chapter 10
“The Mascarpone family runs a trading company, right? You're the only major merchant house licensed to deal in enchanted items.”
“And?”
Mascarpone looked at me warily. Judging by her expression, she already knew what I was about to ask. I shrugged.
“Do you have any useful magic items?”
“What?”
“I mean the magical tools you're carrying. Even if you couldn't bring weapons into the Imperial Palace, maybe something for self-defense?”
“...”
“I feel like you'd have at least one.”
“I don't.”
The answer came so quickly that it surprised me. As I blinked, Mascarpone snapped back:
“As you said, this is an imperial villa. I never expected something like this to happen, so I didn't bring anything. Any self-defense items with offensive magic were left at the palace with my knights.”
“I see.”
“If I had something useful, I would have handed it over already. Why? Is it somehow my fault that I didn't predict this and bring something? Did you entrust me with anything?”
Whoa. Why was she escalating so fast?
Did she get sensitive after that nuisance guy called her useless baggage earlier, and I accidentally hit a nerve?
My desperate attempt to grasp at straws must have sounded very different to Mascarpone, who already disliked me.
Something like:
"You're the daughter of a magical merchant family and you didn't even bring a decent self-defense item? You useless burden."
That wasn't what I meant at all.
Her unexpectedly sharp reaction left me feeling awkward. Mascarpone was glaring at me with venom in her eyes.
For a moment we exchanged looks. She seemed ready to counter any single word from me with a hundred of her own.
“No, I'm sorry. I just thought I'd ask.”
“...”
“I wasn't trying to blame you or suspect anything.”
Without waiting for a response, I stood up.
I turned to Darjeeling.
“It's okay if I go inside, right?”
Darjeeling's eyes widened at the fact that I was actually asking for permission.
The Crown Prince answered instead.
“Why do you want to go further inside?”
“To look at the treasures.”
“...Very well. Go ahead.”
Great. Let's go.
I grabbed my left arm with my right and stretched as I walked into the gallery.
On the way, I didn't forget to deliberately step on Nuisance Guy's hand while pretending it was an accident.
“AAAGH!”
“Oh my, I'm sorry. I did it on purpose~”
“You crazy bi— mmph!”
“Lord Papri! Please be quiet!”
Before the guy who had overheard my conversation with Mascarpone could start saying things like:
"What? Old lady, you've got something useful? Hand it over! You don't? Useless baggage!"
Actually, I felt partially responsible for our current situation.
We're trapped here because I provoked that nuisance guy.
He got angry and started kicking the wall.
If I hadn't provoked him, he wouldn't have kicked it.
And if he hadn't kicked it, the zombies probably wouldn't have appeared.
Though the biggest idiot is still the guy who couldn't keep his mouth shut in the first place.
Still, I felt like I needed to solve this.
These people were the protagonists. There was no way they were going to die meaninglessly while trapped here.
There had to be a way out.
We just hadn't found it yet.
And for some reason, I had a feeling it wouldn't be that hard to find.
Give me strength, directors of Train to Bucheon, Walking Daddy, All of Us Are Dead, Resident Evil, 28 Weeks Later, World War Z, Zombieland, Dawn of the Ridiculous Blessing!
People escaped zombies in all sorts of ways in those stories!
Just remember one method!
There were tons of them!
I wandered through the gallery as if I were playing an escape-room game.
Fatigue washed over me from my feet as I dragged my heavy military boots.
Sleepy. Tired. Exhausted.
“I'd rather be at work.”
The fact that those words came out of my own mouth shocked me.
I hadn't wanted to go to work since my job-hunting days.
The dark gallery displayed imperial treasures on both sides of the corridor.
Apparently no one even imagined anyone would steal them; they sat openly atop rectangular display stands wrapped in velvet.
Under the hazy lighting, only the treasures stood out like stars.
A tiara worn during someone's coronation.
A statue recovered from the temple that had originally occupied this site.
Expensive things. Rare things.
All sorts of things.
I was examining the First Emperor's cocoa cup made of opal and white crystal when—
“If you want it, take it.”
“Gah!”
I turned around.
The Grand Duke was there.
At some point he'd appeared behind me.
He picked up the cocoa cup I had been looking at and held it out.
“This villa was built to serve as His Majesty's birthing chamber. Praha was born here and stayed until he was a hundred days old. This is the cup brought here at that time.”
I stared at it suspiciously.
“If I take this, will I be executed?”
“The island is doomed anyway. If you take it, no one will know.”
“What do you mean nobody will know? Heaven knows, earth knows, I know, and Your Grace knows and can report me. I'll pass.”
You're trying to get me executed for theft, aren't you?
The Grand Duke laughed.
“Do you really think I'd report you?”
His blond hair gleamed under the dim lights.
Hair bright enough to sit among the imperial treasures themselves.
Far more dazzling than the opal and crystal I had been admiring.
“Tell me, Lady. Do I really seem like the sort who would report you?”
“Well... reporting thieves is generally the right thing to do, isn't it?”
“You have no faith in me. I followed you all the way here because I wanted to protect you.”
“That was a remarkably pointless thing to do. Thank you.”
“Were you very hurt by what happened earlier?”
The sudden question made me tilt my head.
Earlier?
Oh.
When he and the Crown Prince had prioritized Yoo Je-in over me.
Ancient history at this point.
So much had happened since then that it felt like a distant memory.
Though technically it was what led to us being trapped here.
“No.”
I looked up at the Grand Duke, who was studying me.
“Not hurt at all.”
“Why not?”
“You have to expect something from people to feel disappointed.”
“...”
“I don't expect anything from either of Your Highnesses.”
That was a lie.
Actually, I was very hurt.
But I had my pride.
I would never admit it.
I straightened my shoulders and lifted my chin.
Then I declared:
“If someday the man I love and Your Grace both fall into the water, I'll save the man I love first. You should do the same. Let's both do what we want and not hold grudges.”
The Grand Duke stared at me.
“But you love Praha.”
“...”
“Even Praha prioritized Miss Yoo Je-in over you earlier.”
Right.
Damn it.
He did.
“...Then I guess I'll have to find a new man.”
Apparently my answer surprised him.
His eyes widened slightly.
I met his gaze confidently.
Even surprised, he was handsome.
Remarkable.
Do whatever you want. I don't like you people anyway.
You're too far away from me.
People from another world.
People who didn't like me.
In fact, people who actively disliked me.
Even the physical distance between our lips was huge because he was ridiculously tall.
Everything about us is far apart.
I was far too worn out and tired to keep chasing after men who didn't want me.
Men like the Crown Prince and Grand Duke needed to learn that the world offered options besides themselves.
Besides, it wasn't me who liked them.
It was the original Lady Yusara.
With that thought, I didn't look away.
The Grand Duke's pale eyes gleamed with interest.
After staring at me for a while with those green-grape-colored eyes, he suddenly burst out laughing.
“Do you know how funny you are right now?”
“Me?”
“Your expression looks completely dead, but your tone is still polite.”
“Oh.”
“When I say something stupid, my butler makes that exact face.”
Sounds like your butler is an overworked office worker too.
The Grand Duke chuckled and casually set the cocoa cup down.
I looked at the absurdly handsome blond man who had decided I was entertaining and said:
“Anyway, I'm not upset, and I have no intention of taking it out on Miss Yoo Je-in. That's what you followed me here to find out, right? You've got your answer, so you can go back now.”
“Lady, I...”
The Grand Duke started to say something.
But my attention had already shifted elsewhere.
Something pillar-like was lying in a corner.
What's that?
Frowning, I walked over.
It was a corpse.
A decapitated corpse.
In front of the final display stand—an oil portrait of a young emperor in armor—lay a body whose head had been severed. Someone had carelessly shoved the head into a corner.
The blood flowing from the neck had begun to rot.
I stopped before stepping in the sticky mess.
The Grand Duke followed my gaze and laughed awkwardly.
“This is why I told you we should go together.”
“...”
“Are you okay?”
“...Did Your Highness do this?”
“It was already dead when we found it. Sir Darjeeling cut off the head. I merely offered moral support.”
“...”
Never mess with Darjeeling.
Ever.
“Lady, are you really alright?”
Without answering, I crouched beside the corpse.
The body lay face down.
I flipped it over with my fingertips.
...As expected.
This one had it too.
Pretending to inspect the body, I quietly slipped the glittering object I'd found into a pocket hidden in my skirt.
Then I stood up.
The Grand Duke asked:
“Why did you feel the need to turn over a decapitated corpse? Is looting dead bodies your hobby?”
“I wasn't looting it. I was examining it.”
“Why examine a corpse? Did you know him?”
“...Sort of.”
It was the servant.
The one who had stepped between Mascarpone and me when I first possessed this body.
“Sort of?”
“It's nothing. More importantly...”
I stared thoughtfully at the zombie corpse that had already bled out.
Zombies couldn't see.
They tracked people through hearing and smell.
What if we chopped up the corpse and smeared its blood and organs all over ourselves?
Could we trick the zombies' senses?
Where had I seen that before?
Walking Daddy?
The method itself seemed reasonable...
I slowly turned my head.
And looked at the tall, handsome man standing beside me.
[Inside the Gallery, First Floor of the Imperial Villa]