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ABZ 3
The back of the chair gradually cracked, then broke into several pieces. The moment I saw it with my own eyes, laughter flowed out naturally, and my mind raced.
If I did well, wouldn't I be able to win even if I fought the Grand Duke or the Crown Prince?
Thump, thump.
Thump.
However, my happy musings ended immediately with the recollection of the novel.
Who were they? The male leads in a post-apocalyptic novel. Possessing the superhuman strength to tear off a zombie's arm with their bare hands, survivors who lived through the most extreme situations.
To even think of taking on such monsters. It was a momentary, but very foolish thought.
With my heart calmed once more, the brief awakening ended.
Knock, knock.
And at that moment, someone knocked on the door, but as if they didn't expect my permission, the door soon opened.
"What do you mean by just leaving like that?"
The Crown Prince glanced around the room meaninglessly before closing the door.
"Is your hand okay?"
"......"
I was about to answer that it was fine, but the awakening had ended, and it took a little time to utter a word.
"It was an unavoidable situation. We couldn't all die just to save you."
But the Crown Prince couldn't bear that short wait and sighed deeply as he spoke.
"None of us have any obligation to take care of you. But everything we've done to help you so far has been out of kindness and generosity."
He seemed angry that I had lashed out at Lilia.
"What I'm saying is, you can't demand anything here."
Perhaps worried that I would use this incident as an excuse to act outrageously, he seemed determined to clearly define the rights and wrongs as he continued to speak.
...Of course, you're right about everything.
I know we're all on our own!
Nevertheless, the image of the Crown Prince abandoning me and turning his back without hesitation, and his cold eyes, were not easily erased.
"So stop throwing pointless tantrums here. Especially, don't treat Lady Swedi, who was worried about you, carelessly."
"......"
It wasn't that I had nothing to say, but the awakening had ended, and I didn't have the ability to explain how I felt, and I thought my words would come out awkwardly again. Not wanting to be suspected again, I quietly nodded.
The Crown Prince frowned and blinked, as if he hadn't expected me to back down so easily.
"...If I really wanted you to die, I wouldn't have opened the fortress gates."
When I raised my head, he looked at me for a moment before turning his back. As if he had nothing more to say.
"Come down. Have something to eat."
When I shook my head, he frowned silently, then opened his mouth again.
"I'll bring it to you."
"......"
'...I know you don't care whether I live or die, but why do you have to follow me and scold me?'
In the end, all he said to me, who had barely survived, was, "Don't take your anger out on Lilia."
He didn't seem to care how I managed to survive or what I had gone through.
* * *
The novel <Finding Paradise> begins with the outbreak of a zombie incident in the capital of the Empire. The novel doesn't specify exactly where it started, but Zombification spread throughout the Empire in just four days, beyond any means of control.
When the capital was in an uproar due to the inexplicable zombie incident, the main characters were in the nearby Mendwill estate for their own reasons.
They met by chance and were about to have a meal together and return to the capital, but a carrier pigeon arrived for the Crown Prince. It was an imperial order, along with a report on the situation in the capital, to immediately get far away from the capital and protect themselves.
The Crown Prince informed the surrounding lords of this fact and set out on a refugee journey with the people of the Mendwill estate. However, the lords who had already received the news from the Emperor locked their gates tightly and refused to open them to the refugees.
Lord Leton offered to let only the Crown Prince's party into the fortress, but the Crown Prince refused and chose the refugees.
And so, they headed to the nearest fortress with the refugees, but due to the rapidly approaching zombies, only five of the hundreds of refugees eventually reached the fortress.
The Crown Prince, Idorian Fidentre.
The Grand Duke, Heresedon Dwain.
The female lead, Lilia Swedi.
Nine-year-old Uven.
And Penelope Lloyd.
The novel ends with them dramatically developing a cure in four years and saving people. Of course, there were many things that happened before the cure was developed, but that was the main plot.
"......"
So what I needed to focus on most right now was surviving for four years without being discovered as a zombie. You might think that I could reveal that I was a zombie to them and ask for help, but among the group was the heartless Grand Duke Heresdon.
When the Grand Duke's family knight and my longtime friend became infected, he beheaded him without hesitation. There was no way he, who would kill even a friend, would save me, Penelope.
And then there was that child, Uven, who shuddered at the thought of zombies. Whether he didn't recognize that they were once human before becoming zombies, the child had no qualms about killing zombies.
No, he seemed to think of all zombies as the enemies of his parents, and his eyes gleamed with the desire to kill whenever he saw one.
Nevertheless, the reason I couldn't leave them was that this place was the most suitable for avoiding attacks from wild animals in this forest, and more than anything, I could be among the first to benefit when the cure was developed.
Due to the limited quantity of the medicine, the first place to receive the cure was the capital. And gradually, the range was expanded to the surrounding areas of the capital, but anyway, staying close to the main characters was the fastest way to return to being human.
So, no matter how dirty and despicable it was, I was determined to persevere.
* * *
Dinner time, when everyone gathered to eat.
'This is so unfair, really!'
I stared blankly at the chicken neck half-submerged in the well-boiled broth.
The Crown Prince had two chicken legs, and the Grand Duke and Lilia each had a chicken leg and a wing, and Uven's bowl had two wings.
But I only had a chicken neck. I didn't feel hungry anyway. I didn't want to eat, and I didn't feel the need to eat!
This is too much, isn't it?
I glared at the culprit of this, the cook Uven.
He was a resident of the Mendwill estate, a child saved from zombies by the female lead and the Crown Prince. In the novel, he was in charge of cooking....
Uven's pregnant mother was bitten by a zombie in front of him. Perhaps that was why he had such a great hatred for zombies, and if there was anything that child hated as much as zombies, it was me, Penelope.
'What's so sad about a woman who couldn't even walk properly dying and crying like that? What should have died, died.'
As Penelope's past words flashed through my mind, I lowered my head.
To give me two necks.
That child was definitely an angel.
"Penelope, why aren't you eating?"
Then the Crown Prince sighed and rebuked me.
"You left all the potatoes I gave you earlier, too."
When I raised my head again, everyone sitting at the table was looking at me. Not wanting to receive attention, I hurriedly grabbed a spoon.
"The current situation is no different from a state of war. And yet, are you still being picky about food?"
Even while I was concentrating on subtly manipulating my sluggish body, the Crown Prince didn't stop nagging.
"Meals cooked to your liking are no longer provided. So don't be stubborn and eat right now."
The Crown Prince took my bowl, exchanged it for his, and even pushed the roasted potatoes in front of me, gesturing for me to eat.
'I barely managed to hold onto this one, why are you doing this to me again...'
In front of the ruthless audience who would cut off my head without hesitation if I showed even the slightest mistake, a stupid zombie who could barely hold a utensil was about to begin a spectacular dinner show of deboning a chicken leg with a fork and spoon.
"...I don't feel well, so I'll just eat this."
I pulled the bowl that the Crown Prince had taken back towards me as I spoke. Then he frowned again as if he didn't like something, but I hurriedly lowered my head before he could start nagging again.
'Okay, I have to eat.'
Zombies digested very slowly. If I ate like this every meal, wouldn't my stomach burst before long?
But seeing the Crown Prince's eyes, it seemed like this time wouldn't end unless I ate something, so I brought the pale broth to my mouth.
"But how did you manage to escape the zombies and get to the fortress?"
Uven asked in a prim voice.
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