A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 11

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

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The Grand Duke of the South, Cyprus de Mer.
Height. Easily over 190 centimeters. Build. Imposing.
Hands and feet. Enormous.
Add to that broad shoulders, masculine arms, and a thick chest.
= Currently torturing his clothing.
Solid enough to kill someone with just his forearms, yet somehow appearing elongated and sleek—that’s a talent, if anything.
‘And if I head toward the entrance over there, there’s another large man with a similar build.’
Incongruously, he smelled of soap.
The Grand Duke blinked as he caught my sigh-laden gaze.
“Why?”
“…It’s nothing.”
I’d have to chop up zombies and smear them all over this massive body.
It doesn’t seem feasible.
‘I’d need at least three zombies to cover both of them entirely.’
“No, why? I’m curious. Tell me.”
“It’s just. Nothing important.”
I’d been thinking about mashing up a zombie and using it as a full-body mask. I whispered my just-abandoned plan directly into the Grand Duke’s ear, keeping my voice deliberately low in case the corpse lying beside us could hear.
‘They say hearing is the last sense to go, even after death. What if he hears me suggesting we desecrate his own body?’
As I lowered my voice, the Grand Duke instinctively bent down. I voiced my opinion to his handsome ear now close to mine.
“…I was thinking it might work, but it seems impossible, doesn’t it? You two Your Highnesses are….”
Both such well-built men.
The Grand Duke laughed at my words.
“My lady, you’re surprisingly creative?”
It’s not that I’m creative—it’s the writers of “Walking Daddy” who are creative.
“If it actually worked, we wouldn’t have to run around so hard….”
“Yes. But it’s a strategy we can’t use. You should have been born smaller.”
“Indeed. What a shame. That Praha and I happen to be two such well-built men.”
We’ll definitely try it sometime later, the Grand Duke said.
“I’d prefer that ‘sometime later’ never comes….”
“I understand.”
The Grand Duke, who had been alternating his gaze between the abandoned corpse’s face and me, suddenly asked.
“My lady, you don’t seem afraid of corpses?”
“What are you talking about? Of course I’m afraid.”
I’m not a murderer, so naturally corpses terrify me. Today was the first time I’d ever seen a dead body.
‘It’s just.’
My situation—suddenly possessing a body in a fantasy world—is far more terrifying.
“I’m scared out of my mind. Wailing and wailing.”
Sobbing. The Grand Duke, watching me like that, spoke quietly.
“My lady, you’re acting particularly strange today.”
“What do you mean.”
“Something’s different. You said you were scared, but you’ve got dead fish eyes, and that’s strange too.”
“….”
Did he just insult me?
“And the way you tried to help those knights earlier.”
“That was… because it was obviously dangerous.”
I couldn’t just stand by and watch when I knew people would die.
“Exactly. A typical lady-in-waiting wouldn’t care about something like that, would she?”
“….”
So Yusara really was a psychopath after all.
“You’re making me think too much….”
The Grand Duke muttered to himself, then lowered his gaze. Soon he lifted his head, and the man’s eyes looking down at me gleamed with mischief.
“In any case, because of that fit body of yours, the lady-in-waiting’s plan is difficult to execute. Shall we find another method together?”
Together. Both of us. The Grand Duke emphasized it.
I had no choice but to nod.
“Yes, well.”
Two people searching would be faster than searching alone.
* * *
‘Why does the Grand Duke keep glancing at me like that?’
Never mind. What do I care?
The Gallery was smaller than I expected. According to the Grand Duke, all the important records and such were kept on a separate Artificial Island built specifically for document storage, and this place only held things that wouldn’t be catastrophic if lost.
“Wouldn’t this be catastrophic if lost? It’s the Emperor’s portrait.”
“That’s a copy.”
“Ah.”
The Grand Duke is part of the Imperial Family, wasn’t he? His succession rank is higher than the Troublemaker’s.
Maybe that’s why he knows everything when asked. It felt like I was touring an art museum with a personal guide in the middle of the night.
“Why is the corner of this one chipped?”
“When His Majesty took this from the Temple, the resistance was quite fierce.”
“Ah….”
“Be careful. It’s sharp.”
An Imperial treasure I could smell up close and even feel the texture of with my own hands.
When would I ever get to enjoy artwork in 4D like this?
With that thought, I brought my eyes close and examined it carefully.
A palm-sized underworld deity carved from jade, a golden plate the size of a pizza box with grape vines etched into it, a three-tiered dessert bowl with beads hanging from it….
“What is this?”
I picked up a small golden skull-shaped ornament that looked like it could crack someone’s head open if thrown properly and asked.
“Ah, that’s the skull of an Imperial Family member who died immediately after birth, coated in pure gold.”
“…!”
Startled, I nearly dropped the skull I was holding, but the Grand Duke caught it with an “Oops.”
“You must be careful.”
Then he placed the skull back in my hands.
“I don’t want it, I don’t want it, put it back over there…!”
“Why not? Do touch it. If he were still alive, he would be my uncle.”
Pay your respects. The Grand Duke chuckled.
When greeting an adult you’ve just met, do you really wrap their entire head in one hand?!
You madman!
“How revolting!”
“My lady, if you show such disgust, my uncle will be saddened….”
“Wahhh!”
I was about to fling the skull that had been forced into my hands like a baseball, when a sudden thought struck me.
I looked at the skull in my palm.
The entire small cranium was gilded in gold, and the hollow eye sockets were adorned with curved jade and dangling ornaments. What was already not light for a human skull had become considerably heavier with the profusion of jewels hanging from it.
The round, snug feeling filling my hand.
‘My ancestor’s back of the head is quite beautiful.’
I examined the sturdy skull with its Silla crown visual, turning it over in my fingers.
“Your Highness, could this perhaps….”
“Yes.”
The Grand Duke, whose eyes met mine, nodded.
“We’re thinking the same thing right now, aren’t we?”
“It would seem so.”
The thought that if we played this right, we could escape with this.
The Grand Duke looked around the surroundings, then went and retrieved one more decent item.
It was a jade carving modeled after the god of the afterlife.
“Won’t you receive divine punishment if you break that?”
“I’m not sure. I don’t fear divine punishment myself.”
The two of us deliberated together, tossing and catching the two treasures.
“Which do you think would be more forgiving, Your Highness—the god or my ancestor?”
“Surely it would be my ancestor, would it not?”
“That’s what I thought too.”
Then we’ll go with the skull.
I carefully picked up the glittering golden skull and returned to the Crown Prince at the entrance.
Mascarpone and the others turned their heads to watch as I passed through them without hesitation, stepping over those who were crouching.
I lifted my chin proudly toward them.
‘I’ve found a way, you all.’
Though it came with a touch of impiety….
Even as I approached right beside him, the Crown Prince continued to keep watch outside, showing only his profile. I carefully tugged at the sleeve of his robe.
‘What is it?’
I tapped my lips to signal that I had something to tell him.
I thought the Crown Prince would bow his head like the Grand Duke did, but he merely stared blankly. With no choice, I rose onto my tiptoes.
And I stumbled.
“…Ah…!”
My face, which had been flailing to keep from falling, was suddenly buried somewhere around the Crown Prince’s collarbone.
My lips touched his neck.
More precisely, his Adam’s apple.
“…!”
“…!”
As I hurriedly tried to pull away, the Crown Prince steadied me by supporting my waist.
“I wasn’t trying to kiss Your Highness’s neck…!”
“…I know.”
His hand gently straightened my posture, steadying my waist once more. My flushed cheeks were completely exposed under the Crown Prince’s indifferent gaze.
‘What is this…!’
A kiss on the neck, out of nowhere!
[Things I’ve done since possessing this body]
1. Steal and wear shoes from a corpse.
2. Get into a verbal fight with a brat (and win!).
3. Kiss a strange man’s neck.
I’m going crazy!
“I was trying to speak, but you wouldn’t bend down for me! I can’t just grab Your Highness’s shoulder and support myself!”
I was genuinely resentful.
With that sentiment, I shot out a small complaint. The Crown Prince calmly met my glare, my eyes wide and fierce.
“…Yes. I apologize.”
Only then did his face slowly lower toward me.
‘I want to grab his ear and pull it.’
With resentment, I brought my lips close to his ear. I pressed them against his soap-scented ear and whispered.
“The corpses can’t see ahead. They sense us through hearing and smell.”
“…Yes.”
Stop flinching like that—it’s uncomfortable for me too.
“So I’m about to try something now. Do you have any better ideas?”
“…What will you do?”
I showed him the skull I’d been holding in my hand all along.
The Crown Prince understood my intention immediately upon seeing it.
The Crown Prince nodded.
“It’s a good method. It depends on how poor their eyesight is, but based on my experience so far, I’d say it’s virtually nonexistent.”
“Yes. I think so too. But will you be alright? I heard this skull belonged to your ancestors.”
“I think it’s better than becoming a skull myself while trying to protect an ancestor’s skull.”
“…That’s true.”
It seems Confucianism isn’t the foundation of this country after all.
Now that I had the descendant’s permission, there was nothing to hold me back.
“Alright. If we return safely, let’s perform a memorial rite to ask your ancestor’s forgiveness.”
“A memorial rite?”
“Setting out food so your ancestor can come eat and leave.”
“Isn’t that an offering to the gods?”
“From today on, let’s make offerings to our ancestors as well.”
The Crown Prince let out a short laugh at my words and replied.
“Very well.”
“Yes. Your Highness, you’ll prepare the ritual food.”
Grill the meat. With those solid forearms of yours.
The quick-thinking Grand Duke had already positioned everyone behind us. My bewildered companions huddled together, watching the Crown Prince and me.
When I explained what we were about to do, they gasped in alarm, yet agreed this was our best option.
I flexed the hand holding the skull, opening and closing my fist.
My torn palm still stung, but it was manageable.
I lifted the curtain slightly to check the situation outside.
‘That should be a good target.’
Though it seemed a bit far.
Would kicking it work better than throwing it by hand? If that were the case, wouldn’t it have been better if a soccer player possessed me instead?
One chance only. As I warmed up my muscles, rotating my arm, the Crown Prince stopped me. His large hand wrapped around mine, and he smoothly took the skull from my grasp.
The skull that I’d barely been holding looked absurdly small in the Crown Prince’s hand.
The Crown Prince said,
“I’ll do it.”
“…It would be better if a descendant did it, anyway.”
He’d have more strength than me.
The Crown Prince rolled the ancestor’s skull in his palm a few times, then peered left and right beyond the curtain. Confirming there were no zombies within arm’s reach, he extended only his arm outside the curtain.
Gauging the angle, the Crown Prince threw the skull toward the Left Staircase we’d fled from earlier.
There was a large glass window in that direction.
The skull flew like a baseball and shattered the window.
Crack! Crash!
Please give us a hit, ancestor!
[Imperial Villa First Floor Gallery]
– Yusara, Yujein, Crown Prince, Grand Duke, Dazling, Mascarpone, Supporting Character 2, Troublemaker (Alive)

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

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