My Husband Lives in a Painting - Chapter 68

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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 68
“Did he take some kind of medicine? Have you checked the room thoroughly?”
“I’ve already searched everywhere. But there’s no medicine—the place was spotless. You know how meticulous he is.”
“The only thing that’s changed for certain is that he’s been sleeping more…… Could that be the problem?”
Yet someone had happened to notice something odd.
“More sleep? Then why does he have such dark circles under his eyes?”
“How should I know? I haven’t a clue.”
The remark was buried and forgotten naturally enough.
Increased sleep couldn’t possibly be the cause of insanity, after all.
And a few days later,
Densum woke from his slumber and began to raise havoc.
* * *
Crash—!
Bang! Thud-thud!
A half-destroyed door and servants gone ashen-faced.
In the center of them, gathered in a circle, stood Densum.
“Hah, hah…….”
His face had gone deathly pale as he gasped for breath.
“Medehn…… Medehn has vanished.”
The Head Maid stepped forward to question him, though his words made no sense.
“Young Master, please, compose yourself! What on earth is this commotion about!”
“Shut your mouth!!”
But Densum seemed entirely unwilling to hear her.
His eyes were wide and gleaming, filled with an incomprehensible hostility.
“My pendant…… You touched it, didn’t you? Didn’t you?”
“A, a pendant? What do you mean—!”
“You took Medehn’s photograph!”
Densum opened the pendant he’d been clutching with anxious hands, then simply crumpled.
Bewildered eyes fell upon the hollow interior.
“There was Medehn’s photograph inside this. When I hold it and sleep, she visits me in my dreams every single night…….”
His voice faltered, and tears began to fall from his eyes.
“But tonight, I couldn’t dream. No matter how hard I tried to sleep, there was only complete darkness…….”
The servants could not comprehend.
Was he truly causing all this destruction simply because he couldn’t have a dream?
Complete darkness? When one closes their eyes to sleep, the world naturally goes black!
“Hm, well…….”
The servants’ eyes darted back and forth.
Their expressions needed no words—they understood one another perfectly.
‘The young master of Kalangkoe has completely lost his mind!’
Yes. Now there was no denying it had come to this.
“Medehn, Medehn…….”
Watching Densum still murmuring someone’s name, the Head Steward made his decision.
“……Restrain the Young Master. We cannot let him injure himself further.”
“But if we confine him without permission, the Master will——!”
“I will take responsibility. Right now, it’s more important that this doesn’t leak outside.”
“Y-yes, sir!”
Presently, several burly servants appeared and began to advance toward Densum with long strides.
Densum sensed the threat instinctively and began to back away slowly, seized with terror.
“You lot—surely you don’t mean to——.”
“We beg your pardon. Please forgive this rudeness.”
“You wretches—!”
Densum’s voice rose in a surge of fury.
In that moment, the pendant gleamed.
‘Eh?’
Mid-retreat, Densum’s gaze snapped toward the pendant.
And just then, small letters appeared on its surface.
Did the reunion with your first love bring you joy?
“W-wait!”
Densum held up his palm to halt the servants advancing toward him.
In the moment they stopped short, he rubbed his eyes and looked at the pendant again with clear vision.
Yet in that moment, another sentence surfaced on the Pendant.
But regrettably, the dream ends here.
If you wish to continue further…….
The back of Densum’s neck grew cold, and his heart began to pound.
‘What on earth is this…….’
Gulp.
As he swallowed, the final words came to him.
Come to Ortega Manor.
* * *
‘Exactly two weeks. Perfect.’
I gazed at the calendar, fixing my expression into a cold smile.
‘It took longer than I expected. Or did it end faster than planned?’
Still, considering the time from when I first sent the Painting to Densum, it had certainly been a large-scale operation stretching nearly a month.
How many people had lent me their aid along the way, and how many days had I spent waiting.
‘Yet in the end, it all unfolded beautifully. I’m fortunate.’
I was the one who purchased a Pendant identical to Illos’s and painted the image inside it.
I was the one who secretly placed it before the Garden of Eden, guiding Densum to take it naturally.
I was the one who instructed Camille to pull him into the Painting once he laid the Pendant by his bed.
I was the one who told her to follow Medehn’s example and grant him the most perfectly blissful dream.
All of it was me.
And so, in just two weeks, Densum had become a broken individual.
Now I prepare for his final curtain call.
I cast my gaze to the side.
“Camille. You’ve worked hard all this time.”
The wind that slipped through the window set the white curtains rippling gently.
Through the gap appeared a landscape painting stitched with flowers of every hue.
“Without you, this plan could never have come to fruition. I’m grateful once again.”
Soon, Camille’s form rose slowly upon the canvas.
“Don’t mention it. If anything, I suffered more than you did.”
Today was the first time I had moved her Portrait from the Studio into this room.
Perhaps for that reason, she seemed delighted, playfully winking at me.
“If you think it was difficult for me to impersonate Medehn, you’re mistaken. You know, don’t you? I’m a Demon whose hobby is deceiving and manipulating humans.”
“Is that something to boast about?”
“Of course. If you’re the wife of a Demon, you should take pride in it.”
Look at that utterly shameless face.
But finding no fitting response, I dismissed it with a hollow laugh.
“Anyway, what was your plan for handling Densum when he arrives?”
Camille posed the question.
I answered with deliberate gravity.
“First, I’ll press him on whether he’s the true culprit, and once I extract his confession, I’ll lock him in the Painting immediately.”
“So the final disposal falls to me. For destroying evidence, that’s certainly the cleanest method.”
“Yes. We cannot have blood spilled in this place.”
Late afternoon. The quiet Bedroom of a widow.
No one would ever imagine a murder taking place here.
Not even Densum, whose suspicion ran as deep as disease, would come defenseless as he surely will.
“Still, there are too many variables. What if Densum brings a weapon?”
“I already told you I’ve prepared self-defense measures. How much longer will you worry?”
“What good is that little blade going to do?”
A scoff echoed through the air.
“No, this won’t do. I’m going to watch carefully, and if anything looks remotely dangerous, I’m stepping in immediately.”
Camille in the Painting made as if to open her eyes wide, but I shook my head firmly.
“Unfortunately, the Painting will be covered, so you’ll just have to wait quietly.”
“What? I don’t want that!”
“Densum might grow suspicious if he sees the Painting. It can’t be helped.”
Since today was the final act, I had to be cautious beyond all caution.
I intended to pull back the White Cloth at the perfect moment and push Densum into the Painting.
“I wanted to watch too…….”
“Watch? Does this look like entertainment to you right now?”
“You understand nothing of a man’s heart. I simply wanted to see my beloved absorbed in her work!”
“……What did you just say?”
I swallowed back a hollow laugh, as though utterly exasperated.
At that very moment, a hysterical giggle began creeping up my cheeks.
Knock, knock—
At the sound of someone rapping on the door, I hastily composed my expression.
I quickly covered the painting with white cloth, told them to enter, and Romaine stepped into the room.
“Madam, there’s… a guest who has arrived.”
At her polite inquiry, I answered as though I’d been expecting this.
“Show them in here.”
“Pardon?”
“It’s the young Duke of Callangkoe, isn’t it? Am I wrong?”
“W-well, that’s true, but…”
Only then did it occur to me that my behavior just now might have seemed rather odd.
But then again, what did it matter.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
I gazed at her with a composed face, as though nothing had happened at all.
Maintaining a confident demeanor seemed to be the right answer—Romaine’s bewildered expression faded, and she shook her head.
“Oh, no, madam. Shall I bring tea, then?”
“No, skip that. But Romaine.”
“Yes?”
I grasped both her hands firmly and lifted the corners of my mouth in a gentle smile.
“There’s something I must ask of you, something very important…”

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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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