A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 156

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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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Chapter 17. Why I Like You
My thoughts after hearing Cyprus’s story.
: What a complete mess.
There’s never a sane person among those who commit infidelity.
It’s a betrayal of trust.
How could anyone do such a thing to someone they once loved?
I’m ashamed that I chased after Cyprus without knowing any of this.
How much I must have hated him.
But.
None of it was my fault.
‘Young Cyprus and his sister witnessing their father’s infidelity and being wounded by it, Cyprus’s sister becoming disabled, the previous Grand Duke passing away—none of it was my fault.’
Of course, it wasn’t Cyprus’s fault either.
We were merely helpless victims of circumstance.
“…Did you know about this too, Praha?”
“I did not.”
Praha’s voice was low and heavy with sorrow.
His eyes reflected the confusion of someone learning this truth for the first time.
“When the heir to the Grand Duke Household suddenly changed, there was brief controversy about what disqualification Kiriel might have had. At that time, Cyprus said his sister had no problems—that she simply wished to pursue other endeavors. So I didn’t think much of it.”
I truly didn’t know.
Seeing Praha as shocked as I was, I looked for Aspara.
This bastard, not telling me such an important fact until now….
“Aspara!”
“The Minor Duke is downstairs. Shall I bring him up?”
Ah. Right, of course.
“…No. I think I’ll just get angrier if I see his face.”
I’m furious with both my brother and my mother.
‘They committed such an act, yet they just watched as I chased after Cyprus saying I liked him.’
They should have stopped me.
They should have prevented it.
Mother knew Cyprus was cursed by God.
She even warned Aspara not to irritate Cyprus—
But to me, she made it seem like my failure to win Cyprus’s heart was entirely my own fault, blaming me for being ‘too fat’ and ‘not pretty enough.’
Mother must have known all along that I could never succeed.
She acted as though she made tremendous sacrifices raising me, when in reality….
Rage welled up inside me.
Cyprus, who had been watching me quietly, spoke.
“You can ask if there’s something you want to know.”
Ah. Something I want to ask.
“There’s something I want to ask.”
Plenty.
First.
“Cyprus.”
“Speak.”
“So what do we do now? To break the curse you’ve received.”
“…What?”
“…Why?”
“No… I didn’t expect you to ask that first.”
“Honestly.”
Wasn’t this the thing I should be most curious about?
I wiped away the blood smeared on Cyprus’s lips with my hand as he blinked like a startled rabbit.
“There are other things I want to ask about. So many things I want to say.”
I want to stroke his back and tell him it must have been hard all this time, but I also want to beat his back and ask if this is my fault. I want to tear out all my hair asking why I let him accumulate embarrassing history when I should have told him earlier to stop talking to me.
But then again.
But still.
“All of that can wait. First, let me save you.”
“….”
“Miss Yujein, could you bring Tangerine and the children? My younger sibling too.”
“Yes! I’ll bring them right away!”
“Cyprus, can you stand?”
I supported Cyprus’s back as he lay with his head on my lap, helping him sit up.
I brushed the hair stuck to his forehead aside and fed him a candy from my pocket.
“What good does it do to complain like this? You should have drunk plenty of hibiscus tea, which is good for arthritis and neck wrinkles.”
“It’s good for antioxidants and obesity prevention….”
“Is that so.”
“…Yusara, do you hate me?”
“I do.”
“….”
“Just thinking about the shameful history I accumulated because of you when I was young makes me kick off my blanket even now in my sleep. You know? If you leave here, you have to buy me a house.”
“Okay. I’ll buy you a really big mansion.”
“Size isn’t what matters. Location is. Buy me one in a place where prices will keep rising in the future.”
“Understood. I’ll buy you a house near the Imperial Palace.”
“Buy one for Tangerine too. Owning a home in the Capital is his dream.”
“Understood.”
“Kyaaah!”
Tangerine screamed upon hearing that as he was coming up.
“I just went downstairs for a moment and now I have a house!”
He must be curious about what we discussed while he was away, yet he doesn’t show it or ask.
At times like this, Tangerine truly is a knight.
“Dreams come true!”
Tangerine reported cheerfully on the results of his reconnaissance of the lower floor and the movements of the zombies outside.
“So how is Kiriel doing these days?”
I asked Cyprus while listening to Tangerine speak to Praha.
“It would be a lie to say I haven’t struggled, but I’m fine now.”
“Is there really no way to heal your leg?”
“No.”
“I see.”
“Yeah.”
“You said you were cursed, so why did you come here? They said this place wasn’t allowed.”
Cyprus wouldn’t have been attacked by zombies anyway, so he could have gone elsewhere alone without any problem.
But if Cyprus hadn’t run with Yujein and Pochacha, we would have been in real trouble.
“There was no other way.”
“Why are you being so self-sacrificing when you’re not even a good person?”
“That’s right. I’m not good. Especially not to you.”
“….”
“Yusara. I disliked you from the moment we first met.”
Cyprus spoke with self-deprecation.
“When you approached me, I wondered what scheme this was, and when I realized you knew nothing, I was exasperated. The reason I dealt with you was a kind of vanity—to show that I didn’t care about you, that my family was living perfectly fine even after that incident.”
“….”
“I thought your words would reach the Grand Duke about my situation. And when you started to care for me….”
“It must have been horrible.”
“I thought being with you was a betrayal of my mother and sister. That thought hasn’t changed even now.”
Cyprus sighed deeply and closed his eyes.
“My sister doesn’t know that I was dispatched to the Investigation Team with you. Right after we left the Island, I had a chance to write to her, but even then I couldn’t mention you.”
“….”
“So I’m really neither one thing nor the other.”
Cyprus, calling himself a worthless son, opened his eyes. His green gaze avoids meeting mine.
His distress is evident, but I don’t know what words would comfort him.
‘Why do we all have such terrible luck with parents?’
Praha’s parents see him as a rival, my mother and Cyprus’s father had an affair. Yujein? She doesn’t even have parents!
“…I don’t know if this will comfort you. Cyprus.”
“…Yeah.”
“People like that would have cheated regardless of whether it was with each other. Whether it was your father or my mother. For people like that, the other person doesn’t matter—they would have done such things eventually, even if it hadn’t been with each other.”
“….”
“We were both just unlucky. I don’t think we need to let that constrain our actions from here on.”
I imagine the New Year’s Banquet that doesn’t exist in my memory.
The day Cyprus’s Father and my mother first met.
It was also at the New Year’s Banquet that I first awakened my hypnotic magic and caused an accident.
At this point, the banquets should be abolished.
When a new year arrives, people should register at gyms or take phone English classes—what’s all this fuss about holding banquets?
What do you gain from drinking and dancing extravagantly from the start of the new year!
“Let’s just agree not to do this to each other anymore. We’re both victims here, aren’t we? You’ve suffered enough already, so there’s no need to torment yourself over this any longer.”
“…What you’re saying is…”
“Even if you… ahem, have feelings for me, that doesn’t mean you need to feel guilty about it.”
I cupped Cyprus’s cheeks in both hands and met his gaze.
Then I spoke with the most resolute voice I could muster.
“You haven’t done anything wrong. Except for how you teased me when we were children.”
“…Yeah, I really did mess that up.”
“Exactly! Why do you even like me? After seeing all that shameful behavior back then. Why do you insist on liking me while suffering like this? I don’t understand it.”
No. This isn’t the time for this conversation.
I released his soft cheeks and turned to look at the others.
“Yujein, what do you think? If we leave this domain right now and head to the Temple of Marriage, would the curse Cyprus is suffering be nullified?”
“Yes! Yes! It should be! Because each god has their own distinct domain. Just as zombies cannot enter temples, curses would lose their power once we reach the Temple of Marriage. Though it would need to be a sufficiently large temple with enough divine power. But in this area…”
“There is such a temple.”
I pointed toward the base of the mountain.
“Remember? When we first came to Sodom, Mocha said there was a Temple of Marriage over there.”
“B-but… didn’t he say that place was already ruined and only the foundation remains?”
“Yes. But the divine power remaining in that temple will be extremely strong.”
Because a sacred relic is hidden there.
I know this from seeing the memories.
“I’ll explain how I know this later. For now, let’s go. Time is of the essence.”
“But the zombies…”
“Ah. I have a plan for that as well.”
[Temple Rooftop]
-Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine, Aspara, MZ12345 (Survived)

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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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