chapter 2
A crushed human head came bouncing and rolling across the floor with dull thuds.
Someone’s headless—
No…
The torso of someone who used to be someone staggered around wildly. A knight kicked it out of the room and slammed the door shut behind it.
“Kyyaaaah!”
“Aaaah!”
Chaos erupted inside the room.
I silently stared down at the head that had rolled to a stop near my feet.
“……”
It was a real human head.
Brown hair tangled messily around its face, one cheek torn open by a huge bite mark. Its eyes were still open. Strands of its own hair were stuck inside them.
I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again.
It wasn’t as terrifying as I’d expected.
I’ve never been the fearful type.
If I got scared by something like this, how was I supposed to survive what was coming later?
Honestly, all I could think was:
What kind of ridiculous mess is this?
This isn’t All of Us Are Dead*. I’m not a high school student—I’m a working adult. Please send me home.*
Still, acting too calm would look strange.
After sneaking a glance around, I let out a scream.
“K-kaaah! This is so scary!”
Thankfully, no one paid attention to my terrible acting.
Another knight who had remained behind to guard the room hurriedly grabbed a tablecloth and covered the severed head.
“Are you alright?”
He kindly asked, probably thinking I’d frozen from shock while staring blankly at the head.
“Yes, I’m fine.”
“Shall I bring you some warm water?”
“If necessary, I’ll drink it myself. Thank you.”
Only after saying it did I realize that “thank you” didn’t really suit a villainess.
But whatever.
At some point, everyone except me had clustered tightly together. Supporting Character 1, 2, and 3 quietly shuffled over beside the protagonists they’d been sitting near earlier.
Supporting Character 3 dropped heavily into the one remaining empty chair directly across from Yoo Jein.
“Ugh… I’m gonna puke. What the hell is that…?”
For reference, he was the only man among the supporting cast.
As Supporting Characters 1 and 2 hesitated awkwardly, suddenly left standing, the Crown Prince and the Grand Duke both sprang to their feet.
“Please, sit here.”
“N-No, how could we possibly—”
“It’s fine. I was thinking of standing anyway. Right, Praha?”
“Yeah.”
Even though the two highest-ranking people here had ended up standing, Supporting Character 3 didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.
Wasn’t he the Crown Prince’s cousin or something?
I could already tell.
That bastard was definitely going to become a massive pain in the neck later.
From now on, your name is Nuisance Guy.
“U-um… excuse me.”
Supporting Character 2, now sitting in the Crown Prince’s chair, spoke up with a deeply humbled expression. Her face was pale with fear.
“That severed head. I mean, the dead person. Who do you think it was? A servant wouldn’t suddenly go insane and charge into the room alone… Maybe an assassin sent by the Republic or something?”
The Grand Duke nodded in agreement.
“If so, then one of our knights must have beheaded the assassin. The problem is why there’s no one outside.”
A natural reaction in a world without the concept of zombies.
None of them could even imagine that thing wasn’t an assassin, but a walking corpse.
And that the corpse could infect other people too.
I folded my arms quietly and listened to the conversation.
Let’s hear it.
Let’s see how smart these people are.
“Whether it was an assassin or not, the important thing is how an outsider got onto this island.”
“Exactly. Only authorized people can travel to and from this island, right? The only way in is through the imperial palace portal. That’s why we all left our maids and guards behind…”
“Did something happen at the palace?”
Nope. The palace is perfectly fine.
The zombies didn’t come through the portal—they suddenly started pouring out of thin air above the island.
“Where are the imperial knights protecting us? Or at least the attendants?”
They’re all infected.
“There are only two knights in this room. If someone really is attacking us…”
“Even counting all the imperial knights who came to the island, there aren’t even ten, right?”
“Why isn’t anyone coming for us…?”
Because they’re all infected!
Knowing the answer but being unable to say it was maddening.
“Are you alright?”
Then suddenly, a voice fell over my head.
When I looked up, I saw the owner of the voice.
The Crown Prince.
His black hair had fallen slightly across his forehead during the earlier commotion. Between the collar of his white shirt buttoned all the way up, a masculine neckline peeked through.
A low voice. A perfect jawline. Straight, indifferent eyes that seemed to shine coldly.
If this had been my real world, he was handsome enough that I would’ve fallen in love at first sight.
He’s so handsome… it’s almost horrifying.
Because if the future I knew remained unchanged, this man would eventually be the one to kill Yusara in the novel.
Still, Lady Yusara had high standards.
Holding the gaze of the male lead, who clearly had no affection for me whatsoever, I replied:
“Yes. I’m fine.”
“You don’t look well.”
“I’m tired.”
“In situations like this, it’s best to stay gathered with the others.”
“Ah.”
So he hadn’t come over because he was worried about me.
He was telling me to get lost.
After staring at the expressionless Crown Prince for a few seconds, I stood up.
Seeing me rise, Nuisance Guy immediately sank deeper into his chair. As the only male among the four people occupying seats, he radiated determination not to give one up.
Good grief.
Relax. I’m not coming over there.
I simply leaned casually against a nearby table.
Having moved me aside, the Crown Prince immediately pulled away the tablecloth covering the head.
“Blegh…”
Ignoring Nuisance Guy’s gagging noises, he knelt in front of the severed head and examined it carefully.
“The neck had already been cut beforehand.”
“Huh?”
“It was strange. The head detached from the body just from being shoved.”
When the others failed to understand, the Crown Prince paused briefly before continuing.
“My knight never used a weapon against the attendant who charged at us. He merely pushed him with his bare hands. Yet the head fell off. Which means the servant’s neck had already been nearly severed before the knight even opened the door. So badly that a light shove was enough to separate it completely.”
The Grand Duke frowned.
“In other words, his neck was practically cut through, yet he still managed to run all the way here.”
“And he even made noise.”
“How does someone make noise without a neck?”
“No idea.”
“How fascinating,” the Grand Duke murmured before walking over.
“Excuse me.”
He flashed me a smiling look while I stood leaning against the table, then passed by me toward the Crown Prince. The two knelt together beside the severed head.
“Something tore into this part. An animal?”
“The bite strength seems too weak to be from an animal.”
Maybe they hadn’t become male leads solely because of their looks. Both of them had remarkably strong stomachs.
I simply watched the two men examining the severed head from every angle.
Don’t stand out.
Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely do not stand out.
The Crown Prince rose and brushed off his knees.
“I can’t determine anything from this.”
“In that case…”
“We’ll have to go outside and investigate.”
He spoke calmly before addressing the knight guarding the door.
“Have you checked the situation outside?”
“Yes, Your Highness. The attendants guarding the entrance and the knights patrolling the corridor have all disappeared. However…”
“However?”
“I believe I saw someone collapsed near the central staircase. They appeared to be wearing a servant’s uniform.”
At those words, I instinctively looked at the knight’s face.
Did he realize it?
That what he’d just said was basically planting a death flag on himself?
In the novel, the story proceeded like this.
The two knights left under the Crown Prince’s orders and brought back the servant collapsed in the corridor.
The servant appeared to have died instantly from a stab wound through the heart. One entire arm had been torn clean off.
While they laid him on the floor and examined whether he truly was a servant and what kind of weapon had pierced his heart—
the supposedly dead servant’s remaining hand twitched.
“He’s alive!”
The knight urgently pressed his ear to the servant’s chest.
At that exact moment—
the servant, now a zombie, lunged up and attacked him.
People hurriedly dragged the servant away, but it was already too late. The knight, his vital area bitten open, died.
And shortly afterward, the knight transformed as well.
This incident taught everyone about zombies while simultaneously throwing the group into panic after losing one of the imperial knights—the room’s greatest combat strength in a gathering made up almost entirely of nobles.
And at this moment, the one who opposed bringing the corpse into the room in the novel was me—Yusara.
Of course, I hadn’t opposed it logically.
“Why are you bringing a corpse in here?! What if that corpse starts moving like the beheaded guy from earlier?! Are you sure it’s really dead? Check properly! No, don’t even bother checking! Just cut its head off and throw it somewhere!”
Selfish and vicious lines.
But honestly, it had been the best possible response.
Naturally, everyone ignored me.
The important point here was this:
Even if I object, they’ll ignore me.
No matter what I said, these people would dismiss it.
Because otherwise the story couldn’t continue.
Either way, that knight has to die for the plot to move forward. We can’t stay trapped here forever.
I looked at the knight with mixed feelings.
He was young. Twenty-five at most.
The Crown Prince gave his orders.
“Go bring him. Move together. Don’t touch him carelessly, and confirm whether he’s dead first.”
“And if he’s already dead?”
“It doesn’t matter. Bring him anyway—corpse or not. Tie him up.”
The Crown Prince removed a silver wire from around his wrist that resembled a violin string and tossed it to the nearby knight.
Just like in the novel, the Crown Prince instructed them to bind the corpse’s arms and even its mouth carefully, just in case.
The problem was that the zombie still bit the knight even while the sharp wire sliced the corners of its mouth apart.
“Even if it’s a corpse, we tie it up?”
“The beheaded man was moving around too. There’s no harm in being cautious.”
After answering quietly, the Crown Prince headed toward the door.
“Your Highness? Where are you going?”
“Someone has to guard the door while you’re out.”
“What? There’s no need for Your Highness to do that! One of us can stay behind!”
“Then I’ll go inspect the corpse myself.”
“Your Highness! How could we possibly—”
“I’ll help too.”
That was when the smiling Grand Duke cut in.
“Your Grace…”
Looking at the two flustered imperial knights, the Grand Duke spoke.
“What choice do we have? There are only two knights here, and aside from you two, only Praha and I know how to handle weapons. If you leave, it’s only right that we guard the door.”
“But—!”
“Don’t worry. We won’t lock the door while you’re gone.”
His tone was gentle but firm.
At least the Crown Prince has a weapon. That guy’s empty-handed and still fearless.
The knights, who had suddenly ended up protected by two extremely important figures, swallowed nervously.
The Crown Prince and the Grand Duke took positions on either side of the door. A moment later, they signaled and opened it.
The instant it opened, the headless corpse lying on its stomach outside came into view.
“Urgh.”
I was getting sick of Nuisance Guy’s dry heaving.
Everyone swallowed hard while staring into the hallway.
Sure enough, far away near the wall, someone was slumped half-sitting against it.
The two knights cautiously advanced with swords drawn.
One of them was about to die.
Die.
One of the two would—
“Wait!”
Ah… damn it.
In the end, you just had to interfere, didn’t you, Yusara…?
[Imperial Villa, Secret Room on the Second Floor]