The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 36

Chapter 36

Tw: Low s*xual content

"We'll have separate bedrooms, Escalante."

Instead of her body, which was restrained by his arm, the voice calling him 'Escalante' was firm as it pulled away.

Cárcel smoothly smiled without a care.

"We'll be sleeping together anyway."

"I'm a human. I don't sleep with dogs."

"Dogs are animals that should live with humans."

"Who's the one barking now?"

"So don't release me on your own."

Being released... Ines frowned as if she had heard something very unpleasant. At that moment, Cárcel lowered his head and kissed the corner of her mouth.

It was the moment when Ines' frown deepened at the ambiguous contact, like a normal greeting, not at the lips but at the corners of the mouth.

As her head tilted back completely, their lips met again. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Cárcel's broad back curved gently. It was a teasing contact, a momentary intertwining of tongues followed by a playful pull, but in their 17 years together, amidst their precarious history, this could never be just a joke.

Ines kept her furrowed face unchanged for a moment, then made a bewildered expression, then ambiguously blurred her expression... Despite frequently changing expressions, she never pushed him away.

It was not clear what was going on in her mind when she responded so obediently, but it seemed like a promising sign. With one arm wrapped around her waist, pulling Ines closer, and the other hand supporting her deeply tilted head behind, Cárcel naturally guided her to where there was a console.

As their lips met with each exhale, the kisses grew deeper. Then, as Ines gasped for breath, he lightly sucked on her upper lip before parting their lips.

"...Even if you let a dog loose, it always comes back to where it was."

"......"

"So don't you dare lose your strength for no reason. I don't know what your intentions are, but....”

Ines slowly opened her eyes that she had been closing very slowly. Just like that, their eyes met again at a close distance. Ines' breath, which she was still panting, lightly touched his chin.

Even though she was the one breathing hard, Cárcel suddenly stopped speaking as if he was short of breath, thinking.

It's really dangerous if things continue like this.

It felt like a hundred years ago when they kissed lightly, just to tease each other. Even though he was looking down at her, he felt distant. Cárcel reached out to her lips as if he was possessed. He rubbed them with his thumb as if to wipe them off, and their mixed saliva appeared transparently.

This was a feeling he couldn't explain at all. He had never felt it before.

Ines Valeztena was always like this. She always made herself unfamiliar. Strangely, without much effort, she tormented him. In one way or another.

Yet, he didn't hate this feeling of being played with.

Ines quickly turned her face away from his palm. It was then that he looked down at the emptiness in his hand, as if it were a natural course of events.

“…….”

It was a sound somewhere between 'phew' and 'snap'.

A sharp smack echoed in Cárcel's ears. The sudden impact was jarring, but his body was too well-built to stagger, and his center of gravity was firmly planted. However, it was by no means a negligible pain.

For a moment, Cárcel thought that perhaps Duke Valeztena, who had been watching from somewhere, had rushed over and struck him with a whip, but all around him was still silent, and Ines was the only one in his sight.

"That's right. You got it right."

"......"

"I was the one who hit you.”

She kindly replied as if to help Cárcel, who was belatedly realizing the situation. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Then she asked again.

"Why do you have that expression? It's not like this is the first time you've been slapped by a woman."

"It's the first time I've been hit."

After all, most of them tried to leave him with a good impression until the end, saying things like, ‘I'll live my whole life with the memories of that day,’ or ‘It was only for a short time, but it was like heaven,’ or ‘I'll remember that night, whether I'm happy or sad.’

Besides, it wasn't even his cheek that Ines hit.

'It was my head....’

Cárcel wondered how the strength that had struck his entire head could possibly belong to his quiet fiancée, who he had thought knew nothing of the world and whose only hobby was reading books in the library.

This was not the hand of someone who had only hit a person once or twice. It was clear that she had struck with the single-minded desire to inflict pain on her opponent, and that she had made up for any lack of strength due to her natural talent with technique.

"To think I'm your first experience... that's a bit of a burden."

And what was up with that worn-out, manly remark again.

Ines, facing Cárcel's shocked gaze, smirked mischievously before her expression turned cold, and she asked.

“Isn't it true that if a dog misbehaves, it wants to be beaten?”

“…Do you hit the dog?”

Seeing Ines with an astonished expression as if saying, ‘I didn't see it that way. Is there such trash?’ Cárcel glanced at her, and she narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Why would I hit that cute thing? I didn't hit it. But if a person is already so dog-like and unruly—"

"—Ines, do you really think of me as a dog**—.**"

"—Doesn't that mean you want to be hit?"

"Ines, there's no one in the world who wants to be hit."

"There are. People who are a few screws loose do. They get excited about that kind of thing.”

Ines, seeming to mutter meaningfully, crossed her arms stubbornly.

"That's why I thought you were like that too. I thought you were acting so disobedient because you wanted to be hit."

No matter how neatly she tied her hair down, no matter how she covered her whole body in pitch-black color and maintained a solemn demeanor, what of it?

Even if she walked around with her chest bared, she wouldn't seem as unruly as him.

"And dogs should run around outside. That's how I raise dogs.”

"......"

"No entry into the master's bedroom. And no getting on the bed."

"......"

"Understood?"

Like sitting in front of a dog that couldn't really speak and softly reciting various precautions, Ines's voice was steady and slow.

Cárcel snorted.

"Wait, are you seriously giving me those as precautions?"

"Since you've been fussing about our marriage after, I have a few things to bring up too, Escalante. And let's stick to the point then."

"......"

"Don't play these petty tricks."

If they were outside, it would seem like she would spit on the ground next to her.

"What do you mean by petty tricks?"

"Like this.”

She drew a large circle in the air with her finger and put both him and herself inside the circle. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Cárcel raised an eyebrow slightly.

"Like this?"

"Yeah. Like this. Don't do this."

"Kissing?"

"Yeah."

Ironically, while they were perfectly fine when it came to kissing, her small face seemed disgusted by the word "kiss" as if it left a bad taste in her mouth.

Cárcel narrowed his eyes and asked casually.

"So, let's get to the point."

"......"

"Why can't you answer?"

"Just the minimum necessary—"

"—S*x?”

He asked plainly, but there was a moment of silence.

Ines didn't seem embarrassed, but rather, she remained quiet as if she couldn't grasp the situation of her actions for a moment. Then, abruptly, she spoke again.

"Just the minimum necessary actions."

"So, you mean you don't like kissing but you're okay with intimacy, is that what you just said?"

"Yeah."

"Let's skip this preamble and get straight to the point."

"Yeah."

"...You're quite a pervert.”

Cárcel gave a short, indifferent comment. Ines seemed momentarily upset, but quickly regained her usual calm and rigid expression and spoke.

“This is unnecessary. It's too intimate, too close, and a waste of time. It’s something that only people who love do.”

“How many times should I tell you? I'm going to be your husband, Ines Valeztena.”

"So I'm saying it's not necessary. Cárcel, noble couples of dignified Ortega don't love each other. This is a very honorable way of—"

"—S*x?"

"Next time, I might just slap that pretty mouth of yours, Cárcel.”

Ines lightly threatened. Cárcel spoke seriously.

"What you're talking about isn't dignity or anything. They're just animals who undress suddenly and only fulfill their necessary duties."

"It's efficient. The less we bind each other, the more peaceful the family is."

"It's not even funny, really.”

"Anyway, our marriage is a joke. I'll wear a dress that's far behind the times, pretending it's a family tradition, and go to the wedding ceremony. You, who used to wander outside the Mendoza to avoid your fiancée, suddenly insisted on getting married within a fortnight, and then you'll disappear outside Mendoza again right after the wedding. The court will be laughing just at this story for a month.”

"......"

"So we don't have to laugh."

Cárcel looked at her for a moment with a strange look in his eyes, then stepped back, creating distance between them.

"There's never been anything funny from the start. The only future I imagined was you becoming my wife."

"......”

"So I kissed you. I don't love you, but you'll soon be the most important woman in my life. I thought if our relationship was that important, it would be okay. I was careless. I'm sorry. I was rude."

"......"

"I am… I'm not saying I hate you. If it makes you uncomfortable because we're not in love, I'll respect that. From now on, I'll skip kissing unless it's for public appearances."

"......"

"Regardless of what this is, if you tell me not to do it, I won't.”

Ines's eyes subtly changed at the serious statement, showing a hint of discomfort. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] It was as if she was feeling awkward about what she would become if he acted like this.

Cárcel's initially rough demeanor softened.

"So, for now, let’s assume everything is okay except the kiss.”

It's commonly said that you have to listen to someone until the end to understand them.

However, Ines sometimes thought that even if you listened until the end, there were still things you wouldn't know. Unable to fully grasp the conclusion Cárcel had cheerfully reached, she stood there with a puzzled expression as he suddenly walked away towards the door.

With his long legs, he swiftly reached the door of the reception room, then opened it and called for Juana, who happened to be outside.

"Juana?"

"Yes?"

"Take your Senorita."

He glanced back once before leaving the room, as if that was his farewell.