A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 105

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————

You’re certain there are only adults here, right?
There’s no chance any teenagers are watching me corrupt an innocent person like this, is there?
Well then, let me open my eyes now.
* * *
Those cheap horror films rated for adults only have scenes like this occasionally.
A beautiful woman in a sleeveless top and shorts—usually a blonde bombshell—covered in blood, screaming in agony.
Either drenched in blood or soaked in water.
Showering or diving into a swimming pool. In any case, those scenes that make you think, ‘Wasn’t it already stimulating enough? Did they really need to make it even more provocative?’
Beauty and moisture.
Provocation upon provocation.
This moment feels exactly like that.
“….”
“….”
Cyprus swept back his blonde hair, darkened and heavier from the water, tilting his head toward me. Water droplets fell steadily from his freshly washed, smooth jaw and pink fingertips, dripping from his elbows.
Soaked golden eyelashes glistening with moisture, a chest that made my hands itch to reach out, abdominal muscles that rose and fell lightly with each breath. And… that… oh… lo—
“It’s rather cold in here….”
“….”
“Are you going to help me out?”
Click.
I slammed the door shut.
“I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!”
Have I lost my mind? I was just standing there gawking at another man’s naked body!
I clung to the door handle, apologizing profusely.
“Did you just lock your husband in the bathroom?”
“That’s not it! Just… don’t come out for now!”
My panicked response—as if there were a monster inside the bathroom—was met with light laughter from within.
Thud.
“Ah!”
“Just closing the door again won’t cut it. If you’ve seen an innocent man’s naked body, you have to take responsibility.”
You’re anything but innocent!
“I’m truly sorry. I didn’t know you were in here. I mean, you were running around late yesterday, so why are you up so early… You’re becoming quite the impressive person… Anyway! I’ll come back later.”
“Hey, don’t go.”
What are you saying?
I’m leaving this instant.
I quickly released the handle and shuffled away. Cyprus, sensing my movements with uncanny precision, issued a warning.
“If you leave now, I’ll open this door as is. Just so you know, I’m barely wearing a shirt.”
His pleasant voice echoes through the damp bathroom. The voice is lovely, but the content is rotten.
“I haven’t even buttoned it up. It’s as good as being naked.”
Is this man insane?
“Please stop saying things like that. Do you have no desire to live a proper life?”
Grumbling, I made my way back to the Bathroom. Cyprus, sensing my presence from inside, laughed.
“Why won’t you let me in?”
“Well, just because?”
“For heaven’s sake.”
“Why not? When else would we get a chance to talk alone like this?”
Knock. Knock-knock. Cyprus tapped on the Bathroom door.
“I have to see people’s faces every day. Sometimes it’s exhausting.”
Why, are you an introvert too?
“Just get dressed. Stop playing around with the door.”
I slid down with my back against the door instead. I fanned my flushed cheeks with my hand.
I couldn’t calm down.
I wasn’t a teenage girl, and I’d seen a man’s bare body before—there was no reason for my face to turn this red with embarrassment.
‘But what I just saw was a body that felt so unmistakably masculine…’
Every nerve in my body suddenly tensed.
‘It’s too stimulating. It’s not good for my health.’
“Are you almost done? Hurry up and come out. I need to wash too.”
I spoke deliberately gruff to hide my embarrassment. Cyprus, who had only been laughing at my sullen response, suddenly changed the subject.
“There’s something I’d like to ask you.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“Is the Grand Duke’s mother—that is, the Grand Duke—doing well?”
“…My mother?”
He’s asking about my parents’ wellbeing in this situation?
Was this private conversation he wanted to have just an interrogation?
I bumped the back of my head against the door and answered without much enthusiasm.
“I wouldn’t know. It’s been quite a while since I left the Capital.”
I hope that our last conversation changed Mother even a little, but I also know that expecting to change an adult like her is futile.
“If living as usual counts as doing well, then she’s probably doing well. Nothing should be different.”
“I see.”
“But why are you asking about my mother?”
I asked back, surprised that Cyprus of all people was inquiring about the Grand Duke.
“Did you have a close relationship with Mother before?”
“No.”
It was an answer cut off to the point of being curt.
Then there was a brief silence.
‘Button up, why don’t you.’
While you’re at it, put your pants on too.
Soon after, knock. Knock. Knock. Cyprus playfully tapped on the door a few more times, whispering as if he were truly trapped, “Let me out,” before adding:
“When I was young… I did meet her once.”
His tone sounded meaningful. I narrowed my eyes.
“…Don’t tell me that meeting was—”
That doesn’t mean you dated my mother, right? I asked suspiciously, and Cyprus grimaced.
“Why would you think that! That’s not it at all!”
“Then why are you speaking in such a melancholic tone!”
I prayed that my mother wasn’t Cyprus’s first love—that wasn’t why he rejected me.
“You certainly have a vivid imagination, Grand Duchess! That would never happen!”
“Wait, Your Highness, that’s funny though? Never? What’s wrong with my mother!”
“It’s not about what’s wrong with her!”
“Please take good care of me, Father.”
“Yusara!”
He was genuinely upset—I heard the doorknob turn from inside. I desperately held it shut, keeping him trapped. While I teased Cyprus with giggles, his earlier tone of voice echoed persistently in my mind.
‘When I was young… we did meet once.’
I’d lightened the mood with a joke, but I understood instinctively.
This was why Cyprus had despised me since childhood. Why he’d been cruel to me, why he’d rejected me so harshly.
‘What happened between my mother and Cyprus?’
What could have happened? They were similar in status, but vastly different in age. Their social circles didn’t overlap either.
Besides, my mother—the Grand Duke—had never spoken ill of Cyprus. Even when I chased after him, she never tried to stop me.
‘I’ll pretend I don’t know.’
I had no idea what the situation was, but I felt no desire to dig deeper and uncover it.
I was mature enough not to pry into stories others hadn’t volunteered to tell.
“So, what will you do once you leave here?”
Tired of insisting he’d open the door, Cyprus asked with a thud—this one sounding duller, as if he’d pressed his forehead against it. “What will you do?”
“Once I leave here?”
Restock sanitary supplies, stop by the Bookstore to buy an intermediate ancient language book, go to the blacksmith to sharpen my dagger—things like that.
I answered honestly, and he laughed. Cyprus asked again.
“And once this matter is completely resolved?”
“I suppose I’ll withdraw from society and live quietly, as if dead.”
“As if dead?”
“Yes. As if I never existed in this world at all. I’ll cut off all contact with people.”
And I’ll finally return to my own world.
“….”
“What, are you worried I’ll go to the Southern Region and cling to you?” I asked with a laugh, but there was no response from inside.
…Could he actually be worried about that?
After that incomprehensible conversation, I found myself reading between the lines without meaning to.
‘Well, it’s understandable he’d be displeased if a child who used to whine about becoming Grand Duchess makes jokes like that.’
When Cyprus calls me Grand Duchess, it’s only because ‘it will absolutely never happen.’
I shouldn’t play along with his joke.
Sigh.
Don’t cross the line.
Distinguish between kindness and affection.
Don’t confuse kindness with romantic interest.
Cyprus has always disliked me so much that his kindness now stands out in stark contrast, but that doesn’t mean he actually likes me. I mustn’t forget that he’s merely tolerating my presence.
That man is putting up with me—I need to remember that.
I cleared my throat and spoke with deliberate precision.
“Don’t worry, Your Highness. Once this Investigation Team assignment is over, we’ll have no reason to see each other ever again.”
“…Ever again?”
“Yes. Even if the Grand Duke visits the Capital, I won’t go to meet you. If we happen to be in the same place, I’ll make myself scarce. I won’t show my face at your celebrations or condolences, and especially not at your wedding. I’ll ensure you never see a single strand of my hair for the rest of your life. Even if I happen to die abroad by accident, you won’t hear a word about it—you’ll find out three years later by pure chance.”
I’d spoken at such length that I was breathless.
Still, this should satisfy him.
Cyprus remained silent. He didn’t seem like someone who had deliberately sought me out for conversation.
Yet I felt rather pleased with myself, and added with a sense of relief.
“Did you enjoy our private conversation?”
“….”
“Let’s go now. I need to wash up.”
“….”
After a few seconds of silence, Cyprus opened the door.
The hot steam trapped in the bathroom rushed toward my face. Through it, Cyprus’s green eyes were so startlingly cold that I flinched.
“Why are you so surprised?”
As if he hadn’t just worn that frigid expression, Cyprus smiled.
I called after his departing back as he warned me that only cold water came from the faucet on that side, urging me to be careful.
“Will you be going out to deal with the zombies again today?”
“No.”
“Ah, you’re not going?”
“No. I’ve lost the desire to do it.”
“….”
One can’t live doing only what one wishes to do….
“I want to keep you alive longer. To make this last as long as possible.”
“…I see….”
It seems wandering alone yesterday was quite exhausting for him.
[Inhabited Island]
– Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine, Muffin, Pickle (Alive)
– General (barking frantically at someone)

—————
This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
—————