The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 31

Chapter 31

“Answer?”

The words urging a quick response from him were simple. Even if he were an admiral or a fleet commander in the navy, the air wouldn't be as tense as this.

Is that what he wanted as an answer? [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Did he just roll around because he was fit for it? That disdainful remark... isn't that your privilege?

If you say, ‘It’s not like that,’ they’ll say, ‘But why did you live like that?’, and if the judgment is more twisted, they’ll say, ‘Did you really say no when I said that?’…… If you say ‘yes’, it is literally an act of suicide.

Cárcel shook his head politely, thinking it would be better to get caught talking than to commit suicide.

"It’s not like that."

"Then why did you do such thing?”

A questioning tone emerged from Duke Valeztena's mouth.

Rather than feeling awkward due to it, Cárcel was more concerned about Ines, who was silently absorbing the entire conversation.

However, she seemed to have heard nothing and was indifferently deciding what to eat next with her downcast eyes, so he looked at the duke again with a slightly relaxed expression.

"My thoughts were rather lacking."

"Not entirely absent, were they?”

'Not entirely absent, there was a little bit. In any case, before getting married, I want to enjoy as much freedom as possible while I am still a man.’ The moment he started talking about such nonsense, it was clear that he would rush in and say, 'I will set you free forever.’

Since the duke's eyes were already filled with murderous intent, Cárcel quickly acknowledged it.

“There was none.”

"I thought you was just lacking in etiquette, but turns out you're a talent without a single thought. If being unconventional was a skill, you would be the pride of the empire and an unrivaled genius.”

His tormenting of Jose Almenara was at a comical level. If this were the military, he would have approached it with a mindset of utilizing it against the lower ranks in the future. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] However, now it was a dinner table set in the home of his fiancée, just a week before their marriage.

He truly felt his thoughts slipping away.

"Now giving up daughter as if were looking for money that was entrusted to a person with a head of decoration?"

The feeling was indeed like a head becoming a decoration.

"Oh, come to think of it, you're taking money too. I haven't entrusted anything in Escalante, but you know how it is. There are no separate thieves, really."

"The dowry, if you're talking about that, is purely Senorita Valeztena's personal property."

"Right. It's Ines Valeztena's personal property. The inheritance meant for my adorable grandson, born with Escalante's name engraved on his forehead since birth.”

"Of course, but that grandson is also the son of the Valeztena lineage, continuing your Excellency's bloodline.”

"Then, would you hand him over to us?"

"He's also the son of us as a couple before anything else.”

"Couple? Is my daughter a joke to you? Married even before the wedding? Is my daughter already your wife, is that it? Are you so confident that you're already planning to impregnate her?"

To demand the handover of a non-existent grandson even before the marriage is an unusual request... However, Cárcel quietly tilted his head.

"I would never dare to do such a thing. I deeply respect Senorita Valeztena, and—.”

“—A b*stard who claims to be respectful doesn’t do that—.”

“I’m looking forward to the day I officially become a husband for her after marriage—.”

“—A b*stard who says he’s looking forward to something like that—.”

"—Once I formally welcome Your Excellency's beloved as my wife, I will ensure The Duke of Valeztena is never disappointed.”

"I find even your breathing disappointing right now. How about you focus on remedying that disappointment once you're dead?”

Cárcel smiling face froze. The Duke downed the wine the butler had filled in one go and issued another command.

"I've been watching all evening, and no matter how I look at it, I don't like the way you breathe. So, stop it."

"Please stop, Father.”

Ines earnestly restrained the Duke. Cárcel, barely escaping the disdainful gaze of the Duke, shifted his eyes towards her.

Meanwhile, Ines, as if living in a different world all by herself, had finished her meal, elegantly wiping her mouth with a napkin. As always, composed and upright. Unfazed.

Whether it was the imminent wedding or the uncomfortable atmosphere of the gathering, or the Duke personally scrutinizing the messy past of the prospective groom—any noble lady, under such circumstances, might leave her plate untouched and depart with a displeased expression. However, Ines did neither.

Instead, she emptied her plate without leaving a trace of food and, still maintaining her seat, Ines spoke.

"After going through the trouble of inviting people here, please don't attack them so rudely. It's disrespectful to the invited guests."

"Rudely? Who?"

"You're asking knowingly.”

Ines nonchalantly shrugged her shoulders. The Duke suddenly distorted his face.

“I could have kicked him in the face first. But I didn't do it, I gave him daily bread, and this is enough culture. Generous and tolerant.”

”With that tolerance, you knew everything and left it alone. I'm fine.”

"That's when that brat was wandering around as if he would never marry you for a lifetime—.”

"—Even though he roamed like that, he eventually does. You know that too. So, please leave my fiancé alone.”

Ines cut off her father's words again with a stern reply. Duke Valeztena closed his mouth gloomily and drank the remaining wine.

Cárcel sensed Luciano on the right reluctantly continuing his meal and Miguel on the left remaining as rigid as ever. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] The Duchess, seated between the Duke and Ines, had shifted from wine to whiskey, drinking it steadily as if it were wine... something Cárcel had noticed before, the Valeztena Duchess showed no signs of being addicted to alcohol.

To sum up, the atmosphere was really not good. Although Ines silenced the Duke, the atmosphere had already gone an irreversible way, as if it had been washed away by a rough current. Also, there was no one who could calmly change the mood with soft words, the Duchess, who was the only glimmer of hope, was heavily drunk without anyone knowing, and Cárcel was a high treasonous criminal who could not bear to open his mouth.…..

In the midst of the darkness, unable to see the end of this situation, Ines was calm from beginning to end.

He watched her series of actions with fascination, like someone who had stopped on a road with no exit in sight. Ines had the servants clean up the dishes she had diligently emptied while others could not even eat a single bite, brought her own dessert, and filled her wine glass with water.

Then, she rolled the glass leisurely in her hand as if it were real wine, and sipped the water as if she didn't even care about other people.

On the other hand, as for Cárcel, he was still completely stuffed with the same polite smile he gave the duke.

Despite all the circumstances around her, Ines enjoyed the necessary amount of leisure with her unique temperament, which could be either detached or indifferent. Meanwhile, it was quiet again.

And when she put down the glass, the silence was suddenly broken.

“How come no one is eating properly…? Was I the only one who enjoyed today’s meal?”

“No, Senorita. The dinner is very good.”

Miguel answered in a huff. Then he suddenly turned his head and asked Cárcel.

“Right, brother?”

With an unprecedented level of politeness. Cárcel nodded slowly as if agreeing with his brother's words. Then Ines faintly lifted the corners of her mouth and smiled.

…..Smiled?

“Lord Escalante, is everything okay?”

As if nothing had changed, she faced him from the vacant seat. However, there was a subtle difference, perhaps a hint of kindness for a struggling trash in a tight spot... Cárcel gracefully lifted the corner of his handsome lips and smiled.

“Yes, it’s perfect.”

Come to think of it, since this uncomfortable situation began, it was the first time Ines had spoken directly to him, even though they were sitting across from each other and facing each other.

She was always distant from a sociable nature. Additionally, Cassel, with his handsome face and soldier-like rough determination, didn't feel the need for initiative easily, so the absence of conversation between them wasn't awkward.

However, it was understandable how disappointing that must have been for the Duke of Valeztena. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] He was in a situation where he doesn't like the way he looks or the way he breathes…..

"Finally, that expensive mouth has opened, huh."

Quite self-evidently.

“You think of having a son, but you’re such an expensive mouth that you can’t even utter a single word of flattery to a woman who’s about to get married.”

“What kind of word can Lord Escalante have for me?”

“You’re even more beautiful today, your dress is going to shine with your beauty, there’s no limit to how much I want to talk about—.”

“I am not very beautiful, and my dress today is colorless. I really want you to stop bothering me.”

Ines responded as if annoyed. Rather than being humble, the tone seems really tired and bothered. Cárcel's eyes wandered dazedly between the duke and his daughter.

"...See that? This humility? From the serene attire to the mindset, it's a different level from your flashy exterior, you rascal."

"Father, please stop.”

"Moreover, you told him not to torment you already. In a week, that trash will be your husband...!”

“Father.”

"If calling trash by its name is also considered torment—”

“—Senorita Valeztena is, of course, very beautiful, but…..”

"Shut up!”

Cárcel shut up right away. Duke Valeztena raised his trembling fingertip and pointed towards Cárcel. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] The sight of Cárcel complying with the order seemed to annoy him even more.

“The guy who sold his body for a cheap price!”

“Father, Lord Escalante does not sell himself. And if he sells himself, it won’t be cheap.”

…Is it time to correct the values?

"Selling laughter!"

"He also doesn't sell laughter."

"While my daughter ages—."

"I'm still twenty-three.”

"—Neglecting her and now what? Deciding to get married within two weeks? Contracting some disease from selling your body, and now you're in a hurry to find a successor before your father dies?"

"Father."

"My daughter looks so carefree...! She's a kid who only sees his face, so hold on to that.…..!”

Now, he no longer bothered to check the Duke's reactions. It was because Ines' face was twice as stern as the Duke's.