that. Either blabbering on about anything or not saying anything at all.”

"You told me to say it if I thought about it... so it's not suspicion or trying to find weaknesses. Why on earth are you digging into Senorita Valeztena's background?”

"...what did I dig up..."

He muttered as if astounded.

"Just wanted to know, that's all.”

As Cárcel said that, he tilted his head, resting his chin on his hand. Though it didn't hold much significance, his gaze, seemingly distant, looked out the window. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] His mind seemed to be somewhere far away in an instant.

José was watching his suspicious superior and contemplating whether or not to leave, and finally gathered the courage to ask.

“…By the way, when do you plan on returning to Calstera? If you keep increasing vacation time like this, there will be no winter vacation.”

It was a crucial question for Jose, who had already used up his summer break and couldn't return yet due to Cárcel. Cárcel, still gazing out of the window, casually replied without a trace of concern.

"After getting married."

"What? When are you planning to get married?”

"Within two weeks."

"...What?”

"According to Javier, that's the maximum leave I can get during the summer.”

"Doesn't marriage come with separate leave?"

"That's included."

"...What about me?"

"Don't you have winter break left?"

"Well, yes. Yes, but...”

Jose nodded as if he might burst into tears. Probably meaning not to return…

Cárcel was still looking out the window, immersed in melancholy, paying no heed to the adjutant's dismay. As soon as he says the words ‘getting married’, he could imagine tearing off his fiancee's wedding dress.

***

“I heard you’ve been taking care of yourself lately?”

"...Yes?”

An elegant yet awkward silence, with only the occasional sound of silverware clinking against each other. And as promised, no one opens their mouths at the dinner party...… It was the Duke of Valeztena who suddenly broke this silence.

Cárcel, who had been staring intently at Ines's mouth clenching as she chewed meat, regained focus with eyes that seemed to have recovered a firearm, locking onto Duke Valeztena in an instant.

The duke, who had been drinking wine like water without even touching the food, gently placed the wine glass on the table.

“Sir Escalante’s manners with women are famous, so we’ve heard a lot about them.”

The blue eyes, which had swiftly found the firearm, blurred again in an instant. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] An unexpected and straightforward reproach, which was never expected to surface, flew in at a timing that was thought to never rise to the surface….

Miguel, who was diligently moving the fork next to Cárcel, stiffened.

It was ten days before their wedding when they received an invitation to a dinner from the Duchess of Valeztena, and now the two sons of the Escalante family were sitting at the dinner hall of the Valeztena family.

With just one week left before the wedding.…… Cárcel moved the fork through the air nonchalantly, as if reluctantly chewing on the tough steak, unable to savor the well-cooked meat.

Duke Valeztena tapped the table with his fingertips, smiling with an expression that seemed entirely humorless.

“In fact, there is no one in Mendoza who doesn’t know about that habit. Unless you're deaf... it should be a bit noisy, shouldn't it? Luciano.”

Luciano cast a fleeting glance at Cárcel seated beside him with a cold look, then shrugged.

"Well, who knows.”

It was clear that he was reluctant to say anything since his sister was getting married in a few days. No matter what flaws were pointed out, in the end, she would be marrying that guy. It would be a rational judgment not to tarnish his sister's honor by saying anything.

But eyes never lie.

Cárcel only remembered Luciano's kindly smiling face whenever he encountered him at social events, and was momentarily taken aback by his murderous eyes.

He reflexively looked away, then immediately made eye contact with the duke sitting next to Ines and smiled awkwardly.

Although excessively perfect in appearance, like a painting come to life, the Duke squinted his eyes and twisted his lips, as if he didn't like the painting-like face.

“Of course, since you were born with that face, it won’t be easy not to show off your face.”

The phrase 'that face' sounded as if he were born somehow lacking or inherently foolish. Cárcel stared at him without losing his polite smile.

"I understand. There are only four men here, including your brother. Any man would understand, right? You should enjoy what you can. Don't you think so?"

Contrary to his words, the Duke's expression showed a complete lack of understanding.