The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway Chapter 81

Chapter 81

“It seems that Madalena is already starting to make a name for herself, painting portraits of local notables in Municipo. At least, she’s been busy since the summer, all the way through autumn. She expressed her gratitude, saying it’s all thanks to your introduction.”

“Good for her.”

“Of course, she wrote the letter thinking about her patron, the old banker… She expressed concern for his health. Her heart is noble, even if she doesn’t know you.”

Ines listened calmly to Raul’s news, then raised her glass and took a sip.

“Continue sending her support. She’s too talented to be stuck painting merchants’ portraits. Tell her to send a still life here this winter… We need some decoration here.”

“What about Archibaldo? Last time you said you liked his still life best. You could tell him to start painting it now.”

“He said he wanted to stay locked up in Calo’s hut for the winter and paint nothing but the lake, so let him paint whatever he wants. I bet he’ll come up with something amazing, like he always brags about… Tell Archibaldo to send you his best work in the winter too. Nothing is free.”

“I will. And Maria, Maria, right? It seems she’s been painting Countess Gormaz’s portrait nonstop in Mendoza. She hasn’t accepted any other commissions.”

“She’s full of self-love.”

A customer who was full of self-love and a painter whose specialty was flattery were a perfect match. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] She had deliberately played matchmaker, so it was bound to be successful.

Ines chuckled, remembering the scene where one of her former fake friends had covered the entire hallway of her castle with her own portrait.

But the happy thought soon faded. She focused on Raul’s voice, her expression almost emotionless.

“It seems she’s quite smitten with her. She’s proposed that she will no longer accept any other patronage, only full support from the Gormaz family, from now on. The price of the paintings is separate.”

“She’s a generous spender, so it’s good news for Maria. The work might be a bit monotonous, but… if she’s stuck there for a few years, she’ll be able to do whatever she wants. Let her do what she wants. I don’t care.”

“I’ll relay that. And Lourdes and Emiliano in Oligarchia are supposed to be recruited for the restoration of the frescoes in the Bilbao Cathedral, starting this winter.”

She didn’t know if she was expecting to hear those names, but her hand, holding the glass, instinctively tightened, then loosened.

“Don Joaquin asked for your opinion, Ines. Lourdes and Emiliano are just starting to charge more, and they’ll be tied up like slaves to the Church for at least three years.”

“Slaves, what.”

She responded with the same nonchalant voice, as if she were responding to news about some young painter whose face she didn’t even know.

Sometimes, endurance requires courage. Ines stroked the rim of the glass with her fingertips and stared into Raul’s eyes.

The eyes of someone who didn’t know the weight of those names, their meaning, anything. But in this life, they were the only eyes that shared Emiliano’s name with her—and the most familiar.

That’s why they made her feel not lonely, and yet also lonely.

But were there any clues as comforting as hearing someone else say his name? Whenever Raul mentioned Emiliano in passing, Ines felt a real sense that Emiliano was still alive. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] What had felt like a mirage when she said it to herself, in empty air, had become reality.

For her, who couldn’t even see Emiliano from a distance, it was the closest thing to confirmation. She hadn’t even given herself the chance to confirm for herself that he was alive, not even once.

She caressed the echoes of Emiliano's presence in Raul’s voice.

It was no coincidence that Ines, at fifteen, had used her capable Raul to find Joaquin among the numerous art dealers in Mendoza.

He had connected Agustin, who had used Emiliano as his assistant, with the Imperial family. And it was Joaquin who had introduced Emiliano to that nasty painter.

Even though she had lived with the thought that she would have to live her life without any connection to anyone, for some reason, she found it hard to ignore Emiliano, at seventeen. He was slightly naive, clueless about the ways of the world, and the kindest and most foolish of all the people she knew—the lovely Emiliano before he met her.

Just a year before he first met Ines, at seventeen, Emiliano, who had learned nothing and had his talent stolen from him, had walked straight into a dangerous situation. He had been beaten by the drunk Agustin, until the night before he escaped to Perez with Ines.

Ines’s beautiful portrait, which was supposed to be praised highly, was half the work of Emiliano. The unknown young painter, who couldn’t hide his overflowing talent and was oblivious to the ways of the world, must have been hoping to receive some instruction and recognition from the already famous painter. But what he received was jealousy and disdain, the fate of a loyal assistant.

At fifteen, Ines remembered that Emiliano's right pinky finger was slightly twisted the first time she saw him. She also remembered the night she heard he had broken it when Agustin had stepped on it, and she wanted to kill him.

Ines decided, impulsively, to prevent Emiliano’s future, when he would inevitably break his entire hand. But unlike that impulsive decision, she packaged herself with a very calculated facade.

A patron, who would support young and poor painters with talent but no name, and whose worth was uncalculated, allowing them to create works with their own name and gain recognition faster than usual. And an investor who would monopolize their fame…

It was a business of collecting the early works of geniuses and then reselling them decades later for tens, hundreds of times their original price. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] Or at least, that’s what she said on the surface. Nobles who bragged about their expertise in art sometimes did this.

Ines accepted all the young, unknown painters that Joaquin, who had received a hefty commission from her, confidently recommended. Maria, Archibaldo, Madalena, Lourdes, and Emiliano…….

He was the last painter that Ines had chosen, completely unlike her fierce determination to rescue him from Agustin’s clutches.

As if he was the least interesting to her. As if he had only joined in at the last minute… Was it uncertainty or obsession?

Whatever it was, she had doubted herself appropriately. Her memories of Emiliano were always like a lake just after the first winter, and whenever she thought it was solid ice and took a step, she would immediately fall into the cold water.

The first time Emiliano’s painting, like the paintings of the other artists, arrived at Perez Castle, Ines cried all night, dreaming of Emiliano. Her heart broke at the smallest detail. The painting was simply a still life of a vase of flowers, and the dream was of the happiest time they had spent in Mallorca, but…

It wasn't normal. You couldn’t breathe underwater. You were meant to die there, forever. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] She wanted to live a life that was more or less smooth, and to shed this tiresome shell with a single death. She didn’t want to be born as Ines Valeztena again.

If that was the case, she should doubt herself until she was tired of it.

“Don Joaquin has hung the frescoes that they painted, half each, in the art gallery. It seems that when he was out, the Archbishop of Bilbao visited and saw it… But Don Joaquin didn’t seem too happy. He said what if they become promising artists, what if it’s three years, five years, or ten years… He asked if there was any way to do anything about it, Ines. He said he was just stalling for time by saying that they had to get the patron’s permission.”

“If the Archbishop chose them, what kind of banker would dare to refuse?”

“He added that, ‘He’s not just any banker.’ ”

“So blatant?”

Ines chuckled casually. Joaquin knew that Ines was not just any banker, but he didn’t know that his letters went to Perez. There were several false names and routes between them.

So, the authority he wanted to borrow from Ines was, in fact, that of a wealthy but secluded country nobleman, from a very exclusive manor…

“It’s absurd. To turn the Archbishop’s heart with just a few coins?”

“That’s true, but it’s clearly a loss for you. Don Joaquin probably wants to be absolved from that loss.”

“There’s no loss. Once they finish restoring the frescoes, they’ll charge whatever they want.”

“You consider it an investment?”

“The Archbishop of Bilbao is the kind of person who doesn’t know what to do with all the excess donations. He’s always buying statues from pagan idolaters in Aureles, giving each statue the name of a saint or a holy woman, doing everything to come up with a reason for it. The Archbishop will be so impressed by Lourdes and Emiliano, every time they restore a fresco or paint a new one, that he’ll raise the internal price, and he’ll brag about it to get more donations from nobles.”

“…….”

“Then the nobles will all try to pay several times the amount the Archbishop sets… It’s the perfect thing for men to brag about in the cigar room.”

That’s why she had deliberately connected the Archbishop of Bilbao and the art dealer. This was also not a coincidence. But that was all.

Emiliano would soon be living a luxurious life, different from before, painting only what he wanted, and Ines would remain alone, living peacefully for the rest of her life.

Ines had decided not to break down, and she had decided not to break him, who didn’t know anything.

Ines chuckled casually. Joaquin knew that Ines was not just any banker, but he didn’t know that his letters went to Perez. [ʏᴜʟʜᴇʏᴜɴ] There were several false names and routes between them.

So, the authority he wanted to borrow from Ines was, in fact, that of a wealthy but secluded country nobleman, from a very exclusive manor…

“It’s absurd. To turn the Archbishop’s heart with just a few coins?”

“That’s true, but it’s clearly a loss for you. Don Joaquin probably wants to be absolved from that loss.”

“There’s no loss. Once they finish restoring the frescoes, they’ll charge whatever they want.”

“You consider it an investment?”

“The Archbishop of Bilbao is the kind of person who doesn’t know what to do with all the excess donations. He’s always buying statues from pagan idolaters in Aureles, giving each statue the name of a saint or a holy woman, doing everything to come up with a reason for it. The Archbishop will be so impressed by Lourdes and Emiliano, every time they restore a fresco or paint a new one, that he’ll raise the internal price, and he’ll brag about it to get more donations from nobles.”

“…….”

“Then the nobles will all try to pay several times the amount the Archbishop sets… It’s the perfect thing for men to brag about in the cigar room.”

That’s why she had deliberately connected the Archbishop of Bilbao and the art dealer. This was also not a coincidence. But that was all.

Emiliano would soon be living a luxurious life, different from before, painting only what he wanted, and Ines would remain alone, living peacefully for the rest of her life.

Ines had decided not to break down, and she had decided not to break him, who didn’t know anything.