A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 126

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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’ll admit it—I love Praha too.
I’ve fallen in love with the man who once killed me.
But precisely because of that.
‘I don’t want to show him my uglier side.’
That I loved you desperately, and because of it I behaved shamefully, and eventually died and came back.
That the reason I appear somewhat decent now is because this isn’t my first time experiencing such things—
I don’t know what will happen to me as I live through my thirties and forties for the first time as time passes.
I might disappoint you.
I don’t want to reveal the truth.
So I’m choosing to be a coward again this time.
I clenched the hair ribbon that had fallen into my hands. The large blue diamond pricked painfully against my palm.
“…If your feelings change, I can return it to you anytime.”
“They won’t change.”
“You can’t know that.”
According to Praha’s logic, he once had feelings for me, but at some point in the past that’s now gone, he fell in love with Yujein, and he killed me coldly and cruelly.
‘I know. That everything back then was my fault.’
But. Even so.
“You really… can’t know that.”
My voice sounded a hundred times less confident than I intended.
“Right now we’re traveling, and there’s only us here. But once we return to the Capital, Your Highness will realize it too. That I’m not someone worthy of your affection.”
The light in Praha’s eyes, which had been gazing at me with infinite tenderness until now, shifted dramatically at those words.
“…What do you mean by that?”
Praha’s pupils constricted sharply as he questioned me.
Praha’s eyes are a bright amber color.
Against his black hair and composed demeanor, those irises alone shine so brightly that they stand out remarkably.
As the temperature in those eyes changed, an atmosphere like a honed blade emanated from him.
“What possible reason could you have for saying such a thing?”
“You know what my reputation is like. I have a terrible personality, I’m uneducated, I’m stupid.”
“That’s not the Yusara I know.”
Praha cut off my next words.
This was the first time Praha had interrupted me like this. I could tell without him needing to say it. Praha was angry now.
“The person I know is resolute, considerate of the weak, clever enough to spot flaws just by reading documents, and someone who finds a way through even in crisis situations.”
“…Either way, that’s who I was in the past. You can’t deny that, Praha.”
“Suppose that’s true. Then, are you still that person now?”
“…No.”
“Do you intend to act that way going forward?”
“…No. But.”
There’s another problem.
“You know what my mother is like, Praha. My family is the laughingstock of the Empire. And I haven’t had the chance to tell you yet, but my Younger Brother is in Sodom right now. He gambled, and… by now he’s probably become a zombie. If he hasn’t become a zombie, he’s accumulated massive debts.”
“Is that your fault? Did you threaten your Younger Brother to go gamble?”
“…No.”
“Then there’s no problem.”
“….”
“Don’t demean yourself with such nonsense.”
Praha, mid-sentence, suddenly clenched his teeth. The veins in his long, masculine neck became starkly visible. He glanced up at the sky once, then exhaled deeply.
It was a rare display of dramatic emotion from Praha.
Rising from his kneeling position, Praha spoke.
“I’ve been misunderstanding you.”
“….”
“I thought you were an incredibly admirable person… honest and courageous. I was wrong.”
“….”
“You’re a coward.”
“…So you’re disappointed?”
“No. I want to hold you.”
Praha took the hair ribbon from me and touched my loosened hair.
He carefully swept it back from my chin, then tied it up. My head bowed forward as I received his touch.
Creak.
One of Praha’s knees came up onto the sofa where I sat.
My head nestled between his arms.
A man who doesn’t even know that hair should be tied from behind. Realizing this wasn’t right, he spent an extraordinarily long time running his fingers through my hair.
The result was a complete mess.
Praha had turned my hair into something like a cactus and smiled crookedly.
He was still angry.
Kneeling again to meet my gaze, Praha spoke.
“I’ll give you a chance to take back what you just said.”
“….”
“You won’t take it back?”
I simply stared at Praha without speaking.
His amber eyes were right before me.
“As time passes, you’ll come to understand why I said these things.”
You’ve only lived one life, so you don’t know.
“That day will never come.”
“You don’t understand because you’re still young, Praha.”
“And you—are you considerably older than me?”
“….”
“What you’re doing now isn’t for my sake. Let me be clear: I don’t want you to—”
Praha stopped mid-sentence and lowered his head.
The tips of his ears were flushed red.
His voice trembled as he continued.
“I want you to tell me that a man like me isn’t worthy of you, that I should find someone taller, richer, more handsome, and beg you by laying everything I have at your feet. I want you to treat me badly.”
To kneel before you and pathetically beg for your acceptance—that is my only desire.
“If that day comes, you’re free to abandon me and go to another man. Just please, I beg you, never say that you’re unworthy of me.”
“….”
“Break my heart. Speak cruel words and wound me.”
“….”
“I love you.”
Do whatever you wish.
* * *
“What are you doing up here, Grand Duchess? You haven’t even eaten dinner.”
That evening, Cyprus found me sitting on the rooftop.
(In Korea, climbing onto a rooftop would summon emergency services immediately, but not in this neighborhood.)
I’d come up here precisely to avoid seeing anyone. How did he find me?
When he looked at me with those eyes, I couldn’t help but smile wryly.
“You love climbing onto rooftops anyway. You were always saying you wanted to go up and look at the Imperial Palace rooftop.”
“Was I?”
“So, what are you doing?”
I was debating whether I should reveal my possession to Praha.
“Just thinking. There’s something on my mind.”
I’d said it with the clear implication that he should leave, but Cyprus only laughed. He’d definitely understood me.
Brazenly, Cyprus approached and sat down beside me.
He handed me a cup he’d brought, and I accepted it.
“What is this?”
“Hibiscus tea.”
“Ugh….”
“Just kidding. It’s hot chocolate.”
Cyprus added that he’d put in hazelnut syrup and marshmallows, then winked at me.
While I finished the hot chocolate, he hummed contentedly and gazed at the stars beside me, then suddenly asked.
“So, have you finished thinking? Did you reach a conclusion?”
His eyes gleamed as if to say, ‘I know exactly what you’re worrying about.’ I answered curtly.
“If the Grand Duke would leave, I’ll finish thinking and tell you what I’ve decided.”
“Come on. If you haven’t reached a conclusion after all this time, you never will.”
“Are you mocking me…?”
“Want to spar?”
“…Right now?”
Here? When I looked at him with that expression, he smiled with his eyes.
“We might end up fighting zombies on a rooftop, after all.”
Cyprus lightly grasped my hand and pulled me to my feet, then faced me directly.
He took the cup from my hand and set it aside, then gauged the distance between us as if we were about to dance in a ballroom, and raised both hands.
Cyprus playfully clicked his teeth together in a zombie-like manner and said.
“From now on, I’m a zombie. I’ll only use my mouth and hands, so try to subdue me.”
“Can I hit you?”
“If you’re able to.”
How infuriating.
Fine, let’s use our bodies then.
Without warning, I threw my fist first.
“Oh my.”
Aiming for his gleaming face, my fist swept forward, but Cyprus merely tilted his head slightly to evade it. He let out an unexpectedly adorable exclamation, then wrapped both hands around my fist right in front of his face.
With a playful sound, Cyprus gently bit my fist.
“Grand Duke’s wife, you’ve become a zombie.”
Without hesitation, I drove my knee upward to strike his center of gravity. Cyprus didn’t even flinch. As if he’d anticipated this, he released my fist and pulled me into an embrace.
The sudden closeness rendered my decisive attack utterly futile.
“Let go!”
“Zombies don’t listen to reason.”
I shoved Cyprus with my shoulder. Since he refused to release me, we tumbled together, rolling across the broad rooftop several times.
“Whoa!”
Throughout it all, Cyprus made biting motions at my neck and shoulders multiple times.
“Give up—I’m already a zombie anyway.”
“This is so infuriating!”
“An infuriated zombie.”
I threw punches, choked, kicked, bit, tried everything—yet not a single blow landed.
After thrashing about like that for a while.
“Hieeeee….”
Suddenly, tears began streaming down my face.
“This is so infuriating….”
Why can’t I land even one hit, dammit….
Seeing me collapse and cry after abandoning my attacks, Cyprus stopped his zombie act with a playful growl and approached me. He cradled my head in his arms, pulling me against his chest as he spoke.
“Why are you suddenly crying….”
“Sniff….”
“Stop crying. When the Grand Duke’s wife cries, my heart tears apart.”
“Dirt got in my eyes, that’s why I’m crying….”
“Am I dirt….”
You’re dirt….
You’re dirt, and Praha is dirt too.
Dirt, dirt.
“Hieeeeeeeee….”
In Cyprus’s arms, I caught a fragrance entirely different from Praha’s—a nostalgic perfume.
While crying like that, I drove my fist into Cyprus’s abdomen.
[Cyprus’s Hot Chocolate Recipe]
1. Light hot chocolate with whipped cream and salted caramel drizzle added
2. Rich hot chocolate with an espresso shot added and cinnamon powder sprinkled
3. A hastily prepared hot chocolate with hazelnut syrup and marshmallows added
And eaten together with strawberries.

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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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