Episode 34

"… … ."

"Truly, that was a flawless decision… Look at the Crown Prince. In ten years, he will surely have his head shaved like his father's—."

"—Excuse me for interrupting, but when I wasn't in my right mind?"

The Duchess's words sounded as if Ines had drugged him into agreeing to the engagement. But that couldn't have been the case. They were only six years old at the time, and Ines was only just beginning to show her face… .

"Don't you remember? That day when the Empress called you and told you that you had to marry Ines, and you were so scared that you cried all day."

It's a day that I can't forget because they keep teasing me even when I try to forget. Cassel barely managed a smile and asked again.

"I remember, so there was a time when I wasn't in my right mind… … ."

"Sir Escalante, you were six years old at the time."

"yes."

"No one is sane at the age of six."

"… … ."

The tension was instantly relieved.

If you hit it like that, Ines… . That was the moment Cassel thought about it.

"But Ines was different. She was definitely 'in her right mind' at that time."

"… … ."

"That's the devil, Sir Escalante."

"… … ."

"That kid is possessed by the devil."

The Duchess muttered meaningfully, as if she were talking about someone other than Ines, who was visible in the distance. Her deep breath was full of the scent of alcohol.

Of course, this is not something that is being said in the right mind. Just as no one is sane at the age of six, no one is not crazy when drunk. Cassel raised his hand to the Duke, who was just entering the drawing room, and had him take the Duchess away.

'I think someone switched that kid's soul. Sometimes it's like he's possessed by a demon... '

Somehow, those words lingered in my mind for a moment. In a world filled with narrow-minded criticism of my daughter, those words were nothing more than a single, exaggerated accusation.

***

The atmosphere in the Ballestena household, which had regained some semblance of peace, was now quite leisurely. The stormy dinner party felt like a lie.

Perhaps it was because the atmosphere was too different. Cassel stared at Luciano and Miguel walking away, chatting away, before looking back at the quiet Ines.

"… … ."

"… … ."

She was quietly sipping water from her wineglass, just like she did during the meal, seemingly oblivious to his presence.

Cassel was quite used to such trivial treatment, so he took advantage of the bird to observe Ines unilaterally. The neatly slicked back black hair, the round and straight forehead and nose, the eyes that seemed to have little interest in reality… Then his gaze fell back to the hand holding the wineglass.

Although she occasionally swirled the glass in her palm with such skill that it almost seemed like an alcoholic's hand, I can't recall ever seeing Ines drink alcohol.

I have often seen people drink things that are not alcohol as if they were alcohol since I was little… .

There are things that make you notice things without realizing it, even though they are just small habits.

For example, Ines's haughty gaze, her indifferent expression, her lips that were walled off from anything social, the consistent way her hair fell on the sides when she slicked it back, her consistent karma, her little gestures of sarcasm when someone said something she didn't like, as if looking around to see if a dog was barking, her blatant hand waving when someone was annoying...

Somehow, most of the memorable images were not positive.

Still, a slight smile appeared on her face, as if she had pictured a cute animal like a rabbit or a fox cub in her head. The smile soon turned sour.

Aside from the fact that he must be crazy, he was worried that as he thought about Ines like that, he would soon strip her naked and trample her down again. Cassel shook off his thoughts meticulously.

It was enough to fall into such a perverted nightmare in front of the real Ines during the last concert.

Anyway, soon that dream will become reality. They are going to get married, and he will break free from this shameful reality of having a rock hanging down from his body. Soon they will have legal sex.

Ines, who is obviously conservative even in bed, will only arouse his competitive spirit more, but he will soon lose interest.

Still, Ines would be the only legitimate woman he could have sex with for the rest of his life, so he would have regular, obligatory, and dignified sex with her… After having had enough fun, such a sedentary life wasn't so bad.

Above all, if I hold the real Ines in my arms, this horrible nightmare will disappear. Either because I lose interest, or because it becomes more interesting… So there is no need for such embarrassing fantasies. No more. He consoled himself.

As always, Cassel's alter ego, who straddles the precarious line between being a eunuch and not a eunuch, regains excessive power just by imagining Ines.

The demonic delusions that came to him out of nowhere, like uncontrollable impulses, and the sudden onset of the server… … Of course, that fact alone was a glimmer of hope, but Cassel had never been desperate enough to solve his desires on his own—and relying on imagination was something he had never even imagined.

So, at this very moment, the fantasy of Ines rushing to him, pulling at his cravat, or of Ballestena making her naked in the middle of nowhere and sucking her breasts, was not at all pleasant to him.

It is a glimmer of hope, and a hotbed of self-loathing. No matter how many times it is repeated, the shame and self-loathing do not go away.

Ines in the dream is Ines, but she is not Ines. Was the non-existent woman a woman? Surprisingly, she was a woman… .

Cassel would laugh at his fellow academy students who occasionally argued about masturbation, as if he were an enlightened sage looking down on the common people from above, and just felt sorry for them. So, every morning and evening, whenever he got an erection because of Ines' fantasies, he would ruminate on the position he had fallen to.

That's what they do when they're so hungry, so desperate, and sometimes even like pigs and dogs...

As he observed Ines, his feelings of misery and guilt only grew, so Cassel decided to break this bleak atmosphere himself.

Anyway, whenever he was with Ines, he was the one who did the bickering. Despite his naturally blunt personality.

"… So, when did you become so close with Miguel?"

The random words that came out of my mouth sounded like I was trying to start a fight, contrary to my intention.

Ines raised her eyebrows, seemed to notice the subtle crookedness in the voice he was speaking in, and lifted her lips from the glass to look at him.

"Since when have you been wondering about such things, Sir Escalante?"

"… Take that damn '경' off."

"Escalante."

"Escalante too. It's just us now."

The Duke, who had been looking at him with eyes that wanted to pick him out like a thorn in a fish, eventually took the drunken Duchess upstairs, and Luciano and Cassel, who had absolutely nothing to say to each other, automatically split up and went to Miguel and Ines… The place was peacefully arranged like that.

But peace is not always a soft form.

"So, does anything become special?"

Ines's question, which completely abandoned formality, was also odd.

It was a voice that was filled with complaints that had been lingering for several days. It was a complete contrast to the way he had tried to calmly teach his father at dinner.

So, you do have a complaint, you know. Somehow, I felt like I had easily broken her composure, and a wicked sense of satisfaction welled up in me.

Cassel said, the corners of his mouth tilted up.

"I'll be comfortable. I've been very good at manners in the military, so I don't want to be too harsh on you."

"Then just become a human being. Don't touch my manners."

"You're not even kind."

"Do whatever you want. I will treat you with utmost care."

"So you're going to make me into some old-fashioned, rotten guy who treats women rudely?"

"I actually like this kind of thing. What on earth are you thinking?"

"Miguel is still seventeen. He is clearly an adult, and there are marriage talks going on…"

"No, not that. … Escalante, are you managing me?"

"… … ."

Cassel, who was taken aback by the unexpected blow, closed his mouth for a moment.

Ines laughed in amazement.

"you?"

"… … ."

"me?"

"When you say it like that, it makes me sound like a total weirdo, but that's just my intention—"

"—And that too against Miguel?"

"…Why on earth is Miguel called Miguel?"

He forgot what he had said and asked, 'Why is Miguel Miguel?' Ines nodded slightly and answered.

"Your little brother is harmless and cute."

"I'm harmless too."

Of course, he was too muscular to be cute, and I didn't want to be like that... .

"If it's harmless, then it's harmless, and if it's harmful, then it's harmful… … To me, yes, it is harmless."

Ines suddenly changed her attitude and smiled.

"And this face will benefit the world."

"… … You've been talking about mines, salt fields, light and salt all of a sudden."

I was suspicious of his intentions for continuously giving strange compliments when he had never even bothered to look at them.

"I'm sorry, Cassel. Did you have a hard time today because of your father?"

And then suddenly a hearty apology. And as if that wasn't enough, he even called my name affectionately...