My Husband Lives in a Painting - Chapter 61

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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 061
Chapter 10. Cornered Rats
“Ungh…….”
I opened my eyes slowly, my head throbbing as though it might shatter.
My vision swam and blurred; only after blinking several times did the shapes around me gradually come into focus.
Inside the Cottage, stacked with old boxes and miscellaneous junk, moonlight seeped through a dust-covered window in a pale, hazy glow.
‘Where am I…….’
I tried to push myself upright but stopped short as a taut, unyielding force pulled me backward.
A Rope wound around both my arms, fixed to a post as though driven in with nails.
The situation was dire. That certainty only deepened when I saw Romaine unconscious beside me.
“Romaine!”
“Ungh…….”
“Are you all right? Ungh…….”
The moment I raised my voice, a sharp pain lanced through my head. I must have been struck from behind and lost consciousness.
I forced my eyes to focus on Romaine and saw a clear streak of blood across her forehead.
‘Who on earth did this.’
I steadied myself and turned my gaze away.
As I surveyed my surroundings, searching for anything that might offer information, a familiar scent reached my nostrils.
‘Wait. That smell…….’
My eyes drifted slowly toward a half-open box. At that moment, the Cottage’s main door swung open roughly.
“So anyway, that bastard tried to pocket my pay, can you believe it?”
“Crazy son of a bitch! So what?”
“Obviously I killed him! Ha-ha! ……Wait, this woman’s eyes are open?”
“What?”
“…….”
“Oh, she really is!”
Damn it. I should have played unconscious.
My body had stiffened reflexively, and I resented it intensely.
“Well, well. Look here.”
A shabby-looking man crouched in front of me and grabbed my chin roughly, forcing my head up.
An unpleasant stench—dirt and sweat mingled together—pierced my nostrils, and I frowned without meaning to.
“Listen, miss. Do we look like we’re joking around?”
“……No. Not particularly.”
“What?”
I took a moment to steady my breathing, then added,
“Who sent you?”
The way they had targeted us the moment we departed from the Territory—kidnapping us with such uncanny precision—made it clear this had been aimed at me from the start.
The man laughed at my composed question, as though finding it absurd.
“Ha, this woman’s lost her fear.”
“…….”
The man tightened his grip on my chin with threatening force.
Yet strangely, I was not frightened. The old me would have fainted long ago at something like this.
Before I could dwell on that dissonance, the man spoke again.
“When dawn breaks, you’ll die here. You and that unconscious woman both.”
“……What?”
“Don’t bother clinging to false hope—there’s no one coming to save you!”
* * *
Romaine regained consciousness roughly an hour after the men left.
“Ma’am? What…… what is this place…… Ow!”
“Romaine, are you all right? Look at me.”
“Ah, no. It hurts.”
She exhaled a shaky breath, her face drained of color. Seeing her features twisted in pain, my brow furrowed involuntarily.
One small mercy was that, having grown careless with only two women present, there appeared to be no one watching us inside the Cottage.
“Ma’am, where has the coachman gone?”
“Since we haven’t seen him, he may already be dead.”
“How can that be……! Then what about the horses—”
“They scattered when we were attacked. They barely managed to bring us here—there’s no way they’d have secured the horses too.”
“Ma’am, that can’t be…….”
Tears pooled at the corners of Romaine’s eyes, threatening to spill over at any moment.
“Then what do we do? Are we going to die……?”
I kept my roiling thoughts hidden and spoke with measured calm.
“…No, don’t worry. I won’t let it come to that.”
I shifted my hips and pressed myself as close to her as I could manage.
“Why don’t you search inside my skirt for a moment? There’s something I tucked away in here.”
“One moment… Ah! I feel something. A stick? Is it a stick?”
With her back still turned, Romaine’s fingers fumbled clumsily in the pocket until she managed to pull out the Pencil I’d hidden there.
“Here it is!”
But then—
“Damn it…”
What appeared before my eyes was a Pencil snapped in half while I’d been unconscious, its tip nowhere to be seen.
‘This wasn’t part of the plan. What now?’
I considered making a blind run for it, but with both hands bound, it was impossible.
On top of that, even I alone would have struggled to escape safely—let alone managing it while protecting Romaine.
‘Get a grip. If I fall apart now, it’s over.’
But that was when—
“Hey, what are you doing?”
A man burst through the door and roughly snatched the Pencil from Romaine’s hand.
“Ha! Leaving a final will before you die?”
“…”
“Listen here, ladies. Even playtime has its limits. If you keep acting on your own like this, you’re going to cause us real trouble.”
The man furrowed his brow irritably and clicked his tongue.
A moment later, the Short Dagger he drew from his chest pressed against my throat.
“Ngh…”
“No, stop! Don’t hurt my lady!”
A burning sensation spread through me where the blade’s tip made contact.
Yet when no scream came in response, the man lifted his shoulder with a shrug.
“Like I said—lost all sense of fear.”
I stared at the crimson droplet rolling from the blade’s edge, and my eyes suddenly flew wide open.
“…!”
As if on cue, men poured through the open doorway from outside.
“You think this is my first time dealing with creatures like you? I know exactly what you’re thinking—that you can still escape, aren’t you?”
“…”
“I was planning to get started around dawn, but it looks like that’s not going to work.”
The man sheathed his Short Dagger and jerked his chin toward the others.
“Drag them out. Execute them now.”
“Yes, Captain!”
Rough hands seized us by the collar, and both of us were dragged mercilessly from the Cottage.
* * *
Squelch, squelch—
With each step through the rain-soaked mud, the sound clung unpleasantly beneath my feet.
‘Romaine has… passed out again.’
When I glanced back, Romaine—who had resisted stubbornly until taking a blow to the back of her head—hung limp as baggage across one man’s shoulder.
Perhaps thinking I was frightened, the man holding the Rope let out a bitter laugh near my ear.
“You’ve been quiet since earlier.”
He smacked his lips regretfully.
“Still, a woman as ruthless as you… I’ve never seen one before. Usually women like the unconscious one over there make it fun by screaming their lungs out.”
“…”
But despite his words, he showed no sign of mercy.
The massive Cliff where we were to be offered up as sacrifice drew steadily closer.
Yet my gaze remained fixed like iron on the enormous boulder rising directly before that Cliff.
“That’s what you get for coveting another woman’s man. Tsk, tsk.”
“Another woman’s man…?”
“Ringing any bells? It should. Kehehehe.”
The man’s mouth twisted into a sneer.
I endured his mockery and waited for more clues to spill out, but nothing useful came.
I steeled myself and opened my mouth.
“…Hey, you said you’d never seen a woman like me before, right?”
The moment the words left my lips, the man’s attention snapped entirely onto me.
“If something this small already counts as ruthless, then I still have a long way to go.”
“What did you say?”
“Let me show you exactly how vicious I can be.”
“What are you—”
Now.
Before the man could even process my words, I twisted my entire body with all the strength I could muster.
He reflexively gripped the rope, but I used that very force against him—dropping low, I yanked him toward me with a violent pull.
A grunt tore from his throat.
Losing his footing on the slick mud, he tumbled forward onto his face.
The moment the rope went slack and my hands came free, I bolted forward as if I’d been waiting for exactly this.
“Grab that woman!”
“She’s heading for the forest! Cut her off!”
As expected.
The men had assumed I’d try to escape into the woods.
But after only a few strides, I veered sharply—sprinting at full speed toward the cliff instead.
And the moment the rough stone face of the rock came rushing toward me, I drew a sharp breath and—
Bang—!!
I drove my forehead straight into the massive boulder with every ounce of force I had.

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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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