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A Corporate Slave Becomes a Villainous Nuisance in a Zombie Apocalypse ‌‌Episode 10 "Your family operates a merchant guild, doesn't it? There's no large-scale guild besides yours that holds a license to handle enchanted goods." "And?" Mascarpone's expression grew guarded. From the look on her face, she ‌‌‌‌already knew what I was about to say. I shrugged and asked. "Don't you have something that might be useful?" "Pardon?" "The magical items you're carrying. Even if you couldn't bring weapons to the Imperial Palace, surely you have something like a self-defense charm?" "...." "I'd think you'd have at least one." "I don't." The immediate response caught me off guard. As I blinked, Mascarpone shot back at me. "As you said, this is an Imperial Family villa, and I didn't anticipate something like this would happen, so I didn't bring anything. I left my self-defense charms with offensive magic enchantments at the Imperial Palace with my knights." "I see." "If I had something useful, I would have brought it out already. Why? Is it my fault for not anticipating this situation and not bringing anything? What are you trying to pin on me?" Why was she suddenly so defensive...? 'She must be sensitive because Nuisance Man called her dead weight earlier, and I just ‌‌‌‌touched a nerve.' My desperate attempt to grasp at straws must have sounded to Mascarpone like, 'You're the daughter of a magical shop owner and didn't bring even one ‌‌‌decent self-defense ‌‌‌charm? What a useless burden you are.' That's probably how she heard it. That wasn't what I meant ‌‌at all. Caught off guard by her unexpectedly sharp reaction, I felt embarrassed. Mascarpone was glaring at me with venom in her eyes. We exchanged glances for a moment—she looked ready to counter with a hundred words ‌‌if I said just one. "No, I'm sorry. I was just asking on the off chance." "...." "I wasn't trying to suspect or blame you." Without waiting for a response, I stood up. I asked Dazling. "Is it alright if I go inside?" Dazling's eyes widened at my polite request for permission. The Crown Prince answered instead. "Why do you wish to go inside?" "To see the treasures." "...Yes. Please go ahead." Alright then, let's go take a look. I hooked my left arm, stretched diagonally downward, with my right arm and pulled. Stretching thoroughly, I walked into the Gallery. On the way, I made sure to accidentally step on Nuisance ‌‌‌‌‌‌Man's hand. "Ow!" "Oh my, I'm so sorry. I did that on purpose~" "You crazy— ...ugh!" "Paprika! Please be quiet!" Before Nuisance Man could hear our conversation and start demanding, 'What? Does she have something? Hand ‌‌it over now! You don't? Useless deadweight!'— * * * I had to admit, I felt a certain sense of responsibility for our current predicament. 'We're trapped here because I provoked Nuisance Man, after all.' ‌‌An enraged Nuisance Man had kicked the wall repeatedly. If I hadn't angered Nuisance Man, he wouldn't have kicked the wall; if he hadn't kicked the wall, the zombies wouldn't have emerged. 'Though ultimately, Nuisance Man bears the most blame ‌‌‌for running his mouth without thinking.' Regardless, I had to fix this. Still, this group were the protagonists—they wouldn't die pathetically trapped in here. There had to be a way. I simply hadn't found it yet. And I ‌‌had a feeling ‌‌‌finding it would be easier than expected. 'Grant me strength, all you directors of those absurd blessings ‌‌‌at dawn.' In those shows, they'd evade and escape ‌‌zombies using all manner of methods! Remember something! There are plenty of ways! ‌‌I shuffled forward as if playing an escape room game. Fatigue crashed over my feet as I dragged the heavy combat boots along. Drowsy, exhausted, worn out. "I'd rather go to the company." I couldn't believe ‌‌those words came from my own mouth. It was the first time since my job-hunting days. The dark Gallery displayed the Imperial Palace's treasures along the Corridor, arranged on both sides. No one seemed ‌‌to worry about theft—they simply sat atop rectangular pedestals, wrapped in velvet. Under the dim, hazy lighting, the treasures alone gleamed like stars. A tiara worn by someone-or-other at ‌‌the coronation, a sculpture from the Temple that originally stood where this Villa now sits, and other such expensive, precious things.... I was gazing at the first Emperor's cocoa cup, crafted from opal and white crystal. "Take it if you'd like." "Eek!" I turned to find the Grand Duke standing there. The Grand Duke, who had positioned himself behind me without my notice, lifted the cocoa cup I'd been admiring and offered it to me. "This Villa was built as His Majesty's birthplace. Praha was born here and stayed until his hundredth day. This cup was brought then." I looked at it uncertainly before asking. "If I take this, will I be executed?" "This Island is already ruined anyway. No ‌one will know you ‌‌‌took it." "What do you mean no one will ‌know? The heavens know, the earth knows, I know, ‌‌and Your Highness the Grand Duke—who could report me—knows. I won't take it." Was he ‌‌‌trying to get me to take it so he could report me and have me executed? The Grand Duke laughed at my words. "Do you think I would report you?" The Grand Duke's golden hair ‌‌‌‌gleamed under the dim lighting ‌‌‌as he spoke. Hair brilliant enough to claim a place among the Imperial Family's treasures. Radiant beyond even the opal and white crystal I was currently observing. "Tell me, my lady. Do I seem like someone who would report you?" "Well... isn't it right to report a thief when you see one?" "You lack trust. I followed you here deliberately to protect you as you entered alone." "That was quite unnecessary. Thank you regardless." "Were you very hurt by what happened earlier?" I tilted my head at the sudden question. That thing from earlier? Yeah. You and the Crown Prince ‌‌‌only looking after Yujein and leaving me out. 'When is he bringing that up?' So much had happened in the meantime that ‌it felt like something from the distant past. When you think about it, that was the catalyst for us getting trapped here in the first place. ‌‌"Not ‌‌at all." I spoke to the Grand Duke, who was observing me from above. "I'm not ‌‌hurt by it one bit." "Why aren't you hurt by it at all?" ‌‌"You can only feel hurt if you had some ‌‌expectation to begin with." "...." "I have no expectations of either of your Highnesses." That's a lie. Truth is, I'm pretty damn hurt. But I have ‌‌‌my pride. I'll never admit I'm hurt. I ‌‌‌straightened my shoulders and lifted my ‌‌chin. I made my declaration to the Grand Duke. ‌‌"If later, when I'm with a man I like and your Highness falls into ‌‌the water together, I'll save the man I like first. You do the same. Each of us does what we want and holds no grudges." The Grand Duke, who had been staring at me intently, spoke. "But the princess likes Praha, doesn't she?" "...." "And that Praha prioritized Yujein over the princess earlier." Right. Damn it. He did. "...I suppose I'll have to find a new man." My answer seemed unexpected—the Grand Duke's eyes widened slightly. With nothing to hold back, I met his gaze confidently. Even when surprised, he's handsome. Remarkable. 'Do what you want. I don't like you. Why? Because you're too far from me.' You're from a different world than me, and you don't like me. More than that—you ‌‌‌hate me. And with that excessively tall frame, even the distance between your lips and mine is vast. 'Everything about this is distant. Just all of it.' I'm too worn out and exhausted to ‌cling to a man who hates me, sacrificing my pride. These self-assured handsome men need to learn that there are plenty of other options in this world besides themselves. 'It was the princess Yusara who liked the Crown Prince and Grand Duke in the first place... not me.' With that resolve, I didn't avert my gaze. The bright eyes meeting mine gleamed with intrigue. The Grand Duke, who had been staring at me with those pale grape-colored eyes for a long time, suddenly burst into laughter. "Do you know how funny the princess is right now?" "Me?" "Your expression is rotten, but your tone is kind." "Ah." "When I talk nonsense, our butler gets this expression just like a proper lady." So your butler is also a weary office worker, it seems. The Grand Duke, who was chuckling at the absurdity, set down the cocoa cup he'd been holding carelessly. I regarded the blonde handsome man who'd suddenly latched onto me with amusement with a lukewarm gaze and spoke. "Anyway, I'm not ‌‌‌upset, and I have no intention of saying anything to Yujein about what happened earlier. That's what you were curious about, isn't it? Now that you have your answer, please leave." "Lady, I...." The Grand Duke tried to say something, but my attention had already shifted elsewhere. I narrowed my eyes and examined the pillar-like form lying in the corner. 'What is that?' I approached with a ‌‌furrowed brow. It was a corpse. A headless corpse. Before the portrait of ‌‌a young emperor in armor at the final exhibition ‌‌‌stand, a decapitated body lay with its head and torso separated. Someone had carelessly shoved the severed head into a corner. Blood seeping from the severed surface reeked of decay. I stopped, nearly slipping on the sticky blood. The Grand Duke, seeing me stare blankly at the corpse's torso, stopped speaking and laughed awkwardly. "That's why I said you should come with me." "...." "Are you alright?" "...Did His Majesty dispose of this corpse?" "It was already dead and collapsed. Dazling severed the neck, and I merely cheered him on." "...." I made a mental note: don't provoke Dazling in the future! "Lady, are you truly alright?" Without ‌‌‌responding, I crouched before the corpse's torso. Turning my back ‌‌‌to him, ‌‌I flipped ‌the prone corpse with my fingertips. ...As I thought. It had one too. I slipped the glimmering object that fit in my palm into the pocket of my dress skirt under the pretense of examining the corpse, then stood up. The Grand Duke asked. "Why would you flip over someone else's severed body? Is desecrating corpses a hobby of yours?" "It wasn't desecration—I was ‌‌‌simply examining it." "Why examine ‌‌‌a corpse? Do you know this one?" "...I do know them, but." It was that Attendant from before. The one who'd stepped ‌‌‌between Mascarpone and me when I'd first possessed this body and we'd clashed. "You know them, but?" "It's nothing important. More than that." I stared intently at the zombie corpse that had already lost considerable blood. Zombies lack vision and detect us through hearing and smell. 'If I dismember this corpse and smear its organs and blood on my body, I could ‌‌deceive the zombies' senses that way.' Where had I seen this method before? Was it from The Walking Dead? The method itself seems sound, ‌‌‌‌but.... I simply turned my head to the side, casting a quick glance over the tall, handsome man ‌‌‌who was peering nosily beside me. [Interior ‌‌‌Gallery, First Floor of the Imperial ‌‌‌Villa] ‌‌‌‌- Yusara, Grand Duke (Alive)

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Brought to you by Valir Scans! To support our team and enjoy the latest releases, please read directly ‌on our official site: valirscans.org

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