~Chapter 77~
I stared blankly at the floor for a moment, trying to carve the sudden inspiration into my head.
“Ruby? Are you alright?”
Only after hearing Damien’s voice did I snap back to myself.
“Ah, yes, I’m fine.”
As soon as I answered, I ran straight toward the mansion.
Inspiration kept bursting inside my head like crazy.
It was like flowers blooming, or like ice in a fountain melting and new water gushing out.
‘I want to draw right now.’
From behind me, a firm voice called out.
“I’ll take care of the children here!”
“Thank you!”
I shouted back to Damien, who waved reassuringly, and dashed into my room.
‘Canvas, I need canvases…’
I needed canvases. Many canvases. In all kinds of sizes.
For several days, I drew like crazy without sleeping.
It wasn’t because I was in a hurry.
It was because I kept drawing with almost superhuman energy, so my progress was very fast.
I made up for the five wasted days at the beginning, and I even cut down the eight days I originally planned.
“Wow, you really draw in no time.”
“Right?”
Even when Damien came to my side and spoke, I didn’t feel disturbed. I just kept working.
As I moved my hand nonstop, Damien slowly came closer and carefully studied my paintings.
I felt a little nervous.
I remembered how he once said one of my paintings didn’t look like mine.
“Um, how about this one?”
My heart thumped a little. I glanced at his face, and then I saw it—
A smile spreading across his lips.
“This is it.”
Like watercolor spreading across paper, his bright smile slowly filled his whole face.
“With this, anyone would know it’s Ruby’s painting.”
I had finally done it.
The heavy weight that had been sitting in my heart disappeared.
“But what are these two blank spots?”
Damien pointed at two canvases I hadn’t touched yet.
One was the most important, the other was the hardest to draw.
“Ah, I’ll start on them now.”
“I see. They must be important parts.”
“Yes, they need a lot of focus.”
I smiled, and Damien nodded seriously.
“Then I’ll leave you to it. If you need anything, call me.”
“You can stay longer if you want.”
“No, it’s fine. After the contest is over, we’ll have plenty of time together. Don’t worry about me.”
He got up, his eyes playful.
“We’re legally married, after all. I’ll be sticking with you anyway.”
Thump.
My heart, which had been beating slowly, suddenly sped up.
‘What’s with me?’
Trying not to show it, I replied calmly.
“Uh, right.”
“Anyway, focus all you want. I’ll come back before bed.”
He left the room and carefully closed the door behind him.
Once his footsteps faded completely, I picked up a pencil and turned to one of the blank spots.
‘This one will be Damien’s place.’
I grabbed the largest canvas and quickly sketched him.
Since I saw him often, it wasn’t that hard.
“Now, the last one…”
I sighed as I looked at the only blank spot left.
‘To think the day would come when I’d draw this one… what a world.’
But I couldn’t avoid it.
Just then—
[Really?]
‘It’ spoke inside my head.
It always understood when I referred to it.
[You’re going to draw me?]
“Yes.”
I set down my tools, sat on the bed, closed my eyes, and then opened them again.
‘It’ was there, staring at me suspiciously.
With snow-white hair falling down and red eyes even darker than my own.
“What, do you have a problem with it?”
I asked coldly, surprising it.
I almost never started conversations with it.
After all, how could I say I was going to draw it because I liked it? That made no sense.
Recently, it had become more stable after Damien fed it curse fragments, so it was calm enough to talk like this.
Maybe that’s why it seemed confused about my actions.
“Well, it seems the power that removes curses and eases the pain comes from you.”
[Hmm…]
“Thanks to that power, I can help Damien.”
And maybe without it, I never would have married Damien.
“Anyway, you’re also a part of me.”
[…]
It said nothing.
“If I don’t love you, I can’t love myself.”
Its red eyes stared straight into mine.
[So you admit I’m part of you?]
“Yes.”
I nodded.
It was a conclusion that took me fifteen years to reach.
“Annoying as it is, I realized it the day Damien made me eat curse fragments.”
I hadn’t wanted to kill or eat curses.
But when Damien put it in my mouth, and I chewed and swallowed, I felt full.
That’s when I knew.
I couldn’t blame it all on “it.”
Because I, who loved curses, had felt satisfaction eating one.
“Anyway, that’s why I want to draw you. Any complaints?”
It stared at me and shook its head.
[No.]
“Good. Then I’ll go.”
[Fine. Just keep feeding me curses.]
It added quietly as it turned away.
[If it’s like now, I can live with it.]
“…Alright.”
It walked into thick fog and disappeared.
When I opened my eyes again, I was back on my bed.
“Alright, let’s do this.”
I moved my pencil without hesitation.
Drawing myself with white hair, sharp fangs, and red eyes didn’t feel uncomfortable at all.
Soon the sketch was done, and I began coloring right away.
And for days, I kept painting.
“Hoo…”
After about two weeks, my masterpiece was finished.
“It’s done!”
At the very moment I completed the self-portrait I poured everything into—
“…Huh?”
Even though it was midday, the outside of the mansion grew dark.
The blazing sun was gone, and a faint bluish light seeped through the window.
‘No way…!’
I rushed to the window and flung it open.
There it was—
The blue moon, signaling the beginning of the second ritual of the soul contract.
A few days later, at the Imperial Academy, the contest judging began.
The judges, already gloomy at the thought of overtime, sat before rows of paintings.
Each painting was covered with a white cloth, so they couldn’t guess what was inside.
But then, a massive mound covered with a huge white cloth was brought in—far larger than the others.
All the judges blinked in shock.
An older professor with gray hair burst out angrily.
“What is this? Who painted this much? So ridiculous!”
“Please calm down, Professor Felix.”
A younger professor tried to soothe him, but Felix was fuming.
He yanked off the cloth, furious.
“This is an insult to us judges! How dare they—”
But underneath was a mountain of canvases of all sizes, each looking like a separate work.
“What nonsense is this?! Do they expect us to judge each one individually?”
Professor Hireono frowned. He couldn’t see how any of these pictures related to the theme self-portrait.
‘Blond twins…? And is that… marshmallows?’
While he was wondering, Felix, his face red with rage, lifted one canvas.
“These are all different! They don’t even understand the theme—wait.”
As soon as he lifted it, the other canvases followed.
They had been pierced and linked together with rings.
A piece of paper fluttered down. Hireono quickly grabbed it and unfolded it.
His eyes widened as he stared.
“What is it, Professor Hireono?”
“…”
“Professor? Huh!”
Hireono, as if possessed, rushed to the canvas mountain and began arranging them.
“Th-these instructions show exactly how to put the canvases together!”
He shouted, trembling with excitement.
“This isn’t many separate works. It only looks that way. Once combined, it’s one single piece!”
All the judges gathered quickly.
And when the canvases were finally connected—
“Ah…!”
Everyone there stopped breathing.
