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Chapter 41
‘Didn’t I babble quite a bit of nonsense before falling asleep… What exactly did I say?’
Retracing his faint memories, Rihad propped himself up with his arm, resting his chin on his shoulder. He stared at the peacefully sleeping Redria for a long while.
Seeing how carefree she was, he suddenly let out a hollow laugh.
A man and a woman, sharing such a cramped space, yet she wasn’t the slightest bit conscious of him as a man. On the contrary, if he thought back, it seemed he’d even been rejected in his half-asleep state more than once.
“Does this woman even see me as a man?”
“…”
He slowly rubbed his chin. “It’s not like I’m ugly…” he muttered softly, eyebrows twitching as he looked down at Redria in a teasing way.
“Hey, my lady. Can you really fall asleep next to a man like me?”
Naturally, there was no reply.
But then, Redria slowly opened her eyes.
“My lady?”
Rihad’s face showed surprise, thinking his words had woken her. Redria glanced at him briefly, sighed deeply, then pressed down on his head.
“My la—”
“Sleep.”
His vision tilted as she forced him flat onto his back.
Then her soft arm wriggled its way beneath his head like a pillow, supporting it.
Her small hand—so tiny compared to him—rested on his chest, patting gently.
“Lullaby, lullaby, our nuisance, please just sleep, our nuisance.”
Her voice, dripping with irritation, sang him to sleep.
Rihad clapped a hand over his mouth, stifling the laughter that burst out.
Never in his life had he heard such a miserable lullaby.
The tune, the rhythm, the lyrics—everything was completely off. Her voice was as grating as scraping iron with a saw.
‘But strange… somehow, that awful lullaby sounds so good.’
It was as if she was soothing him from a nightmare.
Like being wrapped in a warm breeze.
Perhaps that was why—
Once again, Rihad felt his heart stir.
The same way it had when he saw her desperate eyes as she clung to him on that cliff’s edge.
Before long, Redria’s breathing had steadied, her hand still resting on his chest.
Rihad looked at her for a long time with trembling eyes. Then he clasped the small hand lying on his chest, the corner of his lips curving smoothly.
“Sweet dreams, my lady.”
Dream of me, and it would be even better.
“Really, nothing happened?”
“Nothing happened.”
“That beastly bastard didn’t try anything with you, Ria?”
“Of course not.”
The crown prince might toss out inexplicable flirtations, even mention marriage proposals, but he never put her in any situation that would truly make her uncomfortable.
‘So he’s more of a gentleman than he looks.’
Now that she thought about it, she couldn’t recall any scandals tied to the crown prince in the original story either.
As she pondered this, Sien suddenly gripped her shoulders with a grave expression.
“Ria, you need to know one thing.”
He glared at the prince walking behind them, his gaze sharp as a blade.
“That man’s reason is located in the soles of his feet.”
At that, the crown prince strode forward, clearly unable to listen any longer.
“Hey, isn’t that a bit much? I’ve kept my chastity despite countless women throwing themselves at me.”
He emphasized the word “chastity,” staring directly at her.
She bristled with embarrassment and snapped back.
“What are you looking at?”
Already right beside her, the prince leaned closer and asked quietly.
“You remember, don’t you? Our bet.”
Right—unfortunately, the prince had won their wager.
When they woke up, it had been early morning.
Rescuers searching for them had found the cave and smashed through the stone door.
That was how the crown prince and she had ended up here.
“What’s your wish, then?”
“Later.”
The prince smirked, curling one side of his lips like a mischievous brat.
“I’ll tell you later.”
She glared sidelong at him, suspicion gnawing at her.
‘What in the world is he planning to ask for?’
Then—
“After worrying all night, you two seem awfully relaxed.”
Jäger adjusted his pack as he passed them by. Redria glanced at him and tossed out a half-hearted question.
“Were you worried about us?”
“Are you crazy?”
He shuddered in disgust.
Having just barely escaped death, even that reaction struck her as amusing.
“Well, whatever. They say excessive denial means yes.”
“Sounds like you hit your head.”
At that moment, Danha caught up with her, hands clasped behind his back.
“I was worried.”
“…I’m sorry.”
Whenever Danha said things like that, her heart went soft.
“Because of you, my heart can’t take much more.”
“Were you that worried?”
“Of course. I couldn’t even save my benefactor. I nearly lost the face to see my younger brothers again.”
“I’ll make you something delicious as an apology.”
“Really?”
His face brightened instantly as he turned to her. He had once said her cooking suited him better than even the food of his homeland.
As they chatted about what to eat for breakfast, they made their way to the western shelter’s back gate.
Then—
“Ahhh! Aahhh! Get away! Get away from me!”
A sudden scream rang out.
Kuueeek!
Stumbling zombies appeared near the back gate.
Without hesitation, she and the male leads drew their weapons and fought, cutting the creatures down one by one.
Finally, when she struck down the last zombie, it collapsed to reveal a shocking sight.
A disheveled man sat trembling on the ground, his hands shaking violently. Next to him, a boy of about eight clung to him tightly, wide frightened eyes locked on Redria.
The boy froze, gasping for air.
‘What’s going on? How…?’
“Yand!”
A desperate shout rang out as a teenage boy ran over, embracing the younger child.
The boy glared at her, his murky eyes heavy with resentment and gloom.
The emptiness and despair could only belong to someone who had endured far too much.
She stared blankly into his eyes before lowering her gaze.
The child in his arms trembled, his cracked lips moving as he held something out.
“M-Miss… are you the one who left this?”
In his hand was a Post-it.
The same one she had stuck to the northern shelter’s gate.
[ If you are reading this note, you must be survivors like us.
We have taken the northern shelter’s food and weapons, so come west.
Let’s meet alive. ]
The messy handwriting was hers.
“Shit…”
‘A variable.’
This damn variable had caught her by the ankle again.
??
Why?
Why were there additional survivors?
Seated at the table, Redria stared blankly as three grimy-looking men devoured their food in front of her.
Was this reality, or just a dream?
She pressed her forehead, letting out a long sigh.
‘Calm down, Redria. You need to keep calm… calm…’
‘As if you can keep calm at a time like this!’
The temple and Heiton—fine, those could be brushed off as spin-offs from the original.
But additional survivors? What on earth was that about?
‘Is this the transmigrator’s distortion of the original plot?’
But even so, wasn’t this twisting far too much?
Rubbing her temples, she studied the newcomers.
The boy who rubbed his full stomach after eating was Yand, eight years old.
The older boy, fifteen-year-old Jenta, carefully wiped Yand’s lips with a napkin.
They were brothers, illegitimate sons of Baron Refilo, a noble of the court. Their elder half-brother had died as a knight of the 1st Division of the Holy Order during a monster raid on a coastal village.
Because illegitimate children could not be acknowledged in the family registry, they had no standing. But their elder brother, with his generous heart, had looked after them.
After his death, Baron Refilo, despite his wife’s opposition, took the boys in after long deliberation.
‘He had no choice—lineage had to be continued, after all.’
Years later, recognized as bereaved family members of the Holy Order, they had come to visit their brother’s grave… only to be caught in this catastrophe.
Redria’s eyes shifted to the man still shoveling food into his mouth.
This was Count Lafran, an official guest.
He was the chairman of the Western Merchants’ Association, managing a trading company—something akin to a mid-sized business owner in modern terms.
“Cough!”
Having just gulped down water after his meal, the count nearly choked when he noticed the lineup of powerful figures all watching him.
“Kh, khk!”
He thumped his chest, grabbing a napkin to cover his mouth before anything came back up.
Well, it was only natural to react like that when all the empire’s bigshots were gathered at one table.
It was almost stranger that the little boy whispered to his brother, “We’re safe now,” looking so reassured.
Even the composed Jenta was still glancing nervously at their party.
At last, Count Lafran wiped his mouth clean and stepped toward them.
