OBNVZ C9

Chapter 9

Dazzling, holding a sword upright, ran ahead. Behind him followed Mascarpone, Supporting Character 2, and the Grand Duke carrying Yu Jein in his arms. Yu Jein flinched and shrank back in surprise as the Grand Duke lifted her without permission, but there was no other choice.

“This way! ……Wait! Don’t come yet!”

Dazzling, who had reached the left staircase first, was clearly visible even from this distance, gritting his teeth.

Mascarpone, who had tried to stop in shock, stumbled. The indoor slippers she was wearing slipped up around her ankles.

The Grand Duke caught her as she slid, using his remaining arm.

“Are you alright?!”

“D-Dazzling is ahead…!”

“Stay behind me!”

Adjusting Yu Jein in one arm, the Grand Duke looked back.

Their eyes met as he checked whether I was following.

And then he realized.

The Crown Prince was not following.

I looked back.

There, I saw the Crown Prince slowly backing away while watching the approaching zombies.

What is he doing?!

“Hey!”

He didn’t even look at me when I called.

“Hey! Do you have a death wish?!”

I ran up and reached for the back of his collar to drag him over—just as he pulled off the magical rope wrapped around his wrist.

The Crown Prince tied one end of the rope to a protruding pillar on the wall, then secured the other end to a window latch on the opposite wall. His movements were so practiced it looked like he had done this many times before.

After setting the trap in an instant, he ran toward me.

“What are you doing not running?”

This time, he was the one urging me on.

“Because you weren’t coming—agh!”

“Excuse me.”

Without slowing his momentum, the Crown Prince scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder like luggage.

My body suddenly shot up to about 190 cm above the ground, and I swallowed a scream.

“Ugh!”

“Please bear with it.”

Whether I flailed or not, whether my head jerked violently or not, the Crown Prince ran on.

It was an unbelievable speed for someone carrying an adult woman of 169 cm on his shoulder.

All I could do was try not to bite my tongue.

Beyond his back, I could see the corridor we had just passed through.

The zombies chasing us were getting caught in the rope trap he had set, their necks slicing cleanly apart as they fell.

Swoosh. Thud. Thud. Roll.

“Kieeek…!”

Detached jaws and severed necks scattered across the floor like a VR game unfolding before my eyes.

Blood sprayed everywhere, and one zombie slipped on a rolling head and collapsed into another, causing a chain reaction. The thin rope trembled violently, about to snap under the strain.

“Krrgh!”

The white rope, once like a musical string, was now dyed deep red in an instant.

“Kyaaaak!”

A zombie lunging forward had its lips sliced cleanly by the blood-soaked line.

Even as the first wave collapsed with severed necks, more zombies kept coming. As several of them tangled together, the window latch holding the rope was ripped free.

That was the end of the trap.

“The trap is collapsing!”

“Ignore it and run!”

How am I supposed to run like this?! You’re carrying me!

If a zombie stretched out its arms, it looked like it could grab my hair at any moment!

If the distance closed any further, I’d be the first to get caught! I shut my eyes and clung to the Crown Prince’s back.

Thud-thud-thud. Thud-thud-thud.

“Kaaaaaaagh!”

Please, please, please…

‘I’m terrified! Waaaaah!’

I could hear tearing sounds, screams, footsteps behind me.

“Mascarpone!”

“I’m fine—agh!”

“Watch out!”

“Are you alright?!”

“Yes! Dazzling is—!”

“I’m fine too!”

As we descended the stairs like that, I genuinely felt like I might bite my tongue at any moment.

“This way!”

In the end, as soon as we reached the bottom of the stairs, we had no choice but to take shelter in the first available place.

Swoosh!

As soon as the Crown Prince and I entered, the Grand Duke pulled the curtains shut. Behind the thick blackout curtain, the Crown Prince slid smoothly and set me down.

Thud-thud-thud. Blind zombies rushed past us just seconds later.

Just as I was about to sigh in relief—

“Shh.”

The Crown Prince pulled me into his arms, trapping me.

A large, rough palm covered the back of my head. My face was buried in his shirt. He concealed me almost entirely with his body and arms, peering through a gap in the curtain.

All I could see was his throat and his rising and falling chest.

Each time he breathed, the muscle under my nose expanded and contracted slightly.

Sweat, mixed with the smell of blood and soap.

It was his scent.

“Wait… that’s too—”

I tried to pull away, but he tightened his hold.

“…Stay still.”

“……”

“There’s no door here.”

Only then did I realize the room we had entered had no door, only thick curtains separating it from the outside.

No door in a place crawling with zombies?

Are you insane?

‘Forget the kitchen!’

The situation was even worse than before.

I pressed my face into his shirt to steady my breathing.

Heat and breath radiated from the arms around my head and waist.

The Crown Prince remained focused entirely outside, seemingly forgetting I was even in his arms. Or perhaps he was the type who would use his own body as a shield if anything came in.

We stayed like that for a moment.

‘This is suffocating…’

I shifted slightly, but he didn’t move.

His hand tangled in my hair.

I tapped his arm, which was holding me in place. Only then did he lower his head toward me.

I whispered toward his approaching lips.

‘Please let me go now.’

I can’t breathe!

“…Ah.”

“……”

“Sorry.”

Only then did he slowly release his grip.

The moment I was freed, I looked through the gap in the curtain. Immediately, I made eye contact with a zombie and froze in shock.

“……!”

If I hadn’t remembered they were blind, I would have screamed.

Ignoring the Crown Prince, who looked like he wanted to push me behind him, I surveyed the outside.

Zombies that had followed us down from the second floor, along with those drawn by the noise from the first floor, were wandering through the corridor, groaning: “Kieeek…”, “Krrrgh…”

Getting to the kitchen through them would be—

‘Maybe possible if someone were as thin as a raindrop slipping between falling drops.’

In other words.

We were screwed.

Turning around, I saw the rest of the group collapsed on the floor. The troublesome man was lying flat on his back, Mascarpone leaned against the wall, and Yu Jein and Supporting Character 2 were gathered nearby.

All of them were breathing heavily like fish just pulled from water, covering their mouths to avoid making noise, unable to calm down.

“Haa… haa… haa…”

Even in that state, the troublesome man was slowly inching behind the others. Mascarpone scoffed.

“Seriously…”

“Mascarpone…”

Supporting Character 2, holding onto Mascarpone’s leg, shook his head.

“If we… make noise… we all die.”

He was right.

The only thing separating this space from the corridor was the curtain.

‘The Grand Duke and Dazzling went inside to check.’

Inside the dimly lit corridor stretched a long hallway, lined with faint lights. Even in the darkness, it had a strangely ornate feel.

Silver letters were written on the black wall:

[Brocol.

Emperor of the Empire blessed by the Twelve Gods.

King of the land where the sun never sets.

(…)

In honor of the endless glory of the imperial family.]

Seeing readable text strangely calmed me.

‘Wait, I can read this?’

So I’m not illiterate after all!

What a relief!

Judging by the writing, this seemed to be an exhibition gallery of imperial treasures.

[Revisiting the building layout]

2nd floor: stairs / central staircase / sealed room
1st floor: gallery / kitchen / dining hall

To reach the kitchen, we still had to cover half the distance again.

At that moment, the Grand Duke and Dazzling returned from inside.

They emerged from the darkness, tilting their heads at the group huddled at the entrance.

The Grand Duke asked,

“Why is everyone gathered here?”

At his clear, ringing voice, Supporting Character 2 waved both hands in panic.

“Y-Your Grace, your voice is too loud…!”

“It’s fine.”

“But…!”

“It really is fine. The only one who could hear a voice this volume and come running would be that foreign princess who claimed she received a divine revelation telling her to marry me.”

There was such a person?

Mascarpone, unable to hold back, frowned.

“Um, Your Grace and Your Highness. What do you mean there’s nothing?”

The Crown Prince replied calmly instead of the Grand Duke, who smiled awkwardly.

“There is no door in the inner section Dazzling just checked. The only exit from this gallery is…”

“Krrrgh!”

“……”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but everyone understood.

The only exit from this gallery was—

Here, where we are standing.

‘We’re trapped.’

Outside, zombies roamed freely. An enclosed gallery with no exit.

Dazzling silently mouthed something:

‘Should we go out and clear a path?’

The Crown Prince shook his head.

‘Too many.’

Right. Zombies had poured down like rain. There were far more of them than the original number of people on this island.

Even the Crown Prince, the Grand Duke, and Dazzling seemed to think something was strange.

‘The total number that should have been on this island was thirty…’

‘How…?’

Hmm.

Watching them exchange silent conversation, I turned away.

My eyes met Mascarpone’s exhausted gaze. Her once neat hair was disheveled, her soles blackened, her dress wrinkled. Earlier she had been so combative, but now she didn’t even have the energy to speak.

I crouched in front of her, who was still trying to fix the slipper stuck around her ankle, and tapped her leg.

“Lady Mascarpone.”

There was something I had been curious about for a while.

It was probably time to ask.