Episode 33

"I mean, Sir Escalante."

You must have heard 'I'm talking' about ten times now.

After dinner, as they were all heading to the reception room, Cassel, who had been staggering from the alcohol, tried to support the Duchess for a moment, but was caught by her and continued the torturous conversation.

Saying the same thing over and over again, saying the same thing over and over again… … .

This is the typical drunk person. Cassel, who was staring intently at Ines, who was talking to Miguel from afar, listening with one ear and letting it go out the other, frowned slightly.

Since when have those two been so friendly…?

"… … Are you listening?"

"Of course, Duchess. Go ahead."

I was lost in the thought of 'Why on earth would they sit so affectionately together?'

Cassel turned his head politely towards Duchess Ballestena, as if he had been concentrating for some time.

"I mean, I think very differently from that stuffy duke. I liked you from the start."

"It is an honor, Duchess Ballestena."

"I always tell Ines… that you are too much for her. Alas. Ines is not the daughter I wanted. She has never done what I wanted… She is a very disappointing daughter. Everything she does is disappointing me."

As expected of a drunk person, he would repeat the same thing he said without getting tired of it… A sense of unfamiliarity began to seep into my ears as I listened to him talk.

Cassel narrowed his eyes.

"Have you ever seen the way that child looks at me? Eyes that don't even know the grace that gave birth to me… Very cold eyes. Do you think that's the same when he looks at you?"

"… … ."

"No, it's very good and kind… She wasn't like that from birth. There was a time when she was very cute and lovely… … Then… I think it was after she had a really bad fever once…"

The Duchess of Ballestena and he had been seeing each other for a very long time, thanks to the medium of Ines, but they had always exchanged only formal words.

I've often seen her drinking so much that she's drunk. However, when the Duchess gets drunk, she's always busy getting cleaned up by the Duke, so I have no memory of having a conversation like this with her while she's drunk.

Perhaps that is why the face I thought I knew so well suddenly looks unfamiliar. Although she sometimes seemed sensitive and nervous, she was always elegant and neat, and although she did not treat people very kindly, at least to her children…

"From then on, my life was full of memories of her disappointment. I just wanted a normal, beautiful daughter, but look at her like a witch… Would Kyung be able to endure that?"

"… … ."

"Well, that must have been why she was hanging around the brink of marriage because she couldn't stand it. The thought of sleeping with a girl like that must have been terrifying… Just seeing that sight must have made her shiver!"

So, Duchess Ballestena was at least someone who spoke as if she had an abundance of affection for her children. Like everyone else.

No matter how cruelly a man beats his servants, he turns into a different person and smiles when he sees his child. This is the noble spirit of Mentoza. It was not only the noble spirit but also the Ortega family that valued family.

If it was their own child, they would project all the love in the world onto it, and if there were too many children due to the corrupt family tradition, they would choose one or two of them and love them. They were also very possessive of their children, so there were many cases where couples split up and fought over their children.

The Duchess of Ballestena also seemed to be one of those Ortega people. A typical noblewoman with a bit of humanity who disliked people but loved her children.

"So, are you giving up now? How can you stand to see him like that for the rest of your life? Please fix him. You have to fix him. He's sick… ."

The face of the Duchess looking at Ines did not look like her mother at all.

A sickening love-hate feeling, a feeling that I'm sick of you, and that almost disgusting—that face that's about to fly.

In fact, there would be no parents in Ortega who would be pleased with Ines's usual aspirations. Whether it be her clothes, her exclusive personality, or her extremely stiff expression—all of these things that Cassel had grown tired of long ago and now seemed insignificant—any parent would find them extremely worrying.

It is clear that it is a taste that not only the noble society of Mentor, but also the merchants and farmers cannot understand, and what is accepted as common sense is always narrow-minded.

Because of this, parents had to get angry, worry, nag, plead, or do something else. Since everyone says that children are the faces of their parents.

But worry cannot surpass love. The Ortega parents' love for their children was so great that they sometimes risked their lives to protect a daughter who killed her husband and a son who killed a friend.

If the love of Ortega's parents is such that they can embrace even a child who becomes a murderer, wouldn't their daughter, who always appears at banquets in mourning, be lovable in the end, no matter how annoying it may be?

"If I were to see that from outside the house, it would feel like someone was choking me and cursing me to die. I couldn't stand it. It's like they were just thinking about how to humiliate me all day long…!"

So, this is an excessive criticism of children.

As for her daughter, who was just dressed however she wanted and was not very nice… she kept mumbling like a child who was tired of things not going her way.

"I think someone switched her soul. Sometimes she acts like she's possessed… … and does really evil things. Some days, she threatens me, she hurts herself, she harms herself, and she just won't listen to me… … ."

"… Are you talking about threats?"

"I just said I would dress you up. Because you kept acting like that, doing things I couldn't understand, changing your attitude, and rejecting me… I said I would correct your bad habits by throwing you in a bucket of water and scolding you… … I changed your clothes, took care of your skin, and made you not put anything in your mouth. It was all for my own good."

"… … ."

"You saw it just now, right? It's only a week before Kyung-gyeong's wedding, and he keeps shoving it into his mouth as soon as he sees it."

There was nothing excessive about Ines's meals. She simply elegantly chewed and swallowed the appropriate amount of food that each person was allotted.

"Where is the noblewoman… So how is she any different from livestock that sticks its head into the feed trough? She's vulgar and uncivilized. If she doesn't even wear makeup and walks around like that, she should at least protect her pretty body that was worth seeing. What are you going to do, putting on weight like a pig without any plan…?"

"… … ."

"As a mother, I have to prevent all that. I have to prevent her from doing anything that will harm her so that she can be loved by her husband in the future…! But her eyes were so fierce back then… I was so scared that I couldn't even touch my daughter again. Since then, her face has always been like that. She's just as ugly and ugly as ever…"

"… … ."

"That's my daughter. I wish you had locked her up in her room. Don't let her wander around…"

"… … Senorita Ballestena is quite beautiful, Duchess."

Cassel finally answered coolly, as if spitting out a thorn stuck in his throat. Duchess Ballestena suddenly smiled.

"That's funny. That kid's father said exactly that…!"

"… … ."

"The Duke said that we should not ruin Ines's piety. That was her choice, that she must have some meaning behind it. Isn't that really ridiculous? God didn't just die the day before yesterday, and she's considered pious just because she's wearing black clothes."

"… … ."

"She can't even raise her face. Since she didn't lock her up, I'm trapped in the house now… … Sir Escalante, you've met many women of that age, don't you? Who on earth behaves like that? Have you ever met a single woman like that? You have to fix that. It's a real disease."

After that hectic dinner, I felt like whatever strength I had left was suddenly drained away.

Cassel pushed aside his thoughts that were about to become complicated and quickly went to look for the Duke and Luciano in order to get away from the Duchess. However, for some reason, he couldn't find any trace of them. Cassel responded with a sigh.

"I am not qualified to fix your daughter. I want you to know that."

"You're my husband. You're the owner of that child."

"He's just my husband."

"You are so tender. Is it because you don't need the excitement of seeing a wife? Sir Escalante has many women anyway—."

"And from now on, the only woman I will know is my daughter."

The Duchess burst out laughing as if she had heard something very funny. At that sound, I could sense Ines and Miguel looking in my direction at the same time from afar.

Cassel, concerned that Ines might hear her mother's words, naturally led her to the window. He kindly opened the window as well, under the pretext of letting her get some air.

"That kid is the only thing I like about anything I've ever done in my life."

Not wanting to ask what it was even out of courtesy, Cassel remained silent, his gaze fixed outside the window. Then, the Duchess tapped his face with her dry fingertips.

"You put a leash on me and made me yours when you were out of your mind."