Episode 27

Chapter 3. The betrayal of the promise not to betray

'I'm sorry, but you can't live without me. Ines Ballestena.'

Seventeen years after six-year-old Ines made her groundbreaking plans for a new life.

Here is twenty-three-year-old Ines Ballestena, obsessively tapping her heels against the floor.

The upper body visible above the table has an extremely calm appearance. A noble and firm expression, a straight posture, calm eyes, hands gently turning the pages of a book…

If she hadn't eventually crumpled up the book while turning the page, Ines would have looked as calm as a swan on the water.

The maids who were cleaning the room at that time were looking for the source of the ceaseless clicking noise, and when they saw Ines standing still, holding onto a crumpled piece of paper, they all exchanged strange looks. Despite feeling it, her feet in shoes did not stop and continued their compulsive movements.

'You will kiss me dozens of times, hundreds of times, and touch me thousands of times. I will not touch any woman other than you, and until you have children, and until you have the next child, and regardless of children, I will satisfy you and make you satisfy me.'

The more she thought about that day, the more embarrassed Ines became. Embarrassed was not enough; she was even at a loss.

It was now a distant memory that she had ever come into contact with a man in that way, and the shock she felt because of it was indescribable, but what was really bothering Ines now was not Cassel's sudden kiss or his things that she could not figure out when or why they came to her.

Ines nervously let go of the book she was holding in her hand, as if she was going to tear it apart. That was better than nothing.

The brief but overly explicit kiss was, yes, a little embarrassing, but it was enough to pass off as a sincere greeting from a fiancé. Ortega was naturally promiscuous, and even if they were just flirting for a moment at a banquet, everyone would do it openly… It could be done out of a sense of duty toward the future.

The naked desire to stab his knees was also so strong that he could just ignore it. Looking at that large body… he must have been confused about where and how to use his strength, so things like that were okay.

but.

'I will never touch a woman other than you.'

It was nothing to be ashamed of saying that I would overlap my body with you thousands of times. Compared to declaring that I would never touch a woman other than you.

He said he wouldn't even touch another woman... ... Did he mean he'd touch everything except hands? Ines made another hypothesis as if denying reality. But it was too difficult to not use hands. It was too much of a hassle... ... So why... ... ?

why?

'Until you have a child, and then until you have the next child, and no matter what, I will satisfy you, and you will satisfy me… … .'

Does it make sense for an aristocratic couple to say, "Children are not a concern"?

Even the marital sex that Ines had allowed herself in this life was only for the purpose of having children. Or as an event that happened once every few cycles... proof that the marital relationship had not completely died out.

Even then, she added it very reluctantly and decided to do so, so as to avoid the stigma of her not fulfilling her marital duties in the event of a divorce.

Ballestena's lawyer said that the continued refusal to sleep with her was a cause of blame for both men and women. 'If we were to rank them in order, it would be the other person's infidelity, then the other person's refusal to sleep with her, then the violence, and then, well, luxury. In fact, there's nothing easier to link together than infidelity and refusal to sleep with her... ...' The lawyer's voice, which had been rambling on about divorce, grew distant again.

With the advice of a lawyer ten years ago, thirteen-year-old Ines' plan was formulated in more detail.

Infidelity, and refusal to sleep with her.

Of course, both are things that the future Cassel Escalante should do. Not her.

'It's impossible without them.'

Assault… If she had hit Cassel, she would have hit him, but Cassel had no hope of hitting her, and she didn't want to get hit either. Escalante's fortune and Ballestena's dowry were both too large to be consumed by extravagance.

So, there is no need to take the difficult path. It is okay to take the easy path. The adultery of the debaucher Cassel Escalante was inevitable. He was a great rag in his previous life. He may feel a little wronged by the fact that the rumors are loud compared to his actions, but from this perspective, it is truly a great advantage… … .

Why did she choose such a dirty man as her husband when she could clearly see his bad habits? It was because she wanted him to be worth his handsome face. Whether you get married or not, just live as you always have.

Among the women of Mendoza who sparkle like stars in the night sky, Ines of this life was far from being able to choose and meet only the most beautiful women. This is not the humility of thinking of oneself as lacking, but rather the result of effort.

She had been preparing for this moment for a very long time. Her insistence on living a closed life in her third life was largely due to her distaste for her previous social life, but everything else was the result of thorough calculation and meticulous preparation.

For example, for seventeen years, she has insisted on wearing only dark, dark clothes, which no woman would wear 'unless she was dead, entered a monastery, or became insane.'

Mendoza society is a very funny world where noble women think the world will end when they wear black. And Ines shattered their world as soon as she appeared.

There was the tightly tied-up hair like a governess, the rustic braiding like a ranch girl, and sometimes the straight black hair that made the stuffy feeling of the dress stand out more, and the head bowed low, sometimes with only the eyes looking gloomy… … As time passed, the methods became more diverse and systematic.

Ines kept that look wherever she went. In fact, this was not a bad way. When she looked at her modest appearance in the mirror, she sometimes missed the days when she had decorated herself and been satisfied with a more beautiful appearance, but when she actually recalled those days, the longing disappeared without a trace. The long, boring hours she spent in front of the dressing table, the days when she spent half a day worrying about choosing the perfect dress… .

Even if I did it without knowing anything since I only live once, I didn't want to repeat that boring thing after I died and came back to life.

She doesn't even choose a dress before going out anymore. Whatever she chooses, it's black anyway. The only colors she can find are very dark blue, very dark brown, very dark gray, and sometimes a flashy color like a green that's almost black for special occasions. The style is the same. They all have their collars pulled up strictly to the neck, and they wrap their whole body tightly.

That was a full seventeen years. Years of great effort, while abandoning the life creed that if it wasn't bright, it wasn't a color, and maintaining an attitude of being as unfriendly as possible to everyone.

Ines had been called 'the crow of Ballestena' for less than half a year, and her never-smiling face made her peers feel uncomfortable, and her description changed from 'a strange person who made you feel uncomfortable when you looked at her' to 'a woman whose faith seemed too sincere'. This would be a more elaborate way of saying 'the nun of the chapel'.

People whispered and speculated that no matter how you looked at her, she had no sense of fun or joy. Perhaps she had been in love with her too handsome fiancé, but had despaired of the unattainable love and had found solace in religion.

But Ines didn't care what the world said. She felt rewarded as she built up a reputation that was the complete opposite of her glamorous past life. It wasn't a surefire way to look old-fashioned in front of Cassel Escalante. If you only look at things that are too pretty and flashy, your eyes might spin. His visual judgment alone wasn't enough.

The world had to brainwash him. 'Ines Ballestena is too much for you.' So that he would not have even a passing interest in her. So that he would immediately consider himself stupid and foolish.

Ines Ballestena knew very well her own charm to the opposite sex. No matter how much she insisted on acting unattractive, what could she do about her charm that could not be completely hidden? What could she do about her face that was quite pretty even without makeup? What could she do about her unsophisticated appearance when she took off her clothes? … With the pride that had been passed down from her previous life, she thought of it as a given.

No matter how great Cassel Escalante is, there will be a time when she will fall for him in this relationship that has been entangled for so long and tiresome.

That was difficult. Absolutely not.

Closed clothing. Closed relationships. Closed eyes… … It is necessary to create an environment where Cassel Escalante feels suffocated just thinking about her. She has to get bored before she becomes interested. So far, she has already succeeded.

During the time when he was very afraid of himself, Ines sent him extreme love letters and all kinds of gifts for several years until he felt fearful. So that he, overwhelmed by the burden, would distance himself and run away.

At the time, Cassel did not run away as easily as she thought, but it was clear that there was some success. In the end, he ended up going back and forth between military academies and the military out of fear of marriage.

However, the inevitable moment has arrived, and Cassel Escalante's fiancée, who is said to have been 'neglected', finally enters the Escalante family. It cannot but be a terrifying event for him.

Still, at first, she would have had a hard time doing anything else because she had to be careful. So she willingly let him off the leash in advance. She was determined to make him feel as guilt-free as possible. They had to get married, and he had to cheat.

Cassel Escalante is so stressed out just by getting married after putting it off for so long that he naturally has to cheat. As a newlywed, he has to have sex with her only on a few set dates as an inevitable duty as a successor, but he feels disillusioned by her stiff and boring reactions, and he feels disillusioned with life whenever he sees his wife's shabby clothes and annoying attitude, and to relieve it, he cheats again.

Before marriage, you would say, "Live however you want," "It's okay," "It doesn't matter," but now you will throw it all away and change your attitude to, "In fact, you can't live however you want, I'm not okay, and it doesn't matter." I will show you what it means to say two things with one mouth. Then you will feel suffocated. When you feel suffocated, you will only want to wander outside… Like that, you cheat, and in between, whenever you have to sleep with your wife on a set date, you will feel your thousand-year-old horniness cool down, and when you finally do have a child, you will feel a sense of liberation and cheat again.

Since I was reluctant to take responsibility, I thought I would have to use my child as a weapon to appeal to him for responsibility and attention.

Then he would feel suffocated again. He would think that once he had the child, he would be free. He would never want to have another child, and he would decide that he would never sleep with that strict, gloomy wife again… … It was at this point that Ines was asking him to sleep with her. That way, he would reject her.

How horrible would it be for a wife you dislike, a wife who is uncomfortable, to constantly ask for sex? Even though she is a slut, she is kind by nature and may give her body a few times, but there is a limit to that.

So he'll cheat on her again out of stress. When he gets back, Ines will ask to sleep with him again, and Cassel will reject him again, and he'll cheat on her again out of stress...

As the rejections pile up and he fills up a petition with the names of the women he's slept with, she becomes a successful Ortega woman.

The Duchess of Escalante, who does not live with the Duke of Escalante.

It had been such a perfect, meticulous plan. Until two days ago… … .

'I don't need any of that dog-shit freedom or privacy you want to give me so badly. In the marriages I know, there's no such thing to begin with.'

'… … .'

'I may be an asshole, but I'm more faithful than you think. Ines Balestena.'

It was the moment when the grand plan that he had been protecting alone, without any friends, for seventeen long years collapsed.

'That's why I will never betray my family.'

Cassel betrayed her expectations by saying he would not betray her.