My Husband Lives Inside a Painting Chapter 36

***

 

Looking up at the curtained windows of Marquess Buthier’s room, I quietly bit my lip.

Camille’s doing all right, isn’t he?

Pagoda could have any woman he wanted if he set his mind to it. Making a single painting more valuable to him than a real person would be no easy feat.

That was why I’d suggested using myself as bait to lure the marquess.

Someone he longed for but could never have. I was the only person who perfectly fit that description.

If the strategy works as intended, I won’t be particularly pleased about it.

It would mean I really was Pagoda’s type.

Ah, of course, that was nothing compared to the ordeal Camille was enduring by having to deal with that disgusting man while wearing my appearance.

For his sake, too, we needed to finish this as quickly as possible.

I was going over today’s plan in my head once more when—

“He’s coming.”

In a low voice, I raised my head and glanced to the side.

Clad in a black robe, Claude was watching the servants rushing toward us in the distance.

Despite my worries, he seemed to have already settled perfectly into his role.

“I’ll take it from here.”

“Very well, My Lady.”

A moment later, a servant came running out of the marquess’s residence and stopped in front of us, panting heavily.

“H-How may we help you?”

“I’ve come to see Marquess Buthier.”

“T-The marquess?”

The flustered servant stepped in our way and firmly cut me off.

“Unless you have a prior appointment, I’m afraid we cannot receive visitors today. I must respectfully ask you to leave.”

But this was exactly the response I’d expected.

“I have an appointment.”

“Pardon?”

I took a sheet of paper from my arms and held it out to him. His face turned deathly pale in an instant.

“This is…”

“As it says there, I’m scheduled to meet with the marquess privately at two this afternoon. We also agreed to have dinner together.”

“B-But I haven’t heard anything about this…”

Of course he hadn’t. It was fake.

“One of my hobbies is imitating the lord’s handwriting. I’m quite the expert at it! Don’t worry. Leave it to me!”

“……Hope, you and I will have a talk later.”

“M-My lord? I meant that in a good way… Aaaagh!”

Grateful for the opportunity Hope’s tearful sacrifice had secured, I offered the servant a gentle smile.

“Then I’ll wait in the reception room with my knight.”

“B-But, Your Grace!”

Leaving the servants behind, I strode straight into the Buthier residence.

I could faintly hear the servants whispering in a corner.

“Has the master still not responded?”

“He ordered us not to let anyone in. He said not to disturb him, no matter who came…”

“What on earth is he thinking…?”

The atmosphere in the reception room was unbearably awkward.

While the servants bustled about anxiously, I was playing at being a lady and her knight, accepting a steaming cup of tea from Claude.

“My Lady, would you care for another cup?”

“This is enough. Besides, you seem to be spilling rather a lot.”

“You should have held your teacup properly, My Lady.”

“How insolent.”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

The longer our little performance went on, the more agitated our audience became.

At last, one of the maids could no longer stand it and hesitantly approached us.

“Um, I’m terribly sorry, but perhaps you could visit another—”

“Pay me no mind. I can wait for as many hours as it takes.”

“B-But…”

“Enough. Do not disturb my rest.”

This was my first time using the difference in our social standing to put someone in their place, but such an overbearing attitude seemed perfectly suited to the customs of this household.

The servants visibly shrank back, no longer daring to address me.

So this is why everyone acts however they please.

But this was no time to leisurely savor the taste of power.

I quickly surveyed the room over the rim of my teacup, then quietly spoke.

“Ah, now that I think about it, I really shouldn’t be sitting around doing nothing.”

“Right? Y-You should really go home, then…!”

“I left a ring in the listening room last time. While I’m waiting for the marquess, I’d like to go and look for it.”

“Pardon?”

As I stood, the servants exchanged startled glances.

Apparently, they’d finally had enough. The servant who seemed to hold the highest rank among them stepped forward and firmly blocked my way.

“Your Grace, I sincerely apologize, but I’m afraid I cannot comply with that request.”

“Why not? I merely wish to retrieve a lost ring.”

“The listening room is an area no one may enter without the marquess’s permission.”

“You must not have seen the letter the marquess sent me. I believe he wrote that I was to be treated with the utmost respect, as though I were the mistress of this house.”

“Even so, we cannot disregard the rules.”

As expected, someone who had served this household for a long time was no easy person to fool.

So he doesn’t trust a mere scrap of paper.

But that, too, was part of the plan.

I paused as though considering the matter, then casually made a suggestion.

“If the problem is that I’d be wandering around the residence, then I’ll simply send my knight instead. I’ll sit here quietly while he searches. Would that be acceptable?”

“You wish to send your knight…?”

“Yes. If you’re truly concerned, you may assign someone to accompany him. Keep a close eye on him to ensure he doesn’t touch anything else.”

“……”

I could feel their relentless gazes, trying to determine whether I was telling the truth.

But today, I’d come here fully intending to deceive them.

A little suspicion like this?

I could get around it easily enough.

“…You must leave as soon as you find the ring.”

“Thank you.”

Now it was Claude’s turn.

I tilted my head slightly. Beneath his robe, his golden eyes shone brightly, fixed solely on me.

He gave a quiet laugh.

“Then I’ll be off, ‘My Lady.’”

“……”

The way he deliberately emphasized My Lady was rather playful.

I told you not to make it so obvious.

Ignoring my glare, he strode across the reception room, seeming oddly excited.

…He’ll be all right, won’t he?

 

***

 

As soon as Claude left the reception room, his expression turned cold.

He glanced at the two servants leading the way, then followed them, organizing his thoughts.

Orb asked me to do two things.

First, secure evidence of the crimes.

Second, deliver the letter through the crack beneath the inner door.

He brushed a hand over his clothes, checking the feel of the white envelope Orb had personally prepared for him. Just then, the servants leading the way came to a halt.

“Five minutes. If you haven’t found it by then, come straight back out.”

“……”

Claude nodded without replying.

Under the servants’ watchful eyes, he entered the listening room. Before him lay the same revolting graveyard of gramophones he’d seen before.

His gaze swept over the room with undisguised distaste before settling on the small door Orb had told him about.

I’m supposed to slip the letter in here, right?

He crouched down, pushed half the envelope through the gap, and waited.

Just then—

“Hey! What are you doing over there?”

He’d been taking too long, and the servant watching him had approached from behind.

Unable to see past Claude’s back, the servant reached over his shoulder.

“This won’t do. We’ll look for the duchess’s ring separately and send it to her. You should leave now.”

“……”

“Hey, can’t you hear me?”

Claude recalled his conversation with Orb that morning.

“What should I do if the servants try to stop me?”

“Hmm…”

The plan was, in fact, rather difficult to carry out.

After pondering it for quite some time, she came up with a surprisingly simple solution.

“Just force your way in. You could even strike them on the back of the neck and knock them out. You know, something you’re good at.”

“……You seem to think I’m some kind of thug. I’m not that bad. Besides, what if this causes trouble later?”

“The servants I saw only obey because they’re afraid of the marquess. If the marquess survives this and holds them responsible afterward, they’ll point the finger at us…”

“But?”

“That won’t happen.”

“……?”

Did she mean the marquess would end up dead?

Claude wasn’t sure, but there was a strange certainty in her voice.

Well, we’re in this together now. I suppose I’ll have to trust her.

In the worst-case scenario, he could take all the blame and retreat to the western territory.

“……”

“Can’t you hear me—?!”

Just as the servant swung a fist at Claude’s back, Claude sprang upright, caught the incoming wrist with ease, and counterattacked.

Thwack!

“I can hear you. I can hear you just fine.”

“Guh…!”

He knocked the servant unconscious with a single blow, then swiftly took down the other man as he rushed forward. In no time, both men were sprawled on the floor like laundry.

“Impatient fools. Tsk.”

He turned back to the gap beneath the door.

Whoosh—

The piece of paper, which had been lying still, was sucked inside as though it had come to life.

“……!”