The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 47

Chapter 47

Tw: Low s*xual content

Inés glanced at Cárcel, who was carefully escorting her without a word, then looked straight ahead again, then glanced at Cárcel again and moved her lips silently.

“…Forgive me if I was presumptuous.”

Before she could work up the courage to say whatever it was she was struggling to say, Cárcel spoke first. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Inés let out a sigh between her moving lips before finally speaking.

“You didn’t have to.”

“I know, I thought you would say something like that.”

His large hand, which had been wrapped around her wrist, moved under her palm, their fingers lacing together. Even then, it felt more like he was still supporting her than holding her hand.

It was like building an incongruous pedestal beneath a sandcastle that might crumble at any moment.

“But you don’t need to apologize. My family can be quite unsightly at times… I’m the one who should apologize. For making you uncomfortable since this morning, when you have to return to your residence”

“You say it easily.”

Cárcel seemed momentarily taken aback, then let out a low sigh.

“There is no reason for you to be unsightly, Inés, when you are the one who was subjected to such a one-sided outburst of abuse.”

“Abuse is a strong word….”

“No normal parent would make such a mockery of their daughter. Or show her such contempt.”

“…….”

“Or humiliate her so in front of her new husband.”

“My mother… she was just carried away by our marriage. I am sure if she had listened until the end, she would have concluded with, ‘Fortunately, Escalante prevented that from happening.’”

However, since there had been no moment when she had wanted to listen to the end, Inés, who hadn’t expected much of a send-off anyway, felt rather comfortable now. Cárcel’s face darkened in silence, so she added, as if to appease him a little.

“It’s not something that happens often. And it’s not just me she treats that way….”

“…….”

“My father is mostly in Mendoza, and my mother is mostly at the Perez estate, so it’s rare for the whole family to clash like this. I don’t mind it, though—.”

“—I saw your expression, Inés.”

“My expression?”

“I can even tell where the dog is barking just by looking at your face with my ears closed. It's clear you've had enough of this kind of thing.”

“…….”

“Don’t let your mother speak to you like that. Whether you’re Valeztena or Escalante….”

With the hand that wasn't holding Ines, he habitually rubbed his dry face a few times. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Suddenly, a furrowed brow appeared beneath the hand resting on his forehead. Ines quietly called out to him.

"Cárcel."

"......I’m sorry, sorry."

"What for.”

“I didn’t mean to… push you like that.”

“…Pushing me? What are you talking about all of a sudden….”

“…I acted like a beast. It’s natural for you to be wary of me after what happened last night.”

“—So that’s what you meant all of a sudden… Ah….”

It took a moment for her to fully understand what Cárcel meant. Inés nodded slightly, without replying.

Cárcel seemed to have said something similar several times before. However, since her last memory—of when she was getting out of the bath and putting on new clothes—was hazy at best, it was clear that she wouldn’t have been able to make out what Cárcel was saying, let alone the pitch of his voice.

‘But since you say it's not necessary, you tell me to rape you.’

‘Rape—.’

‘—That’s all you keep saying now. Tell me to rape you. Not thinking about how you feel, not worrying about whether you can accept me, just spread your legs however you like, let me f*ck you, c*m inside you, and then leave.’

‘I agree with everything. That can't be rape.’

‘You really are a crazy woman.’

Inés took a moment to consider the guilt that was etched so clearly across Cárcel’s beautiful face.

Fragments of last night’s brutally explicit conversation came to mind. The expression that had twisted his face so horribly when he said the word ‘rape’. That unfamiliar face…….

“I was the one who treated you so abominably. I had no right to speak to your mother as if I were better than her.”

“You didn’t exactly…”

Inés chose her words carefully. You didn’t rape me? That went without saying, and it wasn’t the kind of thing one would say at a dreamlike time when a couple had just finished their wedding night and was leaving the bride’s house.

She also remembered how the moment he felt the slightest bit of resistance, his strength, which had been like a hot iron, would instantly cool as if cold water had been poured over it. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] He had been more insistent than she had imagined, but he had not crossed the line with Inés—or perhaps, the line that one should not cross with one’s wife.

That was why she didn’t think he had embraced her out of lust alone. Perhaps that unpleasant conversation had stirred up some kind of uncomfortable flame within him… In any case, Cárcel Escalante was a part of the Imperial Navy, which could be considered the embodiment of duty, and in contrast to his free-spirited playboy nature, he was also full of military spirit and, as he had said himself, surprisingly faithful.

How could her body, which fell somewhat short of perfection, have aroused any kind of desire within eyes that had grown dull from countless affairs with beautiful women? He had simply expressed the duty of their first night a little too excessively, a little too eagerly.

“…You’ve never treated me abominably. Yesterday was our wedding night, and we simply did what we were supposed to do as a married couple.”

Inés’s light and affectionate response caused a subtle change in Cárcel’s expression, which had been drenched in guilt.

“You call it ‘what we were supposed to do as a married couple’?”

“There’s nothing you forced me to do—.”

“—Do you remember what you were doing to me in the bath just two hours ago?”

Although her memory of it was hazy since she had been half asleep, it was clear that it had been more than just washing.

Cárcel leaned down over Inés’s shoulder and added softly,

“Do you remember what you did to me there?”

“…I don’t remember doing anything like a big deal.”

It was an indecent memory that she didn’t want to recall on such a clear morning, even though it had only been a couple of hours ago, but it was hardly something to be proud of either.

When Inés replied carelessly, Cárcel’s lips twisted as if he were annoyed, but then he smiled strangely.

“That’s not a big deal?”

“Of course, I think I was too clumsy and I must have been lacking for you.”

Although she had already suggested that they minimize pleasure as much as possible in their marital relationship, and he had rejected the idea with such extreme words that she had quickly dropped the subject, Inés had made a certain effort instead.

She didn’t want to satisfy him too much—lest he come to enjoy their relationship—but she also didn’t want to be so passive that she would only slow things down.

And she was confident that she had kept a good balance between the two, even in her hazy memory.

“You weren’t clumsy. Not at all.”

Cárcel burst out laughing. Her confidence wavered slightly.

“You were too much to be lacking. You’re too good at it, Inés.”

“…….”

“You got on top of me in the water. Of course, spreading your legs over me wasn’t a big deal, and neither was the way you moved your hips. The way you pushed yourself against me, inside you….”

“…….”

And her hazy memories began to stir.

“And the way you squeezed me off at the end, as if you were annoyed and just wanted to get rid of me, that wasn’t a big deal either. Was it?”

“This isn’t the kind of conversation we should be having outside, Cárcel.”

“We simply did what we were supposed to do as a married couple. And right now, we’re having a conversation as a married couple.”

“How can you—.”

“Even if we roll around in semen from dusk till dawn, it’s just our duty as a married couple.”

“…What are you trying to say?”

“Our duty as a married couple can be over in ten minutes. Our wedding night lasted less than ten hours.”

“…….”

“We’ve already done more than our duty, Inés Escalante.”

Inés, who had just stepped onto the stairs, swayed. Cárcel wrapped one arm tightly around her waist and pulled her close, helping her take each step slowly, before he unceremoniously lifted her into his arms.

To anyone who didn’t know the circumstances, it would have looked as if she had suffered a serious injury. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Inés, conscious of the eyes of the servants, couldn’t bring herself to push him away and whispered with a forced smile on her face.

“…I hate such things. Put me down.”

“I don’t want to.”

“Put me down.”

“Hmm.”

“Cárcel.”

“It seems you’ve learned that calling my name can be helpful.”

“So far, it doesn’t seem to be very helpful.”

“Here.”

He didn’t put her down until they had reached the bottom of the stairs, and then he said, as if he were obeying her command,

The young servants’ flushed faces reminded her of the reddish faces of the handmaidens gathered before the bridal chamber. Reports that ‘the couple’s love was excessive’……. Inés’s delicate face twisted slightly as she struggled to suppress her embarrassment.

That report was what had made her mother so excited and happy that it had led her to attack her. Her mother attacked those around her when she was unhappy, and when she was too happy, she would spin around and attack those around her again. It was a kind of illness. She tormented and pushed away those around her, unable to bear being happy herself…. And then she would indulge in self-pity, feeling victimized by the fact that everyone she loved was distancing themselves from her and rejecting her. When Luciano got married, which wouldn’t be long now, she would surely try to destroy his spirit as well.

Inés swallowed a sigh and walked ahead. But soon, her arm was gently taken, and she was escorted by Cárcel again, as if he were lavishing excessive care on her.

We are already……. His voice, as low and deep as a cave, echoed through her consciousness like a rope that bound her tightly.

As a result, she couldn’t even ask him in the carriage why she had suddenly ended up leaving with him for Calstera, to his residence. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Firstly, because she hadn’t even thought about it, and secondly, because she had been too busy trying not to fall asleep on his lap.