The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"...I still don't understand."

The ten-year-old Crown Prince Oscar, arrogantly crossing his still immature legs, glared disapprovingly at Cárcel. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] It was clear he was showing off his longer legs compared to his cousin, who was four years younger. All of this over a topic that was, to him, still about a child...

"Why are you?"

“……"

Cárcel, about to irritably face his cousin as a habit, decided against it, thinking, 'What's the use of saying anything.' He was already under enough scrutiny from his parents. 'Although Prince Oscar's actions may not be very mature yet, he is the person you must serve as the lord for a lifetime,' they said.

A lifetime is soon until death. And Cárcel was already weary of the word 'lifetime.'

Living as a husband and wife with Inés Valeztena until death was daunting enough, but having to endure that childish cousin until death... To serve him like Emperor Father served the Empress...

"Cárcel Escalante de Espoza."

"Yes."

"Don't you find this gentleman's words rather strange?"

Listing his long name and speaking with a solemn tone would have been ridiculous. Although in these early years, a few more years would make one look like an adult, Oscar, despite his well-grown height compared to his peers, was a seed that eroded his maturity with incessant chatter.

At least to his cousin Cárcel.

"I don't know either."

"Don't know? Is that it?"

The Crown Prince, appearing born with wisdom from the outside, calmly pretending, but Cárcel was gradually becoming sure. Because of that guy's habit of catching the tail of words, it was certain that the loyalty of his future subordinates would be lost.

"If you don't know, just say you don't. Are you already living comfortably in the world just because you have a pretty face? Don't know? Is that all?"

"I don't know because I don't know."

"That's exactly your problem."

As Oscar nervously swept his red hair aside, at the same time, Cárcel, who had been pretending to read a book on the opposite side, finally closed the book with a small hand.

"If you don't know, make an effort to find out. When you become a general, if your lord asks something, do you plan to stare blankly and say, 'I don't know' while gazing at the backsides of women?"

"No."

He just didn't want to be around that cousin of his. Even as a general, he had to deal with this annoying task. At this point, Cárcel recalled the words of Empress Cayetana, who was Oscar's mother and the great sister of his father.

Surely, when you become an adult, you can do whatever you want. To achieve that, you have to do unpleasant things when you're young—like studying with an annoying cousin, in order to secure future freedom.

But look at reality.

When he became an adult, he had to marry the cold Inés Valeztena and assist that cousin whose status would become even greater than it is now. Moreover, the familial duty that he subtly tried to postpone to his younger brother Miguel became solely his the moment he entered into a provisional adulthood by entering a marital agreement with Inés. It was an indisputable law that the only illegitimate daughter of the Valeztena family could not marry a man who did not receive a duke's title.

Thanks to this, Cárcel was now undeniably the successor of the Escalante Duchy. This happened at a time when, coincidentally, a crown prince was born into the Escalante family for the first time in a hundred and fifty years.

Everything in the Escalante Duchy revolved around the crown prince, and among those 'everything,' Cárcel, the eldest son and heir, was no exception.

Now, not only did he have an unpleasant fiancée, but he also had to spend even more time with Oscar.

"To Lady Valeztena... You must have done something. Definitely."

He had to endure such nonsensical conspiracy theories right in front of him.

Cárcel, even in the face of the Crown Prince's baseless accusations, remained composed and responded as tactfully as he had learned dozens of times from his mother.

"I am six years old. Your Highness."

Although one might argue that a six-year-old could not possibly do anything, his composure was unmatched. This sophistication at the age of six was unbelievable... He had always been smarter than his age, no matter what his unkind fiancée and his unkind father said about him.

Whether he sensed the proud expression that unintentionally crossed Cárcel's face or not, Oscar's eyes narrowed.

"So, it's a topic that's only six years old."

"I'll be seven soon."

"A guy who's barely going to be seven dares to..."

He, himself, was a subject who was barely ten.….

"That child didn't know she belonged to me?"

"Your Highness, Inés was never yours..."

"Dare to snatch what belongs to the lord?"

It had already been three months since Cárcel became engaged to Inés, but Oscar seemed to be pondering that day as if it happened just yesterday.

"I won't ask about the sin by looking at my uncle's face. So, tell me. What trick did you suddenly play on her?"

".….."

"That damned face, isn't it?"

Cárcel's angelic face was clouded with weariness. It wasn't a particularly suitable expression for a child, but such faces naturally had their place.

"Nothing—."

"You kept acting all innocent in front of her, right? Lift that damned face of yours."

".……."

"There can be no other explanation.”

Oscar muttered as if spitting out saliva to the side. His face, resembling the Emperor with its refined features and already exuding a sophisticated impression, knew well that it couldn't compare to Cárcel's inhuman face.

"That's because of Empress Mother, no, thanks to her."

"That political marriage was for the sake of the royal family. She wasn't born to take care of things like the Escalante estate."

Originally, the desire to form a complete alliance by having Inés as a playmate for Cárcel, and even the intention to connect him with the Valeztena family, was all the will of Prince Oscar's mother, Empress Cayetana.

And when Inés, right in front of him, refused the engagement, saying, 'I'd rather marry him than the Crown Prince even if he dies,' it was also Empress Cayetana, the Prince's mother, who had placed her nephew in front of him, as if she had been waiting. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] She would often spout platitudes like, 'Marriage, first and foremost, should make a lady happy for a man to be happy,' especially when facing six-year-old children.

If Cárcel had grown a bit more, he would have noticed that blatant willingness. The audacity of a girl who bluntly refused the Emperor's son with a declaration of 'I'd rather he die,' and the kindness that said, 'Choose however you want,' all hidden within her apparent affability.

His aunt did not want a stubborn girl as much as the Valeztena Duchy needed it, and Inés was needed, but not to the extent of giving up her own son.

Cárcel was the perfect link. Placing the daughter of the Valeztena in a distance close enough, but not so close as to intrude upon their lives, establishing a firm alliance with the Valeztena, all without causing too much disturbance.

However, Cárcel, being a child who didn't understand the language, just felt unjust. If he had known the language, it might have been even more unjust.

"Your Highness, the choice is Inés's."

"Because of your damned face, she lost the opportunity to stand at the highest point of the Empire. In a moment of misjudgment... Do you understand how much you've ruined her life with your petty mistake?"

It was an incomprehensible statement. He ruined her life? If it were the other way around... Cárcel shook his head firmly. Oscar sighed, touching his forehead.

"...To reject me and choose someone like this, she's just a fool. That damned crow-like black hair..."

"...You didn't like Inés?"

"Like? Who?"

"You, Your Highness."

"Me? That crow?"

"...You wanted Inés."

He teased people to the point of torment with his words. At Cárcel's statement, Oscar suddenly chuckled, as if he had heard something amusing.

Then, looking at Cárcel as if looking at a very young and innocent child, he stared with a hint of arrogance.

"Cárcel, what you want is different from what you like."

Very different. As if nodding approvingly, he arrogantly stroked his chin. It was the appearance of someone who believed themselves to be very mature.

"I wanted to marry Inés Valeztena. Not because I love her."

Instead of saying aloud in his mind, 'Regardless of your opinion, since you don't like Inés either way,' Cárcel tilted his head slightly, leaving a slight doubt.

Oscar laughed.

"Among the women we can marry, there is no one with a better pedigree than her."

Cárcel was well aware that, among the prestigious nobles belonging to the Grandes de Ortega, the esteemed Duchy was only among five families, and among those five families, Inés was the only girl of their age.

Whether it was a boy or a girl, decision-making power tended to lean toward the side with scarce value. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] The Grandes de Ortega wasn't a position that the royal family could influence through power, and as a result, the young prince tasted the first disappointment of his life, much like how Cárcel quickly found himself bound by circumstances.

"Of course, you could have married my sister."

"...I don't want to."

"You dislike my sister more than Valeztena's crow?"

Not surprisingly, that was the case. Marrying a cousin, it's disgustingly unthinkable... Cárcel nodded his head, and Oscar, grinning cynically, quickly withdrew his chin-held hand.

"It seems the crow is unexpectedly to your liking."

"Well, if we have to live together for a lifetime."

It was precisely three months into the engagement, and Cárcel found himself wrestling with his emotions every day. Oscar smirked.

“Now that you say that, I want her even more.”

Well, tearing each other apart and living a lifetime, that's challenging... The prince muttered words that a woman of mature age might say to herself, and then he stood up alone.

"All right. Let's go see your crow."

"…?"

“There's still a long time before you guys come of age.”

As if he were already an adult, he threw a meaning-laden remark off-topic.