My Husband Lives in a Painting - Chapter 3

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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My Husband Lives Inside the Painting — Episode 3
“……What?”
My face drained of color as I turned toward the source of the sound. It was the painting I had drawn.
But when I looked at the canvas again, nothing had changed, and as the tension drained from me, I exhaled unconsciously.
‘I’m hearing hallucinations now.’
That was a bad sign. It meant my body was no longer functioning normally.
“Right, I’ve been awake far too long. I should really go to bed—”
It was then, while I was gripping my throbbing head and stumbling forward, that it happened.
“I called for you. Come here.”
“……Oh.”
Thump-thump, thump-thump, thump-thump.
My heartbeat thundered so loudly I could hear nothing else.
I turned my head very slowly, in halting, jerky motions.
And then I saw it clearly—a stream of light streaming out from inside the painting.
“Gasp……!”
A hand, wrapped in light aura, reaching toward me.
“What on earth is……”
Had I finally lost my mind?
The hand swathed in light aura floated in the darkness like a piece of another world, hovering suspended in the void.
Like foxfire, or a vision on the verge of luminescence.
Just as fear began to grip me, the voice came again.
“Come to me, Ob.”
A low, gentle voice. Unmistakably.
“……Kamiyou?”
“You love me, don’t you?”
“……”
“Don’t miss this chance.”
Stray thoughts dissolved like noise, leaving only that hand imprinted upon my mind like a mirage.
Terror rose within me.
What if I hesitated again, and lost him once more?
If I failed to reach him this time, I might lose him forever.
‘I can’t lose him again.’
An overwhelming compulsion seized me.
Perhaps the answer had been decided the moment I heard his voice.
I moved my hand as if bewitched.
And the instant my fingertips touched the light.
Swoooosh—!
The canvas swallowed me whole, pulling me in.
* * *
My head throbbed as though it might split open.
Dragged forcibly from deep sleep, I felt nauseous with displeasure.
“Ngh……”
I kept my eyes closed, trying to ignore it, when something cool brushed my cheek—crisp air, whispering.
Finally, I surrendered and opened my eyes. And the landscape that unfolded before me was……
“Where am I……?”
Sunlight shattered across a flower field blooming with countless hues. With each brush of the wind, the colors rippled and swayed, while the distant hills and lake held the sky like a watercolor painting.
At the sight of such breathtaking beauty, a gasp escaped my lips.
‘But something’s strange.’
Though I’d never seen this landscape before, it didn’t feel unfamiliar.
The moment I slowly rose and took a step, an odd sensation made me instinctively look down at my feet.
‘Barefoot?’
The trampled grass blades rustled and seemed to cry out. After a brief hesitation, I took another step.
Whoooosh—
The ache that had filled my head faded gradually with each step. A breeze so refreshing it could be mistaken for the sound of waves passed through my hair, washing away even my thoughts.
After walking for some time, a small house appeared at the far edge of the flower field, beyond the border where flowers gave way to grass.
As if drawn by invisible threads, I approached and stood before the door, knocking without thought.
Knock-knock.
Only after the sound rang out did I come to my senses, belatedly aware of my actions.
‘What am I doing right now?’
But as the wooden door creaked open and a voice reached my ears, I froze in place.
“Who are you?”
It couldn’t be.
“……Ob?”
“…….”
Hair the colour of cherry blossoms melted into pink, eyes a piercing blue.
A woman with those features—no, a man.
The moment I saw him, my thoughts stopped dead.
“You’ve finally come!”
The man smiled as though it were the most natural thing in the world, spreading both arms wide.
And without hesitation, he pulled me into his embrace.
The instant I was held against him, the flowers all around seemed to tremble in unison, celebrating our reunion.
I could not respond at all.
“I’ve missed you. Ob.”
The man, his brows softened, tucked my hair behind my ear.
With a touch so delicate it nearly brought tears.
“I’m sorry. You’ve had such a difficult time, haven’t you?”
“…….”
“Are you all right?”
When I felt the cool touch of his hand against my cheek, my scattered mind returned to clarity.
My feet instinctively stepped back, and I managed only a trembling whisper.
“K-Kamiyou, why are you…….”
“Hmm?”
The man’s blue eyes fixed steadily upon me.
“Why here…….”
“Ah, what are you talking about?”
“You’re really……you?”
“Yes. It’s me. Your husband, Kamiyou.”
That smile, seen after so long, was unbearably sweet. Goosebumps rose along my spine.
“You’ve grown too thin. Have you been eating properly lately?”
I nodded as though under a spell, but Kamiyou’s face showed he didn’t quite believe my answer.
“Hmm. And you’ve become better at lying. Or were you always?”
The man standing before me was undoubtedly him.
The man I had loved, the man I had lost. Kamiyou.
His gentle voice, the way he had always worried for me—everything was exactly the same.
Yet I could not believe it.
‘This can’t be real.’
My heart raced with an uncanny speed. I couldn’t tell whether it was joy or fear.
But I could not resist the way his tender voice melted the frost that had gathered in my chest.
“Ob. You cry so much more now.”
Kamiyou gave a small, troubled laugh.
“……It seems to be because of me. I’m happy, but also sorry.”
“…….”
“May I hold you?”
Without waiting for my answer, he pressed me into his arms.
Displeasure flickered through me as I lifted my head, but other emotions overtook it.
“Don’t worry, Ob.”
Kamiyou slowly stroked my reddish-brown hair. The tenderness in his touch was so sweet my heart ached with longing.
“From now on, I will never leave your side.”
A moment later, I barely managed to open my mouth, swallowing down something caught in my throat.
“……Yes.”
My vision blurred, and my mind grew increasingly hazy and numb.
As though slowly sinking into deep water.
* * *
The interior of the Small House was cozy, sized just right for two people to share.
Was this what “an ordinary home” looked like—the kind I had vaguely imagined all my life, having lived in a Mansion?
A wooden side table and chairs, shelves, and a hearth.
That was all.
“Shall I get you a cloth to wipe your face?”
Kamiyou held out a White Cloth he had taken from the shelf.
I sniffled, took the cloth he offered, blew my nose into it, and hunched my shoulders like a turtle in embarrassment.
‘What a sight this is.’
Meanwhile, the man sitting in the chair across from me, chin resting on his palm as he observed me, held a pleased smile at the corner of his mouth.
“You’re beautiful even when you cry.”
“What kind of thing is that to say…….”
My face burned hot, and I turned my gaze away.
After my tumultuous emotions settled, I stole a sideways glance at Kamiyou.
Everything still felt unreal, yet the Kamiyou before my eyes looked exactly as I remembered him in life.
The only difference, if anything, was that he seemed somehow more impish.
“You really do like my face, don’t you? But if you stare like that, you’ll make me embarrassed.”
“……What?”
“If you want, you can verify it yourself. Whether I’m really me.”
Kamiyou tapped his cheek lightly, gesturing for me to touch it.
My expression hardened, but he remained utterly composed.
‘This won’t do.’
Thinking that I’d only fall into his game if this continued, I decided to change the subject.
“But anyway, what’s going on?”
“Hmm?”
I swallowed hard.
“You’re already……dead.”
Yes, Kamiyou was dead.
No matter how sweet and dreamlike this reunion was, hadn’t I watched his coffin being buried in the ground with my own eyes?
Confusion crashed down on me, belated and overwhelming.
He was alive? How could that be? Was this a ghost? But……but how could I explain this sensation in my hands?
Kamiyou scratched the back of his neck as if lost in thought, then casually shrugged his shoulders.
“I don’t know. When I came to, I was already here.”
I had furrowed my brow at his careless response, but then something caught my attention, and I froze mid-gesture.
……Wait a moment. That’s exactly the same as me.
‘Could it be that I’m dead too?’
Just as my spine turned cold, Kamiyou shifted his gaze toward the window and continued.
“Still, Ob, thanks to you we’re able to meet again like this. Isn’t that enough?”
“What?”
“Here is beautiful, unlike the outside world, and peaceful, and also…….”
But there was a word in those words that I couldn’t overlook.
“Wait, hold on. Kamiyou.”
“Hmm?”
“What do you mean by ‘thanks to me’?”
At my question, Kamiyou’s eyes widened round.
As if asking why I would ask such an obvious thing.
“Because you drew all of it.”
“……What?”
“This place. The flower field, the hill, and this house where we are now.”
Then, words came that made sense of all this bewildering situation.
“We’re inside the painting you drew, Ob.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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