Episode 3

Chapter 1. Cassel Escalante's Position

So, it could have been wrong from the beginning.

When six-year-old Cassel Escalante promised to spend his life with six-year-old Ines Ballestena, he did not know what a "lifetime" meant. It was only when the sumptuous banquet to celebrate their engagement at the Ballestena residence was almost over that Cassel asked the people, "How many years is a lifetime?"

"No, what I mean is, how many years is 'lifetime'?"

He must have asked that question for the fourth time, wandering among the adults who just smiled strangely instead of answering. The Duke of Ballestena, who was asked the question, pointed to his daughter with his chin, interrupting the Duchess who was trying to answer instead. Only then could Cassel see Ines' expression.

"…Do you know what that is?"

The eyes that looked down as if they were looking at something inferior in the world were looking at him. Their eye level was the same, but the angle of their gaze was infinitely superior. Six-year-old Cassel had a very easygoing personality, but he knew like a ghost that someone was ignoring him. At the moment when he was frowning, Ines suddenly continued.

"You don't know."

"I know, who doesn't know that?"

"Explain."

"… Time, time."

"Time, what."

"Because it's time—"

"—Do I really have to talk to Prince Escalante directly?"

Ines turned her head and asked her parents. The Duke bent down to his young daughter's eye level and spoke affectionately.

"You're much smarter than your peers. It's natural to feel frustrated. So you need to practice. Practice talking to your friends without ignoring them, even if they're not as smart as you. How to tell your friends when they don't know something, and how to make them feel like they're being ignored, even if they're not as smart as you are…"

Did you just say that I was stuffy? Didn't you say that I was lacking? That I wasn't smart? Cassel doubted his ears and looked back and forth between the Duke and Ines.

But it seemed like they had already lost sight of Cassel.

'Me? Are you stupid?'

Cassel was smart for a six-year-old. Didn't his tutors and the elders of his family all unanimously praise him? 'Prince Escalante is really smart for a six-year-old.'

He looked back at the duke, his perfectly cute frowning face. Unlike Ines's stiff attitude, the duke's haughty face was filled with pride and affection for his daughter. It was a stark contrast to how he looked at other people's children.

"I don't need friends. Prince Escalante is my fiancé."

So it was as if it wasn't important at all. It was a tone like, 'I don't need friends, so why would I care about a fiancé?'

Cassel was young and didn't know much, but he knew that a 'fiancé' was more important than a 'friend'. You can have an endless number of friends, but you can only have one fiancé, right?

'You're so smart, but you still don't know that?'

Of course, the catch is that they have already failed as friends several times.

"Yes. Cassel is your fiancé. So be more kind, gentle, and girlish…."

"Even if I have a bad personality, I am already a woman, Father."

Cassel stared at her with narrowed eyes, then flinched in surprise when she finished reprimanding her father and turned her head away again.

The girl with black hair and a neat black dress looked more suited to a funeral of a stranger than to a banquet celebrating her own engagement. She had a strict air that was not childish at all, and she felt uncomfortable, as if she was encountering an adult who was unkind to a child… .

Ines Ballestena did not seem like a child. Perhaps that was why she had an instinctive aversion to her. Cassel had always felt uncomfortable with her. So he still found it hard to believe.

"Escalante. Listen carefully."

That stiffness that doesn't call someone's name even when they die. That arrogance, even though they're not even prettier than you...

Marriage, marrying someone like this.

"Only dead people can answer how many years a life is."

"…Can a dead person answer?"

"I can't. That's why no one alive knows."

"How do you know the dead?"

"Because I died."

"… … ."

The boy, who had been learning about 'death' for about four months, was embarrassed by the conversation that only kept coming up with the word 'death'. She was wearing a dress that looked like mourning clothes, and it was so scary, but she kept saying it without fear... He rolled his eyes to find an adult who could mediate the conversation, but the Duke and Duchess of Ballestena had already abandoned them.

Cassel decided to change the subject himself.

"So you don't know either?"

"Yes. Only dead people."

The horse returned to its original place without any purpose. Cassel quickly gave up.

"Why do you have to die to know?"

"Life is until death, and when you die, life ends."

"… … ."

"Then… you can finally calculate the total. How many years is your life?"

"…through?"

"It's over. So you thought you'd never die?"

The end of a lifetime was welcome. They said they had to be together 'for life'. If his marriage with Ines was to end, then a lifetime had to end too.

But dying was a bit difficult.

"…Why is life only until death? Why?"

"That's life. From the day you're born until the day you die. So you won't know how many years your life will be until you die."

"… … ."

"Please don't ask me when I will die."

"When will I die?"

Ha… … Ines put her hand on her forehead and shook her head. It was something that Cassel's mother, the Duchess of Escalante, liked to do when she was worried about her son.

Feeling both bad and ominous at the same time, Cassel asked again urgently.

"When will I die? Why will I die?"

"Do you think I'm a fortune teller or something… No one knows that."

"My grandfather's leg rotted after being shot in Nunyera. Then my leg too…."

"If you really want to emulate that, you can get shot, but you don't have to. Everyone dies for different reasons. Some die from illness, some die from starvation, some die from drinking too much, some die from being beaten, some die from being shot, some die from being stabbed… ."

Cassel's beautiful face turned pale. Ines sighed again, as if she was tired.

"There are so many things to die for?"

"Just be careful. Just try."

"If you're careful, you won't die?"

"That's not it."

"Even if you're careful, you'll still die?"

"You could die tomorrow."

The face that had been perfect like the incarnation of a baby angel depicted in the Holy Spirit slowly distorted. Tears seemed to well up in her trembling blue eyes, but soon began to drip down.

A look of pity appeared in Ines' eyes again.

"Will I get my legs cut off too?"

"…Your grandfather lived for ten years after his leg was amputated."

"I have to live with you until my legs are cut off?"

"You're not like your grandfather. How many times have I told you that you don't need to amputate your leg… Oh, of course, if you get sick and your foot rots away, or if you get a gunshot wound and leave it unattended, then you might have to do that—."

"—I said I have to cut it! If I don't cut it, I have to marry you!"

People's eyes belatedly gathered on the main characters of the dinner party. To be exact, on the boy with a pitiful and beautiful face like an angel, who was shedding tears. Then, they all looked at the girl who was looking at the boy with a face that was bloodless and tearless, as if searching for the cause.

Take Cassel, with his brilliant blond hair, perfect blue eyes, flawless porcelain skin, and sculpted features, dressed in a white dress shirt, red cravat, beige vest, and brown frock coat.

Ines's stern expression and black color in stark contrast to those warm colors…

It couldn't have been a more perfect contrast of colors, like the contrast between good and evil. Ines whispered through clenched teeth.

"Do you think marriage is all you need to do? You have to have children with me too."

"no!"

"So, if you don't want to do this, you'd better stop now. If you cry, you'll end up having a baby with me."

"… … ."

"You hate me, don't you?"

Cassel looked at Ines with frozen eyes and nodded slowly. Ines reluctantly reached out and wiped Cassel's wet cheek. The adults quickly looked away, seemingly relieved by this action that seemed quite affectionate from a distance.

Ines pulled away from him, as if the suspicions that had been cast upon her were gone. It seemed cruel, but in Cassel's eyes, just by moving away, the smoke of death seemed to have moved away.

"Escalante."

"huh."

"… In fact, it may not be 'lifelong'."

"what?"

"I'm talking about our marriage."

Ines smiled with a secretive expression as if sharing an important secret, then returned to her expressionless face.

When Cassel tilted his head in confusion, he muttered something like, "What would you know?" in a slightly annoyed tone, but that was it. It was thanks to the fact that Empress Cayetana, the Duke of Escalante's older sister and Cassel's aunt, happened to raise her glass to give a congratulatory speech.

"Cassel Escalante de Esposa will marry Inés Ballestena de Perez when she comes of age, and the alliance between their families will be strengthened by this beautiful couple who will spend their lives together."

"That's right!"

"They will love and cherish each other throughout their lives, and they will become a pillar of support and a light to guide each other during difficult times, and they will support their two families with a stronger love. Ines Ballestena will become the mistress who will personally rule the great manor of the Escalante family, and Cassel Escalante will become the son-in-law of the family that Ballestena is married to, and they will devote their lives to each other's families, and this will also be a joy to our royal family… … ."

To be together for life—until death, to love and cherish each other for life—until death, to devote ourselves to each other's families for life—until death… … . Now, the word "lifelong" was automatically replaced with "until death." It was a congratulatory message that was like a curse.

No matter what their unkind, sassy, ​​and unattractive six-year-old fiancée said, their lives were cast that day like dice.

And it was clear that Cassel Escalante's perfect life had become distorted from that day on.