Chapter 9

My Husband Lives Inside the Painting

‘But asking me who I want to kill first? A life isn’t some kind of game.’

I pressed my aching forehead and sighed.

I wasn’t even certain that one of them was the culprit, and if I pointed my finger at the wrong person, it wasn’t something I could easily clean up afterward.

‘Still, I have to do something.’

There was no road back anymore, so the only thing left was to move forward.

I looked through the local newspapers I had asked Romain to bring me.

One article on the front page immediately caught my eye.

[Charity Exhibition to Be Held in the Capital Next Month]

— Large Number of Young Artists Expected to Participate… Changes Coming to the Way Donations Are Made?

An exhibition aimed at providing relief to the poor and supporting local communities will be held in the capital next month. This exhibition, like previous ones, will be hosted with the support of the Ortega ducal family and the Imperial Family, and all proceeds from the sale of the exhibited works are planned to be donated. Emerging artists are also expected to participate…… (continued).

“A charity exhibition……”

Just then, Romain, who had finished clearing away the meal, came in again, this time pushing a trolley.

“My lady, I brought you some snacks!”

“Oh, thank you.”

“You were reading the newspaper? Oh! I saw that article too. I heard they’re holding the biggest exhibition ever this time.”

“Really?”

“Everyone’s in an uproar about it. On the head maid’s orders, some of the maids have already been called away to prepare for it.”

From Romain’s words, I could tell just how much attention the Ortega family was paying to this exhibition.

‘Well, they’ve always been involved in charitable work in all sorts of ways.’

The Ortegas ran numerous charitable projects, from sponsored exhibitions to the Agnus Orphanage, free meal centers, and charitable medical clinics in the frontier regions.

As I sipped the black tea Romain had poured for me, something suddenly occurred to me, and I asked,

“By the way, did anything happen while I was gone?”

“Pardon?”

“The atmosphere in the mansion seemed rather chaotic. Everyone was looking at me as though they were seeing a ghost.”

“Oh, don’t even get me started!!”

Romain immediately began huffing angrily, as though she had been waiting for me to ask.

“As soon as you went missing, I went to see Lady Belladonna, and you know what she said……!”

After hearing about what had happened between Romain and Belladonna, I quietly folded my arms.

‘She told her to move out if I didn’t return within a week.’

That was such a typical thing for her to say that I wasn’t even surprised.

What impressed me more was the fact that Romain had stood up for me. Though, apparently unaware of how I felt about it, she was still angrily flaring her nostrils.

“And then there’s Young Master Claude! I was being dragged out so unfairly, and he didn’t even say a single word in my defense!”

“……Ah, you mean Camille’s younger brother?”

“That’s right! That mother and son were both just too much! They’re completely heartless!”

“Still, you should endure it. You’re not even twenty yet. You need to keep earning money.”

“Haa, I suppose I do, right? Money really is the root of all evil……”

Seeing someone who wasn’t even twenty talk like a thoroughly worn-out member of society was rather amusing.

I let out an involuntary laugh before suddenly turning my gaze toward the window.

In the distance, a black-haired man was approaching the mansion accompanied by a knight.

‘Who is that? I’ve never seen him before.’

“Uh…… That’s him!”

“That man?”

“Yes! Young Master Claude!”

That man was Camille’s younger brother?

Unlike Camille, who was as dazzling as a flower in full bloom, he had sharp features like a raven with gold embedded in its eyes.

His appearance was far beyond what I had expected, and my curiosity was piqued, making it impossible for me to look away.

Just then, Claude sensed my gaze, raised his head, and met my eyes.

And then……

His expression immediately twisted into a deep frown.

“Huh?”

“Wow, you saw that just now, right? That nasty—!!”

Leaving the fuming Romain behind me, I watched Claude disappear into the mansion.

‘What’s with that rude bastard?’

First impressions don’t always tell the truth.

But Claude was an exception.

Even objectively speaking, he was definitely an unpleasant man.

“Ah.”

The next day, when I encountered him again in the hallway, I instinctively lowered my head.

“Hello. It’s nice to meet you. I’m—”

“Yes.”

Whoosh—

That was the entirety of our first greeting.

“……”

“Th-That……!!”

Romain stamped her foot, her face turning bright red as she watched Claude walk right past us with his knight.

Well, once was one thing. I tried to let it slide.

Maybe he was simply busy?

Unfortunately, the next time wasn’t any different.

“I’m Ob. Since we’ll probably be seeing each other often, I thought we should at least introduce—”

“I’m Claude. Then.”

He brushed past me once again, making all my determination to properly speak to him utterly meaningless.

‘Is he crazy?’

No matter how powerless I was, or how little backing I had as a widow, treating me this way was simply rude.

Just as my irritation was beginning to rise, his knight finally seemed to think enough was enough and stopped walking.

“I apologize, my lady. My lord is extremely shy……”

Romain immediately pounced on the opportunity and began firing off words without restraint.

“Even so, isn’t this a bit much? My lady has greeted him several times!”

“Well, I tell him that all the time too, but it’s not easy for him to—”

“What’s so difficult about introducing yourself? Is his name more than twenty letters long?”

“Romain. That’s enough.”

I had been inwardly tense, wondering whether sparks might start flying at any moment after such blatant provocation.

But Claude’s reaction was completely unexpected.

“Hope. What are you doing instead of following me? I’m leaving you behind.”

Claude casually nodded his head and walked on ahead.

“Ah! Don’t leave me behind!”

“If you say one more useless thing, I’ll make you walk home by yourself.”

“Eek! How frightening!”

……Perhaps this was what it felt like to be hit by a passing car.

Watching Claude and his flustered knight disappear down the hallway, I let out a hollow laugh.

“……Ha!”

Even after encountering him several more times, Claude consistently ignored me.

By this point, even I could tell that his behavior was definitely not normal.

And then.

There was only one person I could ask about Claude.

Camille.

“Your younger brother?”

“Yes. Apparently, he decided to take over as head of the family in your place after your death. Do you remember anything about him?”

“Hmm……”

In response to my question, Camille was lying sprawled out in the flower field like a carefree idler, chewing on a piece of bungeoppang.

When no answer came even after some time had passed, I narrowed my eyes and asked again.

“Do you know? Or don’t you?”

An answer immediately came back.

“No. I don’t remember.”

‘I didn’t expect anything anyway.’

I instinctively realized that getting information about the past from this man was now almost impossible.

“Well, if he’s my younger brother, he must be handsome. He probably looks like me.”

“……”

Let’s pretend I didn’t hear that part.

Anyway, judging solely from what I had heard, it seemed Claude wasn’t Belladonna’s son.

‘Is that why? Their personalities are completely different, too.’

Camille had a calm, refined manner ingrained in him, whereas that man was unbelievably cold and curt.

‘Considering Camille never even mentioned Claude while he was alive, they probably weren’t close to begin with.’

The relationship between a legitimate heir and an illegitimate child was never one that could easily become close.

At that moment, Camille partially raised himself in the sprawling flower field, plucked a small blossom, and brought it to the tip of his nose.

“The Ortega bloodline doesn’t just disappear, after all. He’s probably tall and superior in all sorts of ways.”

“Ah, yes.”

“Anyway, have you decided? Who you’re going to probe first?”

“Oh. No, not yet.”

Camille’s words jolted me back to reality.

The choice I had temporarily forgotten was once again right in front of me.

Camille smiled gently.

“You should decide quickly. Every clue has a lifespan, after all.”

“……I know.”

Camille was right.

If my husband really had been murdered by someone, I had to move quickly before someone had the chance to destroy the evidence.

‘But I can’t make a reckless decision, either……’

“……So, about that.”

After thinking for a moment, I finally began, as though I had been waiting for the opportunity.

“I think I’ll meet all three of them again before deciding.”

“All three? How?”

I looked at Camille, who blinked his round eyes at me, and let my sentence trail off for a moment.

“Well……”

My plan was still rather vague, but I was certain of one thing.

Sooner or later, I would have to come face-to-face with those three men who had even turned their backs on my husband’s funeral.

“A grand stage is about to be set—one that will leave those men with no choice but to walk right into it themselves.”

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