My Husband Lives in a Painting - Chapter 34

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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 in a Painting, Episode 34
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“Annmarie appears to be alive.”
I delivered the truth calmly, my voice edged with certainty.
“I saw fabric moving in the inner room of the Gallery Hall. It matched the description Joh Hen gave exactly.”
My new ally’s shoulders tensed slightly at the frank confession.
“Then why not say so immediately? We could have just destroyed it and extracted her—”
“Didn’t you see soldiers swarming in on our way out? They came running at the commotion we caused.”
“……If I’d known she was at the Boutier Marquis Estate, I would have acted more cautiously.”
Claude’s voice grew quieter.
The awkward way his gaze drifted toward the window suggested he recognized his own haste.
But I had no intention of blaming him, so I reassured him with measured calm.
“I’m not saying you ruined our plan. We were only there to gauge the situation anyway, and we’ve found Annmarie’s whereabouts—so we’ve achieved our goal. If anything, you showed up at the perfect moment.”
“…….”
“Thank you. For coming to rescue me.”
“……That’s enough, then.”
What an honest man he was not. I let out a small laugh.
The silence that followed was broken by Claude’s quiet question.
“But is there any chance the girl is in danger?”
“Given that they’ve kept her alive this long, I don’t think so. Especially now, when all attention is fixed on me.”
I couldn’t rescue Annmarie immediately anyway.
While her rescue was crucial, I was also concealing my own vendetta.
To catch two rabbits with one stone, one must be twice as careful.
“But I think it’s time I told you now, Claude.”
I fixed him with a steady gaze. His golden eyes, which had been troubled a moment before, flickered with light.
“……Just don’t get sick when you hear it.”
“I’m fine. I have a surprisingly strong stomach.”
“Ha, I never thought I’d actually speak of this……. Well, let’s move somewhere else first.”
And so we made our way to Claude’s Office.
The sunset had long since retreated beyond the mountains, and deep darkness had settled over everything.
The midnight conference opened with four of us gathered: myself, Claude, Romaine, and Hope.
“When I was sent to the Western Territory, I had not a single friend to my name.”
Claude began matter-of-factly.
“More precisely, I had no one on my side at all. What they called recuperation was really just being cast off by the family—even stray dogs could see that much.”
“……Ahem, for what it’s worth, I only entered service two years after you arrived, my lord.”
Hope, standing behind, interjected as if defending himself.
Claude shrugged dismissively.
“I wasn’t blaming anyone. The Head Butler at that time, Ron—he’s passed now—was actually a decent man.”
“That Ron was my grandfather, sir!”
“……Yes. Though I do wonder how the blood got diluted along the way.”
“Huh?”
“Anyway, let me continue.”
Ron, Head Butler of the Western Territory, took pity on Claude when the boy was merely eight years old and abandoned by Belladonna.
Ron held the conviction that children should grow up as children, and so he made inquiries among the neighboring noble houses to find a family with a child of similar age to Claude.
“The person he found was Pagoda Etchiosa.”
“Etchiosa—is that the name he used when he lived with his mother?”
“It was. Though it likely had no real significance. It was merely a disguise to conceal his true status.”
Claude continued.
“So……I was often invited to Etchiosa Manor. But unlike his mother, Pagoda paid me no mind, despite being the same age.”
“Then?”
“The maidservants. He showed interest only in the maidservants who came with me.”
“…….”
So that’s when his taste for married women began?
‘His tastes really are like pine wood.’
Claude noticed my expression hardening and let out a short, quiet laugh.
“Now do you understand why I kept my distance from him? Besides, Hope arrived at my residence around that same time, so there was no reason to go to the baron’s manor anymore.”
“……Ah, so that’s why you’d glare at me whenever I happened to be among the maidservants.”
“I thought you were another woman-mad fool. Frankly, aren’t you, at least a little?”
“That’s unfair! I’m a man of sincere devotion!”
Hope struck his chest repeatedly to protest his indignation.
Then I cast a desperate glance toward Romaine, who stood behind me, but he merely widened his eyes in confusion.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Oh, no……!”
Damned if I hadn’t stumbled upon yet another one-sided love affair in progress.
“……Anyway, that’s not the important part,”
Claude brushed off the flustered Hope with a light wave and resumed speaking in measured tones.
“Whether that man was infatuated with women or not was no concern of mine. It wasn’t even my domain to meddle in. But trouble has a way of cropping up in the most unexpected places.”
“What happened?”
“…….”
He fell silent for a moment, his brow tightening.
Not passion, but rather an old, long-buried anger that had gone cold—now rising to the surface once more.
After a pause, Claude’s recollection began.
“What’s going on? Everyone gathered here like this.”
“Ah…… My lord, Maria is leaving the estate today, so we were holding a small farewell gathering.”
“A farewell gathering? Is she retiring and heading back to her hometown?”
“No. She received a scouting offer from Etchiosa Manor.”
“……Etchiosa?”
“I wasn’t particularly upset about her leaving the estate. But something about the name Etchiosa struck an odd chord. And sure enough……”
“……Don’t tell me.”
“She wasn’t found dead, but it was a close thing.”
“My lord, my lord! Come quickly!”
“What is it? I’m exhausted.”
“Ma, Maria……!!”
“Maria?”
After a stretch of silence, he finally parted his heavy lips with difficulty.
“Less than a week after her departure, the maid who had left for the manor returned in the dead of night. ……She was in a terrible state.”
“Yes, I remember. Her whole body was wrapped in bandages, one eye lost, and her fingernails were—”
“Hope, that’s enough.”
“I, I apologize.”
As I found myself frowning at the vivid description, Claude raised a hand to stop me.
From the corner of my eye, I could see Romaine’s complexion had already gone deathly pale.
“……I think I’m going to be sick.”
Perhaps because we were in similar circumstances, it struck him viscerally.
“What exactly she endured at that estate, we never learned. The memory alone was too painful to dwell on, so we couldn’t bring ourselves to ask. And the incident—”
“Since the perpetrator was nobility and the victim merely a servant, the whole thing would have been buried quietly.”
“No.”
“What?”
“I went directly to Etchiosa Manor. And I left that bastard’s face crushed to pulp.”
“…….”
“Do I care? Whether he’s the Emperor’s son or whatever.”
His actions went beyond bold—they were recklessly audacious. Yet for the servants of the estate, it must have been an incredibly moving event.
Sure enough, Hope added a subtle explanation that Claude had earned the complete respect of the territory’s people after that incident.
“It turned out he’d extended scouting offers to several others besides Maria. But after my lord’s…… righteous judgment, he never dared show his face near our estate again.”
“……Yes, I imagine that was the case.”
“Thanks to that, Maria regained her spirits, and now she’s built a family and has children of her own.”
Since I had hoped for a happy ending, I could finally exhale with relief.
Meanwhile, Claude still carried an icy, severe air about him.
“I thought I’d thoroughly corrected that behavior back then. I never imagined it would happen again.”
“Don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault.”
“…….”
Despite my consolation, Claude remained silent, rhythmically tapping the armrest with his fingernails, lost in thought for a long while.
Judging from his dark expression, he was clearly reproaching himself for not having dealt more harshly with the matter in the past.
‘Was that why he asked to be included in finding Annmarie? A sense of kinship?’
A child abandoned in his early years, cast out and exiled by his parents.
Perhaps he was projecting his own past onto these discarded children.
“……Claude. You said you’d include this in the plan?”
“…….”
“There’s something I’d like your help with.”
My crimson eyes and his golden gaze tangled together in the empty air.
Facing his wavering golden stare, I laid out my entire plan without reservation, heedless of how deep the night had grown.

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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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