A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 46

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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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“Ugh….”
I rotated my shoulders, which felt as though the muscles had atrophied and stiffened.
“Uuuugh….”
5:30 in the morning.
In the empty Central Courtyard, only my groans—ugh, ugh, like some zombie—echoed through the space.
“I’m going to lose my mind from exhaustion….”
After all the effort to regress, I’d enjoyed the banquet until one in the morning, and here I was at five the next morning, dragging myself out for archery practice.
Legendary.
“If I just start shooting without warming up, I think my shoulder will dislocate. Should I do some stretches first?”
How did I used to do this back when I was in the archery club….
Even as I stretched my limbs, the drowsiness clinging to my eyelids refused to fade.
Yesterday, when my companions all rushed over to my table, the atmosphere of the banquet completely shifted, and it didn’t end until after midnight.
‘Let’s dip marshmallows in that flowing chocolate!’
‘Yes, let’s!’
‘Bile liqueur? Get out of here! I’m not eating that garbage!’
Once the distinguished guests had left and only the local lord and his wife remained, their expressions never brightened for the rest of the banquet.
That’s when they seemed to understand.
Praha, Cyprus, Yujein, Tangerine.
The way my companions treated me was different from what they’d expected.
‘And I as well.’
I wasn’t the person they’d heard rumors about.
“What’s wrong with getting along well with everyone? Do you really have to single out one person and treat them with contempt?”
I couldn’t understand why people of their age and experience lived their lives that way.
“Tsk, tsk, tsk.”
As I stretched while clicking my tongue, memories of what happened at yesterday’s banquet flickered through my mind.
“Heh, heh, heh.”
Lord Promé, apparently unable to help himself, awkwardly moved his chair over to our table.
“Heh, heh, heh, heh, heh.”
He laughed as if trying to hide his embarrassment.
“Now that I think about it.”
He changed the subject.
“I never did ask what brought such distinguished guests to our Promé.”
“Oh, we came because of a sacred relic!”
It was Yujein who answered.
“A sacred relic…?”
“Yes, we came to see the sacred relic of the God of Light on Mount Prome.”
To be precise, we came to take it, not just to see it.
“He kept saying ‘trust me and just try it once,’ so…. Anyway.”
Cyprus, who had been waiting for an opportunity to add caramel syrup to my chocolate fondue, picked up the conversation.
“You know that Yujein here is a priestess who serves the God of Light, right? Since it’s the birth of a saint for the first time in centuries, we thought it might be good to collect the sacred relic while we’re here.”
Of course, it was a lie.
I couldn’t very well tell the truth: ‘A zombie appeared and came to retrieve the sacred relic!’
“Time is pressing. I intend to ascend the mountain immediately after preparations are complete. If you have a map documenting the mountain’s terrain, I would like to see it.”
“The mountain, you say….”
Positioned directly across from Lord Promé, I noticed his complexion subtly stiffen at those words.
‘He doesn’t seem particularly pleased.’
If word spread that this was a sacred pilgrimage site visited by the Imperial Family and a Saint, the tourism revenue would be quite substantial.
Once people began traveling here, infrastructure would naturally develop further.
If I were the local lord, I would have seen this as an opportunity to make a fortune.
Yet his reaction was decidedly lukewarm.
‘Is it because I mentioned taking the sacred relic?’
But the people of Promé have no need for it.
If they had needed it, they would have retrieved it from the Ancient Labyrinth long ago, rather than leaving it abandoned there.
Lord Promé muttered, his face lost in thought.
“So you intend to ascend the mountain….”
After several seconds of awkward silence, Lord Promé suddenly burst into exaggerated laughter.
“Ha ha, if that’s the case, we must certainly offer our assistance! I shall have House Promé’s knights escort you!”
House Promé would help ensure the objective was accomplished and the descent completed in the shortest time possible.
And so on and so forth.
Praha cut off the Lord’s enthusiastic proposal.
“If I had wanted an escort, I would have brought Imperial Knights.”
“That’s right! My skills are excellent. These knights here are no match for me!”
“Still… if our knights accompanied you, there would be no need to consult a map….”
At that remark, Praha glanced at me before responding.
“Baron.”
“Yes?”
“Do I appear incapable of reading a map?”
“N-no, that’s not what I meant at all!”
“If you have manpower to spare for an escort, it would be better spent repairing the broken paving stones in your Territory. Your people seem inconvenienced by their condition.”
Praha was as sharp as a blade.
Where had that bumbling demeanor from moments ago gone?
‘That’s right.’
The group had even moved seats for me, and since it felt awkward to be the first to leave, I remained until well past midnight before finally returning to my room.
In the meantime, I also sought more advice from Smoothie regarding inheritance and employment matters.
‘It works that way?!’
‘Yes, yes….’
‘Ah, I should be taking notes on this!’
While I clung to Smoothie’s side, Praha observed from nearby with an expression of unmistakable displeasure.
Though Praha always had a cold expression anyway.
“People really must study…. Study and exercise….”
I caught my breath, which was already becoming labored after just a few laps around the Garden.
The body of the noblewoman Yusara—that is to say, my body.
Gaunt as it was, it possessed surprisingly good stamina.
Because I had trained it consistently.
‘Since both Cyprus and Praha are exceptional knights, I trained myself so I could keep up with them and attempt anything together.’
You know how it is.
If a celebrity you adore visits an exhibition, you go too. If they watch a film, you watch it as well.
The Grand Duke found my body training repulsive, asking the knights about it whenever I had the chance, but—
Just wait and see.
This will save my life.
‘If my first iteration had focused on something else, I would have become someone great. Even when I was a foolish villainess, I possessed such remarkable drive.’
In any case, my stamina is merely that of an exceptionally fit ordinary person.
I doubt my endurance will improve much from just a few days of sporadic exercise and practice.
But it’s better than doing nothing.
I’ll grit my teeth and push through.
Later, when I’m a 199-year-old grandmother with all my teeth fallen out, I won’t be able to grit them even if I wanted to.
Let me clench them while I still can.
Whoosh—thwack!
It was precisely then that I was drawing the bowstring with such determination.
“If you pull with that much force, your body will twist to the right as your strength wanes.”
“Oh!”
I startled at the low voice that suddenly came from behind me.
Thunk.
The arrow I had misfired lodged itself in the ground before the hastily erected target.
“Who are you!”
“A puppy, ma’am.”
Praha replied softly as he emerged from the shade.
His already cold-featured face gleamed even more frigidly in the pale dawn light. His damp hair, not yet fully dry, hung loosely about him, and he wore a casual shirt and trousers.
The shirt was thin enough that the contours of his well-developed chest muscles were distinctly visible.
‘Goodness.’
This man was showing off his physique again.
I turned my gaze away, fearing I would stare, but he spoke to me casually as if entirely unaware.
“Have you come out to practice?”
“Yes. Since I’m not very good at it… I intend to keep going until I improve.”
“How diligent of you.”
“Of course. I came out thirty minutes earlier than His Highness.”
“I came out after bathing.”
“…”
Right, I didn’t even wash my hair before coming out.
‘You always do smell of soap, you fastidious man.’
I still do it now.
I asked while catching the faint scent of soap drifting through the air.
“Why does it veer to the right?”
“Your lower body’s center of gravity hasn’t been corrected.”
“Center of gravity?”
“Yes. Since your body isn’t perfectly symmetrical, as you tire, it will rotate in the direction it’s already veering.”
Praha added his explanation and stepped beside me.
He stared at me blankly, as if asking why I wasn’t shooting again, so I quickly adjusted my stance.
“If your axis wavers, you must stop immediately and rest.”
“How would I know if my axis is wavering?”
“I’ll be watching.”
Whoosh—thwack.
After observing just once like that.
Apparently deciding it was hopeless, he moves behind me.
As Praha stands at my back, his shadow falls over my head.
“Like this….”
A warmth that barely grazes my elbow. A body that brushes against mine with each breath, expanding and contracting.
‘Don’t think about it. Don’t tense up.’
Let me dispel this tension with nonsense.
“I haven’t bathed—what if I smell?”
“You’re well below my nose, so I don’t think you need to worry about that.”
“….”
I haven’t broken even since earlier.
“If you rush like that, you’ll get hurt. Like this….”
Large hands rise in time with his words.
I flinch at the sensation of being embraced, and Praha freezes along with me.
“….”
“….”
“…I apologize. Was it ticklish?”
“A little….”
“I’ll be careful.”
‘But the more cautiously he touches, the more strange it feels….’
The cold dawn air.
Thin clothing.
The man’s body behind me, covering mine like a blanket.
His jaw, speaking instructions in a low voice, touches the crown of my head.
The warmth I feel radiating from him.
‘Isn’t he afraid of anything? If I get the wrong idea and become clingy again, what then?’
It would be better if he weren’t so kind.
There’s no tension anymore.
‘Let me just finish this quickly.’
With that resolve, I straightened my shoulders and drew back the bowstring.
But in doing so, I accidentally struck Praha somewhere along his ribs.
“….”
Praha flinched sharply as my elbow made contact with his body.
“Oh! Are you alright?”
I spun around in alarm.
“…I’m fine.”
Praha’s expression remained composed, but a faint blush colored the area around his cheekbones.
‘Did that hurt him badly?’
“I’m sorry.”
Praha gazed down at me as I offered an apologetic smile.
His amber eyes traced slowly from my smiling lips to the curve of my cheekbones.
The arm wrapped around me tightened with sudden force.
Before I could even register my confusion, that tension dissolved.
Praha turned his head and spoke.
“Shooting more arrows does not improve your skill. Approach this with composure.”
“But I want to finish quickly….”
“At that rate, you’ll finish quickly—by dying.”
“Oh. Yes, understood.”
“Try again.”
As Praha nocked another arrow for me himself, his training seemed considerably more intense than before.
‘I need to build up my strength first.’
‘Try again.’
‘Again.’
I never knew a person could sweat like rain just from shooting arrows….
“Huff, huff….”
By the time the sun had fully risen.
When I thought I truly couldn’t continue.
I spoke to Praha, who still held me from behind as if embracing me.
“Your Highness.”
“Praha.”
Crown Prince Praha. I apologize for yesterday.”
I absolutely wasn’t trying to get him to stop archery practice so I could rest for a moment.
“I never meant to insult you by calling you a dog. I just heard what the Baron was saying and got angry in the moment.”
“…The reason the young lady was angry was because the Baron insulted the estate steward?”
“What?”
Why is Smoothie suddenly brought up here?
“Well, that angered me too, but more than that… I’ve never liked people who make such crude jokes in the first place.”
Usually I’d only grumble about it internally when my superior made such comments, but this time I decided to voice it aloud.
“I don’t care for such people either.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
It worked!
“It felt good seeing the Baron’s stupid face.”
“I felt satisfied as well.”
“It was all thanks to Your Highness.”
For barking like that yesterday and immediately backing me up.
When I mention it, I laugh.
I feel the sound of air deflating above my head.
“Next time someone makes such a joke, strike them in the jaw with your fist.”
“The way Your Highness beat that Imperial Knight senseless?”
“…I didn’t beat them senseless, but you should do so, Grand Duke.”
“Um….”
“Strike them. I’ll take responsibility.”
“I think I’d lose.”
I said it dejectedly.
Look at how fat the Baron is. They say he even enjoys hunting. I can barely hit a target with an arrow—how could I possibly win?
Then Praha opened his palm and held it against mine to compare their sizes.
“Would you like to try gripping my wrist?”
“Like this?”
“No. Tighter. Squeeze with all your strength.”
He taught me a self-defense technique I could use against men.
“In a one-on-one situation, if you can grip this, you’re guaranteed to win.”
“Oh….”
“….”
“….”
“….”
“Your Highness, have you actually used this technique before?”
“Yes.”
“….”
A technique for crushing that… that… part of a man’s body—something too scandalous to speak of—and Your Highness has actually used it?
[(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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