Episode 36

"We'll have separate bedrooms, Escalante."

Instead of the body held in his one arm, a voice called out firmly, "Escalante," as if moving away.

Cassel smiled smoothly, not caring.

"We're going to sleep together anyway."

"I'm a human. I don't sleep with dogs."

"Dogs are animals that should live with people."

"Who is talking nonsense right now?"

"So don't release me as you please."

Release? Ines frowned as if she had heard something very strange. At that moment, Cassel lowered his head and kissed the corner of her mouth.

Ines' frown deepened at the ambiguous contact between the lips and the corners of the mouth, like a normal greeting.

Her head tilted back completely and their lips met again. Cassel's large back curved gently. It was a playful touch, teasingly intertwining their tongues for a moment before sucking them back, but in their 17 years of sluggish history, this could never be a joke.

Ines frowned, then furrowed her brows, then made an absurd expression, then her expression blurred in a confused manner… Even though her expression changed like that from time to time, she never pushed him away.

I don't know why he was just responding so obediently, but it didn't seem like a bad sign. With one arm around her waist, he pulled Ines into a deeper embrace, and with the other hand, he supported her head, which was tilted back, and naturally pushed her towards the console.

The kiss deepened with each breath that escaped between their locked lips. Then, when Ines was gasping for air, he lightly sucked on her upper lip and pulled away.

"… Even if you let the dog go, it will always come back to where it came from."

"… … ."

"So you should stop wasting your energy unnecessarily. I don't know what your intentions are, but…"

Ines slowly opened her eyes that had been closed. Just like before, their eyes met again at a close distance. Ines's still-quiet breath touched his chin faintly.

Even though she was the one who was out of breath, Cassel suddenly paused as if he was out of breath and thought.

If things continue like this, it will be really dangerous.

It felt like a hundred years ago when we had lightly kissed each other with the intention of teasing each other. It felt like a long time ago, even though I was looking down at her. Cassel brought his hand to her lips as if he was possessed. When he wiped it with his thumb, their mixed saliva came out transparently.

It was a feeling I couldn't explain at all. It was something I had never felt before.

Ines Ballestena is always like this. Always making himself strange. Making himself strange, tormenting him without much effort. In some way.

And yet, I don't hate the feeling of having fun like this.

Ines gently pulled her face out of his grasp. As was the natural course of events, he was looking down at the emptiness in his hands.

"… … ."

It must have been a sound somewhere between 'thud' and 'thud.'

A sharp friction noise pierced Cassel's ears. It was an unexpected shock, but his body was too strong and his center of gravity was right to stagger. However, it was not a pain that could be ignored.

For a moment, Cassel thought that it was the Duke of Ballestena, who had been watching from somewhere, who had quickly run over and slapped his eardrum, but it was still quiet all around, and Ines was the only one in front of him.

"That's right. You were right."

"… … ."

"I hit you."

She answered kindly, as if helping Cassel, who was belatedly grasping the situation. Then she asked again.

"Why do you look like that? It's not like this is the first time you've been slapped by a woman."

"It's my first time seeing you."

Most of them tried to leave a good impression on him until the end, saying things like, "I'll live my whole life with the memories of that day," "It was only for a moment, but it was like heaven," and "I'll remember that one night, whether I'm happy or sad."

Moreover, it wasn't even the cheek that Ines hit.

'It was the head… .'

Cassel wondered if his fiancée, a virtuous woman who was naive to the ways of the world and whose only hobby was reading books from the bookshelf, could really match the power to smash his entire head into hers.

This wasn't a hand that had hit someone once or twice. It was clear that he had made up for his lack of natural strength with technique, with the sole intention of hurting the opponent in some way...

"I'm your first time, so it's a bit burdensome."

And what is that comment from a man who is so worn out?

Ines met Cassel's shocked gaze and smiled wickedly, then soon asked with a cold expression.

"Doesn't a dog being ill-mannered mean it wants to be hit?"

"…you hit a dog?"

When Cassel looked at Ines with a shocked expression as if to say, 'I didn't see it like that, but is there such trash?', she slightly distorted her eyes.

"Why did you hit that cute thing? Don't hit it. But if a person is not only dog-like but also ill-mannered—"

"—Ines, you really think of me as a dog—."

"—Doesn't that mean you want to get hit?"

"Ines, there is no one in the world who wants to be hit."

"Yes. People who have their heads spinning a few times are like that. They get excited by things like that."

Ines muttered meaningfully, then crossed her arms awkwardly.

"So I thought you were like that too. I thought you were being rude because you wanted to be hit."

No matter how neatly you tie your hair down, no matter how much you cover your entire body in pitch-black, and no matter how modest your demeanor is, what's the point?

Even if you walk around with your sternum exposed, you won't look any worse than me.

"And dogs need to run outside. That's how I raised them."

"… … ."

"You are not allowed to enter the master's bedroom. You are not even allowed on the bed."

"… … ."

"okay?"

Ines's voice was slow and soft, as if she was crouching down in front of a truly dumb dog and reciting instructions here and there.

Cassel snorted.

"Now, you're not telling me that's a warning."

"You babbled about what happens after our wedding, so I'll bring up a few things, Escalante. And then let's get down to business."

"… … ."

"Stop talking nonsense like that."

If it had been outdoors, it would have looked like he was going to spit on the side.

"What kind of nonsense are you talking about?"

"It's like this."

She drew a large circle in the air with her finger, putting herself and him in the circle. Cassel only raised an eyebrow.

"like this?"

"Yeah. Don't do things like that."

"kiss?"

"okay."

When it came to kissing, he was fine, but his small face looked as if he was offended by the word kiss.

Cassel asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Then, to the main point."

"… … ."

"Why can't you answer?"

"It is only the minimum required—."

"-sex?"

He asked plainly, but there was silence for a moment.

Ines didn't look embarrassed, but rather stood still for a moment, seemingly unable to comprehend her actions. Then, abruptly, she continued speaking.

"The bare minimum, you know."

"So, you just said that you don't like kissing but are okay with relationships?"

"huh."

"Let's skip this introduction and get straight to the point."

"huh."

"… There is no such thing as a pervert."

Cassel gave a short, indifferent comment. Ines seemed to flare up for a moment, but then quickly regained her usual calm and stern expression and said:

"This is unnecessary. It's too intimate, too close, and a waste of time. That's what people in love do."

"How many times do I have to tell you? I will be your husband, Ines Ballestena."

"That's why it's not necessary. Cassel, the noble couple of Ortega do not love each other. This is a very honorable way—."

"—Sex?"

"Next time, I'll have to punch that pretty mouth of yours, Cassel."

Ines made a light threat. Cassel continued speaking seriously.

"What you're talking about isn't dignity or anything. You're just animals that take off their clothes and only wear the lower half of their body, and only do what's necessary."

"It's efficient. The less we bind each other, the more peaceful the family will be."

"It's really not funny."

"Our wedding will be a joke anyway. I'll wear a dress that's way out of date and pretend it's my family's tradition to the wedding mass, and you, who's been avoiding your fiancée and wandering around outside Mendoza, will insist on getting married within two weeks, and then disappear out of Mendoza as soon as you get married. The court will laugh at this story alone for a month."

"… … ."

"So we don't have to laugh."

Cassel looked down at her with strange eyes for a while, then stepped back to put some distance between them.

"It's never been funny from the beginning. Because the only future I had in mind was for you to be my wife."

"… … ."

"That's why I kissed you. I don't love you, but you're going to be the most important woman in my life soon. I thought it would be okay if we were that important. I'm sorry. I was rude."

"… … ."

"I… don't hate you. We're not lovers, so if you feel uncomfortable, I'll respect that. Unless it's for the sake of showing off to others, let's just skip kissing from now on."

"… … ."

"It's not this, it's whatever, if you tell me not to do it, I won't do it."

Ines' eyes changed strangely at the serious remark. There was also a slight sense of difficulty. For example, it was a sense of difficulty as if she was wondering what would become of me if you acted like this.

Cassel's previously blunt impression softened.

"So, for now, just know that anything is okay except kissing."

As the saying goes, you have to listen to what someone says until the end to understand it.

But Ines sometimes thought that there were words that she would not understand even after hearing them to the end. While she was standing there with a puzzled look on her face, not yet fully understanding the conclusion that Cassel had so clearly reached, he suddenly walked towards the door.

He strode briskly with his long legs and reached the reception room door in an instant. He opened it and called out to Juana, who happened to be outside.

"Juana?"

"yes?"

"Bring your senorita."

He glanced back once and left the room as if it were a greeting.