My Husband Lives Inside a Painting Chapter 6

……What?

As my expression went blank, Camille tightened his grip on my shoulders as though urging me to hurry.

“I just need a little more power. Exactly enough power for one human being.”

“…….”

“You’re not planning to leave me trapped inside this painting forever, are you? Of course, it’s beautiful here. But I want to go outside.”

“……I understand that. But, Camille.”

“Or do you not love me anymore? Have you found another man already?”

Even if he had only thrown the words out casually, that was something I could never tolerate.

A sharp cry, almost a scream, burst from my lips.

“That’s impossible!”

“Then why are you hesitating?”

His tone was persistent, as though he were interrogating me.

“Unless you intend to keep me imprisoned here and torment me, you have no reason to refuse.”

“Torment you…….”

Was Camille really like this?

My thoughts became tangled in confusion.

Then, all of a sudden, I asked myself a question.

‘Orb, what are you doing right now?’

This was a chance to truly bring Camille back to life!

It might even be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that would never come again.

‘So of course I should do what he says! Unless I really have another man.’

And yet…… I didn’t know.

I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong.

The warning bells that had been ringing from the moment I first encountered him were now ringing so loudly that I could no longer ignore them.

“……I-If I give you my soul.”

Breaking through the silence, I finally managed to part my lips, which felt as though they were glued shut.

The words came out as though I were forcing them from my throat.

“What…… will happen to me?”

My eyes met Camille’s.

His eyes, seen from such a close distance that I could feel his breath, were strangely cloudy. Almost as though they didn’t belong to a human.

And then—

“Nothing.”

A gentle voice rang out softly.

“Nothing will change.”

With a mesmerizing smile playing around his eyes.

‘……Ah.’

Only then did I realize.

The being standing before me was not Camille.

“……I-I’m sorry.”

Thump, thump. My heart pounded wildly.

“C-Could we talk about this again later?”

Who was the man standing before me?

He looked so much like Camille, but if he wasn’t Camille, then who on earth was he?

But stronger than my questions was the overwhelming instinct telling me that I had to get out of here somehow.

The canvas. Through there.

“There’s something I haven’t finished doing in reality. I think I need to go out for a moment.”

“Wait, Orb.”

“So, we can talk again next—”

The arm I had stretched toward the canvas was firmly caught in midair.

Pressure traveled along my bones. At the same time, a clear realization struck me.

He—Camille—would never grab me this roughly. Never this harshly, this violently.

“What are you doing right now?”

The man looked down at me with his eyes wide open. The gentleness from moments ago was nowhere to be found on his face.

A faint tremor ran down my spine.

“You’re not seriously planning to leave me here and go out alone, are you? Right now?”

I instinctively took a step backward. The arm he still held stretched taut.

Camille—or rather, the man wearing his shell—pierced through me with an unwavering gaze.

“Why are you making that face? Hmm?”

“…….”

“That’s strange…….”

The words came out as a low murmur.

His voice was still gentle, yet for some reason, I could barely breathe.

An inexplicable sense of wrongness crept over my skin.

It was as though the person standing before me wasn’t the man I knew.

“I didn’t want to do this. But I can’t help it.”

“What? W-Wait—”

At that moment, Camille snapped his fingers.

Snap—

At the same time, the scenery folded up like a sheet of paper, and my vision twisted in an instant.

I only blinked once, but somehow I was already inside the house.

“Argh!”

Without hesitation, Camille shoved me against the wall.

With a loud thud, the kitchen utensils hanging on the wall clattered against one another.

But whether I groaned in pain or not, he didn’t even blink as he continued to press me against the wall.

“I never thought you would betray me like this. What exactly was it that you didn’t like?”

“Ca, Camille.”

A menacing light flickered in his eyes.

“I did everything you wanted. Or were you just playing with me?”

“Let me go!”

“No.”

“……!”

The cozy air inside the house froze in an instant, turning as cold as winter.

It was because of the blatant murderous intent radiating from behind him.

I was terrified. So terrified that my body wouldn’t move as I wanted it to.

‘He’s going to kill me!’

Once I became certain that there was no longer any way to reason with him, I desperately groped behind my back with one hand.

Something fell into my grasp.

“I don’t want to be forceful with you, either. So I’ll tell you one more time.”

“…….”

A heavy, blunt handle. A square shape with a rough, bumpy surface.

“Giving me your soul is surprisingly easy. It won’t even hurt. It’ll be over in the blink of an eye.”

“…….”

“If you want, I can even let you dream of living together with me for the rest of your life. No, I’ll make it happen.”

The cold touch of metal was unmistakable against my palm.

……This was it.

“You’re my first contractor, so I’m making a special offer just for you. What do you think? It’s a pretty good deal, isn’t it?”

Camille didn’t seem to notice that I was fumbling around behind him.

I gripped the handle tightly and squeezed my eyes shut.

“Orb? Why aren’t you say—”

“Sh-Shut up!”

And then I swung it with all my strength.

The moment the bungeoppang mold slammed violently into his head—

Clang—!

“Ugh……!”

With a short cry, his body collapsed limply.

Thud.

The dull sound reverberated across the floor.

“Huff…… huff…….”

……Is it over?

I slowly lifted my eyelids.

Pink hair scattered across the floor, and a body lying completely motionless.

“Ca, Camille.”

Oh, God. What had I done?

I hurriedly dropped to my knees and shook him.

Camille didn’t react at all.

I cautiously raised my trembling hand and placed it beneath his nose.

At the same time, I recoiled in horror and fell backward.

‘He’s…… not breathing.’

My thoughts seemed to shut down completely, and my mind flashed blankly.

 

***

 

Fortunately, when I checked again, Camille was breathing, albeit faintly.

I let out a sigh of relief before suddenly correcting myself.

‘……Ah, he isn’t Camille.’

Once I reminded myself of the man’s true identity, it was as though my reason began to cool my mind.

First, I needed to restrain the man, since I had no idea when he would wake up again.

I searched through the house until I found a rope, then dragged him out to the front yard and began tying him up.

I tied both of his arms behind his back and bound his legs together as well.

Only after I had finished did the tension finally leave my body, allowing me to breathe again.

“Phew…….”

I wiped the sweat beading on my forehead with my sleeve before crouching in front of the man, who was lying on his side like a caterpillar.

Then I poked the cheek of his sleeping face, which looked like that of an angel.

‘This isn’t Camille?’

Even after looking again, I couldn’t believe it.

His eyelashes were longer than a woman’s, his skin was pure white, and even the beauty mark beneath his left eye was the same as my husband’s.

But he wasn’t Camille.

Then what on earth was he?

“……I don’t know.”

And yet, while tying up the man, my mind had strangely become much clearer.

Until just moments ago, my thoughts had felt as though they were trapped inside a soft, hazy fog.

‘I was definitely completely under this man’s spell.’

“Did he deliberately approach me while pretending to be Camille?”

If that really was the case, it was utterly infuriating.

Of all people, how dare he imitate him!

‘What should I do with this bastard?’

Just as my anger was boiling over, the man’s brow furrowed, and he slowly opened his eyes.

“Hmm…….”

“Are you awake?”

“Where am I…… Ah, ugh, my head.”

I must have hit him quite hard, because even after opening his eyes, he remained dazed for a while.

Then, upon realizing that his body was tightly bound, he let out a startled breath.

“……Uh, excuse me. Orb.”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“Did you tie me up?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

An awkward laugh drifted through the silence.

Judging from my tightly closed lips, he seemed to have somehow arrived at a single hypothesis.

“Don’t tell me…… this is your thing?”

His deduction was completely wrong.