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A Corporate Slave Becomes a Villainous Nuisance in a Zombie ‌‌‌Apocalypse
Episode 71
"The Crown Prince?! What brings you here at this hour.... Pardon? Lady Yusara's visit?"
She hadn't ‌‌‌come.
The Prome Lord and his wife were sleeping in their bedchamber at this very moment, and there had been no visit from the lady whatsoever.
The night ‌‌‌‌had proceeded as usual, and nothing had disturbed ‌‌the peace.
Behind the flustered Young Maids delivering their report, the ‌‌‌‌‌reception hall ‌‌appeared distinctly disheveled.
Cinnamon powder scattered across the floor. A wrinkled carpet.
Praha turned away without a word.
And he thought.
'I need to inform the others.'
Yusara, who had gone to meet ‌the Lord, had vanished.
He would need to alert Cyprus, Tangerine, and Yujein to the situation, discuss it with them, split up, and search for Yusara's whereabouts while uncovering what they ‌‌‌‌had done.
That would be the rational course of action.
"...."
But what if someone was watching him right now as he went to find the ‌‌others?
What if they saw him waking Cyprus, Tangerine, and Yujein, realized something had gone wrong, and moved Yusara or harmed her?
What if something happened to Yusara?
'Yusara is already in their hands.'
The thought that Yusara might have simply wandered off elsewhere on her own never crossed Praha's mind.
These were people reckless enough ‌‌‌to kidnap a princess of an entire nation. There was no telling what they might do if things went wrong.
If something happened to Yusara while he was finding the others, explaining the situation, and making plans.
If that were to happen.
He felt he could never forgive ‌‌‌himself for the rest of his life.
"...."
Praha clenched his ‌‌fist.
Then wouldn't it be better to slip away alone right now and find her himself?
'It's not the rational choice.'
Praha knew that.
But.
'I'm running out of time.'
She must be terrified right now.
Praha still remembered the expression on Yusara's face from before, when he hadn't held ‌‌her hand.
If she were wearing that same expression now.
He couldn't let that moment stretch any longer.
If he followed them now, he could track them.
With his resolve hardened, Praha grabbed a servant who happened ‌‌‌to be passing nearby. The servant recognized the Crown Prince's face and bowed his head.
"Is there something you require, Your ‌‌Highness?"
"Give this to Cyprus."
He thrust a bottle of cream and a book into the servant's hands. The servant tilted his head in confusion upon seeing the tome filled with ancient script.
"You're ‌‌‌‌sending this to the Grand Duke?"
"Yes. And tell him, 'Stop eating and study for once.'"
It was a cipher between Praha and Cyprus—a signal that danger had emerged and action was required.
For a trained Knight like Praha, tracking the clumsy traces of common street thugs was child's play.
I left small markers for Cyprus and Tangerine to follow, making my way smoothly to the location where Yusara was presumed to be.
"...."
Upon seeing the two-story Mansion hidden among dense trees on the desolate Prome Mountain, Praha's expression darkened.
'A den of crime.'
The sharp-minded Knight grasped the entire situation the moment he laid eyes on the structure.
Just as Praha approached the front gate with a subtle frown, a commotion erupted ahead.
"So that's why I...."
"Really?"
"I'm telling you!"
A group of men emerged from the Mansion's entrance, their voices loud and chaotic. I calculated that subduing them and slipping inside would be straightforward.
But as I advanced without hesitation, the front gate's locking mechanism blocked my path.
A jewel glowing crimson red.
Magic.
A security spell that attacked anyone without authorization attempting entry.
A ‌‌magical ‌‌‌device that would strike only me, even if I defeated all those men and used one as a hostage and guide to enter.
There could be several more of these inside.
"...."
My eyes caught sight of sacks piled haphazardly near the pit in front of the Mansion.
* * ‌*
"...That's what the Young Maid witnessed after that."
"...So you're saying you hid inside a sack and entered as if you were a kidnapped victim? What were those sacks?"
"These men travel through nearby cities abducting people. They inject the captives with drugs, place them in sacks, disguise them as cargo, and transport them to Prome. Once they arrive, they apparently leave them there until the drug wears off."
The drug is potent and ‌‌‌administered indiscriminately, so most don't survive.
The dead are buried in pits along with the sacks.
Praha explained matter-of-factly.
"...So you hid your body in an empty corpse sack to get inside?"
"Yes."
"Good heavens! Once you discovered their base, you should have returned immediately to bring the Grand Duke and Tangerine! You should have alerted the nearby cities as well!"
That would have been the far more prudent choice for your ‌‌‌‌safety!
"Aren't you concerned about the Young Maid's wellbeing?!"
"If I had left, she would have been alone here."
"...."
"My objective wasn't to eliminate them. It was to reach you."
"...."
"I know my action was foolish. But. Still."
Confirming with my own eyes that you're safe right now—that's what matters, ‌‌I whispered.
"...What were you planning to do if they opened that sack and saw His ‌‌Highness's ‌‌‌face?" ‌‌‌‌
No, no. Don't say it. The mere thought is horrifying.
I ‌‌‌shook my head vigorously. Praha asked me.
"Are you injured anywhere?"
"No. I'm fine."
"Yes. That's all that matters."
"Is it really all that matters...? His Highness was kidnapped too."
"Indeed. ‌‌‌Yet I find myself grateful nonetheless."
Ever since I learned the princess had been taken, it seems my capacity for rational thought has vanished. Praha ‌‌continued.
"With such intellect, can I even inherit the throne?"
"Why must you be so extreme about it...?"
Why are people capable of such extremes?
I stopped Praha's self-deprecation and examined his seemingly unscathed limbs. "Your Highness, you're ‌‌not injured either, are you?"
"No."
"Thank goodness. I'm truly unharmed as well."
"Yes. Fortunate indeed."
"Sigh."
Q. A man who gets kidnapped alongside you while trying to rescue you—what do you ‌‌‌think of that?
A. I find it strange!
This man isn't normally the type to charge ‌recklessly without regard for consequences. He's usually quite level-headed...
Yet here he is, acting like a mother who just watched her child dragged away before her eyes.
Q. Doesn't that make you uneasy?
A. Of course it does me good!
In a situation like this, I'm supposed to say something noble like, "It's better I'm kidnapped alone than drag you into this quagmire too."
But honestly...
"Having both of us here makes things ‌‌‌so much better!"
Just by looking at the massive frame occupying the space beside me, my fear drops by ninety percent.
"What kind of Crown Prince acts so recklessly?"
It's absurd. Yet seeing him still sitting there with the sack over his head, staring blankly ‌at me with that ‌‌‌expressionless face, I couldn't help but laugh.
At the sheer ridiculousness of it.
My laughter made it even funnier.
"The Prome Lord was adamant about it. He ‌‌‌said Your Highness wouldn't come looking for me."
"That man is a fool."
"Indeed..."
He never imagined the Crown Prince would actually be here.
That's what happens when you let your guard down...
"First, take off that sack. Wasn't that the one they used for the corpse?" ‌
"Yes."
Praha answered obediently and moved his arms. I watched as he shifted about—whether he'd bathed before coming here or not, his cheeks looked clean despite the tumbling—and asked.
Praha, who answered obediently, moved his arm. Watching his cheek, which looked clean even as it rolled this way and that—as if he had bathed before coming here—I asked.
"Even if Marquis Prome has left, there must be people remaining to guard this prison. What if they recognize Your Highness's face when they come in?"
"How many people do you think would recognize the Crown Prince's face?"
"Ha."
Do you never look in a mirror?
"If I may be so bold, Your Highness, a face like yours—even ‌‌if seen only once at age eight, would be remembered for a lifetime until death itself.... Wait, Your Highness, is that right?"
Only now did Praha's right cheekbone come into view as he awkwardly extracted his arm from the sack. A bluish bruise had swollen there. Looking closer, I could see his lip was split as well.
At my exclamation, Praha quickly brushed his face and spoke.
"It's Praha, not Your Highness."
"No...!"
Is that really what matters right now!
"How did this happen!"
"One of Prome's knights tried to transport me but couldn't bear the weight and dropped me. He even kicked me, saying I was too heavy."
"What?!"
Why would they blame Praha for their own weakness and lack of strength...!
Moved by pity, my ‌‌‌hand reached out of its own ‌‌accord. My fingertips ‌‌‌traced his ruined, beautiful lips. Praha flinched.
"...It hurts."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"...Please don't ‌‌‌withdraw."
It would hurt more if you pulled away.
Praha, murmuring something absurd, carefully ‌‌took my hand that rested on his face. His large hand enveloped the back of my hand and wrist in one motion.
Praha pressed his lips to the inside of my wrist and murmured something.
"Pardon?"
"I said I'm ‌‌truly grateful. That you're safe."
"...."
You.
Hearing that form of address from Praha for the first time, my heart lurched.
To hide my agitation, I spoke deliberately harshly.
"...Who gets kidnapped while trying to rescue someone who's been kidnapped? That's foolish."
"Yes."
"I mean it."
"Yes."
I really do mean it. ‌‌‌
It really is foolish.
Yet I find comfort in feeling the body heat of this foolish person.
'I was ‌‌‌‌‌right.' ‌‌‌‌
Praha didn't abandon me and leave.
Instead, he came to rescue me.
"...You said protecting Imperial citizens is the Imperial Family's first duty. If something goes wrong here, you can't fulfill that duty, can you? Is it really okay to come just to save one person like this?"
Relief. Worry. Pity. Yearning. Regret.
Overwhelmed by these tangled emotions, words tumbled out like a petulant complaint.
Upon hearing my words, Praha's lips moved against my skin.
"But... you."
"Yes."
"You said you liked a man who would save you ‌‌above all else."
"...Me?"
Had I really said something like that?
'Ah....'
Yes, I had.
On the day the first zombies appeared, I'd said those words in the Cabin at ‌the Imperial Villa.
'So ‌‌‌‌Praha heard that. And he's been remembering it all this ‌‌time.'
But what did that have to do with Praha?
I looked up at him in confusion.
And only then did I realize I'd drawn so close to Praha that we were nearly touching.
Close enough that our knees could brush.
Too close.
So close that ‌‌‌‌‌the darkness shrouding the prison cell posed no obstacle between ‌‌us.
Praha's shallow breathing tickled my lips.
"...."
"...."
His eyes, locked with mine, traced slowly down to the corner of my eye, then descended gradually ‌to my lips.
The man stared at my lips with undisguised intensity.
That my lips parted slightly ‌‌under his gaze was entirely involuntary.
Suddenly, I felt the grip of Praha's hand—still holding mine—tighten.
[Prome Mountain: Underground Prison, Level ?]
- Yusara, Praha ‌‌‌(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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