ESMLT 35

Chapter 35

“Were the two of you testing that woman?”

Silence fell.

Rihad turned his upper body toward Shien, then glanced back at Jaeger.
His amber-honey eyes, tinted red by the sunset, blinked slowly.

“What do you mean?”

Shien brushed his hair back without answering.

“……”

Seeing the two men’s evasive behavior, Jaeger’s gaze cooled.
Now he was certain.

So that’s what it was—they wanted to test whether she would make the “reasonable” choice of leaving them behind, or whether she would risk everything to stay.

If she chose to remain, then it meant she had some “purpose” that required saving everyone here.

Even if she had claimed her choice was based on a vague “majority vote,” in the end it was no different than saying she wanted to stay with them.

But what exactly was she hiding?

‘For my sake, you cannot die here!’

Why was she so desperately trying to save them?

A sudden zombie outbreak.
Strange magical artifacts of unknown origin.
Carrying weapons in advance.
Cold, rational decision-making.
Fearless actions, as though she already knew everything.

All of it stacked together, and the doubts surrounding her finally surfaced once they had gathered five survivors.

“Haa.”

Judging that it was pointless to hide his thoughts any longer, Shien broke the silence with a languid sigh.

“As much as I hate to admit I agree with this guy, it’s true—Lady Ria is hiding something from us.”

“……”

“And it’s also true that she’s desperately trying to save us.”

Shien leaned back, tilting his chin at an angle.

That was why—even if she turned out to be a witch luring them in with sweet words only to devour them—he had been willing to join hands with her.

His violet eyes, now icy cold, swept over the two men in the cabin and the one standing outside the window.

She’s not just trying to protect me.

That alone was deeply irritating.

She’s trying to protect these uncultured men…

His gaze drifted to the rabbit gnawing on the leftover carrot at the edge of the table.

…and even that damned little monster too. All of them.

Wasn’t that what she wanted to protect?

As he stared at the rabbit, irritation suddenly flared inside him.

Damn it, and why is that thing stuck to Lady Ria like glue anyway?

Sensing the murderous chill in his eyes, the rabbit dropped the carrot from its mouth and shivered violently.

Watching this, Rihad shook his head with a weary sigh.

Here we go again. Same old temper.

If only the young lady knew about this rotten personality of his.

Rihad waved at the pale rabbit.

“Come here.”

“Kiing…”

The rabbit bolted into his arms. Rihad looked down at it with pity.

Poor thing.

Lifting one of its ears, he met its frightened eyes.

“From now on, you’re sleeping with me, not the young lady. Got it?”

…Of course, that wasn’t really possible.

Still, the idea of it made even him grimace in displeasure.

How much time passed, he couldn’t say.

At last, Jaeger, lost in thought, spoke as he stared out the window.

“Do you consider her trustworthy?”

Both men looked at him.
No answer came.

Affection and trust both spring from human psychology, but sometimes they exist like two sides of a coin—opposed, yet inseparable.

Finally, Rihad broke the silence, absently stroking the rabbit in his lap.

“Let’s just watch her for four more days.”

As his eyelids lifted slowly, the sunset caught his eyes, scattering gold dust across them.

“I’m unbearably curious about what she’s hiding. Aren’t you, Duke?”

“……”

Jaeger pushed aside the curtain and looked at them both.

The crimson twilight spilled across the table, casting its glow through the dusky cabin.
The dim red-gold light drenched the three men in brilliance.

“……”

This was the zombie zone.

It had once been a sacred district, with a mausoleum at its center.
The area was divided into four regions, and for the past three days, they had been lingering in the western section.

• Exploration Team: Crown Prince, Redria

• Reconnaissance Team: Jaeger, Danha

• Shelter Guard: Shien

So far, no additional survivors.
No progress in field investigations either.

“……”

With lifeless eyes, I trudged after the Crown Prince.

His red hair swayed in the breeze.

…Was that his way of saying he’d allow me to assassinate him?

After all, this place had no imperial armies, no patrols, no royal investigators, no holy knights, no mage battalion, no royal shadows.

If I killed him here, no one would know.

I gripped my hammer, imagining the perfect crime—only to freeze.

[ Redria Arios, murders the Crown Prince!
At last, she causes a catastrophe! ]

The newspaper headline blared across my mind.

My hand slowly lowered.

I came here for a royal pardon. Hold it together. Just endure.

Losing my family and wealth to Hayten’s schemes was already bad enough. I wasn’t about to end up in prison on top of that.

I let out a heavy sigh and thought of Jaeger.

A pang of betrayal stung.

Even he—a servant of the temple—had bowed to the hierarchy of status?

When he spoke with the Crown Prince, he had said:

“For the investigation, let’s remain here a few more days.”

What the hell is going on in that man’s head?

He, more than anyone, had wanted to escape this zombie zone and return to Roeni.

My mind drifted to Danha, who had gone with him.

His weapon was a bow—common in the eastern continent. Luckily, he knew how to use it. The problem was, there were no arrows.

As I’d said before, this area had once been a sacred district where carrying weapons was strictly forbidden.

So while armories existed for the safety of bereaved families, lethal weapons had been deliberately excluded.

Carrying only a bow with no arrows… I hope he doesn’t get hurt.

Then again, I recalled how he had crushed zombie skulls with a shovel. Maybe I was worrying for nothing.

Just then, the Crown Prince suddenly halted, eyes fixed on something.

He looked back at me.

“Milady, there’s something here.”

Something? Yeah, probably just zombies.

As if trying to bait my interest, he rubbed his chin in mock admiration.

“Oh-ho, remarkable.”

What’s remarkable?
If you go bald someday, that would be remarkable.

Ever since being forced to stay in this zombie zone because of him, my personality had soured into that of a sulky teenager.

“Milady, over here.”

He urged me again.

I tied my loose hair back into a messy knot as I strolled over.

I’d lost my hair tie after sleeping, and the thread I used as a replacement had snapped too. Now my hair was annoyingly free.

Smoothing it back, I stood beside him and looked where he pointed.

“What is it, anywa—huh?”

I blinked. My eyes widened.

“Milady, why is there a cave there?”

Exactly my thought.

We had been walking down a steep slope from a wooded cliff to the shore when we spotted it: a cave carved into the jagged base of the cliff.

The crash of waves filled the air as my gaze met his.

I quickly pulled out the rolled-up map from my pouch.

No cave was marked there.

Only one cave existed in the east—the “Dimensional Cave,” where I had once hidden after stealing food, staying a whole day before fleeing.

So why was there another cave here, one not even marked on the map?

I tapped the brooch pinned to my shirt to signal Jaeger’s team.

Nothing but static. Looked like we were out of communication range.

I rolled the map back up and tucked it away.

“Should we go in?”

“Indeed.”

The Crown Prince and I exchanged a glance, then moved toward the cave—

—but I froze at the entrance.

Wait. In an apocalypse, it’s always the curious explorer who dies first, isn’t it?

Going inside was practically breaking every survival law in a zombie apocalypse.

Maybe I should just suggest we go back…

As I hesitated, my eyes darting, he called to me.

“Milady?”

He was already inside the cave, looking back at me.

Seeing me frozen with one foot raised, he seemed to think I was frightened. A faint smile tugged at his lips.

The sea breeze ruffled his hair. Sunlight scattered across his pupils, making them shimmer like glass.

“Don’t worry, Milady.”

His tone was gentle, as though I needed comfort.

“……”

“You won’t die.”

“……”

“Probably.”

…If only his last words had been as kind as the first.

As expected, this “mad dog” only knew how to be sweet to his woman.