I’m In Trouble Because My Husband Is So Cute - Chapter 24

Iellie shrugged her shoulders and answered. Usually, the ladies learn painting, handicrafts, and musical instruments. She hated being flawed by nature, and she knew well that her status was a weakness.

Maybe that’s why her drawing skills were top-notch. Instead of the sketchbook, she picked up a dry towel.

“Come here, your hair is all wet.”

Zachary gently moved his head towards her and she rubbed his head with a soft towel.

“It smells like snow.”

“What does that smell like?”

“Um, cold, cool… that kind of smell?”

“Isn’t coolness and coldness a touch rather than a smell?”

Hearing her answer, he laughed out loud. As if Iellie’s touch felt good, Zachary slowly closed his eyes. Meanwhile, it’s like she’s caring for a large silver dog as she eagerly wiped the snow off Zachary’s body.

“By the way, is Zachary not really interested in painting?”

“Painting?”

She honestly asked the question without much thought. Zachary bent his eyebrows at an angle, and he answered firmly.

“Well, to be honest, it’s pretty bad.”

“Really?”

She got a little shy. Zachary was usually a person who would say ‘I like it,’ if he liked something.

But, his expression looking at her seemed a bit bitter, so Iellie couldn’t ask anymore.

Come to think of it, the former Duchess was interested in painting?

‘Did he have any stories about it? Is that why he made that face? I don’t really know, though he looks very sad…’

Feeling a bit dazed, she removed the towel.

Zachary then smiled at her. He opened his mouth playfully, clasping Iellie’s hands, who raised her eyes wide open.

“Oh, I have a present outside.”

“Present…?”

“Uh-huh.”

Nodding his head, he led her towards the view out of the window. Iellie let out an exclamation.

“Wow, a snowman?”

It was a colossal snowman the height of an adult’s chest. He made its eyes with round brown berries, and painted the smiling mouth with black charcoal. It had a full-fledged appearance, even wrapped around a red wool scarf.

“I made it because it snowed a lot.”

“If it was that big, I think it would have been very difficult to make.”

“How many times have you regretted that you can’t play in the snow because it doesn’t snow much in the south?”

‘I’m sure everyone will remember those words now.’

She groaned a little, burying herself in his arms.

“Our Zachary. He looked like a little brother, but I don’t know when he grew up so quickly.”

“…Not your little brother.”

“Yeah, yeah. I guess so.”

Somehow, she felt proud as if her younger sibling had grown up.

Zachary gazed down at her with dissatisfied eyes, seeing the bright smile on her face.

‘I’m not your little brother…’

It was as if a grunting voice could be heard.

*** 

And, the next day. Even though the snow had stopped, the cold weather made the ice harden. Zachary went out again to inspect a prosperous area.

Iellie sent him off with half dissatisfaction and half satisfaction.

‘It’s good that the Duke acknowledges Zachary, but he’s being too pushy.’

If the Duke doesn’t recognize Zachary as his successor, there’s no way he’ll be entrusted with the affairs of the estate in the first place. However, even considering that, the Duke treated him somewhat harshly, so Iellie was somewhat dissatisfied with that part.

Thinking so, she lifted her hand from the easel. The snowman sketch was finished.

“Oh my, is it a snowman?”

“Yes. How is it?”

“You drew very well! I think it would be better if you just color it.”

Mary, who was at her side, smiled happily. Come to think of it, it’s been quite some time since she got paint on her hands.

“Hmm, let’s start buying some.”

Iellie tilted her head. But at that moment, a knock was heard.

She answered casually.

“Come in.”

The person who entered was a maid.

No, the long-serving maid chief, why did she come all the way here? In front of her, the maid chief bowed her head deeply and opened her mouth in a polite manner.

“The Duke has asked me to bring the lady to the ‘Portrait Room’.”

“…Yes? I understand.”

The Duke said he would call her soon to the ‘Portrait Room’, although she didn’t know that he would call her when Zachary wasn’t there.

Iellie swallowed her saliva and got her body up. The maid took a step back and waited for her to follow.

“Then, Mary, you can go now.”

“Yes, I will. Lady.”

Saying so, Mary nodded her head slightly.

A little nervous, she followed the maid out of the room.

The portrait room was in the most peaceful place in the wide Duke’s castle. A quiet room where only the Duke and high-ranking servants could barely enter and exit.

As Iellie grabs the doorknob of the room, the maid chief opens her mouth with a polite voice.

“I’ll wait here.”

“I see.”

Nodding her head, she entered the portrait room. Portraits of various sizes were hung in the room with low lighting so as not to ruin the picture. Among them, the most striking is one portrait.

“This is probably…”

The first time she saw it, she recognized it at a glance.

‘Beautiful Adelaide.’

Zachary’s mother and the duke’s wife.

“…She is a very beautiful person.”

The woman in the portrait was dazzlingly beautiful. Perhaps a woman who embodies summer would look like this.

Inside the portrait, the soft, curly brown hair, green eyes as dark as fresh green were facing Iellie.

The long neck and slender body like a deer were perfect.

She muttered blankly.

“She looks like Zachary…”

Looking at it, she could tell at a glance. Zachary has an appearance that closely resembles his mother. Iellie narrowed her brow slightly.

Come to think of it, he never once told her about his mother.

‘Why?’

Iellie meticulously observed the picture. The woman in the portrait who doesn’t even smile. Her appearance was very beautiful, though her expressionless face looked cold and sad. Then, a voice was heard.

“The painting is of my wife.”

“Ah, Duke…”

‘He scared me. Make some noise!’

Iellie tried to hide her startled face and lowered her head.

The Duke glanced at Iellie with eyes that she could not recognize his thoughts. After a while, he tilts his head and asks.

“So, how do you feel about seeing my wife’s portrait?”

“The former Duchess is a very beautiful woman. I think Zachary resembles his mother.”

Iellie answered honestly. The Duke stares at her with a calm face before nodding his head slightly.

“Yes. Zachary’s appearance was mostly inherited from Adele.”

“….”

The Duke, who had been walking, stood next to her. Iellie was very nervous and took a couple of steps back. But, his interest did not seem to belong to her. His eyes were glued towards the portrait.

“Adelaide Laurent…”

It was different from his usual tone of anger or boredom. It was just a voice that sank as deep as a lake that had drowned the wind.

He swallowed his breath.

“…And, also Adelaide Hessenweitz.”

The Duke looked up at the portrait without a word. His eyes were kinder than when he looked at Zachary.

“My wife said she has never been happy in this Duchy’s castle.”

“….”

At that, his eyes became cold in an instant. A gaze as cold as the sea of ​​ice.

Iellie swallowed.

“Well then, the picture of the Duchess, Heir Apparent, and the Duke together…”

“Oh dear, you’re so stupid, too. Do you think there’s such a picture?”

The Duke let out a laugh. She thought it was a stupid thing to say, so Iellie just nodded her head without saying a word. The Duke gazed up at the picture again as his blue eyes scanned the woman’s face.

“She was a beautiful, good-natured woman, although she didn’t seem happy.”

“…Your Excellency”

“I sometimes think that it was us who killed her after all.”

“….”

‘What the hell happened…?’

Without even asking the question, Iellie rolled her eyes. Meanwhile, the Duke’s eyes were staring at the woman in the portrait. The gaze that he missed for so long, suffering from guilt, and mourning for love.

Those eyes are exactly the same as those of the old Zachary.

“…Maybe I’m paying the price right now.”

It was an incredibly sad voice, especially because it was a Duke’s voice.

Confused, Iellie peered back at the Duke.

“So, I’m not sure if my wife will be satisfied with just this…”

“Du, Duke?”

Hearing him muttering like a sigh, she asked. The Duke quickly cleared his face and shook his head.

“I’m sorry. It’s nothing.”

“….”

He wasn’t in the mood for her to ask for something more. The lonely atmosphere wrapped around the Duke was only sad.

Then, her gaze turned to the corner of the room. A painting covered in black cloth. After she saw the portrait, she tried to lift the cloth, but she couldn’t confirm because she ran into the Duke.

Seeing so, he asked softly.

“Are you curious about that picture?”

“Yes?”

“If you’re curious, you can take a look.”

‘Can I really see it?’

She gazed into the Duke’s eyes, though the sad feelings on his face had long since disappeared.

Iellie, who looked at his bored face, made up her mind. As she walked, she stood in front of the painting, and she looked at the black cloth. Instantly, the pale green eyes widened.

“…This.”

It was a weird picture. A young boy stood with his back turned against the white blizzard.

Beneath the silver hair that flew like a pure white snowfield, the dark blue eyes were full of madness. Only the appearance of long red veins spread all over was colored, and even in the pure blue picture.

“Zachary?”

Iellie muttered in a dismayed tone. There was no way she couldn’t recognize it. Although he looked much younger and smaller than when he and she first met, he was still the little Zachary.

The Duke grinned.

“That painting, my wife’s own drawing. The model is a monster that my wife witnessed.”

“…Yes?”

Iellie was momentarily confused. The monster the Duchess saw? Nonetheless, the main character in the picture is Iellie’s husband, no matter how she looked at it.

So, the Duchess thought of Zachary as a monster, too…

“Do you wonder why my wife died?”

The Duke’s voice was filled with heavy despair and sorrow. At that moment, the sound of footsteps resounded.

“Father.”

Surprised, Iellie turned to the side where the voice came from. Only the Duke was having a calm face.

“Before you show Len the picture, why don’t you ask me one more time?”

It was a cold voice, as if it had been made by grinding ice.

Zachary stepped closer in the darkness, reached out his hand, and lowered the cloth. Thus, the painting was quickly hidden behind the black cloth. His attitude stood out sharply.

“Len, what are you doing here?”

“Huh? Well, so…”

“Why are you in the portrait room?”

His blue eyes gleamed coldly. There was not even a trace of the gaze that was as warm as the sky on a spring day.

“She’s a member of the family, too, so she deserves to be in the portrait room.”

“…Father.”

At that, Zachary growled at the Duke’s calm words. On the other hand, the Duke stared at him with a relaxed face. His old hatred, which she did not know, was piled up in his two eyes.

“More than that, you are the heir of the family, and you have no respect for your father?”

“I don’t think that’s what my father, not anyone else, would say to me.”

In response to his reply, the Duke made a strange face.

He gazed at the Duke with a cold gaze.

“I think it would be better to think about how you treat your children. What’s father’s opinion?”

Zachary snorted.

Hearing that, the Duke’s eyes curved gracefully before he replied softly.