My Husband Lives Inside a Painting Chapter 35

6. A Grave You Hear

Pagoda thought to himself.

Ah, could this be love?

He had never in his life wasted so much time anxiously waiting for someone to contact him.

Why hasn’t she replied……? I’ve already sent her so many letters!

Mrs. Ortega was far too inexperienced at this.

How could she fail to send even a single reply when he was courting her so passionately? There had to be a limit to how long she could keep him waiting! He tried to be generous and understanding, but his pride was beginning to suffer.

He received a response to his love letters exactly two weeks later.

“Master, there was a gift of unknown origin left in front of the mansion. Since it was addressed to you, I brought it inside, but……”

“A gift from an unknown sender? Why haven’t you gotten rid of it already— Wait, bring it here.”

“M-Master?”

What the servant cautiously carried in was a large canvas, big enough to conceal a person’s upper body. A neatly folded letter had been tucked into the beige wrapping paper covering the painting.

— To Marquess Buthier.

I would like to apologize once again for my discourtesy the other day.

I have kept all the letters you sent me safe and sound.

I hope this painting will convey my feelings to you.

“……E-everyone, leave us.”

The moment he read the words I hope this painting will convey my feelings, Buthier felt an instinctive surge of excitement and dismissed the servants.

Once he was alone, he carefully unwrapped the painting and let out a gasp that was almost a scream.

T-this is……!

Title: The Back of a Widow Who Could Not Die

The canvas depicted a woman from behind.

She sat on the edge of a bed, dressed in a thin slip, as though she were about to retire for the night.

Her hair, apparently still wet from a recent bath, was gathered and swept over one shoulder, revealing the pale curve of her opposite shoulder and lending her figure a strangely sensual allure.

Even the moonlight pouring in through the window seemed vivid. There was something familiar about the silhouette.

Orb Ortega. It was unmistakably her from behind.

To paint and send me such an intimate glimpse of herself……

This was—yes.

There could be no doubt about it.

She really does like me!

A broad smile broke across his face. Pagoda’s long, thin lips curled into a sinister grin that seemed to stretch from ear to ear.

Still, what a brazen woman.

She had acted so chaste and indifferent, drawing a firm line between them, only to send him such an unmistakable signal in the end.

He opened a drawer and counted the unused recording orbs. One, two, three…… There were enough.

Madam…… I wonder what kind of voice you’ll let me hear?

“Ah, just imagining it is driving me mad.”

He felt as though the temperature in the room had suddenly risen. Pagoda loosened the front of his clothes.

Despite the windows being firmly shut, hot beads of sweat seemed to trickle down his cheeks.

Just as he was becoming immersed in his ecstatic fantasies, an unwelcome voice came from outside the door.

“Master, I’ve brought your meal.”

I was just getting to the good part……

The voice shattering his sweet dream twisted Pagoda’s lips into an ugly grimace. He flung the door open and glared at the maid outside as though he were about to devour her.

“Make sure no one comes anywhere near me today.”

“Pardon? But, Master—”

“Are you daring to question my orders?”

“I-I apologize.”

“And you.”

“Yes! What is it?”

Pagoda barked an order at the knight standing guard outside his room.

“No matter what sounds you hear coming from inside, do not let anyone enter.”

“……Pardon? Ah, u-understood.”

The moment the door closed, Pagoda hurried back to the painting.

Wiping the sweat from his cheek with the back of his hand, he greedily looked over Mrs. Ortega’s silhouette from head to toe.

Though he couldn’t see her face, he freely imagined what lay beyond it.

……What expression would she wear on the bed?

“Hehe, hehehe……”

Pagoda swallowed hard, his eyes gleaming. His fingertips fumbled for his belt, trembling with impatience.

But just as he gripped the front of his trousers with one hand and reached toward the painting with the other, his hand slipped effortlessly into the canvas.

“……W-what?”

At the same moment, a chilling voice pierced his mind.

“Got you, you perverted bastard.”

“W-wuaaaah—!”

And just like that, Pagoda was swallowed whole by the darkness.

 

***

 

“Ugh, my head……”

By the time his cheek, pressed against the cold floor, had begun to go numb, Pagoda finally managed to open his eyes.

“W-why did I sleep here?”

He had a perfectly good bed, yet he had fallen asleep face-down on the floor. In his twenty years of life, nothing like this had ever happened to him.

What the hell were all those servants doing, leaving their master like this?

Just as he resolved to punish the negligent servants for this unprecedented humiliation, he rubbed his eyes and raised his head, suddenly sensing something strange.

The moon is out?

The bright moon outside the window cast a pale light into the dark room.

But as Pagoda slowly followed the straight beam of moonlight with his gaze, he spotted an unfamiliar figure.

It was the silhouette of someone sitting beside the bed.

Who is that?

He rubbed his blurry eyes and narrowed them, trying to make out the person’s identity.

Before long, he recognized the familiar shape of her back.

“M-Mrs. Ortega?”

Pagoda’s eyes widened. His voice trembled in disbelief, and the woman sitting on the bed slowly turned her head.

“I waited because you weren’t waking up.”

“……I-is that really you?”

He swallowed dryly.

Mrs. Ortega slowly turned toward him. Beneath her long lashes, her vivid red eyes met his.

Her gaze, clear as a transparent ruby, pierced his entire body, sending a thrilling shiver through him.

“You were the one who invited me, Marquess.”

“……!”

“If you pretend not to know me now…… I’ll be a little hurt.”

She crooked a finger at Pagoda, followed by a seductive smile.

Wiping the saliva at the corner of his mouth, Pagoda hurried to his feet. As though afraid she might run away, he rushed over and seized her by both shoulders.

“Ah, Madam! T-to think you’d gather the courage to come here…… So you really do feel the same way I do! Isn’t that right?”

“……”

“I even prepared a gramophone for you in advance. And I’ve stocked up on plenty of recording orbs!”

Pagoda started toward the dresser, but the thought of wasting even those few seconds made him turn back.

Instead, he pushed Mrs. Ortega down onto the bed.

“Ah, no. That’s right. We should simply enjoy the night as it comes! You agree, don’t you, Madam?”

Even as he openly revealed his desires, she merely nodded obediently.

Her delicate shoulders, her submissive manner, even the shy flush on her cheeks—all of it was exactly as he had longed for.

Ah, how could a dreamlike moment like this become reality?!

Overcome with emotion, Pagoda pulled Mrs. Ortega into his arms.

Her petite body fit perfectly against him, and he found her unbearably adorable.

“Ah…… This truly promises to be a beautiful night.”

The triumph of finally conquering the woman who had been the hardest to obtain.

I’m the one who gets to have her in the end—the woman even her dead husband couldn’t touch!

Lost in his ecstasy, Pagoda failed to notice.

“……”

The way Orb’s eyes, held in his embrace, gleamed with an icy blue light beneath her knowing, sinister smile.