Chapter : 03
【 Please Don’t Come In, This Is a Single Room! 】
And then…
“Thank goodness! All the babies were born safely!”
Leila said with tears welling up in her eyes.
The calves and piglets were born at the same time—strong and healthy. The mothers were busy licking their newborns, and once the babies were born, the other pigs and cows approached to sniff them, as if congratulating the new members of the herd.
That made eleven pigs and five cows. Most importantly, we could now milk the dairy cows.
Sob… I should make tons of butter and cheese.
Moved by the increase in our assets, I quickly got back to work on the farm.
First, I checked on the turnips.
“Mm, they’re adorable as expected.”
I sprinkled water over the plump turnip sprouts.
Next, I checked the wheat field.
“They’re growing well.”
Just looking at the green wheat field felt refreshing. When the wind swept through, the field rippled like waves.
“Oof, my back. Shall I go check on the barley now?”
It was about time to start harvesting the barley.
Should I start harvesting tomorrow?
Fortunately, unlike Korea, this place didn’t have distinct four seasons, so all crops grew well regardless of the time of year.
Of course, not every continent was like this—only certain regions within the Empire.
When I think about how I studied day and night just to find a place like this, it brings tears to my eyes.
I had struggled so much to find this region. To build the perfect fortress, I had suddenly had to cram studies in climatology and geography—things I’d never imagined learning in my life.
I took zucchini seeds and pumpkin seeds from the storage shed. Today, I planned to plant them in the field I had tilled yesterday.
I poked the seeds into the soil and covered them. Wearing a straw hat and working since morning, I realized it was already lunchtime.
“Ugh, let me stretch my back.”
It had been a while since my joints crackled all over my body. I twisted side to side and stretched.
It was time for lunch.
Today’s cook was Leila.
Since she wasn’t very good at cooking, she usually served strawberry jam with rye bread and fried eggs.
Come to think of it, we’re almost out of strawberry jam. I should make more.
I roughly took off my gloves and headed back to the house.
Sure enough, Leila set down two chunks of rye bread, strawberry jam, and three fried eggs, looking embarrassed.
“I’m sorry… I’m not very good at cooking…”
“It looks delicious! Thanks for the meal!”
I smiled brightly at her and split the rye bread in half, spreading strawberry jam on it. Countess Clark also took a graceful bite.
But having come in from farm work, Leila, Count Clark, and I forgot our noble status entirely and shoveled the food into our mouths without pause.
After finishing the last fried egg, I leaned back in my chair, holding my stomach and sighing.
Lunch today was delicious as always.
For someone who had just done farm work, the amount of food was a little lacking—but even so, I was grateful.
Other people were probably too busy running from zombies to even eat. Being able to eat and drink in peace like this was heaven.
“Are you going back to work now?” the Countess asked.
“Yes! I was planning to.”
She spoke while brewing black tea, placing a warm cup in front of me with a gentle smile.
“Still, have a cup of tea before you go. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help.”
“Just having you healthy and here with us is more than enough. Thank you—I’ll enjoy it.”
I gulped down the warm tea.
Ah, it’s hot!
In my hurry to finish and leave, I burned the tip of my tongue. Still, I drank it all, set the empty cup down, and said,
“I’ll be back!”
“See you at dinner.”
Since my parents passed away, she had cherished me like her own child and worked hard to ensure the family estate didn’t pass to distant relatives. Just having her alive and healthy in front of me made me grateful to the Countess.
I gave her a light kiss on the cheek and left the house.
After planting the rest of the seeds, it was already past three o’clock.
I hurried toward the lakeside.
“What on earth is this…?!”
The fish traps were overflowing with fish.
Even though the traps were already full, fish were still desperately trying to get inside.
It was the first time all the traps had been this full in an entire year!
Cherry tomatoes, strawberries, and now even the fish—my luck is way too good.
It was so lucky it made me uneasy.
I felt a single hair on my head stand on end.
It was like a radar that sensed danger.
Something’s coming…!
Something was definitely coming.
There was no way I could be this lucky today. Looking back on my 22 years since reincarnating, something bad was bound to happen next.
The problem was that I didn’t know what.
Staying on high alert, I began transferring the fish into buckets. Even after filling four buckets to the brim, there were still leftovers, so I released a few back into the lake.
Still fighting my unease, I headed to the storage shed. I needed to salt the fish.
Even as I removed the entrails and salted them, I remained acutely aware that a single hair on my head was still standing on end.
Then Leila urgently called out to me from outside the shed.
“Vanessa!”
So it’s finally here!
“What is it?!”
I hastily finished salting the last fish and ran outside. Leila grabbed me and started running toward the barn.
Oh no! The newborns died!
But contrary to my expectation, Leila gave an unexpected answer.
“One of the cows is giving birth again!”
“What? Already?”
It was much earlier than expected.
So that’s why I was uneasy!
Leila and I fidgeted anxiously as we watched the cow struggling through her first labor.
The cow, clearly in pain, kept banging her head against the barn.
What if something happens to the mother too?
If we lost cows, we’d face food shortages in the future. Chewing on my nails in anxiety, I watched—
And finally—
“She gave birth safely!”
“H-huh…?”
“Aren’t you happy, Vanessa? Both the mother and the calf are healthy!”
“I mean, I am happy, but…”
I was happy—but something felt off.
How could the calf be born so safely?
On top of that, despite being born earlier than expected, the calf was surprisingly large and healthy. The mother busied herself licking it.
“To celebrate the birth of two calves, how about having some wine tonight?”
“S-sure!”
Facing Leila as she walked along cheerfully with her arms linked, I smiled awkwardly.
It’s good news… but I’m still uneasy.
Everything today had gone too smoothly. I was glad to see Leila so happy, but I couldn’t shake the anxiety. Hoping that my danger-sensing hair would be wrong this time, we headed to the kitchen.
Before we knew it, it was dinner time.
I quickly prepared grilled fish, fried eggs, and rye bread.
Leila took wine and glasses from the cupboard and said,
“Alright, everyone! Today’s the day two calves were born. Let’s celebrate!”
“Two? Wasn’t it just one?”
“Another one was just born.”
“So that’s why you brought out the wine, Leila.”
“Of course.”
“Vanessa, you’ll have some too, right?”
“Yeah, sure!”
At that, the Count and Countess happily opened the wine.
As I poured wine into the glasses, I still felt uneasy. Something was definitely going to hit me from behind.
But nothing happened through dinner, and even as the night grew late. When I looked at the magic clock, it was nearly midnight.
Only then did I finally relax.
So even my danger radar can be wrong sometimes.
All my life, whenever that hair stood on end, something bad always happened. Maybe not this time. Feeling grateful for all the good things that had happened today, I raised the glass to take another sip—
“What was that sound?”
The Countess murmured uneasily.
From afar, the sound of horse hooves drew closer. The hooves soon stopped, and then someone pounded loudly on the fortress gate, shouting.
It was a youthful voice.
“Please! Open the gate!”
Oh no—someone’s there!
Trying to reassure the anxious Count, Countess, and Leila, I said,
“Just a moment! I’ll go up to the watchtower and check!”
I didn’t know how they had made it this far, but I couldn’t just open the gate. They could have been bitten by zombies.
I climbed the ladder to the watchtower. Looking through the telescope, I saw a young soldier in an Imperial Central Knights uniform, drenched in blood.
Are you kidding me?! How did you even get here?!
Weren’t they all supposed to die in the capital?!
I felt bad for the knights, but in the novel, aside from the Knight Commander and the Crown Prince, the Imperial Central Knights are wiped out—turned into zombies.
And more importantly, standing in front of the knight was a man in a blue uniform—someone who absolutely should not be here.
The Crown Prince.
The male lead of this novel.
I scratched my head furiously and screamed silently.
Why the hell is he here?!
This place was extremely far from the capital.
Even traveling nonstop by carriage, it would take three full days to get here.
After the knights are annihilated, the Crown Prince fights zombies in the capital through guerrilla tactics alongside the Knight Commander until he meets the Saintess. But there was still time before the Saintess was supposed to appear.
In short, the Crown Prince should currently be exterminating zombies in the capital.
So why is such a distinguished person standing in front of my precious fortress?
Why?!
Meanwhile, the young knight kept pounding on the gate and shouting.
“Please! Let us inside!”
At least from appearances, neither of them seems bitten. The Crown Prince is unconscious… What should I do…
Below, I could hear the Count, Countess, and Leila murmuring anxiously.
“What do we do, Vanessa?!”
“Wait! I’m coming down!”
I climbed back down and stood before them. The Count and Countess asked me with worried expressions.
“Who is the person outside?”
“Yes, Vanessa. Who on earth is it, coming here at this hour?”
If I said it was the Crown Prince, the Count and Countess would probably faint—especially the Countess, who already looked pale. I hesitated for a moment over whether to tell them.
But it’ll come out eventually anyway.
The young knight was still pounding heavily on the gate. I let out a deep sigh and said carefully,
“It’s… His Highness the Crown Prince.”
“Oh my goodness!”
“Why would he be here…? Then the capital…!”
The Count and Countess collapsed to the ground in despair. Leila looked at me nervously and asked,
“What are we going to do, Vanessa?”
“I guess… we have to let them in.”
If the zombie crisis is eventually resolved thanks to the Saintess and the Crown Prince returns to the capital, I could be punished for not helping him.
At worst, the entire family could be wiped out. I didn’t mind if something happened to me alone—but if the entire Clark family were destroyed, that was another matter.
He hasn’t really been bitten… right?
End Of Chapter : 03
