Chapter 46
“Don’t just stare like that—hand it over now, my lady.”
When I looked at Count Lafran expressionlessly, he swaggered and tapped my pouch with his finger.
The sight disgusted me. For a moment I considered telling him the truth, but decided it was more important to get the knife away first.
I glanced down at the dagger pointed at my throat.
“Have you ever wondered how I managed to survive in this zombie zone?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Let me give you a warning. If you really intend to loot someone, next time slit their throat before you threaten them. If you don’t have the courage to kill, don’t point a blade at someone.”
“What?”
“My master used to say—swords recognize the weak.”
The instant I finished speaking, I twisted Count Lafran’s wrist in one swift motion.
“Argh!”
Whip—!
As his grip loosened, I snatched the falling dagger and immediately aimed it at his throat.
“U-uh…”
Count Lafran staggered back, his eyes wide enough to show the whites. His face clearly said something had gone terribly wrong.
I smiled inwardly.
‘But by the time you realize that, it’s already too late.’
Whip—!
Once I’d put some distance between us, I threw the dagger between his legs.
“Gah!”
He jumped in shock, slipped, and fell flat on his backside. The dagger narrowly missed and stuck into the ground between his legs.
I walked over, pulled the dagger from the dirt, and looked down at the trembling count with disdain.
“If you clumsily grab a sword without the skill to use it, it ends up attacking its owner. So next time—if you lack the skill and the nerve to kill—don’t recklessly draw a blade.”
I glanced downward and curled my lip.
‘It even turned its master into a bed-wetter.’
My desire to pry out his secrets vanished. I just wanted this pathetic man out of my sight.
‘I’ll ask what he’s hiding when I get the chance later.’
With a sigh, I slid the dagger into the weapon belt strapped to my thigh.
‘I’m not returning a weapon to someone who attacked me.’
I turned to leave when—
“Sniff… h-hic…”
Count Lafran suddenly burst into tears.
I stared at him, dumbfounded.
“…What are you crying for?”
“I—I did it to save His Highness and everyone else… That way I wouldn’t go to hell…”
What nonsense.
I absentmindedly cleaned my ear but stayed where I was. When people got emotional, they were more likely to spill secrets.
Sure enough, after crying for a while, he seemed to let his guard down. Hugging his legs, he muttered. At least he seemed embarrassed about wetting himself.
“…My wife… My wife was bitten by those grotesque things and died.”
“Your wife was here too?”
There was another survivor?
That alone shocked me, but he glanced up at me and continued.
“When we crossed the western shelter, I… I left her behind. She reached out her hand, asking me to go together—but I shook her off and ran…”
Ah. I could imagine the situation.
‘Then the children must have known. Why did they pretend not to?’
As if anticipating my question, he continued.
“O-only Zenta knows this. I asked him to keep it a secret. Yand thinks a forest ghoul took her at dawn…”
I’d thought there was an odd distance between him and Zenta. So that was why.
They were silently sharing the guilt and self-loathing of surviving through someone else’s sacrifice.
“Ha…”
I let out a deep sigh and ran a hand through my hair.
Shelter leadership, the urn, Danha’s training.
Now I had one more task to add.
Looking at Count Lafran irritably, I said, “Tomorrow, the two of us will search the western district for your wife’s body.”
Of course, within safe limits.
His eyes widened.
“R-really?”
I nodded.
‘Leaving her as a zombie would be disrespectful.’
And I pitied Lady Lafran for having such a husband.
“…But why have you been speaking casually to me since earlier?”
“S-sorry.”
“And from now on, Count, you’re under surveillance. After you shower, change clothes from the wardrobe. As for laundry…”
I glanced at his soaked lower half with a sour expression.
“Do it yourself.”
I said my piece and turned sharply away. I had no desire to share space with someone like that—no, someone who’d wet himself.
Then he sniffled and called out, “A-aren’t you going to comfort me? Usually at times like this… people say it’s not your fault. Something like that…”
‘…? Me? Why?’
When I looked back coldly, he quickly shrank in on himself.
“N-never mind.”
At least he seemed aware of his wrongdoing.
I’m not soft enough to comfort someone who pointed a blade at me.
Besides—
‘You should be begging your wife for forgiveness, not asking me for comfort.’
In an apocalypse, there are plenty of selfish betrayals for survival.
But usually it’s comrades or benefactors who get sacrificed. Abandoning your own family first—such an act against basic human decency—is rare.
Because no one can truly understand that.
If there were a “Top 10 Zombie Apocalypse Villains,” he’d rank in the top two.
I had already resolved to send out the three additional survivors and the two male leads—including Sien—first.
But recent events were changing my mind.
‘Still, I don’t want to send the male leads away and stay in the zombie zone with that man either.’
No one wants someone with moral flaws by their side.
I let out a shallow sigh.
‘What am I supposed to do?’
I was just about to sink into a swamp of thoughts when—
Clap, clap, clap.
Clear applause sounded near the back entrance of the cabin.
The male leads were lined up there, sitting or standing.
“Why are you all here?”
The Crown Prince, apparently the one clapping, looked at me with oddly emotional eyes.
“I’ve thought this before, but you’re very kind, my lady.”
“Indeed.”
Danha nodded as if it were obvious.
Sien, who had been sitting on the steps with his chin propped in his hand, looking displeased, turned his head sharply away.
“Miss Ria is very gentle.”
“……”
“If it were me, I would have killed him the moment he pointed his sword.”
Judging by the fierce look in his eyes toward where Count Lafran was, he meant it.
I blinked, flustered.
‘They seem to be misunderstanding something…’
It felt awkward to explain, so I scratched my neck. Their praise felt like wearing someone else’s clothes.
The Crown Prince glanced at the dagger and smiled brightly.
“By the way, my lady—did you learn martial arts to hunt monsters?”
“Yes, well…”
“Then perhaps we should go hunting together next time.”
“I would like to join as well.”
Danha raised his hand and entered the conversation.
Soon the two men were discussing monster-subjugation tactics of the Western and Eastern Continents.
When Sien chimed in that they could simply wipe them out with magic, Jaeger countered that magic caused excessive collateral damage and was therefore inefficient.
Watching them, I grew slightly bewildered.
‘Since when did they get so close…?’
It felt like watching a scene from the original story where they bond through life-and-death struggles.
“My lady, what do you think?”
“I’d like to hear your opinion.”
Suddenly all eyes were on me.
“W-whatever the method, just wipe them all out.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
The male leads looked startled, then began whispering among themselves, calling me ruthless.
‘What are you talking about? Two of you go berserk whenever monsters show up.’
Before I knew it, I’d flared up and joined the debate.
Even as I naturally blended into their conversation, my heart felt strangely unsettled.
Our first meeting felt so far away.
‘Since when did I stop remembering? Since when did we become this comfortable with each other?’
And then I wondered—
After they learn everything, what will they think of me?
Will they be angry? Will they understand?
Or will they laugh it off?
Whatever it may be—
‘I just hope they won’t hate me too much for being Hayton’s sister.’
After that, we went into the cabin, continuing our conversation.
In the end, it concluded with me exploding in irritation at something the Crown Prince said.
Still, that night, knowing we would soon escape and possibly part ways, I had the crazy thought that I felt a little regret.
