A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 184

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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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It was Dazling.
I beg your pardon?
You were waiting for Praha, not Dazling?
Oh dear….
Dazling, don’t cry. Save those hot tears. If they drip into the tea, it’ll taste like grass and ruin everything.
“Your Excellency!”
Dazling rushed over and saluted me with the formality one would show the Emperor’s betrothed. We’d survived the Zombie Villa together as comrades, so I’d told him there was no need for such ceremony, yet he remained unfailingly respectful.
A stark contrast to Tangerine beside me, who pestered me daily with “Yusara, I want sweets. Whine, whine, whine.”
By the way, Dazling had been promoted in recognition of his contributions during the zombie crisis.
It turned out Dazling and Kimon before me had been in the same cohort.
Their abilities were roughly equal, but among their peers, Kimon—who knew how to promote himself—had earned more recognition. Dazling, relatively taciturn and humble, had a good reputation but was undervalued by comparison.
Yet the recent zombie crisis had brought Dazling’s abilities into the spotlight.
‘So that’s how it works in the workplace! You have to! Toot your own horn!!! Do you really have to go around banging a gong….’
In any case, Dazling now receives more recognition than Kimon, which is a good thing.
“Dazling!”
“Tangerine!”
After exchanging greetings with Tangerine, his senior and superior, Dazling noticed Kimon bowing deeply.
Seeing him sweating profusely, unable even to straighten up, Dazling crossed his arms and said,
“Have you apologized to His Excellency?”
(By the way, every time I hear that title “His Excellency,” I feel like I’ve become some bespectacled dictator. My friends say to bear with it since I’ll soon be called “Your Majesty” instead.)
“I know you turned into a zombie and came back before you had a chance to apologize, but you can’t just brush past it like this! Apologize properly right now!”
“That’s right! Apologize!”
Tangerine chimed in as well.
“Actually, it’s already too late! If you’d been saved and brought back to life by grace, you should have come immediately to apologize. What have you been doing all this time? Were you just trying to avoid Yusara?”
You’re an Imperial Knight, and she’s about to become the Empress—did you really think you could get away with that?!
“Apologize!”
“Apologize!”
My two Guard Knights are perfectly in sync. I have nothing to worry about regarding my safety.
Just then, Praha’s chamber door opened again.
“Why haven’t you come in….”
Praha emerged calling for me, his hair still wet and uncombed, but stopped short when he saw us gathered at the doorway.
“Your Majesty! How could Your Majesty open the door yourself!”
“I have hands.”
He dismissed the startled Attendant’s cry and brushed back his wet hair.
His beautifully sculpted eyes, open to the side, slowly swept across us standing there before coming to rest on Kimon, who remained bowed.
Praha opened his mouth.
He spoke softly.
“Kimon.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Kimon’s voice rang out with military precision.
And what Praha said was.
“Did you apologize?”
“…What?”
“You disobeyed orders, acted on your own and became a zombie—did you apologize to the Grand Duke for that?”
“…Oh.”
“As a knight of the Imperial Family, you failed in your duty and died—did you atone for that with your death?”
“….”
If I had atoned with my death, how would I be standing here now….
“Doesn’t seem like it. Since you’re alive.”
That was true.
Praha had quite the temperament beneath that calm exterior.
He was telling me to repay the sin of dying without fulfilling my duty through death itself. Why kill me twice?
I waved my hand.
“It’s fine. I just received an apology.”
“When?!”
“Just now. Tangerine heard it too.”
“That’s not true! Kimon never apologized!”
“Is that so?”
“Yes, it is!”
“My goodness.”
“Yes! And he still hasn’t!”
He must atone with his death! Tangerine stamped his foot.
It looked like he’d draw his sword and execute summary judgment right here if only given permission.
“I’m… I’m sorry….”
Having died once and apparently finding it quite unpleasant, Kimon could barely speak and was sweating profusely, while Praha looked ready to grant permission to punish him at any moment. I glanced between them.
“Kimon.”
“Y-yes! Your Highness!”
“You’re sorry to me, aren’t you? You simply missed the opportunity to apologize?”
“Y-yes, that’s right!”
“Then.”
“Yes!”
“Will you become my Guard Knight?”
“…What?”
“I happen to need another male knight.”
The actual protection would be handled by Tangerine and Dazling here, and the work he’d do was checking whether bombs were installed in the Men’s Restroom or assassins hiding in the Men’s Changing Room—menial labor far beneath Dazling’s station, admittedly.
“If you truly regret what you’ve done to me and have the heart to serve me well from now on, I’d like you to prove it by my side.”
A refusal is a refusal. I naturally dropped the formal tone and gestured with my chin.
“Tangerine here will brief you on the details. Go ahead with him first.”
“Understood!”
Tangerine, beaming with delight, draped an arm around Kimon’s shoulders.
“You want to leave?”
I squeezed Kimon’s shoulder firmly and pulled him along. His handsome face had turned almost ashen.
He was dragged away without managing to say a single proper word.
I called out to Kimon as he walked, getting kicked in the shin by Tangerine.
“Oh, that’s right. Kimon?”
“Yes?”
I pulled out a handkerchief from my pocket and handed it to Kimon, who flinched and turned around.
“It’s a gift.”
“…”
“It’s a precious item, so make sure you use it only when absolutely necessary, alright?”
Do you remember?
How you died because you disrespected my handkerchief?
Looks like he does remember.
Watching Kimon’s hands tremble, I let out a cold laugh.
That’s right. I hold grudges.
* * *
“Someone like Kimon is certainly talented, but thinking only of himself and ignoring his superiors’ orders is a flaw. He needs to be taught his place in the hierarchy.”
I didn’t accept Kimon as my guard out of kindness.
I took him on to keep him close and give him some rigorous discipline.
“Before he causes some major disaster.”
Truth be told, he’s already caused one.
He became a zombie, after all.
No matter how talented, I don’t need a subordinate who won’t listen to orders like that.
“So from now on, Kimon needs to be humbled a bit, standing beside Tangerine and Dazling and getting trampled underfoot… Ah, stop looking at me like that.”
“But…”
“It’s fine, I’m telling you.”
Come here. I mixed casual and formal speech as I extended my hand to Praha.
He obeys well. Praha, dressed in the flowing shirt that men wear as indoor wear, approached the sofa where I was sitting. The sofa dipped slightly as his weight settled against my shoulder.
He ran his fingers through the thick hair scattered across my shoulder as he spoke.
“That day, when Yujein and I fell at the same time… that incident still weighs on your mind, doesn’t it?”
“…Yes.”
“Really, it’s fine. I wasn’t even that angry back then.”
I’d already forgotten about it, yet he was still suffering from guilt alone.
“But…”
Praha, with a dejected expression, wrapped his arms tightly around my waist. Through the gap in his open shirt, his firm neck was revealed. Pushed by Praha as he nestled into me, I ended up lying on the sofa almost before I realized it.
Right now, only Praha and I are in this room where his morning grooming ritual takes place.
The hair tickling beneath my jaw and around my collarbone made me giggle before I spoke.
“You feel sorry toward me?”
“…Yes.”
“Do you want to make it up to me right now?”
“…Yes.”
Is there a way you could compensate me? Praha lifted his head from where it had been buried in my neck, meeting my gaze.
Of course there is.
I lowered my eyes seriously, as if contemplating the matter.
“Will you do anything for me?”
“Yes. Anything.”
“Even if I asked you to pluck the stars from the night sky?”
(I bit the inside of my cheek briefly, feeling oddly old-fashioned for asking such a question.)
“Yes. I will bring them down for you this very moment.”
(I laughed inwardly watching Praha answer with such earnestness.)
“What if I asked for a diamond the size of my fist?”
“I would bring you a diamond the size of your face.”
“What if I asked you to surrender the throne?”
(I hesitated slightly, wondering if this bordered on treason.)
“Yes, Your Majesty. I will hand it over to you right now.”
(I laughed again inwardly at how casually Praha answered.)
“Then.”
“Then?”
“Kiss me first.”
Whether my words were a request or a command, Praha’s body visibly trembled.
He froze, staring at me intently, then closed his eyes tightly before opening them again.
I watched as the usual brilliance in his gaze gradually softened right before my eyes.
“Yes, Your Majesty. As you command.”
Praha murmured as if unaware of his own words, lowering his head.
I pulled him close with equal intensity as he approached.
“I will dedicate my entire life to compensating you. I will give you everything. Anything…”
Each time our lips parted briefly, Praha spoke these words.
I answered that he was all I needed, but it seemed he couldn’t hear me.
But that was only for a moment. Soon enough, we both fell silent.
“…”
“…”
I found myself laughing against Praha’s lips, his eyes still unfocused and distant.
Damp hair, freshly washed cheeks still dewy, fingertips rough with calluses.
Everything about this man belongs to me.

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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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