The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 5

Chapter 5

It's a natural thing, but no, is it a natural thing?

Ines did not welcome them. Considering that Duke Escalante had turned their mansion upside down with just one visit from the nephew, the Crown Prince, a fortnight ago, the current scene couldn't even be called a grand spectacle.

"A thousand strikes, a thousand."

Cárcel muttered one of the sophisticated words he had recently learned as he wore a bored expression. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Even from a distance, Oscar turned his head abruptly, as if he had heard the words.

Even though there was no way he could have heard it, he was a person who could detect impure energy directed towards him like a ghost. According to Duke Escalante, who only knew his nephew, that was the mark of imperial qualities.

'...Isn’t it just a narrow-minded view?'

Cárcel, pretending to be indifferent, rolled his eyes away from his cousin and his fiancée, looking out the window. From here, the vast garden of the Valeztena Duke's mansion could be seen at a glance.

It was a landscaping that stood out with a different majesty from the splendid garden of Duke Escalante. Despite the undeniable scent of money, he examined every nook and cranny of the garden, savoring the refreshing scenery.

Not because of any particular reason or preference, but because it felt exceptionally mature to open one's eyes to such things early on. After all, adults often engaged in meaningless actions.

"People were unprepared to receive the news... How should I express this apology?"

However, no matter what Cárcel did, he would never reach Ines's peculiar maturity. Occasionally, she spoke not so much 'maturely' as just perfectly like an adult. It was as if she were a girl with only a small outer layer.

More precisely, she was a typical example of an 'adult who dislikes children.'

With an annoying expression, she gestured to a maid and then wiped her hands, which were arranging books on the wet cloth the maid brought.

"Normally, you should have given notice at least a week before visiting, but for some reason, Your Highness, you passed through our mansion overly casually, ignoring the formalities, and that's why we have committed such rudeness."

Muttering with a small mouth wasn't an apology for having rudely offended the Crown Prince. It was blaming him for my rudeness because of your ignorance.

He had become somewhat accustomed to Ines's excessively fluent speech, so he was no longer surprised by the fact that she didn't seem six years old. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Still, displaying such an overtly disrespectful attitude towards the Crown Prince...

"Why are you apologizing so much? Between us."

The muttered words of self-blame that her younger cousin whispered without being heard made him speculate that it was a form of self-deprecation. However, he couldn't comprehend Ines openly blaming herself. At first listen, her voice seemed impeccably polite, and the words she used were full of dignified terms like 'normally' or 'notice,' so he presumed he was just receiving a formal apology.

Therefore, hearing her say, "I committed rudeness," made it clear that he had misunderstood, thinking he was receiving a dignified apology from Ines. The way he smiled as if satisfied with Ines's lofty attitude further confirmed this.

Oscar, who considered himself an exceptionally intelligent individual and, beyond being mature, practically a fully grown adult, had never encountered a mocking adult in person.

Ines, as if well aware that Oscar wouldn't understand a hint of her disdain, cast an indifferent glance. It was more disrespectful due to her certainty. She seemed to express her apologies with words but put in no effort to improve the situation, making it even more disdainful.

"Father and mother are not present, making it difficult since the preparations to welcome His Highness the Crown Prince are inadequate. Such neglect towards His Highness."

This statement conveyed the message of why bother troubling herself when there are neither a father nor a mother.

"It's okay that the preparations are inadequate. I'm not the Duke of Valeztena; I just wanted to see you after a long time."

"I remember meeting Your Highness just a fortnight ago in Osonno."

This statement implied that it's not a rare or pleasant occasion for us to see each other after a long time.

Cárcel had acquired Ines's language to some extent, much like learning a foreign language. While his uneventful childhood lacked encounters with mocking adults, he had Ines.

After their engagement, the interaction between their families was more lively than ever, and they spent more time together, dreadfully so, than at any other time. He was no longer the Cárcel from three months ago.

"We couldn't properly converse back then."

"It would have been better if we met in a well-prepared setting."

Implying that it's not the right time now.

However, Oscar was utterly oblivious, especially when it came to Ines.

"A few months ago, that book you recommended. 'The Life of Don Juan' by Andreas de Gonsalvo. I read it for the second time a few days ago."

"Is that so?"

"I was deeply moved, and there were so many memorable passages that I couldn't bear not to read it again... My mind, you see, doesn't settle until I reread a book that I remember. Ah, loving books too much is quite a problem..."

As someone who had witnessed Oscar falling asleep as if enchanted while reading that book multiple times, Cárcel found it unbelievable. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] There were even instances when Oscar had to prompt Cárcel to come up with curses, saying, ‘It's so disgustingly boring that I want to swear, but I can't even think of appropriate curses. It's irritating.’

Oscar had a talent for studying, influenced by his maternal family, the Escalantes, who were honorable soldiers for generations. However, he had almost no literary knowledge, and Ines took advantage of this whenever she met the Crown Prince. If Oscar showed any sign of not knowing, she would subtly express, ‘I don't want to deal with someone ignorant like you,’ and, with that tone, smoothly distance herself, poking at Oscar's determination to be the smartest ten-year-old boy in the world...

Despite all this, reading a book for Oscar was such a painful task that it always took quite a while for their conversations to resume.

Ines responded with an unimpressed expression.

"Literary knowledge is one of the noblest things admired in the Ortega family. The Empress would be pleased. I heard that you hate such books."

"That can't be true. I love them too much. It's becoming a problem. I'm so engrossed that I'm running out of time to study imperial studies—."

Even in the midst of it, as if urging Ines to listen, he continues to expound on imperial studies. Cárcel, swallowing the sarcastic remark of 'Do you have to literally wear the words 'crown prince' on your forehead?' observed his cousin's earnest effort.

"Well, it's bound to be challenging. If it intrudes upon the most important studies... Did I perhaps introduce a pointless book?"

"No, no. That's not the case. You know I don't have a moment to spare with all the studying. Discussing pure intellect with you is always a pleasure."

And the fact that he's exerting all his strength to speak as maturely as possible. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Thanks to this desperate effort, every word comes out as if cut and pasted, creating awkward results...

"Loneliness is fate for intelligent people like us. We always have to endure the ignorance of the crowd."

Fate, ignorance... It's genuinely amusing... As Cárcel is thinking about it, the question of 'what is the crowd' suddenly arises in his mind, as if Oscar sensed it, he pointed to Cárcel with his chin.

"Your ignorant and young fiancé may not yet understand the suffering of people like us..."

"Well, I don’t know about that."

"When I see you, it feels like I can finally breathe. You know? That feeling."

Ines looked at Oscar as if she had never seen him before, and then turned her gaze to Cárcel.

Until now, the treatment as if you didn't exist here was somewhat disdainful, but now, it's no longer surprising.

"All the children around us are foolish, ignorant, and nothing but stupid things that seem to have hurt their heads somewhere, aren't they?"

Pointing at Cárcel again, as if plotting to promote that image, there was a conspiracy full of it in the chin. Ines just looked at Cárcel quietly, not endorsing it.

"But we can have such elevated conversations, right?"

"Of course, Your Highness."

"Although you're only six years old, I always respect your intellectual aspects."

Would it be like this when a foreigner learns difficult words and speaks like Ortega? For Oscar, who dislikes books, there was a tutor exclusively teaching advanced vocabulary.

Perhaps the side effect is happening at this moment. Carcel, instead of shaking his head behind Oscar, frowned again and turned his gaze back to the pages of the book.

Sometimes he would say, 'He's only six years old,' but...

"Meeting someone with whom you can communicate on such an intellectual level is challenging even as an adult. Finding someone who matches you intellectually like this will probably be difficult forever."

"It doesn't seem that difficult, though..."

"If that's the case, why would you bother with gambling? Putting your future at risk."

"What?"

"Ines Valeztena de Perez. I give you a chance to undo your wrong decision."

"......?"

"I will formally request in the name of the Ortega Royal Family."

"...What?"

"Marry me."

With those words, a silence fell like a dead mouse. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Beyond the shoulders of his ten-year-old cousin who had unknowingly sold the name of the Ortega royal family, Cárcel continued to stare at the still face of his silent fiancée.

"I already have someone. Someone Your Highness knows very well."

"Cárcel is my closest loyal subject. He can afford to give up a wife."

Me? Do I have to do such a thing? It was a moment when Cárcel shook his head.

"I don't want to."

"Cárcel does whatever I say. There's no reason for you not to want... He will be fine without you.”

"No. I don’t want Your Highness.”

"…..."

"So, I don’t want it."