The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 37

Chapter 37

Chapter 4: Nothing Goes According to Plan

The morning's wedding mass ended in a solemn and devout atmosphere.

The church, located in the heart of Santallaria Street, boasted magnificent grandeur from an expansion project spanning 150 years, but only a minuscule fraction of attendees, far too few to fill the seats of the numerous believers, were present.

At most, just a year ago, considering that nearly a thousand guests were seated during a wedding ceremony held in the same church for the son of a certain noble family, the attendance was dismal.

[ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Since it was a union of the Duke of Escalante and the Duke of Valeztena, it cannot be dismissed as people's indifference.

It was also the wedding of the heir of the Duke of Escalante and the only daughter of the Duke of Valeztena.

How many nobles would eagerly sit side by side on the second and third-tier benches of the church, even if the bride and groom looked like mere dots, just to witness that precious sight with their own eyes and boast about it for the rest of their lives?

They would boast about how they witnessed that once-in-a-lifetime moment of the Empire's most handsome man and a witch-like woman of great origin knelt side by side in front of the archbishop and bound each other for the rest of their lives... And then they would head to the Valeztena Duke's banquet hall, each making their own wagers.

‘How long will it take for the seemingly abstinent Duke of Escalante to find a new lover?’, ‘Having avoided marriage for so long, how long will he endure being 'caught'?’, ‘Instead of exhilarating nights, how fulfilling will his solemn honeymoon with a religious-like bride be?’...

Of course, even if not invited to the wedding, such bets were already trending. There hadn't been a more uproarious topic of conversation in recent times than the young couple of Escalante, making even more noise than them.

Even the crown prince and his fiancée were sure not to receive this much attention. So when only a very small number of people were invited to the wedding mass, it was natural that the disappointment of Mendoza nobles was sky-high.

Despite their marriage being publicly announced beforehand, and despite the lack of return invitations, rumors and various speculations about their marriage abounded even more.

Yet, for both Ines and Cárcel, the reason for not regretting their rather modest wedding was simple: the spectacle before their eyes remained quiet and serene, regardless of what others may chatter about.

It was a closed ceremony, attended only by select individuals from the royal family and representatives of the seventeen noble families belonging to Grandes de Ortega.

The solemn mass presided over by the Archbishop of Ortega was strict, and with very few guests, any whisper would resonate throughout the vast cathedral.

Mendoza's social circle sometimes boasted of unethical tenacity, but there are no tribes like the Grandes de Ortega who live their whole lives with pride. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] There was no way one would lose the family's reputation with a single nonsense word.

It was such an easy ceremony with no one speaking up or raising objections, as expected.

Originally, the urgent invitation, despite the seventeen-year long engagement, overshadowed by the hasty arrangements. While the nobility typically invests at least two or three years for a wedding, constantly changing wedding dresses in society—having a wedding, which wasn't even planned just a fortnight ago, made them seem like heretics.

Even though Ines Valeztena was already considered heretic, still, marrying 'him,' Cárcel Escalante, wasn't it the wedding she had always dreamed of?

People guessed that since she was so sneaky, she probably didn't want to be seen by as many people as possible, they assumed that the Duchess of Valeztena would have excluded all Mendoza nobles to avoid this disgrace, and Ines Valeztena de Perez's closed, unfriendly and exclusive attitude. They guessed it's a result of her personality…

Various cold interpretations followed.

However, it was clear that at least the very few guests who attended the wedding mass did not feel that way.

“……“

At the luxurious banquet of the Duke of Valeztena, which started early in the evening, Cárcel sat at the head of the table and watched the dancers.

More precisely, he was looking at the bride who should have been sitting next to him by now.

The sight of her brother Luciano dancing with Inés repeatedly drew his attention, concealed amidst the dancing couples. Cárcel's gaze followed their movements.

Her movements flowed smoothly with Luciano's lead, captivating the attention of others like blooming flower petals fluttering.

When he saw Luciano smiling slightly at some joke, he got choked up for a moment without knowing why.

Just as he saw that, everyone here was seeing that. He felt momentarily uncomfortable before consciously shaking it off.

Cárcel lifted his glass and immediately took a sip. Even as the water flowed down his throat, his thirst remained.

The songs were endlessly long, and the dances didn't seem to end along with them. As he kept a close eye on Inés amidst the swirling couples, he casually stretched his lips into a straight line.

"Is the song too long?”

Isn't the song too long... Just at that moment when Cárcel was beginning to think exactly that, he briefly doubted whether he had said so himself at the sudden sound of a voice from beside him.

However, his voice, ever since passing through puberty, had always been a pleasant, mellifluous bass, and the voice he coincidentally guessed was pathetic and awkward.

Of course, to Cárcel, it seemed so.

"...Ihar.”

Dante Ihar. He was the eldest son of the Duke Ihar, famous for his strictness. With his chestnut hair stylishly swept back and a remarkably neat appearance, this nobleman, contrary to his reputation for being conservative and prudish like his father, secretly enjoyed a rather libertine private life.

Basking in the formidable image of Duke Ihar, Dante Ihar used it as a shield to hide behind Cárcel's boisterous private life, which was too handsome to go unnoticed, merely by his quiet presence... He was like a bird hiding among the dense branches of a tree. He was like a crocodile bird living as a parasite.

Speaking of the private life of Dante Ihar, who secretly hid mistresses all over Mendoza, Cárcel's numerous nights would seem laughable in comparison.

However, since people didn't pay attention or show interest, saying, 'Well, that might be the case,' even if he lived like a sl*t, it didn't show. And since it didn't show, there wasn't a single person who criticized him.

After returning to the Valeztena ducal family with Ines, while she went up to decorate for the banquet, he and the Duke of Valeztena had a private time that seemed to never end.

Unlike during dinner, the Duke remained calm and composed, not raising his voice in authority even for a moment. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] However, the calm criticism he received was more torturous than losing his senses.

For instance, 'Ines was planning to engage with Enrique Osorno in the future. If I may speak of it, unlike you, who seem to have muscles all over your body but only talent for running errands, he possesses a sharp mind and extensive knowledge. Therefore, he would give the perfect grandchild whom appeals to my heart...’

Or, 'Look at Leonardo Helves, men usually don't live longer than women, and especially guys like you tend to end up getting into trouble somewhere outside. So it's better for Ines to marry someone so young and live with Ines telling him what to do.’

Or 'Dante Ihar was the perfect match. Even if his father, Duke Ihar, was light-mouthed, you are qualitatively different, inheriting that uprightness with a straight face and a cautious private life... If you were a husband, you would never deviate, even if you were a bit boring....' and so on, where elders of marital age were called upon one after another from every household to compare Cárcel unfavorably in every aspect of life.

The Duke of Valeztena endeavored to highlight how many jewel-like suitors there were in the seventeen noble families of Grande de Ortega unlike his rag-tag son-in-law.

Contrary to the reality where he was completely obedient to his father-in-law, if you think about it, there was no talented person who could properly understand everything from beginning to end. As well as his self-objectification, Cárcel also viewed others very objectively.

No matter how flawed he might be and lacking compared to Ines, there was no better man than him. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Objectively speaking. If he was lacking for Ines, then no one in the world would be enough for her. Truly, objectively.

Cárcel arrogantly made his judgment as if it were obvious, and, with difficulty tearing his gaze away from Ines, he glanced sharply at Dante Ihar.

The most staggering of them all was Dante Ihar, who happened to be speaking to him just now.

A straight face? A face that could be described as having eyes, nose, and mouth in their proper places, but nothing more to be remarked upon among the faces lining the street.

A cautious private life? Well, never deviating...?

"You looked anxious. Whether it's because you can't take your eyes off the bride for a moment, hoping she'll stick by your side quietly after the song ends, or because you want to disappear from people's sight."

"What's it to you anyway?"

"Some were betting that even at the Valeztena family banquet, you would find a new companion for the night. If they're watching you now, they'll regret it immensely. The losses will be substantial."

"Not something I particularly want to hear at a wedding."

"I'm not trying to offend. I just want to say they're wrong."

".….."

Dante Ihar shrugged and gave a nonchalant smile. Is that supposed to be straight? Even passing by with words, it's a smile worn thin like a rag. It's clear it's not just the body that's been rolling around, but the heart too.