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Chapter 64
“Lady, shall we head out now?”
“Just a moment. You should wear a hat.”
I placed a half-crushed straw hat on Lillia’s head.
“I’m already really tanned, so it’s fine. You should wear it, my lady.”
Lillia shook her head as if she wasn’t concerned.
Her once snow-white face was now completely flushed.
It was midsummer August, when cicadas shrieked nonstop and even the shade felt suffocatingly hot—yet she still swung her sword every day.
“I’m giving it to you so you don’t tan any further.”
In contrast, ever since August began, I had practically lived inside the fortress.
I had no desire to hold a sword on days where everything under the blazing sun was scorching and the heat made it hard to breathe.
More importantly, Heresdon told me to rest so I wouldn’t get heatstroke.
“Then I’ll gratefully use it. Honestly, my face was starting to feel a bit stingy from the sunlight.”
She adjusted the hat and pressed down the brim.
“Do you think the others brought the hoes?”
“Yes. Lumi took them.”
Lillia nodded.
“It’s fortunate the heat has let up a little.”
I nodded in agreement, though the sun was still plenty hot.
But the breeze blowing past us was certainly cooler.
“Autumn is almost here…”
The sky was gradually rising higher, and the wind crossing the fields carried the smell of grass—signs that fall was close.
Lillia smiled.
“Our time in this fortress will be over soon.”
“Right.”
The emperor had said the Imperial Army would reach the fortress before the end of autumn.
And the letter he recently sent said everything was progressing smoothly, so the army’s advance was faster than expected.
So we really just had a little more to endure before returning to the capital.
“The capital won’t be like before, but just knowing we can go there is reassuring.”
“I think so too.”
“Oh my, you think so as well, my lady?”
Lillia laughed in surprise.
“Of course. Once we’re in the capital…”
I would be able to hide inside the ducal residence, away from people.
And most importantly, the development of the cure would begin. All I would need to do was quietly stay inside the mansion and wait.
“In the capital?”
“We won’t have to live on just corn anymore.”
Lillia burst into laughter.
“Haha, honestly, eating only corn was a bit difficult. We’ve been eating practically nothing but corn for three weeks.”
Her laugh sparkled like sunlight.
“But today we’re harvesting potatoes. Thankfully, that means we have two options now.”
As she said, today was potato-harvest day.
It had already been fourteen weeks since we planted the seeds in the field. Time here passed faster than expected.
“Oh, they’ve already started.”
Lillia spotted Heresdon turning over the field with a hoe.
Next to him, Lumi and Wuben were pulling out the potato stems.
“You and the lady can put them in this basket.”
Noticing us, Wuben stood up and approached.
Apparently all we had to do was pick up the potatoes Heresdon unearthed and toss them into the basket.
“Okay.”
As I sat down, I noticed Lumi was completely soaked.
He must’ve gone swimming in the water channel again because of the heat.
“They’re definitely bigger than last time.”
Lillia brushed off dirt from a potato as she spoke.
Her voice was bright, her lips upturned—she was clearly excited.
It seemed she truly was delighted that there were now two things to eat besides corn.
“Let’s hurry so we can go eat meat.”
Wuben nodded vigorously at her words.
At his comment, I remembered something I had completely forgotten.
“It really has been ages since we grilled meat for dinner.”
Yes—tonight we planned to roast birds.
“And today we caught a lot, so everyone can eat until they’re full.”
“Right, let’s finish quickly!”
So Lillia wasn’t excited about the potatoes… but the meat.
“I caught another one today!”
“Really? Then we’ll definitely eat well today!”
Lillia clapped her hands happily.
Because of the crops planted in the field, birds came often.
Sometimes they got caught in the traps Lumi set, and sometimes Wuben shot them with his slingshot.
Not very often, but occasionally.
Whenever we got meat, we’d season it heavily and store it underground, and apparently we’d accumulated quite a bit.
I didn’t dislike this unusually lively atmosphere.
Just as my lips began to twitch from how cute Lillia and Wuben were, Lumi tapped my arm.
“Penelope. You need to sort the damaged ones separately.”
He brushed off his hands and pushed a basket toward me.
“Damaged potatoes go here.”
“Oh, really? But since they’re already mixed, I should empty this basket and redo it.”
I was about to dump it out when Wuben hurried over with a new basket.
“My lady, please put the undamaged ones in here.”
He took the half-filled basket away.
“I’m sorry. I should’ve told you earlier—I forgot.”
He apologized quickly and also collected the wilted stems and leaves I’d set aside.
“But Wuben, what are you planning to do with those?”
I tilted my head at the pile he pushed aside.
Why put them aside instead of sorting them?
“I’ll sort those after we’re done.”
He said it like it was nothing.
“Since it was my fault, I should do it.”
He spoke firmly, like he’d resolved to lighten my workload however he could.
For some time now, the boy had been taking over tasks I should’ve been doing.
“My lady, please finish quickly and head in. I should handle this.”
I didn’t mind doing it myself, but it wasn’t unpleasant to have Wuben fuss over me—so I simply nodded.
“Alright. Thank you, Wuben.”
After the harvest we would still need to clean up the corn stalks, so I could do that instead.
Once I filled the basket with potatoes, Lumi picked it up.
“I’ll carry this.”
“It’ll be heavy alone. Should I come with you?”
“This much is fine.”
He shook his head and flexed his arm as if to show he was strong enough.
“I’ll be back.”
Thump.
Just as I stood—feeling like I should help him—something fell over my face, blocking my vision.
“Keep working.”
Heresdon spoke as I pulled down the cloth.
“A handkerchief?”
“The sun’s strong.”
The pale-gray handkerchief was embroidered with the ducal family crest.
It must’ve been the one he had with him when the zombie outbreak began.
“My lady, I’ll fix it for you.”
Lillia dusted off her hands and came over.
She tied the ends and adjusted it so it wouldn’t block my view.
“Is that better?”
“Yes, thank you.”
When I lifted my head, my eyes met Heresdon’s.
“This part is mostly done, so I’ll take care of the corn stalks.”
He looked over the potatoes, then moved away to another spot.
And with no sign of tiring, he once again began tearing out the corn stalks.
Sweat beaded on his forehead and soon dripped from his chin.
“Even with the breeze, it’s still hot. Let’s finish quickly.”
“Yes! I’ll move faster.”
Replying brightly, Lillia hurried her pace.
I did as well, and soon Lumi returned to help, so we sped up and finished sorting.
Lillia let out a weary groan as she stood up.
Just then—
“Grand Duke, where is Wuben?”
Idorian stepped down from the watchtower and approached us.
“He’s organizing the storage area.”
I lifted my head because I heard Idorian let out a deep sigh.
He turned toward the fortress and spoke quietly.
“The boy’s mother is approaching the fortress.”
“What…?”
Lillia sucked in a sharp breath.
She stared at Idorian, then urgently asked:
“You didn’t shoot her, right?”
Idorian shook his head.
“I left her alone for now since she hasn’t gotten too close.”
His expression hardened slightly.
“But if she comes closer to the fortress… we’ll have to kill her before she causes a commotion.”
