A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 39

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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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The eve of departure.
I had to make a decision.
‘I can’t put this off any longer.’
The Grand Duke who entered the Prayer Room did not become a zombie.
But the strange behavior remained unchanged.
‘Either I admit I overreacted and release the Grand Duke, or I roll up her sleeves right now and search for bite marks.’
That was why I was walking through the Corridor in the dead of night when everyone was asleep.
With a neck collar on my arm.
‘This isn’t even Schrödinger’s zombie. What is this?’
Is the Grand Duke in the Prayer Room a zombie? Or not?
I have no idea!
‘I should have finished reading the novel if I knew it would come to this.’
I was paying the price for my usual lack of persistence.
‘If this gets settled today, that’s fortunate. If not, I’ll have to tell Praha.’
I couldn’t leave a risk behind and depart.
What’s wrong with being overly cautious about safety? Safety is safety.
Jingle. Jingle.
As I walked through the silent Corridor, the bundle of keys from the Head Maid in my hand jingled continuously.
A cool chill seeped through my feet in indoor slippers.
Faint moonlight streaming through windows with all the curtains removed.
A high-ceilinged, antiquated Western Mansion. A long Corridor. Portraits and armor.
If I looked back, the silver armor would seem to creak and shift, and the carpet beneath my feet felt sticky—as if blood were seeping through when I looked down….
“Heeeegh….”
I’m so scared….
I quickly rushed over and inserted the key into the Study door.
The heavy key wouldn’t turn properly, so I shook it up and down frantically before finally managing to slip inside and close the door.
“Ah!”
My heart nearly stopped at the sight of a massive portrait I encountered in the darkness.
“What the—seriously… Why didn’t they paint the eyes….”
A portrait of an elderly man without pupils, positioned directly across from the entrance, overlooking the enormous desk.
Papers scattered messily here and there.
A low temperature.
The smell of stale dust.
My first destination.
My Younger Brother’s Study.
….
I locked the door first, then set down the candle I’d brought on the desk.
“Phew.”
As I exhaled, white breath dispersed into the air.
The Study, whose owner had been absent for over ten days, seemed to have gone without a fire lit even once in that time.
I deliberately ignored the persistent sensation that had been nagging at me since earlier—the feeling of someone’s gaze upon me—and approached the desk.
“Let me see… the drawer… is it locked? No, it isn’t.”
The reason I had come here with the key was simple.
To discover the whereabouts of my missing Younger Brother.
‘It’s entirely possible the Grand Duke has hidden my Younger Brother—already turned into a zombie—somewhere like a basement. And then the Grand Duke got scratched by my Younger Brother’s fingernails and is in the process of transforming too. Just like a zombie trope.’
Whether my Younger Brother had genuinely gone out or simply vanished without a trace.
There would surely be traces left here.
Fortunately, my Younger Brother didn’t seem to be particularly meticulous by nature.
“Found it.”
In the first drawer, among a disorganized bundle of letters, I quickly discovered a clue.
Clue 1.
An invitation letter sent to my Younger Brother by some nobleman.
Judging by the gold leaf used on the envelope and the quality of the paper, the sender was from a wealthy family.
I tilted my head upon seeing the ornate purple family crest.
“I’ve seen this family crest somewhere before.”
Well, anyway.
Being careful not to set the letter on fire, I held it beneath the candlelight.
Roughly summarizing the clumsily written contents:
-To my Younger Brother-
I found an incredible gambling den.
I’ve even secured a decent accomplice.
I know your luck hasn’t been good lately, but this time it’s different.
Just one more time—trust me this last time.
Have I ever made you a proposal that worked against you? Wasn’t it me who introduced you to that opera singer last time?
If this works out, we’ll pay off all the debts at once. And so on and so forth.
Of course, given the stakes are high, there’s a very slight risk involved, but you’re a bold man, and you’re the heir to the Grand Duke’s House, aren’t you?
You can naturally bear that much risk.
Don’t worry about arranging funds.
My father’s Bank will specially use your Mansion in the Capital as collateral… (I let out a sharp cry at this point).
I don’t think there’s any need to inform the Grand Duke. You’re the man of the family, after all.
It’s money you can pay back anyway if this works out.
Surely you’re not getting cold feet?
-Your Friend, who trusts without doubt that you are a true man-
And on the desk lay an unopened envelope from the Bank.
I boldly tore it open.
“….”
Clue 2. A loan document.
On the day I went to the Villa, this bastard borrowed money from the Bank.
Using this Mansion in the Capital as collateral.
The branch office designated to receive the loan was.
“Sodom?”
Sodom was a lower province that required traveling quite far down from the Capital.
He went all the way there to gamble?
Clue 3. A letter sent by the Local Lord of Gomorrah, a province near Sodom.
Contents: It is an honor that the heir of the Grand Duke’s House visited our castle, and through this visit, we hope to deepen the friendship between our two houses, and so on and so forth.
We sincerely hope you have a pleasant journey.
P.S. By the way, when will you pay for the hunting rifle you purchased on credit in our region using the Grand Duke’s House name?
Just in case, I’m sending this letter to the Duke’s Residence in the Capital.
It’s not that I suspect you won’t pay it back!
‘Since Sodom and Gomorrah are practically neighbors, my Younger Brother must have already arrived in Sodom.’
Sodom and Gomorrah.
The very names sound ominous.
After rummaging through more letters and documents, I reached a conclusion.
“This bastard is a gambling addict.”
There were traces of gambling debts lost at gambling houses being paid off by my Friend or the Grand Duke, and countless demand letters for unpaid debts.
Since he had accumulated too much debt at the gambling houses in the Capital and they wouldn’t accept him anymore, it seemed he traveled all the way down there for his gambling expeditions.
Conclusion: This reckless fool simply went out to play.
My enthusiasm deflated.
“Good grief, what a pathetic wretch….”
So he went to meet worthless men instead of a wicked woman?
Why did the Grand Duke trust such a fool as her heir?
Was Yusara’s desperate attempt to marry Praha actually because the house was obviously going to collapse and she was trying to escape?
Is that why Praha doesn’t want to be engaged to me?
I wouldn’t associate with such a house either!
“Sigh.”
No, Sara. Think positively.
At least my Younger Brother didn’t become a zombie.
‘Though he might have become one at the gambling house….’
“Then why is the Grand Duke acting so strangely?”
Why does she behave so oddly?
Is she simply someone who dislikes sunlight, loves blood, and has a flexible neck?
I searched the room more thoroughly, but found nothing else of use.
Just in case, I mimicked what Praha had done at the Villa, tapping on the walls here and there, and ended up making eye contact with a grandmother without pupils, letting out a startled shriek several times.
I carefully made my way back out and locked the door.
“Let me go see the Grand Duke.”
I extinguished the candle I had been holding and walked down the Corridor.
The Study and Prayer Room were on the same floor.
Creak, creak—
The Prayer Room was the only dilapidated space in this ornate Mansion.
On the incongruous thick iron door—
Small covered windows, the kind you’d find in a prison cell, were positioned both high and low on the wall.
They allowed one to observe the person inside the Prayer Room with only their eyes.
Or to pass food through from below.
Every time I saw it, the interior felt deeply unsettling.
‘…Is this a prison, or what?’
The aesthetics screamed wrongness.
This wasn’t a Prayer Room at all—it looked like a chamber designed for confining and tormenting someone.
According to the Head Maid, the door couldn’t even be locked from inside, and there was no bed, no chair, nothing.
‘If it were me, I’d never set foot in a room that could only be locked from the outside.’
As I muttered to myself and raised my hand to knock softly in case the Grand Duke was awake.
“Glug….”
Tap.
“Glug….”
Tap.
Sounds came from within.
“Ugh.”
Slurp, slurp.
Glug… Tap.
“….”
I set the candle I was holding down on the floor.
I pushed it away carefully so I wouldn’t accidentally kick it.
Quietly, very quietly.
I opened the window cover.
The Prayer Room was pitch black—not a single ray of light penetrated.
A sharp, metallic stench wafted out.
The Grand Duke was crouched over a large wooden barrel, his upper body thrust inside it, drinking something.
Each time the Grand Duke withdrew his face from the barrel, there came a tap, tap sound of impact.
The gurgling sounds were coming from the Grand Duke’s throat.
He continued gulping down whatever it was while making those grotesque noises.
Blood matted into his dyed blonde hair.
“….”
My skin crawled.
‘Has he become a zombie?’
That’s when I heard the Grand Duke muttering to himself.
“This can’t continue… I need to control it. I must control my appetite….”
“…!”
‘Surely you’re not going to eat that?’
‘Good grief, that arm….’
‘Just because you’re permitted doesn’t mean you put everything in your mouth? You need some restraint.’
‘Don’t you dare close that door. It’s not like you’re sneaking around eating bread behind your mother’s back.’
‘This won’t do. I need to rein you in.’
Memories crashed over me like a tidal wave.
‘Yusara, go into the Prayer Room.’
‘This is the dress you wore when you were fifteen. You cannot leave here until it fits you again.’
‘You are my masterpiece. I do all of this because I love you.’
‘Daughter, Mother is suffering too….’
“….”
I leaned my swaying body against the door.
“….”
The Grand Duke hadn’t become a zombie.
It wasn’t that at all.
“….”
The Prayer Room that had appeared hazy moments ago now came into sharp focus.
Because I already knew the layout of this place.
“….”
This was an altar and prayer room the Grand Duke had built for the goddess of beauty and marriage.
And.
It was a punishment chamber for her daughter Yusara, who failed to meet the Grand Duke’s standards.
I let out a low moan.
“Ah.”
I remembered everything.
[(Temporary Safe Zone) Mansion Second Floor Punishment Chamber]
– Yusara (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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