My Husband Lives Inside a Painting Chapter 33

As my mind went blank, Camille’s voice came back to me.

“If you’re really scared, just stomp on his foot and run. Don’t think about what happens afterward.”

I had asked him what would happen if I ran like that and failed. It would work if I managed to escape, but what if I didn’t?

After agonizing over it for a long time, Camille had placed a pencil in my hand a few days later.

“Then draw something with this. Anywhere. I’ll come and get you.”

Pagoda’s hand pressing down on my shoulder felt heavy, as though demanding an answer.

Carefully avoiding his gaze, I slipped my hand deep into my pocket.

Found it!

A tiny stick, small enough to be completely concealed in my palm.

But, astonishingly, the moment I grasped it, my wildly pounding heart began to settle.

“W-what are you trying to do?”

“Actually, I hadn’t planned on showing you this room today. I wanted to savor the tension between us a little longer.”

“……”

“But the more we talked, the more impatient I became. I thought I wouldn’t be able to stand it if some other bastard took you away from me.”

His eyes glistened.

“A beautiful, young widow who could disappear without anyone bothering to look for her. What could be more perfect?”

As he led me past the gramophones scattered around our feet and toward the corner of the room, a narrow door came into view. It was so small that we would have to bend down considerably just to pass through it.

“Ah, how careless of me. Please wait a moment. I don’t usually keep this locked……”

Still gripping my arm, Pagoda tightened his hold and roughly twisted the padlock hanging from the doorknob.

Meanwhile, the arm he held was slowly turning white as the blood circulation was cut off.

It hurts. But I can bear it.

Under normal circumstances, I would have frozen stiff and possibly even fainted in a situation like this.

The only reason I could remain so calm was the little pencil digging into my palm.

Just as I marveled at a composure I could hardly believe was my own, I spotted a piece of fabric poking out through the gap in the door.

A sky-blue hem decorated with pale pink flowers.

……Could it be?

The moment I fixed my gaze on the barely visible fabric beyond Pagoda’s back, a dull impact rang in my ears.

“Ugh!”

“W-who the hell are you?”

Thud! Thud—!

The sound of punches rang out loudly. I flinched and turned around, only to see a man standing tall among the sprawled-out servants. My eyes widened.

“……W-what?”

It was Claude.

His gleaming golden eyes turned toward me, and Pagoda let out a hurried, startled hiccup.

“Eek!”

Claude threw aside the servant he had been holding and strode toward me.

“You……”

The golden eyes that stopped right in front of me swept over me from head to toe.

“H-how did you get here……?”

“That’s none of your concern, and—”

Claude’s brow twisted fiercely when he noticed Pagoda’s hand still gripping my arm.

Without hesitation, he brought the edge of his hand down on Pagoda’s arm.

“Argh!”

“No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t understand why you’d crawl into a snake’s den all alone. So I followed you.”

“……”

“Was I wrong?”

For some reason, Claude looked furious.

Only after hearing his reproachful words did I understand why he had been looking me up and down. He had been checking to see if I was hurt.

He had no way of knowing what plans I had made or what precautions I’d taken before coming here. Of course he would be worried.

“Claude, I—”

But my apology was completely drowned out by the furious voice that followed.

“Hah, you…… Claude Ortega?”

“……”

“I had my doubts when I saw your face at the exhibition, but I knew my eyes weren’t deceiving me!”

Clutching his reddened hand, Pagoda curled his lips into a sneer.

“Looks like you’re better suited to being a fucking guard dog than I thought. Even playing stand-in husband for Mrs. Ortega now, are you? What do you think?”

“……What?”

“But there’s such a thing as professional courtesy! How dare you lay a hand on my fish?!”

At the stream of raw, cutting insults, Claude’s gaze shifted toward him.

Pagoda must have known he was at a disadvantage in a fight, yet his anger over having his plans ruined seemed to have taken on a life of its own. He looked utterly unable to control himself.

Claude swept back the hair covering his forehead, his eyes flashing viciously.

“Haah…… You’re bringing out my temper again.”

“What?”

“Hey, Pagoda.”

Stepping in front of me to separate us from Pagoda, Claude quietly looked down at the man spewing nauseating insults at him.

Then, with a cold glare as though he were looking at a bug, he snapped,

“Looks like you still have that perverted hobby of yours.”

“W-what did you say?”

“I should’ve crushed both your balls back then instead of just slapping you. That way, you wouldn’t have been able to function as a man at all. Don’t you think?”

“Y-you little brat! You’re younger than me—!!”

The two of them seemed to know each other well, judging by how freely they hurled such vicious words at one another.

Meanwhile, as I looked up at Claude’s broad back filling my field of vision, my gaze suddenly dropped.

In that fleeting moment, the hem of the garment that had been sticking out through the door slipped out of sight.

……As though someone had pulled it back from the other side.

“……!”

Without thinking, I tugged on Claude’s sleeve just as he was about to throw a punch at Pagoda.

“Claude.”

“What is it? We’re just getting started.”

“Stop. What kind of disrespect is this in someone else’s home?”

“……What did you say?”

“M-Madam!”

Silence fell over the room.

Pagoda’s gaze, brimming with delight at this unexpected turn of events, met Claude’s incredulous stare, as if he thought I’d lost my mind.

I did my best to ignore Claude’s blazing eyes and turned toward Pagoda with a radiant smile.

“I’m terribly sorry, Marquess Buthier. It seems the acting head of the family has misunderstood something. I don’t know how he found his way here, but I sincerely apologize for this grave discourtesy.”

“W-well, ahem…… Yes. It was indeed a grave discourtesy.”

“He is still unfamiliar with Ortega’s rules, so I ask for your generous understanding. I assure you that I won’t let this matter pass lightly. I’ll make sure he receives proper instruction.”

“What are you doing right now……?”

Claude stepped in front of me as if to demand an explanation. I quietly reached out and pressed a finger to his lips.

His anger had been so fierce just a moment ago, yet now he stared at the pale finger resting against his mouth, his eyes widening in bewilderment.

“You said you wanted me to include you in my plans.”

“……”

I signaled to him with my eyes, then continued my farewells to Pagoda, who still looked thoroughly confused.

“Well then, I’ll be taking my leave for today.”

“What? No, there’s no need for you to leave just because this man is going……”

“I’m not so shameless that I would stay after causing such a grave offense. Besides, those people over there need medical attention.”

“Ah.”

Only then did Pagoda turn his gaze toward the servants sprawled out by the door.

He looked as though it hadn’t even occurred to him that he should be concerned about them. Once I left, they might not receive treatment at all. They might even be beaten instead.

It can’t be helped. They have to pay for their crimes, too.

Judging by how they had tried to stop me from leaving, they were undoubtedly Pagoda’s accomplices.

I put aside my cheap sympathy and nodded toward Claude. It was a signal to get out of here before Pagoda changed his mind.

I turned and left the listening room first, but Claude, who had been following me, suddenly stopped.

“Hey, Pagoda Echirosa.”

Then he threw a bucket of cold water over the man, who still hadn’t recovered from the whirlwind of events that had unfolded in just a few minutes.

“Try cleaning up once in a while. Do you think women would like you when it’s this filthy?”

“……What?”

“And be careful not to die young. You’re not going to heaven, so you might as well live a long life.”

“Y-you son of a bitch!”

Leaving Pagoda behind as he fumed and stamped his feet in belated fury, Claude followed me out.