A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 168

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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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“That won’t work!”
I grabbed Cyprus’s arm just as he was about to plunge the sugar stick he’d picked up straight into the Incense Merchant’s crown.
“You’ll put a hole in his head if you do that!”
His head would end up like a skewered chicken!
“That’s exactly what I’m going for!”
“I said no!”
Come back here first!
I tried to drag his arm backward, but he didn’t budge an inch.
Usually he follows wherever I lead, so I don’t really notice his strength, but moments like this remind me he’s deceptively powerful!
“Come on!”
“No way! I’m going to kill him!”
It was almost amusing that Aspara and the Incense Merchant still hadn’t noticed our presence despite all this commotion.
“There’s definitely the Minor Duke’s signature here….”
“I’ll repay you… if you could just overlook it this once….”
“I’ve already overlooked it enough….”
“Just one more time… I promise this time….”
As we drew closer, their voices became clearer in fragments.
The Incense Merchant was brandishing some document and pressuring his younger brother, while Aspara stared down at the papers with anxious, trembling legs.
Tears streamed down Aspara’s face—a face so like my own.
My heart, which had leaped in surprise at Cyprus’s sudden impulse, sank back down into melancholy.
Cyprus, noticing my expression, spoke up.
“The problem is that the Minor Duke owes a debt to that purple pig, right? That’s why the title’s about to transfer.”
“That’s about the size of it.”
“If that’s the case, I’ll pay off the Minor Duke’s debt and take the title for myself. Then I’ll give it to you.”
“…You’re going to buy me a title?”
At my incredulous question, Cyprus shrugged.
“If you don’t like that, we can just kill them both here like I originally suggested.”
“Good grief.”
If he was trying to cheer me up by being absurd, it worked.
“You can’t buy what was already ours to begin with.”
The Empire’s one and only Grand Duke title was being traded around like gift cards at some discount mart.
There’s no dignity left.
The nation’s doing just fine.
“First, give me that.”
I forcibly snatched the pointed wooden stick from Cyprus’s hand, which still held the sugar stick.
I threw it behind me so he couldn’t retrieve it.
“Don’t you want me to buy you a title?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s nonsense.”
“So what am I supposed to do for you? I don’t want to buy you a title, and I don’t want to kill that pig either. There’s nothing I can give you.”
I looked up at the grumbling Cyprus.
“Cyprus.”
“Yeah?”
“I’m the protagonist.”
“Huh?”
“I’ll solve the problem. You just support me from the sidelines. That’s what I want.”
“Ah, support? I’m incredibly good at that sort of thing. I’m a professional, a real professional.”
“Right. You don’t need to buy me a title. I’ll solve that problem myself. What you’re going to buy me is a grand mansion in the heart of the Capital. Understood?”
“Understood.”
I watched Cyprus clap and cheer at being told to merely provide support.
You’d better keep your promise.
Hand over the house.
And don’t forget to buy Tangerine’s place too.
“Now let’s go solve this problem!”
I can’t become that pig’s wife like this!
The moment I finished speaking, I bolted toward my brother’s room ahead of Cyprus.
Crash!
“Sister?!”
“Princess?!”
Because I suddenly appeared and kicked the table leg, the teapot wobbled and hot tea spilled across the table.
The startled Incense Merchant clutched the documents even as the liquid splashed.
I secretly hoped the documents would become illegible from the moisture, but unfortunately they didn’t.
“S-sister….”
Aspara, who hadn’t even thought to wipe the snot running from his nose, stared at me.
“What brings you here, sister?”
So he does have something to feel guilty about.
“Why? Is there a problem with me coming here? Did I do something wrong?”
“I-I didn’t do anything wrong…. Did you hear something, sister?”
“What. That you were trying to sell me off?”
“When did I ever!”
“You did. In exchange for half the debt you owe.”
“…Sister, it’s not like that.”
“What do you mean it’s not?”
“It appears there has been a misunderstanding.”
The Incense Merchant, who had carefully dried the documents with their dampened corners using a handkerchief and tucked them into his breast pocket, interjected and cut me off.
“It has been a long time, Princess.”
I’d only seen him once a few months ago, but he still had that insufferable face.
That bloated belly, that crumbling jawline with not a shred of masculine appeal to be found….
They want me to accept this man as my husband? Absolutely not!
Look at my face!
“I’ve already heard about the Princess’s whereabouts, Your Highness. I understand you traveled around following the two Grand Dukes.”
That’s right—I’ve been working myself to the bone to create a safe country where even a wretch like you can stretch out and live.
I crossed my arms and shot back a retort.
“I’ve also heard that my future is being decided by people who have nothing to do with me.”
“Nothing to do with you? But the Minor Duke is your brother, after all.”
“Stop spouting nonsense. Are you coveting my husband’s position?”
“Strictly speaking, the Princess would become my wife.”
Ugly on the outside, rotten in the head too.
“A marriage to buy a title? Do you actually think that makes sense?”
“Why wouldn’t it? I have all the documents right here—promissory notes and collateral agreements.”
The Incense Merchant pulled out the documents he’d just carefully tucked into his breast pocket.
As I reached to take them and look, he held them up high.
The Incense Merchant, his lips curling upward, extended his index finger like he was scolding a child.
“Don’t touch them. Just look. These are precious documents, after all.”
“….”
The Incense Merchant was about my height with short arms, so I didn’t think I’d have trouble snatching the documents even if he held them up high, but….
‘Those documents came from his pocket, so they might smell.’
I examined them without touching.
After glaring at the documents for a while, my conclusion: it’s an absolute mess.
First of all, the interest rate far exceeded the legal maximum, and the documents were written as if my mother, the current Grand Duke, didn’t exist at all.
Anyone looking at this would think Aspara was the Grand Duke.
But the documents were crafted convincingly enough to fool someone as stupid as Aspara.
“What do you think? There are no loopholes, are there?”
Apparently mistaking my darkening expression—clouded by my brother’s stupidity—for something else, the Incense Merchant smirked.
“Actually, this isn’t a bad proposal for you either, Princess. After all, your reputation in society is… ahem, forgive me. In any case, there’s no man who would step forward to take you as a bride, is there?”
“….”
“Wouldn’t it be better to marry me and become a Grand Duchess rather than remain a Princess for life?”
“No. It wouldn’t.”
“Pardon?”
“I looked at your face.”
“What did you just say?”
“You heard me.”
“….”
“Since your ears don’t seem to work well, let me say it again. I have no desire to take as a husband someone as short, ugly, pot-bellied, with stubby little fingers as you.”
“Kuh….”
For the record, that “kuh” wasn’t a sound made by the Incense Merchant, who’d been struck where it hurt.
It came from Cyprus, who’d been crouching behind me with hunched shoulders.
Cyprus, who’d picked up the sugar stick I’d discarded and was gripping it tightly as if ready to settle this with it, let out a series of stifled snickers and straightened up.
“Grand Duke?!”
The Incense Merchant, who had been startled but composed when I appeared, suddenly snapped to attention the moment he laid eyes on Cyprus.
Regardless, Cyprus wiped away his tears and spoke.
“Yusara, I think I understand why I love you.”
“What are you suddenly—”
“I think I’ll love you for the rest of my life.”
“…”
“Even if you never look back at me for all your days.”
“…”
“My height is already set, so I’ll maintain this handsome face without letting my belly sag, and I’ll wait for your attention to turn toward me, yes?”
“…”
“When I return, I’ll buy hibiscus tea in bulk—it’s excellent for antioxidants—and drink a full bucket of it every day.”
Cyprus spoke playfully, but his words had just dropped a bomb in the room.
I had confidently declared that there was no man willing to marry him, but now I turned to the Incense Merchant, whose jaw had gone slack at Cyprus’s unexpected declaration.
“When I speak, you mock whatever I say, but the moment Cyprus appears and says something, you have nothing to say?”
“Cyprus…? You’re calling the Grand Duke by his name…?”
“It seems my words matter less to you than a single word from a third party like Cyprus, doesn’t it?”
“…”
“But from now on, you’ll need to pay much closer attention to what I say.”
You’ll have no choice but to listen.
I snatched the documents the Incense Merchant was still holding without difficulty and let out a sharp laugh.
“I’m about to prove to you just how much of a mess these documents are and why they have no legal effect.”
“Sister…!”
“You stay quiet. I’m not doing this to save you.”
This is the third time I’ve said it, but seeing his face.
There’s no way I could accept such an ugly man as my husband!
Absolutely not!
[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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