A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 44

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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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A small territory with poor positioning.
A barren land where commerce, agriculture, and industry all seemed underdeveloped.
Small population = meager tax revenue.
The castle of a lord from a region that looked like it had no money to spare… was this lavish?
‘Is the lord a genius at investment?’
Did he make massive investments in trading ships heading overseas? But even that kind of investment requires seed money.
If you turn 100 into 100% profit, you only get 200.
While I tilted my head in confusion.
“Your Highness!”
The lord and his wife appeared from the opposite direction, practically tumbling toward us as they rushed forward.
“My apologies! We went to greet you, but our paths crossed….”
Jingle. Jingle.
I found it curious—the sound that came from the lord’s waist whenever he moved.
“To think the day has come when I serve two Highnesses! I consider it the glory of my house!”
Jingle. Jingle.
What on earth was that sound?
“Did you have any difficulties on your journey?”
“No. It was comfortable.”
In fact, everyone in this castle was on edge.
The lord, his wife, and their son who had now joined them were constantly bowing and scraping.
The three similarly-featured people, flustered and uncertain, resembled a huddle of penguins.
“You must be fatigued? We’ve prepared warm bathwater for you.”
The lord, who had volunteered to guide us, led us deeper into the Corridor.
The entrance had been ornate, but the interior was even more so.
Artworks were stacked everywhere, having long since run out of wall space.
“The paintings you see now are the pride of our house. Originally, they hung in my private chambers, but upon hearing that Your Highnesses and the Saint were coming….”
Jingle. Jingle.
“This painting is a sacred work depicting God’s promise. According to mythology….”
As the lord watched Yujein’s expression and prostrated himself, something glimmered at his waist.
Jingle. Jingle.
‘Ah, that’s the sound of keys.’
The lord was wearing the house’s key bundle directly at his waist—something normally entrusted to a steward or Head Maid.
Each time the heavy brass keys struck one another, they produced a loud jingling sound.
Jingle. Jingle. Jingle.
“It seems the lord is quite interested in the arts.”
“Becoming a patron of the arts is my sole source of joy. Hehehehe.”
‘Yes, that does seem to be the case.’
It was hard to tell whether this was a residence or a warehouse for storing artworks.
The maintenance seemed relatively neglected—paintings were left exposed in spots where sunlight streamed in.
“By discovering and patronizing talented newcomers….”
The Local Lord, thrilled at the chance to showcase his collection to royalty, spoke without pause.
Before long, his original goal of showing us to our rooms had taken a backseat; he was too busy dragging the two men and Yujein around, parading his treasures.
By comparison, Tangerine and I were relatively sidelined.
Sidelined, rather—completely ignored.
‘A provincial noble of this caliber would gain everything just by connecting with a princess. Why is he ignoring me?’
I found it slightly puzzling.
But watching the Local Lord’s son glance at me sideways with a smirk, I understood.
‘He thinks my companions and I are still on bad terms.’
Whatever our purpose here, he assumes I forced my way into this group.
So he’s cutting ties with me from the start.
“….”
Well, that works out fine. At least it’s not noisy.
“Are there any secret passages here? What’s the fastest route to get outside?”
Tangerine had already drifted far ahead, speaking with the butler.
With the Local Lord treating me as if I didn’t exist, I lingered behind at my own pace.
Observing the paintings as I went.
‘All works by living artists, it seems.’
A contemporary art enthusiast, perhaps?
I examined various pieces to broaden my appreciation.
Then Praha, who had been leading the way, suddenly stopped.
“And so… Your Highness?”
Ignoring the bewildered Local Lord looking up at him, Praha simply fell silent.
The moment Praha, who had been walking at the front, stopped, the entire group had no choice but to halt.
“Your Highness?”
“Hehe.”
Among the confused people, only Cyprus laughed.
Praha remained still.
Until I, who had been lagging behind, caught up to their pace.
And he came to stand beside me.
“Ahem. You forgot the princess, it seems.”
The flustered Local Lord let out an awkward cough.
Praha, ignoring that remark as well, turned to the Local Lord.
Or rather, to the Local Lord’s wife, who had been walking beside her husband and echoing his words.
“Who are you?”
“Pardon?”
“I asked who you are.”
Praha’s tone, which had been respectfully formal toward the Local Lord’s family, had shifted to casual speech.
The startled Local Lord’s wife quickly bowed.
“I am the wife of the Baron of Promé. I am the mother of the heir and oversee the household of Promé.”
Hearing her answer, Praha tilted his head.
“I understand Lord Promé and his wife divorced several years ago.”
“That is….”
“I remember the divorce proceedings you two held with His Majesty presiding. Yet now I see the divorced baroness still conducts herself as mistress of this estate.”
“….”
“If you’re living together, why did you divorce in the first place?”
The tone wasn’t accusatory.
It was merely an expression of curiosity.
But I understood.
Praha was displeased with the baron’s family right now.
The cutting edge to his words was proof of that.
The reason was probably.
‘Because they disrespected me, his companion.’
“We… we never expected you to remember such details, Your Highness….”
The flustered Lord and his wife fumbled through their excuses.
“We apologize, Your Highness….”
“No need to apologize. What I’m curious about is the reason.”
“Well, that is….”
“After our second child was born… our relationship deteriorated and we ended up in divorce court…! But afterward, we began exchanging letters frequently regarding the child’s education….”
“Living apart made us realize how much we meant to each other….”
Excuses worthy of a romance novel spilled out endlessly.
“The human heart is such a fickle thing….”
I could tell Praha’s mood had soured, though he seemed genuinely puzzled by their reasoning.
‘Of course. They don’t know that while they weren’t looking, we became comrades.’
“Besides, remarrying would involve so many tedious procedures….”
“The succession is already settled, so there seemed no real need to go through all that…!”
Affection this, procedure that.
I laughed silently to myself as I listened to their long, predictable excuses.
Ah.
Tax evasion. That’s what you’re doing.
In my second life, I took great interest in investments, gifts, and taxes.
It was natural to make a living from such things.
Why some wealthy people register their unemployed children as company employees, how cryptocurrency affects government revenue….
Such inclinations hadn’t changed in this lifetime either.
It meant that while studying criminal law to squeeze information from the maids, I’d casually studied tax law whenever I had spare time.
‘Of course, reading a few books doesn’t suddenly make me an expert in Imperial tax law.’
Still, the fundamentals of tax evasion are similar whether here or there.
There’s one classic method.
Exactly like what this baron couple was doing—divorcing only on paper.
1. Get divorced.
2. Divide assets with the wife during the divorce.
3. Property division is not subject to gift tax or capital gains tax. (The specifics vary depending on whether it’s alimony or property division, whether the asset is real estate, etc., but I’ll omit the details.)
4. Since he’s a provincial noble, no one will come investigating, and the neighbors won’t even know about the divorce.
He maintains a de facto marriage while evading gift taxes.
‘He probably bought all those artworks and hung them up for tax evasion too. There’s probably some merchant company operating under the family name.’
If you buy artworks at inflated prices using company funds and secretly get the money returned, you can convert company funds into personal money. And while you’re at it, you reduce corporate taxes by processing it as business expenses.
It’s a method that appeared in Netflix’s “Your Lord Is Furious.”
In the Empire, tax evasion methods like this probably aren’t common yet, but on Earth, everyone knows this trick.
‘Anyway, this is all a method used when evading taxes on money that already exists.’
But where did that much money come from in the first place?
Beside me, Praha seems to have the same thought and asks the Local Lord.
“If I may ask, what are the primary sources of income for this territory?”
“Ah, well… there’s a merchant company that our family operates…”
‘Hmm. Tax evasion.’
Even if Praha is the Crown Prince, unless he’s a tax expert, he wouldn’t know such detailed methods.
Should I tell him?
‘Nah, forget it. It’s not even certain.’
This is all just suspicion. There’s no evidence, so I shouldn’t poke around needlessly.
I filed away the Local Lord’s family’s tax evasion issue in a corner of my mind for now.
‘I’ll remember it, and use it later if something comes up that requires it.’
While hoping that day never comes.
* * *
After unpacking and bathing, I had to attend the banquet the Local Lord’s family had prepared.
Since we hadn’t brought attendants with us, the Local Lord’s family assigned servants to us.
“Until the day you depart, I shall have the honor of serving the Lady…”
I bathed under the attentive care of maids whose eyes gleamed with curiosity as they beheld the notorious villainess of the Capital, whom they’d only heard rumors about.
“Which dress would you prefer…?”
“Something simple and unadorned. You don’t need to help. I’ll dress myself.”
“Pardon? But Lady, this lace trim cannot be fastened alone…”
“I won’t be wearing it.”
After that, the maids’ hands as they combed my hair became noticeably curt.
How dare I attend their master’s banquet in such plain attire.
They must have thought I was disrespecting them.
‘Your master disrespected me first, you know.’
I was doing my best to be respectful given this zombie situation.
“Have a pleasant evening, Lady.”
“Yes. Don’t wait for me—go off duty first.”
I was starving to death.
I couldn’t wait for the maid to open the door and yanked it open myself.
And my eyes met directly with Cyprus, who had been yawning outside.
“Huh.”
What are you doing here?
Cyprus’s eyes widened slightly at my simple attire, then he smiled.
“I’ve come to escort you, my lady.”
“Ah….”
Right. Nobles need a partner to enter the banquet.
But I didn’t expect him to come.
Why didn’t he go to Yujein?
“Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be with Miss Yujein?”
“Miss Yujein will be receiving the Local Lord’s escort.”
“I see. You must be disappointed.”
“Do I look disappointed?”
“Yes.”
“I’m not.”
Sure you’re not.
Suppressing a sigh, I placed my hand on Cyprus’s arm as he extended it toward me.
“How is it? Impressive muscles, right?”
“Just thick.”
“Come on. Feel it properly.”
Cyprus smiled at the maids who had frozen at the sight of his handsome face up close, then led me forward.
“Aren’t you hungry, my lady?”
“Starving. Tell everyone not to eat anything. I’m going to eat it all.”
“That won’t do. Leave at least one piece of bread.”
“Look at you, acting like royalty.”
Certainly, his manner toward me had become subtly more familiar since the Villa.
Perhaps a sense of camaraderie had formed.
From my perspective, that’s welcome.
‘We’ll be working together going forward, so there’s no benefit in him resenting me.’
Though who knows what he’s really thinking.
Cyprus spoke.
“Praha went to escort the Local Lord’s wife. He’s the highest-ranking man among us.”
“I see.”
So the Local Lord escorting Yujein also means he’s treating her as the highest-ranking woman here.
“If you’re upset that the Local Lord didn’t come to you….”
“What? No. Not at all.”
I already know that after Yujein’s awakening, our statuses have become equal.
Equal in name, but actually reversed in reality.
In rarity and ability both.
By any measure, the Saint outranks me.
“Still, going with me is better than going alone, right?”
“Going alone would be best.”
We bickered our way out to the Backyard.
House Promé, seizing an opportunity of a lifetime, had arranged the space in the Backyard since the Castle itself lacked a suitable venue.
‘They really spared no expense.’
Blue roses and cream-colored ribbons adorned the entire courtyard, along with candlelight. Channels flowed with chocolate and mead. A tower constructed from pumpkin pies. Multiple tables arranged throughout.
At each elegantly carved circular table, the invited retainers of House Promé had already claimed their seats.
A Servant in formal attire approached us and guided us to our places.
Upon seeing where I’d been seated, I paused for a moment.
“….”
Did these people not understand the concept of moderation?
[(Temporary Safe Zone) Promae Castle]
– Yusara, Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine (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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