My Husband Lives Inside a Painting Chapter 3

“……What?”

With the color drained from my face, I looked toward the place where the voice had come from.

It was the painting I had drawn.

But when I looked at it again, nothing had changed. The tension abruptly left my body, and I unconsciously let out a breath.

‘Now I’m hearing things.’

That wasn’t a good sign.

It meant my body was no longer functioning normally.

“Right. I’ve been awake for too long. I should just go to sleep—”

Just as I clutched my splitting headache and staggered toward the door—

“I called you. I’m over here.”

“……Ah.”

Thump, thump, thump.

My heartbeat was so loud that I could hear it ringing in my ears.

Very slowly, in stiff, jerky movements, I turned my head.

And then I saw it.

A stream of light extending from within the painting.

“Gasp……!”

A hand wrapped in light, reaching out toward me.

“W-What in the world is this……?”

Had I finally gone mad?

The hand enveloped in light floated in the middle of the darkness, as though it were a fragment of another world.

Like a will-o’-the-wisp.

Or perhaps an apparition just before it began to glow.

Just as fear began to creep over me, the voice rang out once more.

“Come to me, Orb.”

A low, gentle voice.

It was unmistakably—

“……Camille?”

“You love me, don’t you?”

“……”

“Don’t let this opportunity pass you by.”

All my thoughts vanished like noise, leaving only that hand imprinted in my mind like a mirage.

At the same time, fear arose within me.

What if I hesitated again and lost him once more?

If I failed to grasp him this time, I might lose him forever.

‘I can’t lose him again.’

A powerful impulse surged through me.

Perhaps the answer had already been decided the moment I heard that voice.

As if possessed, I moved my hand.

And the moment my fingertips touched the light—

Whoosh—!

The canvas pulled me in as though it intended to swallow me whole.

 

***

 

My head felt like it was splitting apart.

A nauseating discomfort overwhelmed me, as though I had been forcibly dragged out of a deep sleep.

“Ugh……”

I kept my eyes closed, desperately ignoring it, when—

Rustle, rustle……

Cold air brushed against my cheek.

In the end, I reluctantly opened my eyes.

And the scenery spread out before me was……

“Where is this……?”

Sunlight scattered across a field blooming with flowers of every color.

Each time the wind swept through, the colors rippled, while the distant hill and lake held the sky within them like a watercolor painting.

The scenery was so beautiful that it almost hurt my eyes, and an involuntary exclamation escaped my lips.

‘But this is strange.’

It was certainly a landscape I had never seen before, yet it didn’t feel unfamiliar.

I slowly got to my feet and took a step.

Then, struck by a strange sensation, I instinctively looked down at my feet.

‘Barefoot?’

The crushed blades of grass rustled beneath my feet as though crying out.

After hesitating for a moment, I took another step.

Whoosh……

The pain that had filled my head gradually faded with every step.

A refreshing breeze, cool enough to be mistaken for the sound of waves, passed through my hair as though washing even my thoughts away.

I walked like that for who knew how long.

At the edge of the field, beyond the boundary between flowers and grass, a small house came into view.

Drawn toward it as though under a spell, I approached and stopped in front of the door.

Without thinking, I knocked.

Knock, knock.

Only after the sound echoed did I finally come to my senses.

‘What am I doing?’

But then the sound of the wooden door opening was followed by a voice, and I froze completely.

“Who is it?”

No way.

“……Orb?”

“……”

Pink hair as though cherry blossoms had been melted into it, and vivid blue eyes.

A woman—

No.

A man with those features.

The moment I saw him, my thoughts came to a complete halt.

“You finally came!”

The man smiled as naturally as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, spreading his arms wide.

Then, without hesitation, he pulled me into a tight embrace.

The moment I was enveloped in his arms, all the flowers around us trembled at once, as though celebrating our reunion.

I couldn’t react at all.

“I missed you, Orb.”

The man gently brushed my hair behind my ear, his brows softening.

His touch was so delicate it brought tears to my eyes.

“I’m sorry. It must have been so hard for you, right?”

“……”

“Are you all right?”

When I felt his cool hand against my cheek, my distant mind finally returned.

I instinctively stepped backward and managed to force out a trembling voice, unable to believe what I was seeing.

“Ca, Camille, why are you……?”

“Hm?”

His blue eyes gazed directly into mine.

“Why are you here……?”

“Ah, I wondered what you were talking about.”

“Are you really…… you?”

“Yes. It’s me. Your husband, Camille.”

His smile, one I hadn’t seen in so long, was unbearably sweet.

Sweet enough to send chills down my spine.

“You’ve gotten so thin since I last saw you. Have you been eating properly lately?”

I nodded as though hypnotized, but Camille didn’t look like he believed my answer at all.

“Hmm. You’ve gotten better at lying, too. Or were you always good at it?”

The person standing before me was undoubtedly him.

The man I had loved and then lost.

Camille.

His gentle voice was the same.

His habit of always worrying about me was the same.

Everything was exactly as I remembered.

And yet, I couldn’t believe it.

‘It’s impossible.’

My heart was beating unnaturally fast.

I couldn’t tell whether it was from joy or fear.

But I couldn’t stop my frozen heart from melting at the sound of Camille’s gentle voice.

“Orb. You’ve gotten much more prone to tears, too.”

Camille gave a small, troubled smile.

“……I think it’s because of me. I’m happy, but I’m sorry, too.”

“……”

“Can I hug you?”

He didn’t even wait for my answer before forcibly pulling me into his arms.

A flicker of discomfort rose within me, but other emotions overwhelmed it.

“Don’t worry, Orb.”

Camille slowly stroked my light-brown hair.

The affection in his touch was so sweet that my heart ached.

“From now on, I won’t ever leave your side.”

A little while later, I finally managed to open my mouth, swallowing the lump in my throat.

“……Yes.”

My vision blurred, and my consciousness gradually became hazy and numb.

As though I were slowly sinking into deep water.

 

***

 

The inside of the small house was cozy enough to be just right for two people.

Was this what I had vaguely imagined a ‘normal family home’ to be like, having lived my entire life in a mansion?

A wooden bedside table and chairs, a shelf, and a fireplace.

That was all.

“Do you want a cloth to wipe your face?”

Camille held out a white cloth he had taken from the shelf.

Sniffling, I blew my nose into the cloth he handed me, then hunched my shoulders like a turtle out of embarrassment.

‘I can’t believe he’s seeing me like this.’

Meanwhile, he sat in the chair across from me, resting his chin in his hand as he observed me with a pleasant smile playing around his lips.

“You’re pretty even when you cry.”

“Why would you say something like that……?”

My face grew hot, and I averted my gaze.

Then, after my turbulent emotions had finally calmed down, I secretly glanced at Camille.

Everything still felt unreal, but Camille before my eyes looked exactly as I remembered him when he was alive.

There was just one difference.

Somehow, he had become much more sly.

“You really like my face, don’t you? But if you stare at me so intently, you’re going to make me embarrassed.”

“……What?”

“If you want, you can check for yourself. See if I’m really me.”

Camille tapped his own cheek, gesturing for me to touch it.

Even as my expression stiffened, he remained perfectly calm.

‘No.’

If I let this continue, I would only end up playing along with his pace.

So I decided to change the subject.

“By the way, what happened?”

“Hm?”

I swallowed hard.

“It’s just…… you were already…… dead.”

Yes.

Camille was dead.

No matter how sweet and dreamlike our reunion was, hadn’t I watched his coffin being buried with my own eyes?

Confusion came crashing over me belatedly.

He was alive?

How?

Was he a ghost?

But…… What about the sensation of his body beneath my hands?

Camille scratched the back of his neck as though deep in thought, then casually shrugged.

“I don’t know. I’m not really sure myself. When I came, I was already here.”

I frowned at his half-hearted answer.

Then I noticed something and stopped moving altogether.

……Wait.

Isn’t that exactly the same as me?

‘Could it be that I’m dead, too?’

A chill ran down my spine.

Camille turned his gaze toward the window and continued.

“Still, Orb, thanks to you, we were able to meet again like this. Isn’t that enough?”

“What?”

“This place is beautiful and peaceful, unlike the outside world, and…….”

But there was one word in his statement that I couldn’t overlook.

“W-Wait a moment, Camille.”

“Hm?”

“What do you mean? You said it was thanks to me.”

At my question, Camille’s eyes widened.

As though I had asked why the sky was blue.

“Because you drew everything, didn’t you?”

“……What?”

“This place. The flower field, the hill, and even this house we’re in right now.”

Then came the words that neatly explained this entire bizarre situation.

“This is inside the painting you drew, Orb.”