



MARRIAGE WILL FAIL ANYWAY



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Originally serialised in English as a webtoon on the Tappytoon platform, a subsidiary of Contents First, Inc., by license from DCCENT in 2022
First published in paperback in South Korea by DCCENT in 2023
First published in the US by Inklore, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC 2025

First published in the UK by Inklore 2025 001
Based on the webnovel entitled TheBrokenRing: ThisMarriageWillFailAnyway , copyright © CHACHA KIM, 2019 Illustrations copyright © DCCENT, 2023
English translation copyright © Penguin Random House LLC, 2025
The moral right of the authors has been asserted
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With thanks to: Tappytoon Team & Ernest Woo, Sally Hwang, Allyce Best
Penguin Random House Team
Editor: Katelyn Hemmeke; Translator: Somin Parker; Designers: Bones Leopard, Alexis Stein; Production editor: Christa Guild; Production manager: Erin Korenko; Managing editor: Paul Gilbert
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ISBN: 978–1–911–72053–9
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SevENteEn yEarS agO, on that faTEful day…


I will marry the moSt haNdSomE maN in the worlD.








a six-yEar-olD girl poInTed her finGer at me…



























and threw my entire life into turmoil.
































liEs








E of simIlar





















lar ,










CIal sTan G,























anD I only havE eyes for that faCE.








































































































Inés valEzteNa de perEz





her famIly waS onE of the moSt esTeEmeD Grandes de Ortega—




a tiTle beStowEd upON the sevEnTeEn houseS that werE moSt favOreD by the imperIal famIly of orTega.








the only daughter of dukE valEzTena, she rejEcTed the crowN prinCe anD the prospecT of beCOmiNg the crowN prinCesS…











anD chosE me, the heIr to dukE esCalaNte, onE of the moSt powErful grandes,








juSt beCausE she deEmeD me the moSt beautIful.







she waS a noble anD faSciNatiNg girl, anD so clevEr deSpiTE beInG the samE agE as me.








that girl waS noNE other than yOu.







Don't evEr forgeT that I likE yOu, CárCel.










yOu saId thosE wordS to me.










































hav ev r EsSed…



























why yOu left me…









































…afTer all this timE?

















Inés.











































*SPANISH FOR “YOU ARE THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE,” OR MORE LITERALLY, “YOU ARE MY SUN.”






















no matter what kind of sorrow…









lies in your past and our future…












I hope that this time…





I will be standing here,



























yOu will lovE me…





as muCh as I havE always lovEd yOu …











































































































