OBNVZ C6

Chapter 6

Yusara tied her hair up.

She was the type who hated even moving her head too much for fear of messing up her hairstyle. And yet now she had taken off a corpse’s shoes to put them on it, and then proceeded to tear up her dress.

……That’s weird, isn’t it?

Silence flowed through the corridor.

Everyone was watching me carefully.

Even Yujein, who had fallen with me.

“Yeah, I guess so. Two people fall together, and only one gets helped first—of course everyone would be reading the room.”

It was like those dating variety shows, where on the first night someone gets zero votes in a popularity poll and everyone starts awkwardly avoiding their gaze.

This kind of feeling, right?

I sighed inwardly and put strength into my legs.

I looked down at Yujein, who was still sitting on top of me.

“Aren’t you getting up?”

“Ah! I’m sorry!”

Only then did she snap back to her senses.

People finally moved to help me up, but—

“I’m fine.”

I refused and stood up on my own.

“……”

I rotated my ankle to check the damage. It only stung a little; nothing seemed seriously wrong.

Good thing I wore combat boots.

If I had been wearing heels in this situation, I would’ve been done for. I probably wouldn’t even be able to walk.

After moving my ankle a few times, I stretched out my right hand.

Blood was dripping from my palm, sliced open by the paper knife I had been holding.

A long, straight cut stung sharply.

It wasn’t serious enough to require treatment, but…

Still, it was bleeding!

Good thing this is a zombie world.

If this had been a vampire setting, they would’ve already come running at the scent of blood. Ugh.

What’s more, the damn knife was so flimsy it had only managed to cut my palm before snapping in half.

It hurts like crazy. Someone come blow on it for me. Sob sob sob.

I cried only inwardly while staying silent, and the others watched me nervously.

The first to break the silence were the two men responsible for this awkward situation—the ones who had only reached out to Yujein.

“Duchess, are you alright?”

“I apologize.”

The Crown Prince and the Grand Duke spoke awkwardly, but I didn’t even look at them.

“I’m fine. It’s not like it matters who helps who up.”

They had simply reacted instinctively in a sudden situation, and both of them probably reached for the person they felt closest to at that moment.

They never imagined it would turn into a situation where I ended up humiliated.

There was nothing to apologize for.

‘And even if I did accept it, I’d just feel worse.’

What exactly would they be apologizing for? For liking Yujein more than me?

Of course!

As a human being, it stung a bit!

It was embarrassing enough that no one even asked if I was okay and I had to answer myself!

But it’s not like I could cry about it!

Forget it. I’ll just go back to Korea. I’ve got plenty of friends there. If I fall, there are 999 people in Seoul who would help me up.

“……”

“Duchess.”

“I’m really fine. I’m not even that hurt.”

I replied without making eye contact.

The more calmly I behaved when I clearly should have been shouting, the heavier the atmosphere became.

But it wasn’t concern for me.

It was tension.

They were worried I might cause trouble.

Worried that I—who had received no help from either the Crown Prince or the Grand Duke—might cry out of embarrassment and resentment, or start screaming, or run off on my own.

Yes, they were concerned. A little. But more than that—

They were worried I might cause an incident.

Behind Yujein, Mascarpone was already sighing, looking exhausted.

“Seriously, why go around swinging knives and end up hurting yourself?”

“Duchess… I’m sorry… I…”

Yujein, who had been silent until now, limped toward me.

“Hey, don’t.”

I grabbed her arm as she knelt in front of me, trying to brush dust off my dress.

“Don’t. My clothes are dirty anyway.”

“But because of me, Duchess… Are you hurt anywhere? I can heal—”

“I’m not.”

“And your palm—”

“That’s my fault. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Even though I kept saying it wasn’t her fault, Yujein’s expression didn’t soften at all. She looked like she’d gladly trade skin with me if she could.

I sighed.

“If you really feel bad, fix those shoes or something.”

“Pardon?”

“Break the heels. I’m sure the men here can manage that much.”

I looked up at the Crown Prince and the Grand Duke in turn. Both of them flinched under my gaze.

“If you’ve got healing power to spare, fix Yujein’s ankle instead. It looks sprained.”

“Duchess…”

“Enough. We don’t have time for this kind of back-and-forth.”

I cut off Yujein before she could keep apologizing.

I tossed the broken knife aside and wiped the blood from my palm against my clothes.

Then I looked at everyone.

“Aren’t we going?”

Only then did their attention scatter. People returned to their positions as if nothing had happened.

This feels oddly disgusting.

Whatever. Not my problem. I won’t see these people again after I leave anyway.

“It seems that knight was guarding the central staircase and cutting down the corpses coming up. He was injured in the process.”

“So he was the last one infected.”

“Then does that mean the knight took care of all the corpses? Can we assume there are no more of them?”

“I’d like that to be true, but…”

Even though I had asked “Aren’t we going?”, we couldn’t leave immediately.

Reason: there was no path.

We couldn’t descend the stairs covered in corpses.

Stepping on soft, rotting human flesh and blood aside, if even one of them was still alive and grabbed an ankle as we passed, things would spiral out of control.

And heading toward the left corridor…

We don’t know what’s waiting there either.

There were injured people, limping.

“It seems there are no more corpses in the central corridor.”

Deciding it was dangerous to remain in an open corridor, we moved into the washroom beside the stairs.

Darjeeling, who had returned after scouting the area, confirmed it was safe. Everyone sighed and collapsed in relief. I also found a relatively clean spot and sat down, stretching my legs.

I can’t believe I’m sitting on a bathroom floor in my life.

The Crown Prince leaned against the wall by the entrance while watching everyone collapse after just a few steps. Darjeeling stood at his blind spot, and the Grand Duke stood at Darjeeling’s blind spot.

We exchanged quiet opinions while sitting or standing uneasily.

“I hope all the corpses in this mansion are already dead.”

Side Character 2’s hopeful comment was met with a shake of the Grand Duke’s head.

“That’s unlikely.”

Seeing Side Character 2’s expression scream Why?!, he continued gently.

“Remember the servant we found collapsed near the sealed room corridor? The one who bit and killed a knight. There are probably other corpses like that, not gathered at the central staircase.”

True. Zombies weren’t dolphins—they wouldn’t all move together in groups.

Mascarpone, thinking for a moment, asked:

“By the way, how did that servant end up there?”

“What do you mean, Mascarpone?”

“When we found them, they were already a corpse. Pre-transformation, still unmoving. That means they were alive before that.”

“How did a living person manage to reach that far right corridor while avoiding the corpses?”

“To get there, they would’ve had to pass the central corridor at least once. And as we know, that place had the knight who turned into a corpse. The one His Highness… dealt with.”

“Maybe the knight was still alive and holding them off when they passed through?”

“So you’re saying the knight deliberately let a servant destined to become a corpse pass?”

While listening quietly, the Crown Prince spoke.

“They probably used the servants’ passage.”

“Servants’ passage?”

“A hidden corridor built inside the walls for moving quickly without being seen by the masters. They likely reached the sealed-room corridor that way. After that…”

“So they died before reaching the sealed room.”

The Grand Duke concluded.

I asked after listening:

“Then can’t we use that passage too?”

Look.

(left staircase far away)

central staircase

our current position

(servants’ passage somewhere here)

(sealed room where we came from)

Right? Since we can’t use the central staircase anymore, wouldn’t that passage be better?

Everyone glanced at me but didn’t respond immediately.

The Crown Prince shook his head.

“There’s a high chance the corpses that tore apart the servant’s arm are still inside that passage.”

“Oh.”

I hadn’t thought of that.

“Then we have to go through the left staircase.”

“Yes. The problem is that it’s quite far from here.”

“…But we don’t have another choice.”

In practice, the left staircase was the only option.

It seemed the Crown Prince and the Grand Duke had brought us here not to discuss alternatives, but to give everyone a brief rest before walking again.

Side Character 2, now pale, asked:

“How far is it?”

“About the same distance as we already traveled. And after going down the stairs, we’ll have to return toward the center again. We don’t know what’s on the first floor.”

Everyone’s eyes naturally turned to Yujein.

Feeling the pressure, her cheeks turned red.

Her healing power could mend a cut finger. Not a sprained ankle. And she had already used all her power earlier to bless us.

The nuisance guy sighed.

“Seriously, you shouldn’t have gone around casting blessings nobody asked for.”

…Says the guy who could’ve used one earlier.

People really are convenient like that.

A moment ago, I was holding back my irritation, but now his nonsense was unbearable.

I’m really not a good person either.

The nuisance guy kept talking.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while.”

He leaned forward dramatically.

“Let’s get the men out first.”

“……”

“……”

“Nice idea. Very cowardly.”

The Grand Duke mocked him, but he didn’t back down.

“Think about it logically. We can’t all escape if we’re slowed down by people who can’t move properly.”

“If that’s logic, I’d rather be emotional…”

“I’m not saying we abandon them. We leave the women in a room to hide, and the men go out first to get help. That’s the most efficient way. And she can’t even run now!”

He pointed at Yujein with his short, stubby finger.

“If it were just one person, we could take turns carrying them, but there are four.”

He meant the four women.

Me, Yujein, Mascarpone, Side Character 2.

“Ugh, we should’ve done this from the start. Why did we even bring them? No strength, no stamina, can’t even use weapons… just dead weight.”

The women couldn’t refute it.

Even Mascarpone, who was usually confident, and the quiet Side Character 2, and especially Yujein.

They were people with conscience, unlike him.

Sighing, the Crown Prince called him.

“Pafri.”

Feeling the irritation in his voice, the nuisance guy raised his hands.

“Alright, alright. Fine. Then we’ll leave the knight as escort too.”

Darjeeling blinked at the sudden mention.

It was obvious.

Take the Crown Prince and Grand Duke because they’re important, and leave the knight behind as expendable.

As a shield.

Snap.

Something inside my head broke.

Yeah. I really can’t take this anymore.

[Imperial Villa 2nd Floor Washroom]

• Yusara, Yujein, Crown Prince, Grand Duke, Mascarpone, Side Character 2, Darjeeling, Minpe-nam (surviving)