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Chapter 33
“Urgh!”
I immediately turned my hammer sideways to block the zombie’s mouth.
Kuweeeek!
As I was forced backward and sank to my knees, the zombie pressed its attack without letting up.
Groaaar!
Its two arms lunged for my head, and I had to duck down quickly to avoid them. Just the thought of those bony hands tearing my skin into shreds like paper made me shudder.
Fighting them one by one from a distance was simple enough. But once surrounded, or caught off guard like this, strength alone wasn’t enough to hold them back.
Kuweeeek!
While I was stuck fending it off, more zombies began to close in from every direction.
Clatter—
In the middle of dodging one of the zombie’s flailing arms, I dropped the bracelet I had been holding in my hand.
I bit my lip and glared at it lying just by my knees.
If I tried to grab it, I’d have to let go of the hammer and get bitten. But if I abandoned it, the zombies might crush and destroy it.
Sensing my hesitation, Danha suddenly shouted.
“Lady! Abandon the bracelet!”
Kuweeeek!
Before I could even answer, another zombie came rushing from my right.
“Ugh!”
I swallowed a groan and kicked the one on my right. Then, just as I tried to push up and stand, my balance collapsed and I fell back down hard.
Naturally, the grip on my hammer slackened and my stance broke. The zombie seized the opening and lunged at me.
“Damn it!”
As its face filled my vision, I shut my eyes tight, bracing myself.
Crunch—!
A sharp crack rang out. Startled, I snapped my eyes open, just in time to see a jagged bone fragment whip past my cheek.
When I blinked and focused, I saw Danha pressing his spade down into the zombie’s skull.
His wide sleeves slipped back, revealing thick forearms where bluish veins pulsed beneath the skin.
‘…What on earth just happened?’
Crack—
Before I could even process it, Danha yanked the spade free and stepped back.
The zombie collapsed in a heap. Danha stared at the ruined skull with a pained expression before laying the spade down and sinking to his knees.
He closed his eyes and offered a prayer. When he finally rose again, the easy smile he always wore was gone.
Beneath the shade of the trees, his eyes glimmered faintly, clouded with many emotions.
“My lady.”
“Uh… yes.”
I answered, still dazed.
He stepped closer, picked the bracelet up from the dirt, fastened it around my wrist, and looked straight into my eyes.
“I never believed in the saying that one meeting could be stronger than a thousand others.”
“…”
“But now… I finally understand what it means.”
His lips curved slowly, smoothly into a smile.
“Wherever you go, I will go as well.”
“…”
“A promise made with the heart must be kept with the heart.”
Under the very tree where we first met, he smiled again, dimples deepening in his right cheek.
* * *
At the back of the hut.
In the forest, the call of cuckoos echoed intermittently.
Two shadows stood in the moonlight—one small, the other a grown man’s.
The man frowned, but the smaller figure spoke calmly.
“Do not be offended. I’ve come to inform you the orders have changed.”
“…Then what happens now?”
“For the time being, they must be kept here.”
“…”
“You are to remain on standby until further orders. And in the meantime, keep aiming for his heart.”
With that, the smaller shadow turned to leave.
The man closed his eyes slowly as he watched the figure retreat into the trees.
Alone in the forest, only the lonely call of the cuckoo remained.
“What did you just say?”
It was the day we were supposed to return to the Empire.
I had just taken a sip of water and bitten into bread spread with peach jam, when the Crown Prince dropped a bombshell.
“My lady, I won’t be returning to the capital just yet.”
Thud. The bread slipped from my hand.
Danha, seated beside me, dusted it off and set it back on the plate, then gently closed my gaping mouth.
Only then did I snap back to my senses.
‘What the hell did this lunatic just say?’
The end was so close!
I furrowed my brow tightly and clenched my fist on the table.
If not for the rabbit across from me—munching on carrots and patting the back of my hand as if to say “Calm down”—I might have punched the Crown Prince in the face right then.
Holding back my boiling anger, I asked,
“And why is that?”
He raised his brows, leaning back casually into his chair.
As if he’d finished eating already, he dabbed his mouth with a napkin.
“I intend to stay here and investigate the incident.”
“Investigate… the incident?”
“Yes. If rain, storms, or earthquakes occur, any evidence will vanish. Before that happens, I need to uncover the cause of this zombie outbreak.”
“Isn’t it just a natural disaster?”
“Well, is it truly mere coincidence that this happened precisely when the Empire’s high-ranking officials were gathered in one place?”
“It is coincidence.”
Honestly—it really was. The whole mess came from priests failing against the holy resistance of the zombie zone.
“The fact you’re so certain only makes it stranger,” he said, grinning slyly as he laid the napkin down and looked at me.
The moment our eyes met, I realized my mistake.
‘Damn it, I forgot. This man doesn’t trust people.’
He’d been so unusually cordial that I’d let my guard down for a moment.
I had worked hard to keep up my vigilance.
But I’d slipped. His so-called warmth wasn’t proof of trust.
And even when he accepted weapons earlier, he did so by cloaking it in casual banter. He’d always been testing, weighing, doubting.
Of course he was.
Which is why, even though I expected suspicion, being accused of things I hadn’t done still stung.
I frowned.
“Do you still think I might be a spy?”
“Do I look like a fool who would suspect a woman who saved my life twice of being a traitor?”
“You could just believe I saved you for ulterior motives.”
“Oh? Sharp of you.”
So he was thinking that way.
I clicked my tongue inwardly but kept the conversation going.
“Do you really think I have something to do with this incident?”
“I can’t rule it out. You’re nothing like the rumors—too calm, too clever, and you even had weapons hidden away. Almost as if you knew all this would happen. But remember this: you’re not the only one I’m suspicious of. In times like this, trust doesn’t come easily.”
Of course.
He was likely spinning dozens of theories: about the temple, the imperial family, the mage tower, even foreign nations.
Including Jaeger, the Tower Master, everyone here was probably under suspicion.
And I was just one name on his long list.
The problem was…
I glanced toward Jaeger and Xien.
It wasn’t just the Crown Prince who suspected me.
All the male leads probably did.
A noble lady known to be reckless and foolish, suddenly proving calm, knowledgeable about the sacred zone, and even carrying weapons?
If I were them, I’d be unsettled too.
And on top of that, in my desperation I’d said—
“For my sake, you must not die here!”
Of course they’d feel something was off about me.
I sighed deeply.
The Crown Prince studied me, then raised his hand lightly.
“Don’t misunderstand. I’m not staying because I suspect you. I’m staying so I won’t suspect you.”
“…In other words, to find clues about the current situation?”
“Exactly.”
Might as well press him further.
“What areas, and for how long?”
“The west and south regions. Four days. I already checked the east and north, so only those two remain.”
“Investigate only the west. Going south is too dangerous.”
The Crown Prince rubbed his brow, looking troubled.
“Oh no, you misunderstand. I’m not asking you to stay. You should find one more survivor and fill the quota for the warp scroll. Then return. I’ll remain behind alone.”
What?
“Why, is there a problem with that?”
He smiled brightly, almost serenely.
I froze.
‘Wait… instead of asking me to stay and wait, he’s telling me to go?’
I thought hard, then realization struck me.
That bastard. He was testing me. Testing whether I’d risk staying despite danger—or leave without hesitation.
‘So instead of pleading, he’s deliberately pushing me away.’
And since he cloaked it as an “investigation,” I couldn’t argue for retreat. He was fulfilling his duty as Crown Prince.
‘Maybe I should just leave one of them behind after all…’
That wicked thought crept into my mind.
