The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 60

Chapter 60

He walked ahead of her and closed the door behind her, then asked again.

"So, you’re making up for your duty by watching me change clothes like a pervert?"

"That's rude. I was just helping you change clothes."

"By just watching like that?"

"Well, you only have to say ‘like that’ or ‘I don’t like lamb’ when it comes to preparing dinner. It’s similar, isn’t it?"

"Why don't you like the delicious lamb?"

"Does it matter?"

"You can't help me change clothes. Don't do it again. It's just a distraction."

"How is simply being present a distraction?"

"Your eyes are a distraction."

"..."

"I almost came."

The bed was right behind the door, anyway... Inés heard him muttering earnestly, so she quickly left the bedroom. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Cárcel chuckled at the sight of her quickening steps.

"It's not like I'm going to eat you. Why are you running away like that?"

"Go away, get away from me."

"Let's go together."

"Ah, no. Go away."

Inés flailed her arms, almost getting caught by Cárcel. He chuckled again, a low laugh, and easily pulled her towards him, grasping her by the waist.

She tried to pull herself away from his side, with a semblance of dignity, but he was as strong as ever, just like any other morning. Cárcel leaned his lips close to her ear and whispered.

“I almost came, it doesn’t mean I came, you know.”

“The problem is that right now, you have the ability, the potential, and even the lack of hesitation to do it.”

“I skipped lunch. I’ll think about that after I’ve taken care of my hunger, with you.”

“Like I asked you to do it!”

As soon as Inés saw the maid coming towards them, carrying a laundry basket, she changed her accusing expression into a kind smile. Naturally, she leaned against his side with affectionate grace.

Cárcel looked down at her expression, his eyebrows raised slightly.

“What’s with that expression?”

“What’s with those eyebrows?”

“I asked first, Inés.”

Childish... Inés muttered under her breath, but Cárcel didn't seem to care. No, she couldn't get swept up like this... She didn't know what kind of wind was blowing that made him act like a newlywed, but the colt needed rules.

This was... well, she had gotten used to it within the confines of their marriage, but it was something she couldn't handle in the early evening, in the mansion where all the employees were busy going about their work.

“Act like the master, with dignity, in the house.”

"I think I'm acting masterly enough."

“It's a disgrace for the master and mistress to act like that, in a place where employees are constantly walking by. This is…”

“Is it?”

“You can’t be touching your wife like this just anywhere.”

She was half-leaning on his strength as she walked, but she firmly scolded him. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Still, as if concerned that an employee might appear again, she didn't think about getting out of his arms.

Cárcel said nonchalantly.

“Kara seems happy about it.”

“She’s probably doing it reluctantly. What if she heard? Something about standing in the hallway...”

“Inés, there’s something you should be careful about.”

“What?”

“If you keep talking like that, I really will get hard.”

She answered coldly, as if it were none of her business, even as they descended the stairs.

"It's not night yet, so figure it out yourself, like you always do in the morning."

"That sounds like you’re saying you’ll take care of everything when it’s night."

He said it so smoothly, without even a smirk. Inés patiently admonished him once more.

“It’s not gentlemanly to keep twisting other people’s words to your own advantage.”

“We're a family now.”

“That applies to family too. You can’t take advantage of them.”

“You don’t let yourself be taken advantage of, do you?”

“Well, the world isn’t so easy, and I’m a bad-tempered woman, just like you said.”

As she stepped onto the first floor, she naturally slipped out of his arms.

"Now that you're married, you're an adult, Cárcel."

She thought it was a neat finish to her lecture, but his persistent arm followed her, as it had in the morning, and he pulled her back to his side. She was even momentarily suspended in the air. The weight she had gained since coming to Calstera seemed meaningless.

“Escalante!”

“If you call me that, it’s hard to tell who you’re referring to.”

“There’s no brother of yours here...!”

“You’re also an Escalante, Inés.”

It was a remark that sounded crudely territorial, so Inés looked at him in slight surprise. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] When she saw his usual calm face, she realized it was just her imagination, but a subtle aftertaste lingered like sediment.

She stared at Cárcel, her eyes narrowed slightly, and said,

"Unless I go crazy, I won't call myself by name."

"That's right. You're smart."

“…Why are you acting so strange today?”

“The strange one today is you, Inés Escalante.”

“Cárcel.”

“Yeah, you’ve gotten pretty good at saying it.”

Cárcel smiled, raising only the corners of his lips, unlike upstairs, and led her into the hallway leading to the dining room. Raul, walking out with the mansion's butler, spotted them and bowed deeply again.

"Señor, Señora. Please forgive me for the interruption."

She clearly had no shame in the past life, when she had acted in all sorts of disgraceful ways, but perhaps it was because she had grown up again as a child who knew nothing, or perhaps it was because he was the one who had pried open her mouth and forced-fed her food, together with Juana. What would it feel like if she had been clinging to a man and had been caught by her brother Luciano…? Such thoughts crossed Inés’ mind in an instant.

In reality, she was clinging to her legal husband's side, rather affectionately, in a somewhat pathetic way.... Inés, at the end of her thoughts, miraculously freed herself from Cárcel's arm. Cárcel's eyes darkened for a moment, but there was no time to look.

It felt like she'd been caught by Luciano after being intimate with a man. That was the exact feeling. Since she had been caught in a compromising position by her family, she had to blurt out anything and make amends for the moment before brushing it off.

"Raul, dinner?"

"I haven't eaten yet, but I'll eat with the employees downstairs after you two finish."

"So I need to eat quickly to fill your stomach. You've been through a lot coming all this way."

"Don't eat quickly for someone like me, though. Lady Inés has a weak digestive system, you see..."

Raul, habitually fussing over Inés, suddenly realized Cárcel's presence and awkwardly twitched his lips a few times before forcing a polite smile. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] It was a stiff demeanor, unlike Raul.

"Thank you for your concern, Lady Inés."

"You are always the one to worry. So, Raul, go downstairs and rest for now."

"Yes."

"Alfonso, please show Raul around."

"Yes, Señora."

The butler and Raul passed them and went down the small stairs that led to the side. It was the staircase that led to the large kitchen and the kitchen for the employees. Inés watched Raul disappear downstairs, then turned to Cárcel, remembering his presence as if she had realized it too late, saying "Ah.”

Cárcel raised his eyebrows slightly, his face still calm.

“… You act like you can’t see anything when that guy is around.”

He muttered quietly, then passed her and walked towards the dining room. What, me? Even though she couldn’t understand everything, she understood the phrase “can’t see anything,” so Inés followed behind him.

“Did that kid do something wrong?”

“…‘That kid.’ You usually call him that?”

“Well, he’s a kid.”

“He's your employee.”

“Raul is... an employee, but…”

While she pondered when the story would become simple, she sat down in the chair Cárcel had pulled out for her without any thought.

“An employee, but... what else?”

“I started talking, but now I have nothing to say. He’s a good kid.”

“Is he?”

“He’s looked after me a lot since I was young. Loyal.”

To talk about how loyal Raul was, she needed a reason for his loyalty, and if she gave a reason, it would be a boast about herself. If she talked about how good Raul was to her, she would have to talk about how broken she once was.

No matter what, it wouldn’t be a story that was interesting for Cárcel, so Inés wrapped up her story and took a spoonful of cold soup.

“Eat. You said you’re hungry.”

Despite Inés’s usual blunt but somewhat affectionate suggestion, Cárcel, who had said he was hungry, didn’t even reach for the cutlery, as if he had no thought of it.

He stared at her for a moment, then said suddenly,

"You talk about him as if he's just a pet puppy."

"Raul is a puppy? He’s completely different."

"You have a knack for talking about men like dogs."

"I don't remember having that knack."

"A naughty dog, a pretty dog, a good waiting dog, a loyal dog, a promiscuous dog, a bastard like dog that deserves to be beaten..."

"…..."

"If you organize what you’re saying, it basically boils down to this."

"...Maybe I did, but I didn’t mean it."

"Do you usually call a dog that is pretty and loyal, like Raul Balan, by name?"

"Would you respectfully call a younger employee than me, Señor Balan?"

"So he is a dog."

"...He's not even a dog... Why are you like this?"

"It's annoying. I don't know why."

Cárcel twisted his usually straight lips slightly. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Inés frowned as if she were looking at a naughty child, but he stared at her with a deliberately crooked expression.