My Husband Lives in a Painting - Chapter 65

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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 Picture 065
After a stretch of silence, we finally reached our destination.
Unlike the ramshackle hovels crowding the street, this house had an air of respectability about it.
But that’s where the real problem began.
‘Now what do we do?’
As I hesitated for a moment, Basaria brushed past me and stopped before the door.
“Leave this to me from here on.”
“Basaria?”
“I’ve picked up a thing or two about house calls. You can trust me on this.”
His voice carried such absolute conviction that I found myself stepping back without meaning to.
‘What kind of trick does he have up his sleeve?’
I watched nervously as he knocked on the door and launched into words that sounded disturbingly familiar.
“Good day to you. Is this the home of Ilos? We’ve come to share a word of blessing.”
I froze mid-breath.
‘Wait—I’ve heard that introduction somewhere before.’
When no one answered, he continued.
“The spiritual energy emanating from your home is remarkably pure, and we felt called to visit. Would you open the door for just a moment?”
Oh no, this is not going to work.
I grabbed urgently at his sleeve.
“What are you doing? You can’t seriously think that’s going to—”
“Hush.”
Basaria pressed a finger to his lips and winked at me deliberately.
“Trust me. Everyone opens their doors when I say this.”
“No, I—!”
By any measure, it looked like a terrible strategy.
Sure enough, apparently taking us for some sort of cult evangelist, a sharp voice cut through the door.
“I don’t believe you.”
But Basaria paid no heed and kept knocking.
“Still, won’t you spare just a moment to hear us out?”
“I said I don’t believe you!”
“Ha, I’ve felt that way before too. But if you’d only open your heart once, you’d see an entirely different world—”
“Excuse me, Basaria.”
That was the moment I finally lost patience and called him by name.
Bang—!
The door flew open with a thunderous crash.
“What kind of charlatan shows up in broad daylight and—!”
“……”
“Ah, hello there.”
“W-who are you people?”
The man, seeing our surprisingly neat appearance, hesitated for a moment.
“Well, you see, we are…….”
An awkward silence hung between him and me.
Then a gentle voice cut through the moment between us.
“A pleasure to meet you. We are investigators dispatched from the Shrine.”
“I-investigators? What brings such people out here……?”
“Nothing serious. We’ve simply come to ask you a few questions.”
Basaria seized control of the conversation smoothly, his voice carrying that distinctive air of composure and trustworthiness as he posed his question boldly.
“First, if I may be so bold—are you the mistress of Densum Calanko, the Minor Duke?”
For something coming from a Priest’s mouth, it was a remarkably candid and unprejudiced inquiry.
* * *
The situation was finally brought to a close when I, in shock, hastily covered Basaria’s mouth with my hand.
Even after we moved inside the man’s house, my apologies continued for some time.
“I’m so terribly sorry. I don’t even know how to apologize for this…….”
As embarrassment made me lower my head, the man responded with a hearty laugh.
“Ha, it’s quite all right. I can see how there’d be a misunderstanding.”
“No, not at all. This person is simply unfamiliar with the speech of the secular world, and I ask your forgiveness for the rudeness that resulted from it.”
“I understand completely, truly.”
It was a great relief that the man had a gentle disposition.
He set a steaming cup of Black Tea before us and settled into the chair across from ours.
Then, glancing back and forth between a somewhat crestfallen Basaria and myself, he began to speak with natural ease.
“You said both of you came from the Shrine, correct?”
Since I’d imposed silence on Basaria, I naturally took the lead in the conversation.
“Yes, that’s right. This is Sarah, and I’m Ob.”
“As for my name… you already know it, I assume. So instead, might I ask why you’ve come all this way?”
“Ah.”
After a moment’s thought, I continued without shifting my expression.
“We’ve been dispatched to investigate a murder that occurred near the tavern where your brother works.”
“A—a murder?”
“Yes. However, this investigation is being kept confidential externally…”
“Ah! I see. I won’t breathe a word of it, I assure you.”
Fortunately, after confirming Basaria’s Priest’s vestments, Ilos’s wariness had visibly softened.
Ilos continued awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.
“Still, in a place like this, so many miscellaneous incidents occur… I’m not sure how much help I can be.”
“Even minor details would be helpful—please speak freely. And if that’s too difficult, you could simply tell me about your brother instead.”
“Well…”
As I posed my question in the gentle tone of casual conversation, he soon took the bait I’d lightly cast.
“First, as you likely already know, I work as a bartender at Shillakwon. I’ve been there for… let me think… nearly ten years now.”
“May I ask why you’ve continued in that line of work?”
“There’s no particular reason.”
The man answered plainly, then shifted his right leg slightly outward from beneath the table.
“Simply put, as you can see, my leg troubles me, so this is all I’m able to do.”
“Ah…”
He was lame.
“That’s quite admirable—that you’ve kept at the bartending for so long despite that.”
“Ha, you’re too kind.”
“I’ve just turned twenty-one this year, and having grown up only within the Shrine’s walls, I’m hopeless at anything in the outside world.”
“Oh, we’re the same age then!”
I focused on closing the distance between us naturally, without hurrying.
Breaking down his wall of caution proved simpler than expected.
A name, an age, a few hobbies.
Simply by offering a handful of personal details, Ilos noticeably began speaking more freely.
“Still, it’s been so long since I’ve had a real conversation about something other than work. Honestly, I can’t remember the last time I had a visitor.”
“You never married? The flowerbed at the entrance is so well-kept, I assumed your wife must be tending it.”
“Ah, you noticed the flowerbed! Though it’s a bit embarrassing to admit, I tend it myself.”
“I see…”
“As for marriage, I’m ashamed to say I haven’t managed it yet. I simply haven’t found the right person.”
“I understand.”
“By the way, does the black tea suit your taste? One of my patrons brought it back as a gift after traveling south…”
“Ah, you don’t mean the Duke’s young son from Kalangko, do you?”
I’d introduced Densum’s name into the conversation quite naturally.
Sensing the flow was working well, Basaria glanced back at me briefly.
Meanwhile, Ilos laughed and waved a hand, before smoothly steering the topic toward Densum.
“No, though the young Duke is indeed one of my long-standing patrons. He’s been visiting me regularly since my previous place of work.”
“That’s surprising. A young nobleman from a ducal house visiting regularly—that’s no small thing.”
“He says my drinks taste the best. Ha.”
Ilos scratched the back of his neck, embarrassed to be praising himself.
‘Densum frequents that tavern every week just for the taste of the drinks?’
No. There had to be another reason.
With that thought, I pressed on with the conversation, my senses fully alert.
“Still, doesn’t living alone feel inconvenient?”
“Ah, well. I’ve been alone for about ten years now. Originally I lived with my younger sister.”
“…Your younger sister?”
“Yes. Would you like me to show you a photograph?”
Ilos removed his locket pendant and set it before us, then opened it with a soft click.
“My younger sister, Meden. She’s quite beautiful, isn’t she?”
I examined the face of the young girl he’d introduced as Meden carefully, as though committing it to memory.
Then my eyes widened.
‘That hair color…’
“We have different mothers, so our hair colors differ, but I’ve always been fond of this child’s red hair.”
“My, I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
At that moment, Basaria, who had been keeping his lips firmly sealed all along, suddenly tilted his head and murmured.
“In Etherion, we strictly prohibit such things as Idol Worship. I’m not entirely sure why such a prohibition exists, but…”
“I’ve never heard of such a taboo before.”
“Sister. You don’t think I’m lying to you, do you?”
“…Well.”
At my tepid reply, Basaria’s mouth fell open as if he’d been struck.
Just then, Ilos burst out laughing.
“How amusing.”
“Pardon?”
“The Duke is quite fond of fiddling with this Locket Pendant whenever he sees it. Perhaps it’s not such a famous form among the nobility?”
“….”
In that instant, I felt as though I’d been struck hard on the back of my head.

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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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