A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 166

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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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“Why… why?”
Why did Prague suddenly call me crazy?
Was it about my face being crazy?
Well, I’d accept that.
Cyprus spread his arms wide before our bewildered faces.
“He dumped THIS much work on me!”
“Huh…?”
Both Mascarpone and I narrowed our eyes coldly in unison.
“If there’s that much work, he must have given it to you for good reason, Your Highness.”
“Right. Work must be done.”
If you’re going to enjoy the privileges of imperial blood, you must bear the responsibilities befitting your station.
Isn’t that why you’re a Grand Duke—to be buried under paperwork?
Cyprus pounded his chest repeatedly at our complete lack of sympathy.
“That’s not it!”
“Those who would wear the crown must bear its weight….”
“The people of the Empire are weeping, Your Highness….”
“That’s not what I mean! He dumped all these miscellaneous tasks on me to keep me from leaving the Imperial Palace!”
“But why would the Crown Prince want to keep you from leaving, Your Highness?”
“Because I might go meet her!”
Cyprus pointed at me.
“He said I shouldn’t even think about stepping one foot outside my office, that he wouldn’t even let me use the bathroom, then piled on document organization, checking the backlog of Knight Order training schedules….”
“My goodness.”
“And he even made me inspect the incense and sugar for the ball, along with their inventory! That’s supposed to be a junior attendant’s job, isn’t it?!”
“Oh dear.”
He worked like Cinderella.
I imagined Prague expressionlessly gathering all these odd jobs and piling them onto Cyprus’s desk, and I shouldn’t laugh but I do.
Of course, if my boss did that to me, I’d be visiting a shaman to curse them.
‘And yet Prague himself comes to meet me….’
“I’ve done nothing but work since we got back!”
Beside Cyprus, who was pouring out his sorrows while clinging to Yujein, the kindest among us, Mascarpone wore a contemplative expression.
Mascarpone leaned slightly toward me and asked.
“Why was the Grand Duke trying to come meet you? And why was the Crown Prince trying to stop him?”
“Ah. Well.”
“And since when have you two been on such comfortable terms with each other?”
“That’s…”
“No, never mind. Don’t tell me. I think I already know without you saying anything.”
“Huh…?”
“Somehow.”
“Uh…?”
“I knew this would happen.”
Mascarpone nodded, having convinced herself.
I wanted to ask what she’d figured out, but I was afraid of the answer, so I held my tongue.
“I suspected it might happen, but I never thought it actually would.”
“Mmm….”
“That Smoothie person won’t have a place to fit in. What a shame.”
“He’s an absolutely vicious man!”
In the meantime, Cyprus finished his complaint and picked up the teacup beside him, gulping it down. He wiped the tea from his lips with the back of his hand and spoke.
“I couldn’t just sit around being wronged, right? So while Praha was having tea with the Emperor, I piled documents this high on Praha’s desk and ran away.”
“Tea with the Emperor? Shouldn’t you have gone to that meeting yourself?”
“No. I’m a bit sorry I didn’t get to see Praha acting cute with the Emperor in that little outfit, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
Yeah. I’m a bit sorry about that too.
But you know.
“By the way, Cyprus.”
“Yeah.”
“How did you know we were here?”
“Oh, that? I asked an Imperial Knight.”
“How did the Imperial Knight know we were here?”
“Well…!”
Only then did Cyprus’s expression turn guilty.
Mascarpone finished his unfinished sentence.
“Obviously. The Crown Prince must have ordered it.”
“The Crown Prince?”
Yujein’s eyes widened.
“Yes. The Crown Prince always keeps watch over the movements of the major nobles.”
Oh.
“All of them?”
“Not all of them. They probably wouldn’t bother tailing someone like Aspara—he’d just be found at a gambling house anyway.”
“Ah….”
My brother really is something to be proud of….
“It’s only natural for a country that hasn’t been at peace for long, isn’t it?”
Mascarpone added casually and turned to the head designer who had been waiting for us.
“Send the bill for all six dresses, gloves, and shoes to my mansion.”
“No way!”
Just because I’m broke doesn’t mean I have no shame!
As I was about to refuse, the designer tilted her head first.
“Um, Mascarpone.”
“Yes?”
“The dress payment has already been settled.”
“…How? We only chose the dresses a few minutes ago.”
“From the Imperial Palace….”
“From the Imperial Palace?”
“Yes. I was instructed that all purchases made by the three of you today should have their invoices sent to the Imperial Palace….”
“Which member of the Imperial Palace gave such an order?”
“The seal was stamped with the Crown Prince’s Palace mark….”
“So we don’t need to pay for anything, no matter how much we buy here?”
“That’s correct.”
“Even if we cleared out every product in the Costume Room?”
“Yes….”
“Good heavens.”
Yujein covered her mouth.
I? I covered mine too, utterly bewildered.
I’d never heard anything about this.
The designer added further.
“In fact, the Crown Prince’s Palace has already paid an advance.”
“An advance? How much?”
“Approximately three times the amount of all the dresses you’ve purchased today.”
“This is insane.”
“They said that even if the three of you purchase less than the advance amount, they have no intention of requesting a refund….”
“Oh my.”
He threw money around without even knowing what I’d buy?
“As expected.”
Mascarpone, the only one unfazed, looked at me.
“Thanks to this, I saved money. I appreciate it.”
“You have plenty of money anyway….”
I thought of Praha, who seemed desperate to broadcast to the entire neighborhood that he loved me, probably sipping tea with the Emperor right now.
Last time he even attached a diamond to a note when giving it to me.
If I dated twice more, the Imperial Palace finances would be completely ruined.
“I cannot lose. I shall cover the cost of the jewels to adorn the arms and necks of the three of you.”
Cyprus stepped forward.
That was when it happened.
“Huh?”
Yujein, who had approached the window to help a staff member move a mannequin, let out a puzzled sound.
“What’s wrong, Miss Yujein?”
“Oh, no… isn’t that Aspara passing by over there?”
“What?”
My younger brother?
I approached the window.
Indeed, Aspara, dressed as flamboyantly as a peacock, was walking with a hunched posture that clashed entirely with his outfit, his eyes darting cautiously around his surroundings.
“How did he get out? Mother ordered him confined.”
“I wonder where he’s going?”
“Right? Without money, where could he even go?”
I narrowed my eyes, watching Aspara’s movements.
Even from a distance, he looked completely out of it.
Good grief. He even jaywalked right in front of a carriage.
“Where on earth is he going?”
“Want to follow him?”
Cyprus, hearing my muttering, made the suggestion.
“Follow him?”
“Yeah. You’ve already picked out the clothes anyway, right? I’ll have my department store send catalogs to the mansion so you can choose jewels comfortably there.”
“…I suppose we could.”
Whether that fool goes somewhere and collapses doesn’t concern me, but if he causes another ridiculous accident, that would be troublesome.
“By any chance… would anyone else like to participate in this absurd surveillance?”
I turned to look at Yujein and Mascarpone.
“I need to return to the research laboratory. Yujein, if you don’t mind, I’d like you to come with me and help with the experiments. I have some questions about the magic you manifested.”
“Yes, yes! Of course!”
“Alright then. Yujein, I’ll see you at home later.”
“I’ll have a catalog sent to Mascarpone’s mansion as well.”
“Thank you, Your Highness.”
After finishing our farewells, I turned back to Cyprus.
“Let’s hurry. He’s already that far ahead. We’ll lose him at this rate.”
“We can’t lose him.”
Cyprus nodded and extended his hand to me.
“You want me to hold your hand?”
“Yeah. We’re jumping down from here.”
….
My precious knees….
I grasped Cyprus’s hand while calculating just how much impact my knees would feel when we crashed onto the stone floor from the third floor.
Cyprus smirked and wrapped his other arm around my waist.
When I came to my senses, we were standing at the main entrance of the 1st Floor Costume Room.
“You’re not hurt?”
“No.”
“That was fun, wasn’t it?”
“…Honestly, yeah.”
The doorman of the Costume Room dropped his jaw at the sight of us suddenly falling from above.
Cyprus winked at the stunned doorman and took the lead.
“Come on, Yusara. We’ll really lose him at this rate.”
“Shouldn’t we be following discreetly? What if my brother notices?”
“Normally, yes, but seeing the Minor Duke like that, we won’t need to.”
“…You’re right.”
My younger brother in the distance was anxiously looking around everywhere in a panic, but he was missing all the important details.
I kept my gaze fixed on Aspara, who nearly collided with a newspaper vendor coming from the opposite direction before erupting in shouts and curses, and followed him.
Aspara’s destination was a small cafe in the Commercial District where the banks clustered together.
“Minor Duke!”
And the person Aspara met was.
“…Huh?”
A face slick with grease. An arrogant expression.
The stench of money reeking from him, yet nothing about him looked impressive—a purple outfit that seemed like he’d tried his best but only managed to look pathetic.
The moment I saw that purple velvet vest, I remembered him instantly.
‘The Incense Merchant, isn’t it?’
The Incense Merchant I’d encountered once before in Praha’s Audience Chamber.
‘Your Majesty, I am the eldest son of a house that holds the exclusive right to supply incense to the Imperial Family. …Thus, might you hear my petition first?’
The man who sat next to me snickering openly, cursing right in front of me, and completely disregarding me.
Despite Praha bringing me directly, he’d had the audacity to push ahead of my turn and insist on being received by Praha first.
‘Does the Imperial Family truly suffer if there’s no incense?’
‘Pardon?’
‘At worst… you’d simply have to endure smelling your own sweat more directly.’
‘Pardon??’
‘Holding your nose would seem to solve the problem.’
The man who’d taken a hit from Praha.
“Quite some time has passed, yet this man’s sense of fashion hasn’t improved one bit?”
“Yusara, do you know who he is?”
“Roughly.”
And I remembered something else.
The letter I’d found on Aspara’s desk.
In the letter where he’d told his wretched younger brother to borrow money using the Capital Mansion as collateral and go to Sodom, there was the same phrase that appeared on this man’s vest.
The bastard I’d cursed = the Incense Merchant = Aspara’s friend.
The world really is small, isn’t it…?
[Commercial District Cafe]
– Yusara, Cyprus (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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