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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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A Corporate Slave Becomes a Villainous Nuisance in a Zombie Apocalypse
Episode 27
Someone burst into my room and yanked open my bed curtains.
"...?!"
I stared up ‌‌‌in shock.
And then I was even more shocked.
"Yusara!"
It's ‌‌‌my mother?!
She was skeletal thin, her hair dyed a bright blonde, and covered in bluish bruises scattered across her limbs—but it was unmistakably my mother!
Mother pulled me into a tight embrace.
"You've awakened!"
A strong perfume scent wafted over me.
The hand stroking my back over my nightgown was so gaunt it startled me into ‌‌‌‌‌realization.
'This isn't my mother.'
This woman is Yusara's mother.
I hastily shoved the red stones I'd been holding into my pocket.
Simultaneously, the Head ‌‌‌‌Maid issued orders to the ‌‌maids beside her.
"What are you doing? Draw the curtains at once!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—the curtains ‌‌‌‌fell into ‌‌place with perfect synchronization.
The thick blackout curtains, so at odds with the room's cheerful atmosphere, blocked out all the sunlight streaming in.
Only then did Yusara's mother, who had been embracing me, lift herself up.
At that moment.
In the suddenly darkened room.
I caught the scent of metal, hidden beneath the perfume.
"...."
'What is that smell?'
Well. Regardless.
This woman is Yusara's mother.
If anyone were to notice that Yusara's ‌soul had been switched, wouldn't this woman be first on the list?
'Even if she doesn't realize the soul has changed, she'll notice her daughter is different. She's her mother, after all.'
I, who had suddenly become a malevolent spirit dwelling in another's body, tensed and carefully observed her.
Yusara's mother's eyes glistened with tears.
"Thank goodness you've awakened without any serious harm. When I heard the news from the Crown Prince, I was so worried!"
"Yes...."
"I prayed for hours to ‌‌‌‌the goddess of beauty and marriage, begging her to let you wake safely!"
"Oh...."
That's very kind, but shouldn't those prayers have been directed to the gods of survival and immunity instead?
"Are you in any pain?"
A hand with sharp nails brushed across my forehead. The fingertips were rough and the body heat unnaturally cold.
I smoothly extracted myself and changed the subject.
"Um, so... did you hear everything that happened at the Villa yesterday?"
"Of course! I heard the Imperial Family is even holding an emergency meeting about it!"
"Is that so?"
Of course it would be.
I could have predicted this even without reading the novel.
In this world where magic and gods exist, how would they even handle a zombie apocalypse?
I kept my mouth shut and waited for the ‌‌noble girl's mother to continue speaking.
What would this high-ranking aristocrat say about this crisis?
"The wound on your forehead has been completely healed, so don't worry. I've even trimmed your broken nails ‌‌‌while you were asleep. You ran through the Garden, I hear? Later, I'll make sure to massage your calves—muscular legs on a woman are unsightly!"
"...."
That's all?
"Your palms and heels are completely healed without a single callus. I used a magical treatment that costs one pearl per drop. You'll be softer than a newborn baby."
"...."
That's all?
'She's speaking in roundabout ways to maintain confidentiality in front of the maids, but am I not understanding something?'
"Are ‌‌‌there any other scratches?"
As I fell silent before her pale face with its gleaming eyes, a scream suddenly ‌‌‌‌erupted.
"Aaaahhh!"
An unexpected shriek followed.
...?!
"Aaaahhh!"
Thud!
"Aaah!"
Thud! Thud! Thud!
"Your Grace!"
The Head Maid rushed forward in front of my frozen form and quickly adjusted the curtains.
As the thick blackout curtain moved, the single beam of sunlight that had briefly leaked in was cut off.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
Patter patter patter.
The maid who had closed the curtain suddenly rushed out.
The room darkened once more.
Only ‌‌then did the noble girl's mother laugh.
"Where were we in our conversation?"
"...The scratches...."
"Yes, let me see!"
"Ah!"
The woman's eyes widened as she lifted my pajama top to check my ‌‌lower abdomen.
"Aaaahhh!"
"Why ‌are you screaming again...!"
"Bring the medicine at once! This instant!"
Here too! Good heavens! Here as well!
After scrutinizing every inch of my skin, she uncovered wounds I didn't even know existed.
Only after applying a pearl-sized drop of medicine to each scratch did the noble's mother seem satisfied.
As someone who didn't even possess a single pearl—let alone a bead of ice cream—
I could only feel bewildered.
'The atmosphere feels a bit unhinged right now, doesn't it?'
I couldn't comprehend how the situation had spiraled this way, but here we were.
"Um... Mother? Ma'am?"
I asked cautiously, gauging her reaction.
"Where did all this medicine come from? It must have cost a fortune."
"I bought out the entire stock from the Capital's magic shop. Mascarpone sent about half of it."
That brazen girl. Dismissing her lightly, the noble's mother—the Head Maid had just called this woman "Your Grace," so she was likely a Duke—nodded slightly.
"The Crown Prince and the Grand Duke also sent medicine."
"Huh..."
"Even a commoner sent holy water. A commoner, ‌‌of all people."
A commoner? Yujein?
"An Imperial Knight named Dazling also sent salve and a card—such beautiful handwriting! Is he male?"
"No."
"Tsk."
In any case, while I was unconscious, quite a few letters and gifts had arrived. She had a maid lay them out across the table in a row.
The cards from Praha and the Grand Duke showed signs of having been opened.
I started to protest about her reading someone else's cards but gave up.
'Why does she keep talking only about my skin?'
Zombies ‌‌‌‌have appeared, yet she hasn't ‌‌‌mentioned it once.
If this woman is a Duke, why isn't she at the emergency meeting? Where is Father? What's the relationship between the Duke and me—good or bad? What's her personality? I could only watch for cues.
"Urrgh."
The Duke merely trembled and belched.
Unable to help myself, I asked first.
"Is the Imperial Family holding an emergency meeting?"
"Grrk. Yes."
The Duke belched as if she might vomit her very organs, then spoke while examining her fingernails.
"It's an emergency meeting to investigate ‌‌the truth of this incident and devise countermeasures. A summons came for you as well—as a witness. You should attend."
Unlike her earlier enthusiasm, her tone had suddenly grown sluggish and disinterested.
Her speech even sounded vacant.
"When?"
"The day after tomorrow, in the afternoon."
"What? The day after tomorrow?"
The day after tomorrow, when zombies are overrunning the city?
"Well, that works out. I need to manage my skin anyway. Two days should be... adequate."
My skin had grown rough in ‌‌just a ‌‌single day.
The Grand Duke clicked his tongue and stroked my cheek, his fingertips still cold to the touch.
"These shadows under your eyes won't fade no matter ‌‌what. You're not even doing anything, so what could possibly be tiring you out!"
Should I rub ‌‌‌mercury on them?
"It would have been better if your eyes were a brighter color!" ‌‌
If only I could pluck out my eyes like fingernails and have new ones grow in!
....
This man isn't in his ‌‌right mind.
'Creepy.'
Ignoring the goosebumps rising on my arms, I forced the corners of my mouth upward.
"Once you're a corpse, what good is the color of your eyes anyway... But more importantly, isn't the day after tomorrow too late? What if those things ‌appear in ‌‌the Capital at any moment?"
Unsure how much information I could disclose to the maids, I deliberately kept my words vague.
The Grand Duke seemed indifferent to it either way, but he did dismiss the maids regardless.
"All of you, leave. Go fetch a large mirror."
Once the Head Maid had left and closed the door, the Grand Duke spoke again while examining his fingernails.
"The situation is unfolding far more urgently than you realize."
....
"Everyone was shocked. Someone infiltrated ‌Imperial Family private grounds and attempted to assassinate a member of the Imperial Family? Using such a bizarre method at that! Yet we don't even know the path through which ‌‌‌‌it happened!"
....
"If word of this leaks out, it will throw the ‌‌entire Empire into chaos. The Imperial Family's authority will ‌crumble, of course. There could even be a new war."
"A war...?"
"Yes. A war that ended less than three ‌‌‌years ago. Everyone agreed to keep quiet for now and focus on tracing ‌‌the cause of this incident."
"I see."
But here's the thing.
"Then why is the meeting ‌‌the day after tomorrow?"
If ‌‌‌it's that urgent, shouldn't it already be happening?
"Well, the two younger Highnesses insisted that we must immediately enter wartime posture, that noble families must mobilize their knights, that checkpoints must be established in every city. But that's not what's important right now, is it?"
"Pardon? Then what is important?"
The Grand Duke laughed as if surprised ‌‌by my pressing question.
"So you speak such words too?"
....
"That's just the younger Highnesses letting their youthful blood cloud their priorities." ‌‌‌
"...So they just want to do something immediately because corpses are walking around?" ‌‌‌‌
"No, no. Wanting to do something immediately is correct, but the direction is different."
The Grand Duke blinked his eyes rapidly as he spoke to this point.
"If families mobilize their knights ‌‌to patrol the streets, then who guards the nobles' mansions? Checkpoints? And who pays for those expenses?"
With each blink, his previously sluggish tone gradually ‌‌‌returned to normal.
"Moreover, ‌‌if that happens, power will concentrate solely in the Martial Families. Is there any guarantee that once this is over, we can reclaim ‌the voice that tilts ‌‌‌toward one side?"
But the content of his words was far from normal.
"If everyone dies, there's no voice to reclaim anyway!"
So you're saying ‌‌you won't do anything at all? I voiced my criticism, and the Grand Duke laughed warmly in response.
"Of course not. Everyone's moving urgently right now, you know?"
"Moving urgently to do what, exactly...?"
"First, we prepare the Imperial Palace and the nobles' mansions, and then we'll discuss the rest through a meeting afterward. It'll take a day or two to complete the basic preparations, so the meeting ‌‌comes after that."
"...."
"His Majesty has agreed to this matter as well."
The Grand Duke continued, speaking as if instructing a five-year-old.
"Since the two Highnesses still lack experience, they may have insufficient grasp of reality, ‌‌‌but not all human lives are equal in value."
"...."
"Without a ruling class to guide them, the commoners lose direction. So we must prepare the most important places first."
What utter nonsense....
"Don't worry. Surely we wouldn't abandon our people? Then who would pay taxes?"
Red lips curved into a smile.
I remained silent.
So in other words, let's secure our own survival first. Whether the commoners live or die doesn't matter.
It's the kind of thinking a K politician would have.
Politicians go around markets once every four years begging for votes, but these bastards even have hereditary succession!
Infuriating!
Whether my blood was ‌‌‌boiling or not, the Grand Duke remained unbothered. A jewel ‌fell from one of his fingernails, and he pouted about it before suddenly asking ‌‌‌‌me a question.
"By the way, did ‌‌you ‌‌lose weight?"
"What?"
"Even though I kept telling you to lose it, to lose it desperately, that belly fat you ‌could never shed is completely gone. Your ‌‌‌‌‌face looks a bit slimmer ‌‌too!"
Just then, the maids returned with mirrors. A large ‌‌‌mirror was thrust before my eyes. ‌‌‌
The Grand Duke held the large mirror without minding the trembling maid, chuckling away.
"Look at it now!"
I was dumbfounded, but I looked anyway.
Since I'd possessed this body, I had to look in a mirror at least once eventually.
'There was a mirror at the zombie villa too, but I didn't have time to look.'
According to the novel's description, the noble Yusara had the same name as ‌‌‌‌me and similar appearance.
'Let me see just how identical we are.'
I frowned and looked into the mirror.
"...What...?"
"Right? You think so too, don't you? You've definitely lost weight!"
It's just... me...?
'Could this have been dimensional travel instead of possession?'
[(Temporary Safe Zone) Duke's Mansion 3rd Floor ‌‌‌‌Noble's Room]
- Yusara (Survived)

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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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