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ABZ 11
In the novel, it was clearly stated that the genius bled, alerting the zombies.
Because of that, I couldn't recklessly approach him, wondering if the scent of blood still lingered on him.
'I need to avoid human blood as much as possible.'
However, it wasn't long before I realized there was no reason to walk all the way to the backyard of the castle to hide. Everyone would be taking care of the Crown Prince and would have forgotten about me.
I was leaning against a large tree, reviewing the information I had gathered about this body.
"Penelope, why are you here?"
Grand Duke Heresdon had approached unnoticed and was looking down at me.
"Didn't you hear that His Highness has arrived?"
"...His Highness?"
"He went inside to wash up."
His long, sharp eyes briefly scanned me.
"May I sit for a moment?"
"Next to me?"
It was more of a polite announcement than a request for permission, as Heresdon soon sat down beside me.
"I think I made a mistake yesterday."
I was about to get up, sensing the atmosphere, when Heresdon quietly spoke.
"Thinking about it, it was all my misunderstanding, as you said, Princess Consort."
I raised my head to look at his face.
"I thought you were trying to win the Crown Prince's favor using Lilia Swedi's blood, and that falling into the waterway last night was a kind of ploy to gain the returning Crown Prince's concern."
His red eyes, which had always held annoyance, hatred, or even disregard, were empty for the first time.
"But if you wanted to win favor, you would have tried to hide that it was Lilia Swedi's blood in the first place, and if it was a commotion to gain concern, you would have chosen the day the Crown Prince returned."
He spoke with calm eyes, devoid of any agitation.
"I'm sorry."
It seemed he had been contemplating for quite some time and had made up his mind, as there was no hesitation in his apology.
"I'll be careful from now on."
I quietly nodded, setting aside my surprise.
I was greatly surprised because I never expected him to apologize. And he, too, seemed surprised that I accepted the apology so readily, as he frowned and examined me once more.
He seemed to want to figure out what I was thinking, but he soon gave up guessing and turned his gaze away.
"So, why are you here? I thought you would be the most welcoming to His Highness?"
"Ah, where did I put it!"
Leaving the Grand Duke's voice behind, an angry voice was heard.
Uven, who seemed to have returned after seeing the Crown Prince, was running quickly along the waterway, looking for something.
"I'll be going now."
It seemed he was looking for his water jar. As I stood up, Uven, who had spotted me, hurriedly ran over and stretched out his arm, offering his small palm to me.
"The water jar, where did you put it?"
"Over there, next to the tub."
Uven twitched his lips as if he had a lot to say to me, but soon ran off again. He had to hurry to fill that large tub, and I, too, picked up the water jar again and followed behind Uven.
Of course, the child didn't seem to like it.
* * *
While continuing to carry water, Uven kept glancing at me.
He constantly checked my location, like a meerkat filled with hostility and wariness.
"Why?"
It was already the twenty-third time our eyes had met. I finally opened my mouth, but the child had already turned his head and was pretending not to have seen me, as if he had never seen me before.
However, it wasn't even a few minutes before he checked on me again.
The dark red hair fluttered every time the child moved his head, so much so that I was getting dizzy.
After a while, Uven seemed to realize something, stopped walking, and blocked my path.
"That water is my responsibility."
"What?"
"I have to heat that water to wash him."
"...I know."
The water had to be collected in one place and then used to fill the tub again. And this task was mainly done by Uven and Lilia.
As I quietly nodded, Uven hesitated for a long time, as if he couldn't understand why I was continuing to carry water.
"But why...."
"It'll be good to finish quickly if we do it together."
The child's face crumpled. His animosity towards me was clearly revealed on his face, as if he wanted to demand that I tell the truth instead of playing pointless tricks.
It was only natural that Uven disliked me.
Penelope had insulted the child's deceased mother and caused him pain, a child who had lost his home and parents, whom he had lived with all his life, and was left alone.
It was undeniably Penelope's fault.
...That fault was so heavy that I couldn't figure out how to bring it up.
"I'm sorry, Uven."
However, in the end, despite the time I had spent agonizing, what I offered was a raw apology. In front of the child's brown eyes looking at me, that was all I could say.
"I was too harsh back then."
Lilia and Heresdon had mustered the courage to apologize and ask for forgiveness. Perhaps seeing them gave me courage, as the apology finally came out.
When Liliana Heresdon had approached me first, I felt grateful to them. Because I felt their sincerity.
"Sorry...you say?"
However, it seemed it wasn't the same for Uven.
"My mom died because of you. And that's something that ends with just one word of sorry?"
Uven threw down the water jar he was holding and breathed roughly, venting his anger.
"Then am I supposed to just let it go? Because you're a noble and I'm a commoner?"
The child couldn't hold back his anger and shed tears.
"What's so easy about it! Then my mom, my sibling, it's too unfair for them!"
Uven eventually stormed off, as if he couldn't stand to see my face.
'Why is he crying so much about a woman who couldn't even walk properly and died? What should have died, died.'
I apologized to Uven because of those words that had come to my mind in the past.
'My mom died because of you.'
'It's too unfair!'
Now that I saw it, Uven seemed to think that his mother had died because of me.
"......."
Not long after, I remembered the horse that Penelope had taken while fleeing from the zombies. The horse that should have gone to the pregnant woman....
Uven seemed to think that his mother had died because of that incident.
If so, I couldn't dare to grab Uven, claiming it was a misunderstanding or misinterpretation. Because I was clearly responsible for her death.
I picked up the water jar that the child had thrown down and carried water a few more times.
It seemed that the best thing to do for Uven was not to apologize, but to avoid being seen by him as much as possible.
"Penelope."
As I was about to return to my room after finishing work, Idorian, who seemed to have just finished washing up, blocked my path.
"Where were you? Didn't you even know I came?"
"...I was doing some work."
"So, you didn't have any intention of coming to see me."
He retorted with a strangely sarcastic tone.
"Weren't you worried about me?"
"I heard that you returned safely."
His red lips were pressed tightly together, as if he was exerting strength.
"So, you...."
"Idorian."
At that moment, a man with a large towel wrapped around him opened the door.
"I only have two pairs of pants."
Black hair, wet and curled, covered half of his face, and blue eyes were visible through the wet hair.
A face I had never seen before, the genius Idorian had rescued.
But he looked at me with surprised eyes, as if he had met someone he knew. His blue eyes, which had been half-lidded, became clear.
I hurriedly searched Penelope's memories, looking at the man who was staring at me.
'Have I met him before?'
Long, horizontal eyes, a high, straight nose, and half-open red lips....
I turned my head to check on the appearance of his friend, and Idorian urgently reached out and blocked my view.
"Lumi, put on some clothes before you open the door."
"Ah, okay."
He replied briefly, and the sound of the door closing was still not heard. ...There wasn't even a faint smell of blood from the man. When I glanced at his exposed upper body, there didn't seem to be any particular injuries.
'Then where was he hurt?'
I slightly tilted my head to check his body again. Clearly, in the novel, the genius heading to the fortress suddenly started bleeding, and he experienced a desperate situation where it felt like all the zombies in the forest had gathered.
If all the zombies gathered because of his blood, then the bleeding must have been significant....
Why can't I see any wounds? I don't smell any blood either. Has the original story changed?
At that moment, his blue eyes met mine once again.
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