A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 125

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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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I sometimes say things I shouldn’t.
Example 1. A messenger conversation with a college classmate who commutes between Suwon and Pangyo
Friend: Ugh, I ran like crazy again today.
Me: Why?
Friend: I’m worried I might be late lol. When I get off at Jeongja in the morning to transfer, everyone’s rushing in the same direction like crazy—it’s intense competition.
(Note: Jeongja is a transfer station between the Suin-Bundang Line and the Shinbundang Line.)
Me: (Sending a thumbs-up emoji) Running like Jeongja, huh.
Classmate: (Read and ignored)
Example 2. During lunch, at a famous Yeouido stir-fried pork restaurant, eating spicy stir-fried pork and radish soup with ☆extra rice cakes☆ with my team
Coworker 1: (After asking when everyone’s birthdays are) We have a lot of January and February babies at our company!
Coworker 2: Right? It seems like almost everyone was born in January or February, haha.
Coworker 3: Yeah, that’s strange!
Me: (Debating whether eating the last rice cake would look rude) I guess March and April were busy seasons~
(Note: Human pregnancy lasts approximately ten months.)
Coworkers 1, 2, 3: ….
Living without a brain like this, I’ve said countless things I shouldn’t have….
But this time feels like it’s reached legendary levels.
You liked Praha, didn’t you.
Did I really need to say something like that?
‘Absolutely not.’
I ‘liked’ him.
There was no need to use the past tense—a word that implied things were different now.
It was a remark that shouldn’t have been made at all.
Yujein’s eyes darted frantically across the table as an awkward silence fell, and she hastily began clapping.
“I, if things continue like this… and we can’t find a clue in Sodom!”
Tangerine quickly picked up the thread.
“The next zombie might appear in the Capital! This is troublesome!”
Cyprus, leaning back leisurely against the sofa, continued.
“It’s difficult to predict exactly when that might happen, but….”
“Maybe, just maybe, right this very moment….”
“Like magic….”
“Zombies could be pouring out….”
“We should send an additional message to the Emperor….”
“That would be best! Let’s send it right now!”
“Then, shall we hurry and prepare to head to Sodom? We need to confirm the facts first!”
“Agreed!”
“Let’s do that….”
“We’ll be heading out now….”
Tangerine stood from her seat, saying she needed to do more research in her room, and rolled up the maps and notes she’d spread across the table. Yujein, whose eyes had been darting about nervously, quickly rose to follow.
“Hmph.”
Cyprus let out a scoff and slowly rose to his feet.
“Ah, so where exactly is the Costume Room located?”
After pestering Praha once more and receiving no response, he tapped Praha’s shoulder and followed after Tangerine and Yujein.
The door closed with a soft click, leaving only the two of us in the Recreation Room.
“….”
“….”
Here it comes.
I let out an awkward laugh and turned my gaze toward Praha, who sat there like a portrait.
His perfect forehead, the bridge of his nose, his jawline—all framed by the same expressionless mask as always. A face that seemed to harbor no emotion whatsoever.
But now I could see through it.
‘That’s a sullen expression, a melancholic one, a pouty one, a gloomy one… in any case, something along those lines.’
Yet Praha remained, as always, an adult.
After a brief silence, he neatly compartmentalized his emotions.
As if it would be unforgivable to burden me with his feelings.
With his expression composed, Praha spoke to me.
“I believe we had decided to take Muffin and Cheese to Sodom.”
“…Ah, yes. I was actually meaning to discuss that.”
I blinked at the sudden change of subject before responding.
“I was too preoccupied and overlooked that matter. Sodom is a place that has long been cut off from contact, and according to our hypothesis, it’s almost certain that zombies have appeared there. I’m not sure it’s wise to take children to such a place.”
Wouldn’t it be better to send them along with Cherry, who is heading to the Southern Region instead?
If Muffin and Cheese go to the Southern Region where they have no connections, they would become orphans, but in any case, that city belongs to Cyprus….
“If we happen to find relatives of surviving children in Sodom, we can contact the Southern Region at that time.”
I’m worried about the children who would have to wait indefinitely, though.
Seeing me scratch my forehead in contemplation, Praha spoke.
“We may die in Sodom and be unable to send word.”
“…That’s true.”
“In that case, the children would be left adrift.”
“…Then what should we do?”
“What if we take them as far as Sodom and leave them at a nearby Temple?”
That way, at the very least, they would quickly learn what happened in the neighboring city, Praha said.
His words stirred a memory from the past.
“…Is that city by any chance Gomorrah?”
“It is.”
“Ah….”
My younger brother had purchased some kind of hunting rifle from that city’s Local Lord on credit, hadn’t he? And then he immediately left for Sodom, so the Local Lord sent a letter to our Mansion in the Capital…. Demanding payment.
‘If this were modern times, that fool would’ve become a credit defaulter.’
“Then let’s do it that way.”
I nodded. Watching me, Praha slipped his hand into his jacket pocket.
A box the size of a palm emerged in his hand.
A striking yellow box adorned with a ribbon made of purple satin.
“What is this…?”
“Open it.”
I tilted my head in confusion as I accepted the box. I pulled the ribbon loose and opened it.
“…Wow.”
Inside was a hair ribbon.
Set with a blue diamond the size of a fingernail.
Similar to the one I’d tried on at Emmanuel Clothing Shop yesterday, but far superior in both the size and purity of the gemstone.
As the diamond caught the light and sparkled, an involuntary gasp escaped me.
“Wow….”
If I sold just this jewel, I could probably buy the entire street where the Costume Room stood.
Even in the Capital, such a rare treasure wouldn’t be common.
Forget the Capital—something of this caliber could easily occupy an entire corner of the Imperial Gallery at the Zombie Villa without raising an eyebrow.
“I asked the Boutique Owner yesterday if he could sell me something similar to that ribbon, and he introduced me to someone.”
Praha added his explanation as I remained transfixed by the jewel.
“A jeweler brought this as the only possession when he fled to this city during the war, and he’s been keeping it because no one has yet appeared who could pay its true worth. I thought a bracelet or necklace would be cumbersome during travel.”
“It’s truly beautiful….”
“From now on, it is yours.”
“Mine?”
“Yes.”
This is mine?
“You’re giving this to me?”
“Yes.”
“Why…?”
“Because I wish to.”
Praha’s hand clenched into a fist as he spoke matter-of-factly, then slowly uncurled. Like someone struck by lightning.
Praha spoke.
“I am aware that your affection for me is merely a thing of the past.”
“….”
“I know it is late to say such things now.”
Praha’s chest heaved. I could clearly see his hand trembling as he carefully placed it on my knee.
“Perhaps I have liked you from the very beginning.”
“….”
“I remember you sitting before the fireplace at Cyprus Residence on a winter’s day. That blind devotion of yours troubled me… and at some point, it angered me. I wanted to tell you. That Cyprus was not a good man.”
“….”
“I know it is too late.”
“….”
“But if I acknowledge from this moment forward that I was a complete fool… and swear to become your servant for eternity. If I promise that even should your heart change, mine will not.”
“….”
“Then might you give me a chance?”
Praha fell silent and rose from his seat.
Praha came before me and knelt on one knee, his hands overlapping mine as he grasped the box I held.
“I do not seek repayment. I merely ask that you grant me the opportunity to offer this to you.”
His hands against my skin are warm. And still trembling.
“It may not be a diamond the size of a fist fallen from the heavens, but if you grant me time, I will offer even that. Somehow.”
He speaks nonsense to win my favor.
Yet if I were to say “please do so” here, he is precisely the man who would somehow procure even a diamond fallen from the heavens.
Suddenly, the inside of my throat grows hot.
“…What if I lose it again? What if this hair ribbon is swept away by the wind and disappears?”
“It matters not. I will give you another, as many times as you wish.”
“….”
“Dozens of times, hundreds of times… until my life ends and my blood runs dry. I will offer whatever you desire. In return, you need not give me anything, however trivial.”
“….”
“I will give you everything. Give me nothing in return.”
Only accept, or rather, you need not even accept. Simply allow me to give.
Praha, speaking as though pleading, pressed his lips to my knee.
[The Value of a Jewel]
The hair ribbon Praha gifted to Yusara was an item a duchess had put up for auction before the age of war, which a jeweler had purchased.
The object, entangled in a certain love story, is recorded in the Imperial Family’s jewel registry, and is actually quite famous (though Praha and Yusara did not know this).
Its value, converted to US dollars, is approximately 2.7 million.

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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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