The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Ines was still staring as if she was going to break her father's fingers as he talked about the value of his face, but suddenly she stretched out her hand.

The force was so fierce that it looked like she was really going to do something to the Duke's finger, but contrary to expectations, she gently wrapped the Duke's finger and pulled it down. Then, she tapped the back of his hand, cautioning him.

“Is it okay to treat guests like this, or not?”

The voice of a seven-year-old, scolding her own father from behind during a party, echoed in his mind. It was a scene that remained unchanged even after reaching adulthood, this extraordinary sight…

The Duke of Valeztena paused at the sound of Ines's voice, as if he had entered a room of thought for a moment. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] However, when he soon saw Cárcel again, something suddenly appeared on his tall face, and the corners of his eyes were distorted.

"...A guest? That guy is just a thief. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Lord Escalante is an honorable admiral of the esteemed Empire. Unlike what my father says, he doesn't sell his body, nor does he steal.”

Couldn't it just end with being an honorable admiral of the esteemed Empire? When the topic of selling his body came up again, Cárcel raised his wine glass as if his throat was parched.

"Well, Escalante is excessively wealthy for such thing, you know that.”

"So, Ines, even in your eyes, he's a guy who would sell himself if he didn't have money."

"If you're poor, and you have such good assets, you don't need to let them go to waste... but let's just stick to the facts, Father. That alone is enough of a flaw.”

Ines's attitude of trying to stop him but not denying it further tightened Cárcel's throat.

"Hmm! Yeah, if you're talking about that dirty, scratchy guy....”

"I misspoke, Father. Please don't talk about the facts either.”

“You are truly so kind that it is a shame. Just because you are faithful and upright doesn't mean you think everyone else in the world is the same, so why do you try to only see the good in people?!”

...Who? Ines Valeztena? Cárcel quietly signaled a servant to fill his empty glass with wine and chuckled.

The chaotic conversation between father and daughter had always had Cárcel as the main character, but by this point, they were moving away from it as if it wasn't about him. Maybe her soul is moving away from this place.….. Perhaps his soul was also drifting away from this place…

"So, even a worn-out guy like him looks acceptable once you see that face. Because you're such a good and virtuous daughter of a kind and righteous god, always finding the good in even the most lacking people..."

"Just say you've seen his face."

"So in the end, you really, really want to get married like this?”

Cárcel sensed the Duke's reluctance in his voice, realizing that the marriage had been facing internal opposition all along. It was surprising that the continuity of this union had lasted until now.

"Maybe we should postpone the wedding a bit.”

His daughter was aging, and her fiancé, disregarding marriage, was wandering the seas as a soldier—anyone would think he was enraged at the situation, avoiding marriage with his daughter. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] But that wasn't the case.

When he postponed his marriage due to the military academy, military service, and all sorts of reasons, there was only one reason why the Duke of Valeztena did not use common sense to protest.

‘...because he hoped this marriage to fall apart.’

Cárcel couldn't figure out how to overcome the situation where Duke of Valeztena was hoping for the marriage to collapse just a week before his daughter's wedding.

And what should he do with his lower body, which has suddenly become as motionless as a stone if it's someone else than Ines Valeztena? Also, he doesn't know how to live a life of disability.……

The soul that had been drifting away from this place suddenly returned, confronting an unforeseen unfortunate future. He found himself standing on the edge of an unexpected precipice. If it couldn't be overturned, the determination to delay and somehow overturn it echoed above the Duke's gaze.

In truth, Ines's age had somewhat exceeded the usual marriageable age for Ortega women. So, even if it might be challenging to find a groom with conditions as remarkable as Cárcel's, considering the Valeztena name, receiving another respectable marriage proposal wouldn't be a problem.

If only the other party could forget the fact that they entered into an engagement 17 long years ago... If they could turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the well-known fact that they were each other's betrothed, then perhaps, instead of a breakup, it could resemble a behavior closer to divorce.

“It’s already too late to postpone. You said I was already old, right?”

Amidst all this, Ines gave an annoying look to the servant. Judging by her calm expression, she was probably asking, 'Where is my dessert in all this?’

"If you're old, by now, your mother and I would be lying in coffins."

"Leave me out of it. I'm barely in my thirties."

The Duchess retorted with an irritated tone, her voice slightly blurred by the effects of alcohol. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] The Duke grimaced and replied.

"You're forty-five. How many times do I have to say it? You can't brainwash people into getting younger—sorry, Inés. Anyway, marriage is not as easy and carefree as your six-year-old self imagined, and it doesn't just roll along with that sculpted face.”

“Lord Escalante is not the only one who commits such aberrations.”

"What if he had done it to some extent? Should have played around a bit with youthful vigor… Everyone is like that, so there's nothing to do, just bite your teeth and hold on. But that b*stard just keeps pushing it…....”

So, the end of this long engagement was not something that was entirely in Cárcel’s hands, as people thought.

The Duke of Valeztena was ready to break off the marriage at any time, and Cárcel was constantly pouring out reasons for the breakup of the marriage as if he were breathing.

Of course, considering that the nobles of Mendoza are all free-spirited, debauched, and even somewhat dirty - there are rarely cases of marriage breakdown due to such reasons.

However, the opponent is Duke Valeztena, who is trying to hinder the emperor with his petty arguments even in the Senate....

“Does your father find the covenant made in the name of your family so funny? Moreover, Valeztena and Escalante are not ordinary aristocratic families, but are families that have been recognized for their status in the Grandes de Ortega.”

"…..."

" 'We' don't say anything in vain.”

The duke's bewildered eyes became clouded as if he was lying. Like the cloudy eyes of the emperor who was once blocked from establishing a munitions factory by the duke's petition in the Senate.

The power dynamic shifted towards Ines. Saying 'We don't do that,' it seemed that from the Duchess to Luciano, no one felt uncomfortable with her statement.

Cárcel awakened to the realization that the reason this engagement had been sustained was that, at the very least, Ines desires him. Despite claiming not to like him, show any interest, or care what sh*t he did, she still wanted him.

This was a welcome fact for him, who started the morning with a gasp as he dreamed of her again today. Yet, it couldn't escape the undeniable sense of suspicion.

Even if, as the Duke said, his handsome face was all she wanted, then why was his only good thing—his face, accompanied by such a bothersome and annoying expression every time she looked at him...….

“Besides, it is a wedding that Her Majesty the Empress personally arranged. Part of this marriage is the imperial family, so disrupting the marriage means insulting the imperial family.”

“Her Majesty knows that her precious niece is selling his body, so she can’t blame us.”

“Escalante has a lot, and Lord Escalante doesn’t sell himself.”

"Do you not realize that those with plenty may add more? Where some only sell their bodies and engage in thievery. Such individuals would sell their souls if they could. How do you not know that?”

“I don’t think Sir Escalante got anything other than fun out of meeting women.”

Ines responded by openly turning her attention to her dessert that had arrived in the meantime. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] This is an overly objective and indifferent evaluation considering that it refers to the debauched behavior of a fiancé. In terms of her presence, it would probably be no bigger than the piece of fruit she just stuck with her fork.

"After having so much fun, one might think about trying their hand at stealing.”

“I feel like he is being considerate of me these days. Isn't it? Sir Escalante.”

“Receiving you at the wedding mass is going to be scary, he’ll be making plans with his stupid brain to sleep with someone again.”

Before Cárcel had time to reply, the duke answered imperiously. Ines said, shrugging her shoulders and chewing on her fruit.

"Actually, it would be a waste of resources to have that face all to myself. It's like abandoning a gold-producing mines and not collecting salt from the sea.”

"What?"

"I take pride in Escalante, so I won't let him decay.”

Is that the attitude of treating an injured bird and then releasing it? Cárcel only blinked after receiving warm cheers that seemed to say, 'Now spread your wings wide and fly towards the world.' A week before the wedding, cheering for him to meet another woman in front of her parents with that smile….

“Ines, you really have to be crazy…! Escalante. What is that expression? Has permission been granted, and you're determined to mine diligently? Are you going to dry salt in the salt pans?”

Suddenly, a new expression had started to replace the phrase 'selling one's body'—a bizarre and headache-inducing term. Now, words to respond didn't come to his mind. Didn't he originally have no intention of running a mine just because they were married? Or did the salt pans break down? Cárcel stared at Ines, feeling a wave of bewilderment crashing like waves.

The lips that had been chewing the fruit became straight, and the lips that had drawn straight lines became beautifully curved. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Cárcel's eyes, who had been looking at her suspiciously, suddenly became clouded as if he was possessed.

"I'm fine, really. I admire Lord Escalante enough for it to be okay, though."

He realized one more thing.

Ines Valeztena has the prettiest smile when she's lying.