Episode 32

Ines stared at her father's finger, still talking about the value of face, as if she was going to break it, and then suddenly she reached out her hand.

The momentum was so fierce that it seemed as if she was really going to do something to the duke's finger, but contrary to expectations, she gently wrapped her hand around the duke's finger and pulled it down. Then she tapped the back of his hand to warn him.

"Is it okay to treat guests like this or not?"

At the age of seven, during a banquet, the voice of a young boy who called his father from behind and scolded him overlapped. This extraordinary scene, which remains the same even after he has become an adult…

At Ines's tire voice, the Duke of Ballestena paused for a moment as if he had entered a room of thought. But soon, when he saw Cassel's tall face again, something suddenly rose up in his eyes and he frowned.

"…Customer? That bastard is a thief. Nothing more, nothing less."

"Sir Escalante is an honorable member of the Imperial Navy. Contrary to his father's words, he neither sells his body nor steals."

Couldn't it just end in the glorious Imperial Navy? As the topic of selling his body came up again, Cassel raised his wine glass with a burning thirst.

"Escalante is too wealthy for that, you know."

"So Ines, you can see that if he didn't have money, he would have sold his body long ago."

"If you're poor and have such great assets, there's no need to let them rot away… … . Just tell me the facts, Father. That alone is a flaw enough."

Ines's attitude of pretending to be calm but not denying anything made Cassel's breathing even more difficult.

"Hmm! Okay, if I may speak in that dirty, blemished way… ."

"I misspoke, Father. Don't even mention the truth."

"You are really too kind-hearted to be a problem. It's not like you think that everyone else in the world is honest and upright because you are, but how can you only see the good in people…!"

… Who? Could it be Ines Ballestena? Cassel tilted his head as he quietly called his servant over and had him fill his empty glass with wine.

The conversation between the two women, which had become a mess, had always focused on Cassel, but at this point, it seemed as if it wasn't his story, and he was starting to distance himself from it. Maybe his soul was moving away from this place...

"So even a worn-out guy like that would be okay just by looking at that face. You are a good and upright daughter of God who always finds the good in even the most flawed person… … ."

"Just look at the face."

"So, in the end, are you really saying that you will go through with this marriage that I have been trying to stop you from doing?"

Cassel realized, with the tinge of foolishness dripping from the duke's voice, that this marriage had been met with internal opposition all along. It was a wonder that it had survived this long.

"It would be better to postpone the wedding a little longer."

My daughter was growing older without any reason, and my daughter's fiancé was a soldier who abandoned their marriage and was now wandering the seas—anyone would have thought that he would be resentful of the situation in which he was avoiding marriage with his daughter, but that was not the case.

There is only one reason why the Duke of Ballestena did not protest sensibly when he postponed his marriage for various reasons, such as military school, enlistment, etc.

'…Because I wanted this marriage to fall apart like this.'

Cassel had no idea how to deal with the situation, as the Duke of Ballestena wanted to upset his daughter's wedding just a week before it was scheduled to take place.

And then, out of the blue, what should I do with my lower body, which has become as immobile as a boulder unless it is Ines Ballestena? And how should I live this life of inability to move?

The soul that had been drifting away from this place suddenly returned here, facing an unimaginable unfortunate future. He was standing in front of an unimaginable precipice. If he couldn't turn it over, he should at least postpone it. The Duke's eyes were filled with the determination to somehow turn it over again after postponing it.

In fact, Ines is quite old, and is quite far from the usual marriageable age for Ortega women. So, even if he is a rag, it will be difficult to find a groom with the same qualifications as Cassel again, but if there is Ballestena's name, it will not be a problem to receive another good marriage proposal.

If only the other person could forget that it's been 17 years since they got engaged... If only they could close their eyes and ears to the fact that the fact that they were each other's fiancée was so well-known that it would be closer to a divorce than a breakup...

"It's too late to give up. You said I'm already too old."

Ines winked at the servant with an annoyed expression. Judging from the calmness of her wink, she probably thought she was asking, 'Where is my dessert?'

"If you were old, your mother and I would be lying in a coffin by now."

"Why are you dragging me in when I'm just lying down alone? I'm only about thirty."

The Duchess snapped, her voice slurred by the alcohol. The Duke spoke with a distorted expression.

"You're forty-five. How many times do I have to tell you? Brainwashing people like that doesn't make them younger—, I'm sorry, Ines. Anyway, marriage isn't as easy and easy as you thought it would be when you were six, and it's not something that can be done with just that pretty face."

"Sir Escalante is not the only one to commit such atrocities."

"How much should I have done to deserve this? I should have played around less, I would have acted like this out of youthful energy… Everyone else is like that, so there's nothing I can do. I just have to bite my tongue and endure it. But that bastard… … ."

So, the end of this long engagement was not something that depended solely on Cassel's hands as the world thought.

The Duke of Ballestena was always ready to break off the engagement, and Cassel was always leaking out excuses for the breakdown.

Of course, considering that the nobles of Mentorsa are all free-spirited, debauched, and even somewhat dirty—there are very few cases where marriage proposals fall through for such reasons.

But the opponent is the Duke of Ballestena, who keeps nagging the Emperor with his nagging even in the Senate…

"Father, do you find it so ridiculous to make a covenant in the name of your family? Moreover, Ballestena and Escalante are not just ordinary noble families, but families recognized as Grandes de Ortega."

"… … ."

"We don't say anything in vain."

As if it were a lie, the duke's squinty eyes became cloudy. Just like the cloudy eyes of the emperor when the duke's petition to the Senate prevented the establishment of a military factory.

The ball of power passed to Ines. No one seemed to feel uncomfortable with her words, from Duchess Tugendman, who had no elders in the family, to Luciano, who said, "We don't do that."

Cassel woke up again. There was one reason why this marriage proposal had continued until now. At least Ines wanted him. She didn't like him, didn't care, and didn't care what he did, but she wanted him anyway.

For him, who had started the morning panting with a dream about her again, this was a pleasant fact. However, he really couldn't help but be suspicious.

If, as the Duke said, his handsome face was all she wanted, then why was his only good point—his face—so annoying and tiresome to the world whenever she saw it… ?

"Besides, this is a marriage that Her Majesty the Empress personally arranged. Part of this marriage is the imperial family, so to ruin this marriage would be to insult the imperial family."

"Her Majesty the Empress knows that her precious niece is selling her body, so she cannot blame us."

"Escalante has plenty, and Sir Escalante doesn't sell his body."

"How can you not know that those who have more have more? Why would they only sell their bodies and steal? Those people would sell their souls if they could have more. How can you not know that?"

"I don't think Sir Escalante got anything other than fun out of meeting women."

Ines answered, turning her attention to her dessert, which had arrived in the meantime. It was an overly objective and indifferent assessment of her fiancé's profligate conduct. In terms of presence, it probably wasn't even as good as the piece of fruit she was now slicing with her fork.

"After having so much fun, I guess I'll try stealing now."

"You've been taking care of yourself these days. I think you're being considerate of me. Don't you think so, Sir Escalante?"

"I'm afraid that when I hand you over to the wedding mass, you'll be planning somewhere and with whom you'll sleep again with that stupid head of yours."

Before Cassel could even answer, the Duke answered with an ironclad grimace. Ines shrugged, chewed the fruit, and said,

"Actually, keeping that face to myself is a waste of resources. It's like abandoning a gold mine, or not collecting salt from the sea."

"what?"

"I am proud of Sir Escalante, so I will not let him rot."

Is that the kind of attitude that heals and releases a wounded bird? Cassel only blinked after receiving warm encouragement that seemed to say, 'Now spread your wings wide and fly towards the world.' A week before his wedding, that smile that cheered on him meeting another woman in front of his parents...

"Ines, you really are crazy…! Escalante. What's with that expression? You got permission, so you're going to work hard mining? Are you going to go dry the salt in the salt pan?"

The new expression that had begun to replace the expression 'selling one' was making my head hurt. Now I couldn't think of anything to say in response. Didn't you think you'd run the mine if you got married? Or that the salt farm was broken? Cassel stared at Ines, his confusion washing over him like a wave.

The lips that had been chewing fruit became straight, and the lips that had been drawing straight lines became beautifully curved. Cassel's eyes, which had been looking at her suspiciously, suddenly became hazy as if he had been possessed.

"I'm fine, really. I love Sir Escalante enough to care about him."

He realized one more thing.

Ines Ballestena smiles most beautifully when she lies.