B-ronken-R-ing 159...

Luciano reached out and grabbed Inés's wrist as she started to step away. "For heaven's sake, Inés, what were you going to do today if I hadn't been here? Why didn't you say anything?"

"If the crown prince offered me a flower crown, I intended to crush it under my feet and claim it was an accident. I also considered feigning sickness and fainting, revealing I've conceived."

"Good gracious, are you pregnant already?"

"No."

Luciano let out a soft chuckle at her nonchalant reply. More and more people glanced in their direction as they stood by the pillar. Inés gently patted Luciano on the arm, urging him to move along.

He reluctantly escorted Inés to the stands before heading to the small stadium erected for the day's event. As soon as he walked away, the young ladies who had been sitting with poise swiftly gathered around her.

"I wasn't aware that Lord Luciano would be competing today."

"Did he already give his flower crown to you, Madam Escalante? How disappointing for the rest of us."

"We seldom get to see him in Mendoza... It would have been delightful for the other young ladies to have the opportunity to cheer for him!"

"Oh, where is Lord Escalante?"

"Did Lord Escalante truly leave for Calztela in the middle of the night?"

Inés glanced past the animated faces of the young ladies and over at Alicia, who appeared unusually grim. The woman who had always flitted to her side like a loyal pup now had her eyes fixed on the stadium, pretending not to notice Inés's arrival. A trace of relief softened her subdued expression, as if she were secretly glad that Inés had arrived with a legitimate excuse to reject the crown prince's kind offer.

No one would be naive enough to believe that he intended to place his cousin's wife on the same pedestal as his betrothed without a motive. Doing so for his sister Dolores might have been more plausible. Alicia must have agonized over both prospects, unable to find solace in either. Though she was a fanatic willing to obey Oscar's every wish, the idea of wearing the same flower crown as another woman surely couldn't have pleased her. The reason she had aspired to be the crown princess, both in this life and in the previous ones, was because she could be Oscar's one and only wife.

A wife held a unique, irreplaceable position, regardless of the number of mistresses he might take and who indeed held authority. If his love alone were her goal, she would have already slipped into his bedroom stark naked without hesitation. Alicia's desire went beyond fleeting affection; she sought a lasting bond with the man she idolized.

In other lifetimes, Alicia ljar had professed a desire to become one of Oscar's mistresses, officially recognized by the imperial family, but what she had truly coveted was Inés's place beside him. As a married woman, she couldn't become the crown princess, so she had sought the next best thing: to be as close to him as possible in any form. She had longed to ascend to the highest position possible, hoping Inés would vanish from her superior position.

Thus, Alicia had meticulously presented herself as an elegant lady, uninterested in mere nights of passion, all while reigning over the court as though she were the crown princess, backed by the empress. She had acted more like Cayetana's daughter-in-law than Inés ever had, constantly striving to prove herself more deserving of the role.

"Why did someone like you become His Highness's wife? Why did it have to be you, when you do not even love him? I despise you. I hate you for making me feel like a lowly orphan," she had once confessed to Inés with bitter resentment.

And now, Alicia had finally achieved her goal-in the palace where Inés was absent, with the one thing she had ever desired in a past life she could not recall now within her grasp.

Inés wondered how much Alicia knew about Oscar's true intentions.

With her eyes still on Alicia, she began to answer the young ladies' inquiries in a kind voice. "Luciano attended on behalf of my husband. He was asked to show compassion to his sister, who would otherwise be watching the Formente competition alone without her husband." She then shifted her gaze toward the curious ladies.

"So Lord Luciano was asked... by Lord Escalante himself?"

"Yes. Luciano presented me with a flower crown because my husband requested it."

"How thoughtful!"

"My goodness... how romantic he is. It seems the rumors from Calztela aren't entirely unfounded, then."

"But what about what happened to Lady Alicia earlier?"

The atmosphere grew tense at the question. Inés tilted her head slightly, as if she were genuinely puzzled.

The young ladies exchanged nervous glances, fearing they had committed a grave faux pas. One of them finally spoke in a hushed voice. "Well, earlier, the crown prince arrived with Lady Alicia, and someone asked why she wasn't wearing a flower crown."

"It wasn't meant to be disrespectful. It's just that Lady Alicia has been eagerly awaiting this day..." another lady explained.

"Yes, it's a very special occasion, after all. Although they have been engaged for quite some time, His Highness has rarely attended events with Lady Alicia unless they are official occasions hosted by the imperial palace. Of course, you might not have known about this, Madam Escalante, since you have been so detached from Mendoza."

"In any case, we asked whether Lady Alicia wasn't wearing a flower crown yet because His Highness intended to bestow it upon her at the opening ceremony, but he said..." the young lady trailed off, and they all exchanged awkward glances, as if merely thinking about it was too embarrassing.

"He said?" Inés prompted, her tone casual.

She sensed Alicia finally turning her head in her direction, as if she had overheard the conversation.

Even without looking, Inés could tell that Alicia's eyes, beneath their benign facade, were glinting with a subtle frenzy. There was something Inés wanted to discover, so she decided to rile up the madwoman.

"You don't have to tell me if it troubles you," she added.

"He... said that he cannot bestow a flower crown onto her when the most important person hasn't arrived yet."

"The most important person..."

"Oh, not that he meant that Lady Alicia isn't important... I'm sure."

Could there be a woman more important at a competition centered around the crown prince than his betrothed? Especially with their marriage ceremony only two months away?

"Lady Alicia reacted as though she knew of this already, so it might not have been as disrespectful as I first thought."

"Of course it was! It was incredibly disrespectful. There was no need to confirm it verbally," one of the young ladies commented. She had been one of Alicia ljar's closest friends in her past life.

Inés's lips formed a small smile as she detected not even a hint of falsehood in the young woman's smug expression.

"But if it's something everyone could assume..."

"In any case, some of the tactless men then asked who could possibly be more important than His Highness's betrothed. I'm sure they only said this because they expected Lady Dolores to arrive later."

Inés glanced around and answered, still feigning ignorance, "Now that you mention it, I have not seen Lady Dolores yet."

Only a select few of the young ladies here had overheard the crown prince inviting Inés to the Formente competition himself during the evening party the night before. But most of the ladies had been clueless about this, and thus were shocked about what the crown prince had said.

"Lady Dolores left for the chapel in Valencia at dawn, under the orders of Her Majesty," one other lady said.

"Oh, then His Highness must not have known about her whereabouts." The young ladies' faces fell all at once at Inés's unconcerned reply.

"Madam Escalante, that's not..."

"You may be taken aback when you hear this."

"Why would she be taken aback? There must have been some misunderstanding. And His Highness was simply trying to be kind."

"Still..."

"His Highness had two flower crowns prepared for the ceremony. One for Lady Alicia, and one for you, Madam Escalante, since your husband is absent. He thought it only fitting to bestow both flower crowns simultaneously at the opening ceremony."

Inés blinked slowly, casting a glance over to Oscar. He was warming up among the other young men getting ready for the competition, his eyes unwaveringly fixed on her from afar.

Inés looked back at the young ladies with a wide smile. "I have already declined that offer, you see."

"Pardon?"

"You've declined?" another chimed in, baffled.

"Indeed, I expressed my gratitude for his kindness, but declined again and again. That is why I didn't expect being the subject of your comment," Inés clarified.

"Well, of course... we didn't mean to imply that it would have been inappropriate. His Highness is very fond of Lord Escalante, so..."

"Is that so? I am not very familiar with such matters," Inés replied with a dismissive air.

"His Highness likely intended to preserve Lord Escalante's dignity."

Only moments ago, they had been whispering about the matter as though it were clearly scandalous, and yet now they seemed eager to defend the crown prince, hurriedly offering justifications.

The Formente competition was a game for the aristocracy with the longest history among Ortega's many ball games. It featured the gifting of flower crowns to the contestants' significant others. Over time, this had turned into a means of securing a partner to warm their bed for the night. But the tradition remained, in that it was a matter concerning relationships between men and women.

It was acceptable for immediate family members to bestow flower crowns on behalf of someone who couldn't attend. But doing so on behalf of one's cousin was undoubtedly strange. And Inés intended to underscore just how odd it was without taking part in that strangeness herself.

"Well, if he sought to preserve my husband's dignity, he couldn't have been more mistaken. I am certain His Highness did not intend it this way, but Lady Alicia and I should not be treated as equally deserving of his attention, nor should one be favored over the other. Unless I were His Highness's mistress."

Her blatant word choice took everyone by surprise.

"What on earth do you mean?"

"No one would have dared to insinuate such a thing about the daughter of House Valeztena."

Their voices were filled with genuine disbelief. It was unimaginable for the noble Inés Escalante to become the mistress of a man who had the less illustrious Alicia Barca as his wife.

With Cárcel's unexpected visit to Mendoza and the swirling rumors of Inés's uncharacteristic behavior, her words spoke volumes. By mentioning that she had declined the crown prince's offer and elucidating her reason, she highlighted the impropriety of his offer. She couldn't have made herself seem any more innocent and dignified if she had tried.

If she had indeed sat next to Alicia as Oscar had intended, everyone would gossip about it all across Mendoza this very evening. They would say that Cárcel Escalante might have only married the mistress of the noble crown prince to bestow her with yet another grand title. They already doubted that the alleged philanderer would ever want to be tied down to one woman.

"Someone certainly would have dared. This kindness was not worth imperiling our honor," Inés proclaimed.

"His Highness is only a man, in the end. Men often overlook finer details. You acted wisely in his stead, Madam. Such thorough consideration is necessary for everyone's sake."

"Instead of simply accepting a kindness bestowed upon you, you demonstrated great courage by being considerate of Lady Alicia, too."

Inés met Alicia's ferocious glare with a kind smile and responded, "Perhaps that was merely an excuse."

"Pardon?"

"I do not wish to do anything for any man other than my husband," Inés explained.

Even if it involved nothing more than passing the time sitting still and watching men engage in meaningless games.

Inés turned back to the young ladies and continued, "In fact, those rumors you heard of Calztela are quite exaggerated. Most of them begin with claims that I care little for my husband, but I must take this opportunity to correct them."

"Correct them?"

"My dear Escalante does love me as much as the rumors say, but I am not the cold, unfeeling wife they make me out to be. I care for him far more deeply, to an extent that I cannot bear to wear another man's flower crown for even a moment."