A Korean Office Worker Who Became a Nuisance Villainess in a Zombie Story - Chapter 80

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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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“Are you angry with me?”
“Yes.”
“What makes you think that?”
Only then did Praha’s amber eyes meeting mine turn cold.
He’s definitely angry.
“You seem quite angry. Very much so, actually.”
“….”
“Why are you angry?”
“…Ha.”
In that moment, Praha laughed at me so loudly that I forgot all about his injuries.
Praha, who had just looked between the window he’d closed and locked and me, stepped closer.
He unfolded the coat I’d refused to take and draped it over my shoulders. When I waved him off, he grew irritated.
“Stay still. You’re trembling.”
Yes, Praha was irritated.
That Praha—taciturn, cold, and usually silent—was actually annoyed.
I could guess why Praha was irritated now, and it made me irritated too.
How ridiculous.
He sets fires in the Maze Garden without hesitation. He throws himself bare-handed into enemy territory to rescue a kidnapped person.
He does all sorts of dangerous things alone, and now he’s furious because I did one dangerous thing just once.
Does he think I don’t know how to worry?
As all of Praha’s reckless actions flashed through my mind, my insides churned with anger.
So when Praha finally opened his mouth to tell me why he was angry, I had things to say too.
Many things.
“Climbing the exterior wall of a building without protective gear—how reckless does one have to be? Even trained soldiers don’t do that.”
I’m irritated.
I’m angry.
And it annoys me that he only speaks at length at times like this.
“You’re angry because of that? Why?”
“Are you asking because you don’t know?”
“I genuinely don’t understand.”
“You nearly got hurt.”
“Ah, I see. So you—no, Praha—you were so worried I might get hurt that you threw yourself at falling blades without consulting me first, and now you’re angry because I merely climbed a second-floor wall?”
I opened my eyes wide and spoke sarcastically.
I even called him by name on purpose. To provoke him.
“Falling from the second floor doesn’t kill you. I’m actually fine and alive. But Praha, you’re bleeding heavily right now, and if we don’t leave soon, who knows what will happen! Shouldn’t I be the one getting angry?”
“You won’t die, you say?”
“That’s right!”
“Even with zombies wandering the 1st Floor? …No, we don’t even need to go that far. Look there.”
Praha pointed outside the window.
I could see barbed wire encircling the exterior of the Mansion. In my haste, my vision had narrowed and I hadn’t noticed it before. If I had fallen, my skin would have been torn to shreds right there.
Praha lifted his chin.
“If you had fallen from up there….”
“At least it would’ve been better than a blade.”
I answered curtly.
Falling from that height wouldn’t be fatal anyway. But you? What about you?
In truth, getting heated like this now wouldn’t help my wounds either. I wanted to tell him to calm down and sit, to take deep breaths, but Praha showed no signs of settling.
So why wouldn’t he think about his own body?
I wanted nothing more than to press down on his wound.
The moment I glared fiercely at the gash along Praha’s ribs, he answered.
“This is nothing.”
“Nothing?”
He made such a fuss over me falling from the Second Floor, yet he calls this nothing?
“Yes.”
The audacity of that absurd statement—it was so infuriatingly like Cyprus!
It was utterly maddening.
Praha spoke.
“I understand why you acted that way. It was a diversion tactic. Well, fine. If I were in your position, I would have done the same. But you are not me. There was no need for you to perform such a perilous stunt out there.”
“….”
“You should have simply remained hidden in the Adjacent Room.”
“Should I have?”
“Then I would have gone out and struck those careless fools from behind, or found some other way….”
“With that body of yours?”
I asked deliberately, my tone dripping with mockery. I continued to the silent Praha.
“I only did what I had to do. Hide an injured ally and draw the enemy’s attention as someone unharmed. It seems you believe only you possess the heart to worry about us both….”
“…You seem to have forgotten that I am a man a head taller than you.”
“….”
“I would sooner choose death than hide behind you, accept your protection, watch you suffer, and sustain my life on your sacrifice.”
Praha spoke with absolute conviction.
That was when my reason snapped.
When I came to my senses, both Praha and I were snarling.
We kept our voices low so they wouldn’t leak outside where the undead roamed, yet we pressed close together, our words sharp and cutting.
Our breaths collided directly against each other’s faces.
“Do you think I’d be grateful if you just recklessly shield me with your body like that?! How do you think I felt seeing blood pouring from your ribs when you turned around!”
“If I had told you, would you have accepted it?!”
“At least we could have shared the burden! You should have calculated and then charged in!”
“That was the calculation!”
“You need to recalculate! If one of us has to get hurt and fall back, it should be me….”
“Stop saying you’ll get hurt! Just hearing it makes my skin crawl!”
“And you inflicted that skin-crawling wound right before my eyes!”
“You wouldn’t worry about me getting hurt nearly as much as you’re worrying now!”
“No! I’m worried too!”
“….”
“So from now on, calculate things properly! In a way that benefits you!”
“….”
“….”
“Then you.”
“….”
“…Did you calculate things when you dragged me all the way here to save my life?”
“…That was something I had to do, of course.”
“You’re always like this. You accept it greatly when others do something for you, but when you do something for others, you call it something you naturally had to do, or something rational.”
“….”
“From now on, I won’t let you bear such burdens alone.”
Praha’s breathing was ragged as he spoke. Mine was too.
Our ragged breaths collided and scattered against each other’s lips.
If we continued like this with emotions surging to the tips of our heads, staring only at each other’s eyes and lips.
One of us, overwhelmed by emotion, might not be able to help but bite the other’s lips.
So I broke the silence first.
“…Even if we take up a second profession later, let’s not become mathematicians, shall we?”
It seemed neither of us had any talent for calculations.
‘How am I supposed to live off money games? This is hopeless.’
What was truly hopeless was that after arguing so childishly, my excitement had calmed considerably.
It seemed Praha felt the same way. He spoke in a noticeably more composed voice.
“It’s fine for me to sacrifice my life to save you. Anytime. What frightens me is the day when even sacrificing my life won’t be enough to save you.”
“If things reach that point, dying together wouldn’t be so bad.”
“Please, don’t say such horrible things.”
Praha’s words came out as a genuine plea, so I found myself nodding without thinking. Only then did Praha, glancing at his own side, speak.
“This much bleeding is truly nothing.”
“Your Highness, please don’t say such horrible things either….”
“I will protect you even if I have to shed every drop of my blood.”
“….”
“If I could protect you that way, I would be happy.”
* * *
I… fell for you.
‘The weak first!’
I fell for the way you saved others before yourself.
But now I wish you would save yourself first.
I wish you would be selfish.
I’m glad you tried to save me.
But even if it hadn’t been me who was hurt today, you would have saved them the same way, wouldn’t you?
That’s what angers me.
What is this feeling?
I wish I hadn’t had to save you.
No matter the situation, I just want you to survive first….
I hope you come through unscathed, more than anyone else.
Please.
* * *
“Kyaaaah!”
After the commotion subsided, only the wails of zombies echoed from outside.
It was inevitable—there were only five humans for the zombies to devour: the Local Lord and his party.
Praha and I had stopped fighting and were now rummaging through the Reception Room, pulling out snacks to eat while keeping watch on the situation outside.
Praha, whose face remained deathly pale, rejected my suggestion to sit with his leg elevated and was instead lifting the sofa with one hand to inspect underneath.
I felt a pang of regret.
‘Did I raise an injured person’s blood pressure too much?’
The man was bleeding and couldn’t even drink water. I’d only made him talk unnecessarily.
Feeling apologetic, I reached out to examine his side, but his ears turned so crimson I thought they might burst that I pulled back.
Wait, normally he walks around casually hugging and carrying people like paper dolls, so why is he being so reserved now…. Could it really be….
‘Let’s think about this outside, outside.’
I asked a trivial question to change the mood.
Right, let me ask what I’d been curious about.
“Who gave you your name, Your Highness?”
“Why are you calling me ‘Your Highness’ again?”
“I was angry earlier.”
“I prefer it when you stay angry.”
“…Who gave Praha his name?”
In this world, children are often given food-related names for religious reasons.
‘Naming a child after food signifies parental affection.’
In fact, my Younger Brother’s name is also a food name. Even Yujein, who is an orphan and a saint, didn’t receive a food name for the same reason.
Yet the Crown Prince, second only to the Emperor, didn’t have a food name.
The name Praha didn’t sound imperial no matter how many times I heard it. It sounded more like a city on Earth.
“Let me guess. It was the Emperor, wasn’t it?”
“Yes. The Emperor doesn’t believe in God, so he names his children himself. He gave Cyprus his name as well.”
“I see.”
It was something I never knew despite harboring unrequited feelings all this time.
As we talked, Praha’s reddened ears returned to normal.
Now it was time to address the main issue.
Escape.
“What do we do now?”
Wait here until the others come to rescue us? But they wouldn’t know there are zombies here.
And with injured Praha, we need to escape as quickly as possible….
That’s when Praha spoke.
“I believe I’ve discovered something.”
[Mount Prome: 2nd Floor]
– Yusara, Praha (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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