My Husband Lives Inside a Painting Chapter 11

‘Damn it.’

The moment Pagoda Buthier raised his chin and blocked my path, I bit my lip.

“I was personally very worried about you. I couldn’t help but wonder how someone as delicate as you would endure such heartbreaking pain.”

“Ah…… yes.”

By then, Gail’s figure had already disappeared.

But oblivious to what was going on inside me, Pagoda continued talking without the slightest hint of tact.

“My lady. I know it may be too soon, but if you ever need someone to lean on, write to me anytime.”

As a widow, I found that Pagoda was even more blatant than before.

“They say the best way to forget someone is with someone else. Though I am only a marquess, I do have a respectable estate and…… you know what they say? Sometimes the cheap, trashy things you indulge in are far more stimulating and addictive.”

“Yes. We can talk about this another—”

It was nothing but disgusting nonsense that I had no need to hear any further.

I was just about to vaguely trail off and slip away when a hand suddenly seized my arm, stopping me in my tracks.

I lowered my gaze, and a large hand filled my field of vision.

“……!”

A shudder ran through my entire body, leaving me completely rigid.

“My lady. I haven’t finished speaking yet.”

His voice had grown heavier.

The subtle pressure behind it made a cold sweat break out across my skin.

“How about having a cup of tea after the auction today? I know a famous café.”

“……I, uh—”

“You have plenty of time anyway. Don’t you?”

“C-could you let go of my hand first—”

Thump. Thump. Thump.

No. Get lost while I’m still asking nicely. Should I call security?

Three words, and this could all be over.

But my lips wouldn’t part, as though they had been glued shut.

That was separate from the rational part of my mind telling me that there was no way he would hurt me in a public place.

‘Again, I’m being so stupid……!’

Just as I finally squeezed my eyes shut, a familiar voice came from somewhere.

“Excuse me.”

I raised my head.

Claude was standing right beside me, staring blankly at me with his arms folded.

“What are you doing?”

At the sudden appearance of the unwelcome intruder, Pagoda narrowed his eyes.

“And who are you?”

“I asked what you were doing.”

Claude’s gaze remained fixed insistently on me.

I blinked, unable to hide my bewilderment, and my stiff lips finally managed to move.

“Claude, why are you here……?”

“I came as the family representative. Someone kept nagging me to come.”

It was obvious that he had been sent by Belladonna, and equally obvious that Claude wanted nothing more than to leave this place.

“Anyway, what’s this? Do you know this guy?”

Claude’s indifferent gaze fell crookedly upon Pagoda.

The overwhelming difference in their heights made it look as though Claude were literally looking down at him.

Perhaps feeling humiliated as though he had become a bug beneath Claude’s feet, Pagoda’s lips twitched in irritation.

“Wait a minute. Now that I think about it, you’re…….”

“Sir, you’re being noisy. We’re talking right now. Keep it down.”

“What? You’re the one who barged in, so what the hell—!”

Leaving Pagoda behind as he grew red with anger, Claude casually picked at his ear as though bored.

He didn’t seem inclined to leave until I answered, so I belatedly moved my lips.

“Th-that is. Well……”

“I can’t hear you.”

“He’s someone I know, but…….”

“What? I’m leaving, then.”

No, don’t go!

That was what I needed to say, but my mind had gone completely blank, and I couldn’t think of what to say next.

As though unable to bear the frustration any longer, Claude frowned deeply and turned around.

Ah, no!

Just as my fingertips cut through the empty air—

“Seriously…… What a pain.”

Claude, who had been walking away indifferently, suddenly stopped.

Then he abruptly turned around, strode back, and grabbed Pagoda by the arm.

“W-what?”

And he threatened the bewildered man, who blinked in confusion.

“Move that hand while I’m asking nicely. Otherwise, I’ll break it.”

 

***

 

As people’s attention gradually began to gather, Pagoda eventually ran away.

“You’ll regret this! I’ll be filing a formal petition with the Noble Council!”

……or some other third-rate-villain sort of line like that.

Meanwhile, I had unexpectedly received help, and I cautiously tried to thank Claude.

“Um, thank you for helping—”

“What’s so difficult about saying no when you don’t like something?”

Leaving me with only those words, he walked away without even looking back.

Left completely abandoned, I could only stare blankly at his retreating figure.

“……Huh.”

And thirty minutes later, now—

I leaned back in my chair, watching the auction proceed smoothly as I sank into thought.

‘If I could do that, would my life have gotten this messed up in the first place?’

Claude’s words had lodged themselves firmly in my chest and refused to leave.

You know how there are things like that sometimes?

You don’t think much of them when you hear them, but after replaying them in your head, they somehow start getting under your skin.

But it was awkward to confront him about it now.

That was exactly the situation I found myself in.

‘Besides, Gail, who said he was going to head to the auction hall first, isn’t even here…….’

“……Nothing is going right.”

I let out a deep sigh after muttering to myself, and unexpectedly, someone beside me flinched.

It was Romaine, who had been sitting quietly next to me.

She had been watching my expression for some time, and eventually squeezed her eyes shut as though she could no longer bear it.

“Um, my lady……!”

I turned toward her.

Romaine’s eyes were glistening with tears.

“You were so frightened earlier, weren’t you? I’m sorry…….”

“Hm? No, it’s okay.”

“But I’ve never seen you make an expression like that before. Your face went as white as a sheet…….”

Now that she had brought it up, she seemed even more guilty, looking as though she might burst into tears at any moment.

……Come to think of it, had I really looked that bad?

I lightly patted Romaine’s head and fell into thought.

‘This useless body of mine. I really need to do something about it before it gets me into trouble.’

Every time I encountered big, older men who were physically strong, I ended up having trouble.

What were those bastards, anyway?

“I’m sorry. I should have helped you, but my feet simply wouldn’t move…….”

“No, it’s fine. Even if you had come, he probably would have kept clinging to me. That’s just the kind of man he is.”

“Still, it’s a good thing Young Master Claude arrived in time. It could have been really bad.”

“……It could have.”

I nodded.

There was no denying that I had been helped.

But had he really been allowed to behave that recklessly?

His opponent had been a marquess, after all.

Just then, Romaine added a little explanation.

“Young Master Claude is in a rather unique position. Since he can simply return to his western territory anyway, apparently he doesn’t care about his reputation in high society at all.”

Ah.

So that was why.

In that case, I couldn’t be more grateful.

He had taken care of something I wouldn’t have even dared to do myself, considering how much I had to worry about the opinions of high society.

So I wanted to treat him to a cup of tea later as a token of my gratitude, but……

‘I think he’d hate being on the receiving end of that.’

Watching Claude’s back as he sat in the very front row, using the auction paddle as though it were a massage tool and tapping it against his own back, I gave a small nod.

‘Right. Let’s not go looking for trouble by talking to him for no reason.’

Yes.

“But, my lady.”

“Hm?”

“What about that gray-haired man from earlier—”

At that exact moment, Gail’s silhouette passed through the gap in the half-open auction hall doors.

“……W-wait!”

I sprang to my feet like a released spring and hurried after him.

But by the time I stepped into the exhibition hall again, Gail’s back had already vanished without a trace, like smoke.

‘Where did he go?’

I stood there blankly, as though I had just seen a mirage.

In the quiet exhibition hall, where every painting had disappeared, the only sound echoing through the room was the dry, monotonous ticking of a clock.