My Husband Lives Inside a Painting Chapter 19

It was then, amid the heavy silence, that the clinking of utensils seemed especially loud.

“Cough, cough!”

The count suddenly broke the silence with a fit of coughing. His face had gone pale as he accepted the handkerchief offered by a servant and wiped his mouth.

Swallowing a sigh, he steadied his breathing before speaking again in a grave voice.

“……My strength is no longer what it used to be. I’ve called every physician in the capital reputed to be skilled, but nothing has helped.”

The count’s unfocused gaze, which had been wandering through empty space, settled on Gail.

“Gail. Has it already been two years since you took over the day-to-day affairs?”

“Yes, Father.”

“That is enough. Continuing to hold on to the position any longer would simply be the greed of an old man.”

“……Surely, Father. You don’t mean……”

His tone was calm, as though he had already made up his mind, and Gail’s eyes widened.

“Two months from now, I will officially hand over the position of head of the family to you. You’re still young, but…… well, there is no fixed age for taking on the burden of a family, so it shouldn’t matter.”

“Father!”

“However, keep in mind that I will continue watching from behind. Understood?”

“Yes. I will never do anything that brings shame upon your name, Father!”

The count’s title he had craved for so long.

He was going to obtain it at an age younger than almost anyone before him.

Gail bit his lip, trying to suppress the emotions surging inside him.

Finally. Finally, I’m a count!

But it took only a few minutes for his mood, which had soared toward the heavens, to come crashing down to the floor.

“It would be difficult for you to manage the merchant guild while handling the duties of a count.”

“……Pardon?”

The count continued in a tone that made it clear every decision had already been made.

“From now on, let your younger brother take charge of the merchant guild. Understood, Noah?”

“Yes, Father.”

“The guild has changed considerably from what it once was, but it seems to have settled into a stable position now. The timing is ideal for you to learn the business.”

“W-wait a moment, Father. Please.”

The corners of Gail’s lips trembled as though he might overturn the table at any moment, but he desperately suppressed his anger.

“You want me to hand over the merchant guild that I worked so hard to build…… to this bastard?”

“Noah is eighteen now. His grades at the academy are excellent as well. I know how attached you are to the merchant guild, but you need to learn when to let go of your greed.”

“It’s not greed! The merchant guild is mine!”

The anger he had been suppressing suddenly burst forth.

He was the one who had built that merchant guild from the ground up.

Now that his efforts were finally beginning to bear fruit, they wanted him to hand all the credit over to his younger brother?

It was absurd.

The title of count and the merchant guild—both had to belong to him.

But the count’s eyes turned cold.

“……Yours?”

“Yes! It’s mine!”

Gail had already lost his reason, so he apparently failed to notice the warning in his father’s expression.

“Ha, Father, don’t tell me…… you put me in charge of the merchant guild from the beginning just so you could hand everything over to that bastard?”

“I suppose I was mistaken. I thought that after gaining this much experience, you would have finally matured.”

“Don’t change the subject! How long are you planning to keep coddling that bastard, Father? Huh?!”

“Chief Steward.”

At the calm call, an elderly man with pale hair standing at the edge of the room quietly stepped forward.

“Yes, my lord.”

“Stop the inheritance procedures. Burn all the notarized documents as well.”

“Understood.”

At the count’s thunderous command, Gail screamed in desperation.

“W-what? No!”

But the count’s gaze had already gone cold.

“We’ll discuss the inheritance later. And step away from the merchant guild, Gail.”

The count rose, putting his weight on the end of his cane.

As the chief steward supported him and he walked away, Gail desperately shouted after his stubborn retreating back.

“Father!”

“……Finish your meal before you leave. I’m going.”

“Father! Please listen to me!”

Gail still had no idea where his own stubborn nature had come from.

Count Pistachio left the dining room with a face that remained perfectly composed, even as painful coughs wracked his body as though his breath might stop at any moment.

This can’t be happening. How could Father do this to me……!

As Gail stood there in a daze, a mocking laugh came from behind him, as though someone had been waiting for this moment.

“Idiot.”

Gail wondered if he had heard correctly and turned around.

Noah was sitting there with his legs crossed arrogantly.

All traces of the false politeness he had shown in front of their father were gone, replaced by a vicious grin.

“This is why you can’t get anywhere. You’re just too stupid.”

“……What?”

“Congratulations on working your ass off just to hand everything to someone else.”

Noah rose from his seat, lightly patted Gail on the shoulder, and left the dining room without even looking back.

Gail shouted after him belatedly, but it was useless.

“You bastard! Hey! Get back here!”

Gail’s scream echoed through the empty dining hall.

But there was no one left to receive his anger.

Alone in the silence, Gail finally realized that everything had slipped from his grasp.

“……This can’t be.”

A moment later, his strength gave out, and he sank helplessly to the floor.

 

***

 

“This can’t happen. This can’t happen…….”

In the middle of a dark room with not even a candle lit, Gail sat in a daze, muttering to himself.

Broken furnishings were scattered chaotically around him.

Among them lay a crumpled contract.

It was the last one he had signed before going to the dining room.

With alcohol weighing on him, the back of his hunched body and the hiccups that escaped him made him look exactly like a soldier from a defeated nation.

“After all this…… does he really think I’m going to just sit here and do nothing?”

A tiny spark of defiance flickered for a moment before helplessly dying out.

He knew better than anyone how stubborn his father was.

Once he declared something, he would never change his mind.

How did it come to this? Just this morning, everything was…….

But regretting what had already happened would change nothing.

“…….”

His green eyes, searching aimlessly for even the faintest trace of hope, unconsciously turned toward the sunflower painting on the wall.

“The Box That Brings Wealth and Prosperity…….”

As he murmured the title, the painting emitted a strange glow beneath the moonlight, almost as though an animal were responding after hearing its name.

Like a man under a spell, Gail crawled toward the painting and grabbed the canvas as though he intended to tear it from the wall.

“……You’re the one who’s been bringing me good luck all this time, aren’t you? Aren’t you?”

Gail was certain.

There was undoubtedly some indescribable, extraordinary power dwelling within this painting.

“I need more luck. More wealth, greater fortune…… overwhelming luck…….”

Never once in his life had Gail been interested in religion.

He had always believed that relying on imaginary things that did not exist was something only weak people did.

But things are different now.

For a man pushed to the edge of a cliff, this painting was the only rope left within his reach.

“You’re the only one who can help me now.”

At that moment, the safe inside the painting glimmered.

“……!”

Did I see that correctly?

As though proving that it had not been an illusion, the golden dial on the safe flashed once again.

“W-what……!”

A chill ran down Gail’s spine.

With trembling hands, he cautiously reached toward the painting.

At the same time, a breeze swept through the room despite the windows being closed.

“Welcome, Gail.”

“……!”

“I’ve put what you want inside.”

It was impossible to believe.

And yet, perhaps some part of him had secretly been waiting for a moment like this.

The strange painting with its mysterious aura and no known sender.

The chain of good fortune that had followed one after another.

Every night, Gail had spent hours staring at the painting, and somewhere in his heart, he had sensed that perhaps something transcendent existed beyond this flat world.

Could there be an angel dwelling inside, just for me?

Gail’s eyes wavered.

His green irises were filled with the vivid sight of sunflowers glowing white.

“……You’re saying you’ve prepared everything I want?”

“Yes. They are things meant solely for you.”

Gail’s fingers lightly touched the canvas.

“You’d better make good use of those words.”

For the briefest moment, was it his imagination, or had there been a hint of mockery mixed into the strange voice that tickled his eardrums?

Along with an icy chill that crawled up his spine, Gail lost consciousness where he stood.

“Of course. Naturally.”

Where he had disappeared, the only thing left behind was a single overturned bottle of wine.