The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 55

Chapter 55

“But you see. Señorita Valeztena, no, Señora Escalante is not that kind of woman….”

“Are there men and women who aren’t that kind? What? Even cardinals have illegitimate children.”

“But Señorita Valeztena is said to be very chaste….”

After that, boring, stiff, scary, strict as a nun, and various other uninteresting rhetoric were omitted. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Their faces were such that he knew what they were going to say even without listening to them, but some of the officers among them who had attended Cárcel’s wedding in the monastery exchanged strange glances and giggled.

Whether it was a different rumor or the significance of having seen the real thing, Cárcel found both equally irritating.

When Cárcel revealed his irritated face without hiding it, Major Bardem, his junior by far, was the first to notice Cárcel’s expression and patted him on the side as if to restrain him a little, but eventually he couldn’t hold back and blurted out,

“The groom can’t be chaste anyway. How can he resist?”

“Ah. Right. That’s true. If it were him, even real nuns….”

Cárcel quietly raised his hand and hit Lieutenant Anaya, who was nodding, on the head, causing moderate pain. Even after being hit on the head like that, Lieutenant Anaya carefully asked again. As if to ask for the price of being hit.

“So, Captain, how is it? How do you feel about being married?”

“Good.”

He quickly made a smiling face and answered cleanly. At least he was faithful enough not to dare frown when talking about marriage.

Oooooh, the entire group immediately turned pale at the exaggerated sound, but it was followed by a slight shrug.

The marriage of none other than Cárcel Escalante, the thoughts of Cárcel Escalante. Although he had only memories of living quietly in his actual place of duty, Calstera, Cárcel was both an enemy and a hero to them just from what they had heard about his somewhat dissolute life in Mendoza.

Rumors tend to be exaggerated, and if the story was inflated tenfold in Mendoza to begin with, it would have been inflated fiftyfold by the time it reached Calstera.

“But didn’t he run away to the military academy because he didn’t want to get married?”

“That’s what Elba says, but I heard that he requested to be assigned to the 2nd Fleet himself? Then he’d be stuck at sea for at least 10 months……”

However, there is some truth in the inflated stories. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Cárcel never went around broadcasting his qualms about marriage, but even in the made-up stories that seemed to have some basis in fact, there was some truth.

But no one seemed to know that he had spent the entire 10 months of his deployment chewing on his regrets.

“It’s a little strange that the Captain would have been so averse to marriage…? And now he says it’s ‘good’.”

“When Cárcel Escalante says ‘good,’ doesn’t that mean ‘so good it’s crazy’ by our standards? There’s no way that arrogant, overfed bastard would say ‘good’ so easily….”

“Enough, stop worrying about my business—.”

“—Even though I couldn’t attend the wedding ceremony. I did go to the banquet held at the Valeztena residence.”

Cárcel was now convinced that this was the price for the morning. It must have been the price for keeping Ines locked in his arms and playing with her, teasing her.

He lowered his gaze for a moment, rubbing his temples. The fatigue from not having slept properly for four days had amusingly come only now.

“Oh, right, you were there? Both of you, or no, three of you…? Did Captain Coronado go too?”

“Uh huh.”

“You must have seen the Señora?”

“Did you?”

The reason for the subtle glances being exchanged between the attendees was obvious. Ines Valeztena’s face was different from the rumors, her body was supposedly different, and her supposedly unkind attitude was different… It was really so obvious that he could sigh.

In addition, he had a lousy feeling that telling the truth wouldn’t be very well received. That lousy feeling was bubbling in his throat.

“I thought it was some kind of strange rumor.”

“A rumor?”

“They say that she’s the black sheep of the noble Valeztena family, or a witch…….”

Since it was something that was easily said in both Mendoza and here, Captain Coronado easily blurted it out even in front of Cárcel, but his mouth suddenly hung open as he realized he couldn’t take it back.

In addition to the fact that Cárcel had found topics related to his fiancée unpleasant before, now that he had seen the fiancée in question at the wedding….

“…I was just going to say that all those reckless statements were unacceptable because the Señora was so beautiful. Escalante.”

He quickly recovered and wisely hid himself. In the split second that the others exchanged doubtful glances, another attendee, Major Bardem, skillfully threw the topic back into the ring with a sly smile.

“That’s why I didn’t just write ‘smiling like a pervert’ for nothing. Daaaamn, I have the intel, and I saw it with my own two eyes….”

“If you have the intel, Major, why don’t you share it?”

“If I tell you everything, what’s the point of the bet?”

“The starting point is different. This is unfair.”

“So what you’re saying is that Escalante really did look like a pervert when he came in smiling, right?”

“Just look at the dark circles under his eyes. I bet he must have made the Señora sigh with his ignorant good health……”

“He does look a little pale.”

Still, someone muttered that he was unfortunately handsome, and clicked his tongue regretfully. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Cárcel was the one who wanted to click his tongue. The dark circles under his eyes and his paleness must have all appeared after he entered this place.

“So it’s because he’s a pervert with premature ej*culation?”

“Look at that b*stard’s resume. He would be an ordinary pervert… You’re telling me that a guy who has never heard a single word of complaint from the women who’ve spent just one night with him is an ordinary pervert? It would be fortunate if the innocent Señora didn’t run away in surprise….”

“So, is Señora Escalante unexpectedly beautiful?”

“She must be nice…!”

“Surely she’s not prettier than the Captain?”

“Is it acceptable to say that he’s pretty for his size…. Correct yourself before get hit.”

“Really? Is Señora Escalante really pretty—.”

“—Uh huh.”

“Are you saying that it’s really true, and not just idle chatter? You’re not just saying that to make it sound nice? Really? Has anyone ever said that she’s ugly? Or have they just said that they don’t like her?”

“I’ve heard rumors that her personality is a bit much… So her personality is just like the rumors?”

“No, I’m saying that her personality isn’t like that either.”

“…Coronado, answer me. Are you saying that you’re not just saying that she’s pretty out of politeness, but that she’s really pretty…….”

“I’m telling you, she was so damn pretty that I felt like I was being scammed…….”

“Who started those rumors?”

“Colonel Barca said in passing that if Escalante hadn’t been hiding his fiancée, he wouldn’t have spread such nasty rumors behind her back, so how….”

“Is it real?”

“He never looked a person like that….”

“It’s what he said. His saying. It was that much damn amazing….”

The conversation was in full swing, and before they knew it, they had completely forgotten about Cárcel’s presence. Cárcel walked slowly past them with a world-weary expression on his face and entered his private office.

All sorts of extravagant wreaths, bouquets large and small, and stacks of congratulatory letters greeted him. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] The flowers that filled his desk and sofa gave off an aggressive and chaotic fragrance.

How come the rotten military stinks like this wherever you go? He removed the flowers from his desk one by one with a slightly unpleasant expression.

Next were the stacks of letters. He casually skimmed the names and moved most of the letters to the tray that José Almenara would take back.

Then there were a few that he had to reply to himself, and a few suspicious letters from women who must have said more than congratulations….

Even though only a very small number of guests had been invited to their wedding ceremony, most of their close acquaintances had attended the evening banquet. In other words, most of the letters he received saying that they had been unable to offer their congratulations in person were either requests from people he didn’t even know or letters from women that made him feel somewhat uncomfortable.

With a feeling of disgust, he opened a letter from a woman and immediately read the declaration that ‘now that you’re married, it’s a good time for you to take me as your mistress’, and he crumpled up his beautiful face.

If it had been a woman he had met before, even if she had been hopelessly foolish, he wouldn’t have felt embarrassed, but it was from a woman he didn’t even know. Cárcel threw the letters into the fireplace all at once, as if he had some kind of scrupulous worry that the letters might grow legs and follow him to the official residence, and that he might end up unwittingly telling Ines the contents of the letters—or something like that.

He also belatedly found the names of several famous male lovers who were infatuated with him on the tray that was supposed to be passed on to his adjutant. Rather than because he felt sorry for José, who had encountered difficulties while mechanically writing replies on behalf of his superior, it was because he didn’t want to share the humiliation of being insulted even in a letter congratulating him on his marriage with anyone.

He tore them up completely and threw them into the fireplace. Only when he saw the embers die down in an instant after throwing them into the fireplace despite the hot weather did he finally feel a little more at ease.

Cárcel’s lips tightened a little to match his blunt original impression, and he wrote several replies with a little care. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Several minutes must have passed like that.

Despite the cautious knock, José Almenara, a large man, peeked his head into the room when he didn’t answer.

“Excuse me, Captain.”

When he didn’t get a reply, he briefly looked anxious like a lost kitten, and then barely managed a vague smile.

“Major Bardem asked when he could come and see your new official residence….”

“Get out.”

“You didn’t even let me finish speaking…….The Major was just saying that it was a shame that he didn’t get to meet the Señora in person at the Valeztena residence that day because things were so hectic, so he asked if he could invite us over soon….”

“Take your head out and close the door. It’s torture for me to look at your ugly face.”

“Captain! That bet I made earlier….”

He is still talking about damn bet…… He stared at him with that expression for a moment, and then José Almenara’s head sullenly disappeared. Pretty Ines. Ines who would be the death of him… The lousy feeling from earlier was still bubbling in his throat.

He didn’t like any of them. Really, he didn’t like any of them.