The Creditor Is My Husband? - Chapter 57

“Drink.”

“Kuh-hup, hic…”

Seemingly unaware that she was making even stranger noises trying to suppress her hiccups, she looked at the glass in front of her with a disgruntled expression, her mouth still covered.

“It’s our wedding night, I should avoid my wife getting drunk.”

“W-who’s getting dr-hic-drunk…”

As Giselle tried to protest, a memory suddenly flashed in her mind. The time she got drunk after just one glass of wine.

She suppressed another hiccup, then quietly drank the wine. The sweet yet tannic taste characteristic of well-aged wine lingered on her tongue.

“Ugh…”

Giselle slightly frowned and plucked a grape from the bunch in front of her, popping it into her mouth. Lucas watched her lips as she chewed the grape, then feeling thirsty, he reached for the wine bottle.

“Ah! Let me pour it out for you.”

“No, it’s fine…”

Seeing this, Giselle quickly reached out her hand. At the same time, her hand collided with Lucas’s as he was about to decline.

Or rather, it would be more accurate to say she grabbed his hand instead of the bottle.

“Uh…”

Giselle, startled as if burned, quickly withdrew her hand from him, then rolled her eyes around. Lucas looked at her, chuckled, then tilted the bottle again to fill his glass.

“Come to think of it, your hiccups have stopped?”

“Ah! You’re right. They have!”

Her eyes widened as if she had just realized it. Then, turning the wine glass in front of her this way and that, she continued speaking.

“It seems wine is effective for hiccups. Why didn’t I know this before?”

“If you had known earlier, you might have become an alcoholic.”

“An alcoholic! Someone might really misunderstand if they heard that.”

Giselle grumbled at him, furrowing her brow. But her face was slightly flushed, perhaps from the alcohol despite the small amount she had drunk.

…She had been as tense as a wary cat when she first came out of the bathroom, but now she seemed to have relaxed.

‘She’s definitely tipsy.’

Lucas rubbed his nape with his hand as he noticed Giselle’s robe had slightly parted, revealing her cleavage.

Somehow, his mouth felt dry and he felt thirsty.

As he raised his glass to wet his throat, Giselle eagerly held out her own glass.

“Me too. I want to drink a little more too.”

“No.”

He laughed in disbelief as he expressed his refusal. But Giselle didn’t give up and pleaded again.

“I want to drink. Pour me just a little more.”

“I said no.”

Lucas firmly refused, then deliberately raised his own glass as if to show her.

“That’s so mean, really.”

She grumbled, glaring at him drinking wine alone.

“If you won’t pour for me, I’ll just pour it myself.”

“Who said you could?”

Lucas easily blocked Giselle as she quickly reached out to snatch the wine bottle, smirking. Their playful struggle continued like this.

“…Meow.”

Because of this, neither of them noticed.

The cat, which had been rolling around alone on the bed, watched the scene with curious eyes, then hopped down and approached them.

* * *

“Give it to me… Wah!”

Giselle screamed in shock when she saw a ball of fur suddenly jump up in front of her as she was reaching out towards Lucas.

Ignoring her, the ball of fur swung its front paw towards its target, the wine bottle.

“I can’t let this happen again.”

Once was enough in the bathroom last time. Lucas recalled the incident caused by the cat and lightly dodged.

“Meow.”

The cat let out a disgruntled meow, seemingly disappointed at missing the wine bottle right in front of it. The cheese and fruit on the table were instantly ruined, crushed under the cat’s paws and bottom.

“Elizabeth! How could you jump up here like this!”

Giselle quickly picked up the cat in her arms and stood up, seeing the messy table. But the cat, unable to give up its obsession with the wine bottle in Lucas’s hand, struggled in her arms.

“Ah, Elizabeth!”

As the cat struggled violently, the sash of Giselle’s robe began to loosen, revealing one shoulder.

“Please stay still…”

Just as not only her shoulder but also the upper part of her chest was about to be exposed, the cat in her arms slipped out.

Not of its own will, but by force.

“Meow!”

“Fix your clothes properly, Giselle. I’ll take this one out.”

Lucas spoke to her as he grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck. Giselle hurriedly adjusted her robe, not noticing that his voice had become slightly lower than before.

Meanwhile, he walked towards the door, holding the struggling cat.

“Meow, meow!”

“You really…”

Lucas barely suppressed the tightness in his lower abdomen as he lifted the cat to his eye level and spoke through gritted teeth.

‘Why! What! What did I do!’

The cat’s gaze, meeting its owner’s, was utterly insolent. Last time in the bathroom too, it had caused trouble by tearing Giselle’s clothes and turning on the water…

“…Hah, forget it.”

What was he doing arguing with an animal that couldn’t even understand him? Feeling somewhat ridiculous, he sighed and opened the door.

“Master? Do you have any instructions… Oh my!”

A maid waiting in the corridor approached and was startled, her eyes widening at the sight of the captured cat.

“I apologize, Master. I don’t know when the cat got into the bedroom…”

“I was the one who let the cat in, so there’s no need to bow your head like that. But make sure to keep this one well-guarded until tomorrow morning. Not just from entering the bedroom, but from even lurking around this area.”

“…Until tomorrow morning? Oh, yes.”

The maid’s face reddened at Lucas’s words, thinking of something, and quickly took the cat into her arms.

“Meow! Meow!”

He watched the cat meowing at him before closing the bedroom door. The cat’s cries gradually faded and then, at some point, stopped completely.

“Finally, some quiet.”

Lucas muttered to himself, leaning against the door and running his hand through his hair.

Thanks to the commotion caused by the cat, the heat that coiled below his abdomen had subsided somewhat. He exhaled a hot breath before walking back towards the bed.

“……?”

But Giselle, who should have been sitting on the sofa, was nowhere to be seen. Lucas looked at the messy table and the empty sofa in turn, then slightly bent his waist.

“What was I thinking?”

He shook his head, chuckling, as he checked under the table. It was absurd to think his wife would be hiding under the table like a cat or a dog.

‘But the problem is, it seems entirely possible for her to do something like that.’

Giselle, that woman, seemed quite capable of such an unexpected action. Come to think of it, she did have some puppy-like qualities…

“…Ah.”

As he shook his head and moved, Lucas’s gaze fell upon a woman with pink hair. Giselle was standing in front of the wall opposite to where the bed was placed.

“Giselle, what are you…”

He started to approach her but then closed his mouth. He noticed something large hanging on one side of the wall.

Covered with a pure white cloth.

A subtle smile crossed Lucas’s lips as he realized what it was. But he quickly composed his expression and calmly approached her.

“What are you doing?”

“Lucas, do you know what this is?”

Giselle turned to look at him, her eyes full of question marks as she stared at the ‘unidentified object’ hanging on the wall. Lucas raised one corner of his mouth and asked back instead of answering her question.

“What do you think it is?”

“Well… It seems like something is being covered…”

She blinked her curious green eyes, tilting her head sideways before looking back at him. She could see a hint of amus*ment in his expression.

“What is it? Do you know what it is?”

Lucas didn’t answer her, just shrugging his shoulders.

“You’re making me curious… Hmm, alright. I’ll try to guess, so you better be ready.”

Giselle, feeling competitive at his response, put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips.

‘It can’t just be covering the wall… So, it must be hiding something hanging on the wall. What could be hung on a wall? This size and square shape…’

“I got it! It’s a painting, right?”

Giselle clapped her hands and turned to him again. Her green eyes sparkled even more with the expectation of having guessed correctly.

“What kind of painting is it? If it’s a painting, why not just leave it out for viewing? Why cover it?”

“Close your eyes.”

Lucas chuckled before speaking to her, and Giselle looked at him with a puzzled expression.

“Just close them for now.”

“…Hmm.”

Despite furrowing her brow and tilting her head at his repeated words, she obediently closed her eyes as told.

It was an innocent face, seemingly without any expectations.

As if she couldn’t even imagine that it might be a gift prepared for her.

Just curious about what was hidden under the cloth.

He quietly gazed at that innocent face before grabbing the top of the white cloth and pulling it down in one swift motion.

“You can open your eyes now.”

At Lucas’s words, Giselle slowly lifted her eyelids. And into her opened eyes, a vivid painting penetrated.

It was a painting she had never seen before.

But somehow, it felt familiar.

Giselle took one step closer and stared intently at the painting.

It was a painting of a garden scene bathed in sunlight.

A woman, half-sprawled on an outdoor table, was smiling at someone with her eyes slightly closed, as if not fully awake.