My Husband Lives Inside a Painting Chapter 9

‘But asking me who I want to kill first? Human lives aren’t some kind of game.’

Pressing my throbbing forehead, I let out a sigh.

It wasn’t as though I was certain one of them was the culprit, and even if I pointed my finger at the wrong person, it wasn’t something that could easily be undone.

‘Still, I have to do something.’

There was no road left for me to turn back onto, so the only thing left was to move forward.

I looked through the local newspaper I had asked Romaine to bring me.

An article on the very front page immediately caught my attention.

[Relief Charity Exhibition to Be Held in the Capital Next Month]

—Large Number of Young Artists Expected to Participate…… Changes Coming to the Method of Donations?

An exhibition aimed at providing relief to the poor and supporting the local community is scheduled to be held in the capital next month. This exhibition will also be held with the sponsorship of the House of Ortega and the Imperial Family, and all proceeds from the sale of the exhibited works will be donated. Emerging artists are also scheduled to participate…… (continued).

“A relief charity exhibition…….”

Just then, Romaine, who had finished clearing away the meal, came back in with a trolley.

“My lady, I brought you some snacks!”

“Ah, thank you.”

“Were you reading the newspaper? Oh! I saw that article, too. I heard they’re holding the biggest exhibition ever this time.”

“Really?”

“Everyone’s making a huge fuss about it. Under the head maid’s orders, some of them have already been called away to prepare for it.”

Through Romaine’s words, I could tell just how much the House of Ortega cared about this exhibition.

‘Well, they’ve been involved in charitable work in all sorts of ways from the beginning.’

The Ortegas were involved in various charitable projects, from sponsored exhibitions to running the Agnus Orphanage, free soup kitchens, and charitable medical clinics in the frontier regions.

Meanwhile, as I took a sip of the black tea Romaine had poured for me, I suddenly asked,

“By the way, did anything happen while I was gone?”

“Pardon?”

“The atmosphere in the mansion seemed rather chaotic. Everyone was looking at me as though they’d seen a ghost.”

“Oh, don’t even get me started!!”

Romaine immediately began huffing and puffing as though she had been waiting for me to ask.

“As soon as you disappeared, my lady, I went to see Lady Belladonna, and would you believe……!”

After hearing from Romaine what had happened between her and Belladonna, I quietly folded my arms.

‘If she didn’t come back within a week, she ordered them to clear out my room.’

It was such a characteristically Belladonna thing to say that I wasn’t even surprised.

More than that, what struck me was that Romaine had actually stood up for me.

Though, seemingly unaware of what I was thinking, she was still flaring her nostrils indignantly.

“And then there’s Young Master Claude! I was being dragged out so unfairly, and he didn’t even say a word to help me!”

“……Ah, you mean Camille’s younger brother?”

“That’s right! That mother and son were both so cruel! They’re ice-cold!”

“Still, you should put up with it. You’re not even twenty yet, and you need to earn money.”

“Ha…… I suppose I do, right? Money really is the root of all evil…….”

Seeing someone who hadn’t even reached twenty yet speak like a thoroughly jaded member of society was rather amusing.

I let out an involuntary laugh before suddenly turning my gaze toward the window.

In the distance, a black-haired man was approaching the mansion accompanied by a knight.

‘Who is that? I’ve never seen him before.’

“Uh…… That’s him!”

“That man?”

“Yes! Young Master Claude!”

That man was Camille’s younger brother?

Unlike Camille, who was as dazzling as a flower in full bloom, he had sharp features like a raven with gold embedded in its eyes.

His appearance was so far removed from what I had expected that my curiosity was piqued, and I found myself unable to take my eyes off him.

Just then, Claude, sensing my gaze, raised his head and met my eyes.

And then……

His expression immediately twisted into a deep frown.

“Huh.”

“Wow, you saw that just now, right? That’s rude……!!”

Leaving Romaine, whose eyes were blazing with indignation, behind, I watched Claude disappear into the mansion.

‘What’s with that rude bastard?’

 

***

First impressions don’t always tell the truth.

But Claude was an exception.

Even by an objective standard, he was definitely an unpleasant man.

“Ah.”

The following day, when I ran into him again in the hallway, I reflexively lowered my head.

“Hello. It’s nice to meet you. I’m—”

“Yes.”

Whoosh—

That was the entirety of our first greeting.

“…….”

“Th-that……!!”

Watching Claude walk straight past us with his knight, Romaine stamped her foot, her face bright red.

Well, it was only once. I decided not to make too much of it.

Maybe he had simply been busy?

But unfortunately, the next time was no different.

“My name is Orb. Since we’ll be seeing each other often, I thought we should at least introduce—”

“I’m Claude. Then.”

Before my determination to properly introduce myself could amount to anything, he once again brushed past me without so much as a glance.

‘Is he insane?’

No matter how powerless I was or how little backing I had as a widow, treating someone like this was simply rude.

Just as irritation was beginning to rise within me, perhaps deciding that this really had gone too far, his knight finally stopped walking.

“I apologize, my lady. My lord is rather shy…….”

Romaine immediately seized the opportunity and let loose.

“No, but isn’t this a little too much? My lady has greeted him several times already!”

“Well, I do always tell him to, but it’s just not easy for him to—”

“What’s so difficult about introducing yourself? Is his name more than twenty letters long or something?”

“Romaine. That’s enough.”

I was secretly tense, wondering if sparks might start flying at any moment after her blatant provocation.

But the response I received was completely unexpected.

“Hope. What are you doing instead of following me? I’m leaving you behind.”

Claude casually tilted his head, then continued walking ahead.

“Ah! Don’t leave me behind!”

“If you say one more useless thing, do you think I’ll let you walk home alone?”

“Eek! What a frightening thing to say!”

……Was this what it felt like to be hit by a passing carriage?

Watching Claude and his knight hurriedly following after him, I let out a hollow laugh.

“……Ha!”

Even after that, I ran into him several more times, but Claude remained consistent in his attitude of completely ignoring me.

By this point, even I could tell.

There was definitely something abnormal about the way he was treating me.

And.

There was only one person I could ask about Claude.

Camille.

“My younger brother?”

“Yes. Apparently, he’s going to take over as head of the family in your place since you died. Do you remember anything?”

“Hmm…….”

Camille was lying in the flower field like a carefree idler, munching on bungeoppang as he pondered my question.

When no answer came even after some time had passed, I narrowed my eyes and asked again.

“Do you know? You don’t, right?”

His answer came immediately.

“No. I don’t remember.”

‘I didn’t expect anything.’

I instinctively realized that obtaining information about the past from this man was now practically impossible.

“Well, if he’s my younger brother, he must be handsome. He probably looks like me.”

“…….”

First, I decided to pretend I hadn’t heard that part.

Anyway, judging only from what I had heard, it seemed that Claude wasn’t Belladonna’s son.

Was that why?

His personality was completely different in the first place.

Camille was naturally calm and formal in his manner, whereas that man’s attitude was as cold as could be.

‘Come to think of it, Camille never mentioned Claude while he was alive. They probably weren’t close, either.’

After all, the relationship between a legitimate son and an illegitimate son was one that could never truly become close.

Just then, Camille half-raised himself from the sprawling flower field and plucked a small blossom, bringing it to the tip of his nose.

“Ortega blood doesn’t just disappear. He’s definitely tall and superior in all sorts of ways.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Anyway, have you decided? Who are you going to probe first?”

“Oh. No, not yet.”

Camille’s words snapped me back to reality.

The choice I had temporarily forgotten was now right in front of me again.

Camille smiled languidly as he spoke.

“You should decide quickly. Every clue has a lifespan, after all.”

“……I know.”

Camille was right.

If my husband really had been murdered by someone, I had to act quickly before someone had the chance to destroy the evidence.

‘But I can’t make a hasty judgment in this situation, either…….’

“……So, about that.”

After thinking for a moment, I began speaking as though I had been waiting for the right moment.

“I was thinking I might meet all three of them again and decide afterward.”

“All three? How?”

I looked at Camille, who blinked his round eyes at me, and trailed off for a moment.

“Well…….”

My plan was still rather vague.

But I was certain of one thing.

Sooner or later, I would inevitably come face-to-face with those three men who had turned their backs even on my husband’s funeral.

“A grand stage is about to be set, one that will force those men to walk in of their own accord.”