The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 63

Chapter 63

“What happened?”

“Nothing. Go and rest quickly.”

Inés sent the maid out quickly, out of concern for her, since she had run into Cárcel in a bad situation. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] While Cárcel wasn't the type to do anything for a maid’s small mistake, it would have been an even worse situation for the maid.

Cárcel raised his eyebrows slightly as he looked at the door where the maid had rushed out. Then, he frowned at Inés in the mirror. He must have immediately understood the situation after seeing the comb in her hand and the clump of black hair floating in the air.

“I told you to hire a maid.”

“We can find a maid in Mendoza, it’s not too late.”

“You’re not going to be in Calstera for just a day or two.”

“Well…”

Inés didn’t think that the marriage would last that short of a time either. As Cárcel said, it wasn’t a match that would be decided in a day or two... so she would have to find a new maid sometime... but no one wants to increase their baggage when they don't know when they might move.

That was how she felt. She didn’t want to add unnecessary baggage. And whether she was there or not, she wanted all the places where she had been to stay the same—the people, the things, all in their places, and she would disappear without a trace. Inés thought that was a little bit of courtesy to Cárcel.

Esposa, Cárcel’s official residence, the Duke’s mansion in Mendoza… her things were everywhere, overflowing. That would leave inconvenient aftereffects.

"I don't know if we can hire more people here."

".….."

"We're already overflowing with people.”

So, really, the cramped official residence in Calstera was perfect in many ways. It was a good excuse for not moving the luggage that Raoul had worked so hard to carry, and sometimes it was also an excuse for not wanting to increase the number of people.

“The accommodation for employees is also terribly lacking... Even the servants and gardeners use external accommodation, right?”

“…I can find a room for a maid.”

“Already the housekeeper, the cooks, the maids, the groom….”

"Then get rid of one of them."

“Are you going to pull the carriage yourself? Or are you going to have the maids cook? Or are you going to have the cooks do the cleaning? Who would be there to help you.”

“…I can’t give up the cook.”

Inés chuckled, seeing his priorities in the midst of all this. He would rather pull the carriage himself than give up the cook's professional cooking...

“You only need meat, anyway.”

As if he had realized how she was treating him, like some barbarian, Cárcel raised his eyebrow slightly before answering.

“The person who cooks it is more important than the place where the meat comes from.”

“Did you actually cook it? It was dripping with blood...."

“That’s a result of technique. The right doneness, the level to which the surface is cooked, the soft texture..."

He listed them diligently, as if they were the most important beliefs in the world, and then took Inés's comb. Soon, she saw him bend slightly towards the large mirror.

She found it a bit funny how his hand, which was usually so adept at handling things related to women, was so clumsy when he carefully took the tangled hair and comb. The frown on his face as he concentrated and his large hand holding the beautiful comb made for such a ridiculous picture that Inés giggled.

“Don't laugh. You're shaking.”

“You should see what you look like.”

"So, are you going to sleep with the comb in your hair like that?"

“I think I can manage.”

“You can’t even see from your side.”

"Just add a little bit of pomade."

"Give it to me."

Cárcel, still looking focused, held out his other hand seriously. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Inés picked up the small bottle from the dressing table and gently poured it onto his hand. He then dripped some of the oil onto the comb and the tangled hair.

"Good?"

"It's not working… You really need to hire a maid. Bring Juana back, or…"

"Juana's going to get married in Perez. She has a boyfriend. Of course, he works for Valeztena, so he could come to Mendoza.”

"Then bring that guy too."

“…You really don’t know how to manage things to fit the size of your cramped house, do you?"

It was a pretty unfair treatment for Cárcel, who before Inés came, had lived extravagantly, but within reason, but he just shrugged.

“The point is that Juana needs to be where that guy is. So, that guy can follow Juana."

"Okay, both of them come from families who have been devoted to Valeztena since their grandparents, and their home is the dukedom. I don’t want them to wander around because of me.”

“Esposa has a dukedom in Mendoza, anyway, and Esposa Castle isn’t too far from Perez. I’ll stay in Calstera, so you won’t have to wander around here and there."

In fact, Inés’ careless answer included her marriage with him, and the time after that as well. She was relieved that Cárcel hadn’t noticed, but she also blamed herself for her carelessness.

It seemed like she had regained her senses because of Raul’s arrival, but she was going to spill her guts, confessing everything from her plan to her future plans, before he could relax.

She had to make that sincere rag relax, what was she going to do if she relaxed... Inés inwardly berated herself, then quickly changed her sullen expression.

Thankfully, Cárcel in the mirror seemed oblivious to her, as he was busy meticulously picking out strands of her hair from the comb. It was a funny sight, really. A big man, with large hands, diligently picking out tangles from his wife's hair...

But a handsome face is always powerful, and it made his funny actions look cute rather than ridiculous. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] He was clearly not thinking about anything, but he looked thoughtful.

Inés objectively recognized that he was a bit cute, like a examiner grading.

That fact had reached her head, rather than her heart.

Any woman, if she had a functioning mind, would be captivated, but Inés’s mind, which was going through the cycle of life, was too rational, almost un-average, and as for her eyes, those had been messed up since the beginning.

She had chosen a promising STD patient as her husband in her first life and a poor painter's assistant as her husband in her second life.

Her first husband had only had status, and her second husband only had a face more beautiful than any woman's.

Regardless of her passionate love for Emiliano, Inés acknowledged the fact that her taste was terrible.

Just as Oscar’s status could not offset all of Oscar’s dirty deeds, Emiliano's beautiful face and devoted love could not offset his miserable status and reality.

Even if Oscar was going to become the emperor of the world, he was still an STD bomb. And even if Emiliano loved her and she loved him, his lowly status had led him to his death.

Various circumstances aside, one thing was clear. Inés Valeztena's taste in men was absolutely terrible.

‘But it's different now. I didn't choose him with my eyes…’

She looked at Cárcel’s appearance again, finding it satisfying—he was a little cute, a little ridiculous, and extremely handsome.

Oscar was chosen out of an instinct to pursue honor and power, and Emiliano was chosen with her eyes and heart, but Cárcel Escalante was different.

Cárcel, above all, was chosen with her head. Anticipating all the outcomes and combining all the variables.

For all those long years, from when she was six and got engaged to Oscar, to when she married him at sixteen and died at twenty-six, she had encountered Cárcel’s face often, but she had never thought about him beyond the single judgment, ‘He’s just a failed work of the Escalante Duke, with nothing but a God-given shell.’

It wasn’t just because he was a perfect creation that made Inés, who had never been particularly moved or interested in him, feel satisfied now.

Every time she realized he was incredibly handsome, every time she saw his perfect physique, and every time she discovered something about him that anyone would find attractive... she would stand back, as if she had gone a little crazy, and think with satisfaction, ‘I really did choose well.’

And how tempting he must be to other women.

He really was a very attractive catch. Any person with a functioning pair of eyes and a willingness to live recklessly, like the other humans in Mendoza, would jump at the chance.

Inés already had a reputation for not being friendly to social circles and for being gloomy like a raven. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] No one would think her marriage was an obstacle.

In a generation that considers anyone without a lover to be stupid, if they are smart, they will become beautiful moths drawn to the flame, on their own.

So, if only Cárcel Escalante would relax a little more than he does now, and realize how terrifying that sincere vow is... She recalled the angelically pitiful voice of the six-year-old Cárcel, who had asked about the length of her “lifetime”, as if it were yesterday.

The Cárcel Escalante in the mirror had simply forgotten how terrifying that lifetime could be.

Relaxing, and relaxing some more… eventually, he would return to his original place—like returning to the animal kingdom—and this honeymoon would disappear in an instant. He would be left wondering which woman to accept first, and then, he would return to the glorious days of old, and this loveless marriage, which he had accepted reluctantly, would vanish in a blink...

“…Do I make you laugh?”

“No. You’re just kind of cute.”

Inés answered, her face still unconsciously smiling, expressing her current satisfaction. Cárcel, as if wondering how to take her words, stared at Inés in the mirror with narrowed eyes. Then, he slowly combed through the hair he had just finished removing with his fingers.

“You’re good at it. As expected…”

’You’re good at anything related to women,’ she almost added, but it didn’t sound like praise, so Inés stopped.

And as she hesitated for a moment, choosing the right words to smooth things over.

“So, what’s the reward?”

He asked suddenly.

“...Reward?”

She merely asked back, because she had no idea what he was talking about.

But instead of an answer, a hand, slick with perfume, clutched her breast.