Chapter 11
“Move it while I’m still being nice.”
Cersian said this with a small smile, but he clenched his teeth tightly, determined not to let the zombie feed him the dirt.
The zombie, looking confused, held the dirt closer to him.
‘Damn it. I might actually end up eating dirt at this rate.’
Cersian’s face turned pale as he watched dirt fall to the ground.
“I told you to put it away.”
[You fluffball. You need to eat a lot to stay healthy.]
Cersian shook his head violently.
‘Why won’t she eat it?’
The zombie blinked her large golden eyes at him and then turned and ran off.
‘Phew… she gave up,’ Cersian thought with relief.
But suddenly, she held something out to him again.
Cersian raised his eyebrows and looked at what she held.
‘It’s dirt…?’
But this time it was different.
Along with dirt, there was a butterfly, some grass, and something wriggling…
“This isn’t okay! Hey, this is bad! If you eat this, you’ll lose your humanity! Just eat dirt instead.”
Cersian shook his head desperately, speaking quickly.
‘The butterfly and grass are fine, but where did she even find a worm!’
“Throw all of this away. Let’s go wash up.”
Of course, the zombie didn’t understand. She was a zombie.
He pulled the butterfly from her hand, shook off the dirt, grass, and worm onto the ground, and then held her hand.
The zombie pouted and glared at him with a sad expression.
‘Was that a gift?’
After all, cats bring gifts like mice to people who help them.
“You’re too pure to be a zombie,” Cersian said, worried.
Even though the zombie looked sad, their thoughts were very different.
[She can’t eat even if I give it to her.]
The zombie glanced at Cersian’s back and followed him with small steps.
[I, the fluffy one, will have to chew it for him later.]
Cersian thought to himself, shaking his head at the idea.
***
“Please.”
Cersian was a man who fought zombies without magic, relying only on his antibodies.
Even the brave Cersian was scared now.
“Can’t we just wash normally?”
He took the zombie to the lake, but she floated on the water like a corpse.
‘Why is she doing this?’
Why float on the water instead of standing?
Even as a human, he couldn’t understand her behavior. But the most puzzling thing was:
“Lift your head at least.”
Why on earth does she dunk her face in the water?
The problem was that the lake wasn’t isolated. People passed by often.
“She looks like a dead body.”
“Shh… pretend you didn’t see anything.”
‘They can hear everything.’
How many times did carriages stop, seeing a “floating corpse”? Did the zombie even notice?
“Is this your lover? Don’t worry! I’ll save her!”
Sometimes, people tried to “save” the zombie.
“My lover likes water.”
“But her head is almost underwater.”
“Does she really need to wash looking up?”
“……?”
“That’s just prejudice.”
People looked at Cersian like he was crazy.
Who washes their face while dunking it underwater like that?
After talking nonsense for a while to scare off onlookers, Cersian finally dragged the floating zombie out.
The zombie, who had been dunking her face, finally:
“Kyaa!”
Lifted her face up.
Her hair was soaking wet, water dripping, and droplets on her eyelashes sparkled in the light.
Her clothes clung to her body, making her look somewhat shapely.
“Why are your cheeks so puffed up?”
Cersian noticed that her normally thin cheeks had puffed out, which worried him more than anything else.
The zombie carefully moved her jaw, watching him.
“Crunch… nom nom.”
Hearing the horrifying sounds, Cersian’s face went pale.
“Are you eating stones?”
He busied himself removing stones from her mouth, muttering when he saw little fish jumping out between them.
“Is this some kind of aquarium dream?”
***
“This is the place.”
Alphius, guided by a maid, entered Princess Isabel’s room in the palace, his expression strange.
“If you’re looking for something…”
“I just want to see if there’s any clue about her disappearance. Nothing specific.”
Alphius’s expression didn’t change. The maid nodded politely, not suspicious.
“If you have questions while looking, call me.”
“Understood. You may leave.”
The maid bowed and left.
Click-clack, click-clack…
As her footsteps faded, Alphius covered his face.
“I must be crazy.”
He didn’t get along with the Emperor and hated coming to the palace even for work.
“And yet, I came here on my own.”
He couldn’t believe he had entered the palace by his own choice, laughing bitterly.
The reason was ridiculous.
After another fruitless search yesterday, he had barely slept for days. Suddenly, he thought:
‘I wonder how Princess Isabel lived in the palace.’
Although they met weekly, they rarely spoke, so he had no idea how she lived.
This thought stayed with him until sunrise, driving him impulsively to the palace.
“Even lying to myself…”
He came here claiming he wanted clues about her disappearance.
He felt shocked seeing himself enter her room using such an excuse.
‘Why am I so curious? Should I just leave?’
He touched the closed door, hesitating.
‘Is that… Isabel’s scent?’
Drawn by the familiar smell, he slowly turned around.
“It’s like she sprayed perfume.”
Alphius looked carefully at the room, drawn by the familiar scent.
Her room was luxurious and grand. One could tell how much effort went into decorating it.
‘A place I’ve never been.’
He had never entered Isabel’s room before.
Engaged couples sometimes secretly meet in each other’s rooms, but they never had reason to.
“Plants?”
Walking slowly, Alphius noticed small potted plants arranged neatly.
He saw names written on the pots and smiled.
“Sarah, Heinrich, Lessa… why give plants human names?”
Isabel enjoyed taking care of plants.
‘I didn’t know this side of her.’
Alphius realized for the first time how much she cared for her plants.
They had almost no conversations, so this was a surprise.
—Princess, if the dessert is bad, you could have just told me.
—Yes, better to yell than say nothing.
Alphius recalled what he said on the last day, slowly gripping his head.
—Then I, lowly as I am, will gladly cater to the noble Princess.
He had relentlessly teased her as if trying to hurt her.
Even when she called his name loudly, he continued mocking her.
‘What expression did Isabel have that day?’
He couldn’t clearly remember.
Just thinking about it made his fingers tingle and heart ache, as if guilty.
“Why am I acting like this?”
His chest ached, and Alphius frowned.
Then he noticed another vase.
“She liked flowers too.”
Counting the vases, he slowly opened and closed his eyes.
There were more than a few.
“So it wasn’t perfume.”
He realized she didn’t use perfume—it was just the flowers. Their scent naturally filled the room.
—Don’t come closer. The perfume smells too strong.
But he hadn’t known.
—It’s not perfume. It’s just…
He remembered Isabel falling silent before he could hear more, biting his lip.
Actually, her scent wasn’t strong.
The soft floral fragrance distracted him from work, which made him harsh with her about perfume before.
Don’t come close, it’s unpleasant, always using perfume…
“Strange.”
Lost in thought, Alphius pressed his hand to his chest.
“Why does it hurt here?”
His chest throbbed, and he muttered:
“Do I have some kind of illness?”
