If you eat food that has been splashed with zombie blood and gore, will you get infected? Or is it fine as long as you’re not bitten?
‘I should have read the book more carefully.’
Regret is always too late.
Since I didn’t know, I had to eat only the clean things.
After rummaging through drawers and cabinets, a few ingredients other than nuts were safe. I discarded things like raw meat and distributed only the immediately edible items to the group.
As I took the lead in searching the kitchen, the others who were sitting down also helped me.
“There’s water here! Ah, but there’s something inside…”
“Do fish normally bleed?”
“Why are the mushrooms cold?”
The nobles, who had probably had meals prepared for them their entire lives, wandered about, holding ingredients in the kitchen they were visiting for the first time.
They each held soft white bread, apples, and oranges, then slumped back down on the floor.
“I want truffle soup with crackers…”
“I want the sea bass dish.”
‘I want kimchi stew.’
In extreme situations, people lose the luxury of maintaining appearances. The usually aloof Mascarpone whined that she couldn’t go on and threw a tantrum on the floor, and while the Crown Prince was looking for the portal, Minor Character 2 complained that she was hungry.
Now, everyone was sitting on the dirty bare floor with just a jacket laid down, eating apples with the skin on without washing their hands.
Seeing how these people, who previously couldn’t even sit properly on a chair offered to them out of courtesy, had ended up like this—
‘Why does this make me feel so sad for them?’
I also found a spot behind the countertop, out of sight of the others, and plopped down. “Oh, my…”
It was my precious solo mealtime.
“I want to lie down…”
I worked overtime yesterday and had to take a taxi home because the last train was gone. I didn’t eat breakfast because I overslept.
I transmigrated here on an empty stomach and have been fighting and running all day, so I have no energy.
‘I was going to buy gelato at the mall food court on my way back to the office. Agh…’
If I go back, I promise I won’t get angry at my coworkers and I’ll live diligently, so please send me back.
Isn’t regression trending these days?
Please regress me to before I transmigrated here.
I want to collapse and sleep, forgetting about food and everything else. But I can’t, in case these people leave me behind if I fall asleep.
I forced my blurry eyes open and focused on the voices coming from behind me.
“I keep getting distracted by the sounds outside…”
“I jump every time someone speaks next to me…”
Confirming that no one was paying attention to me, I quietly pulled out the item I had hidden in my dress pocket.
The zombie that was lying in the gallery earlier.
The red gem that was glowing in that zombie’s chest.
I held the red stone, about the size of an AirPod case, between my thumb and forefinger, examining it.
‘The chests of the zombies in the secret room on the second floor were glowing like this, too.’
Since no one else said anything, it seemed like only I could see it.
I brought it along, not knowing what it was.
When it was embedded in the chest, it glimmered as if begging to be discovered, but now that I’d taken it out, it wasn’t glowing as brightly.
It was strange that there was not a single drop of blood on it, even though I had taken it from a person’s chest.
‘Rather than taking it out… it felt like it just sucked right up when I touched it.’
It felt exactly like…
…an item dropped when you kill a monster in a game.
‘Is this some kind of hint for transmigrators?’
I tentatively spoke to the stone.
“Hey.”
“Yes.”
“You startled me!”
I jumped and quickly looked up. The Crown Prince was looking down at me from beside me.
The height difference is significant even when standing, but looking up while sitting… good grief.
‘I can only see his thighs.’
Wait, did this man just respond to my “Hey”?
I stared at him in confusion, and he tilted his head slightly. “I thought you were calling me.”
“…”
“Didn’t you call me that earlier?”
I did?
‘Hey! Are you trying to die, you lunatic?!’
I think I did say that when the zombies popped out on the second floor…
He heard that.
“I was in a hurry then…”
“…”
“I apologize.”
Fortunately, the Crown Prince didn’t seem bothered.
The Crown Prince’s gaze, whose expression was difficult to read, slowly fell from my casually tied hair to my eyes, nose, and mouth, then returned and settled on my eyes.
From my perspective, my focus was mainly on this person’s flat stomach and long legs.
‘It’s a little inappropriate to talk while staring at someone’s lower abdomen… Should I stand up?’
Just as I was thinking that—
The Crown Prince sat down quietly beside me and asked, “How is your ankle?”
“Pardon?”
“I heard you were hurt.”
He hesitated, then added a remark. “I was startled on the second floor… and failed to consider it. I apologize.”
“Oh, well. There’s no need to apologize…”
Your favorite woman was injured; I wouldn’t have even crossed your mind.
I waved my hand with that thought. “I’m fine. My shoes are thick, so there was no impact. Miss Yoo Je-in was hurt badly.”
Even after hearing me say I was fine, the Crown Prince didn’t move. His expressionless face stared at me.
I had no choice but to meet the Crown Prince’s gaze.
‘He’s handsome.’
He looks cold and detached, yet somehow melancholic. He also seems dangerous…
He was like the third-generation chaebol from a drama.
The one you run into just as you’re leaving the office at 2:23 a.m. after working overtime, calling a taxi, and he happens to be on the elevator you try to take out of the six in the building.
He’s closing his eyes, seemingly tired, and when the elevator door dings open, he opens his eyes and makes eye contact with a flustered me.
The CEO’s grandson, the third-generation chaebol.
A celebrity whose name has been known since birth, yet he doesn’t use the executive-only elevator, and sometimes shows up at the company gym around 4 a.m., startling people.
The third-generation chaebol from a drama, not reality.
‘He looks like he despises incompetent people.’
As far as I know, he also dislikes Yu Sara. Surely he’s not worried about me.
‘Is he here to soothe me, like the Grand Duke, in case I throw a fit?’
“I’m not sulking to protest. I’m saying I’m fine because I really am. So…”
“That’s not it.”
What do you mean, that’s not it, you blockhead.
I opened my eyes wide and glared at the Crown Prince to convey that I didn’t believe him.
The staring contest went on for a while, and the Crown Prince was the one who surrendered.
The Crown Prince sighed and nodded toward the red stone in my hand. “Cypress said he saw you pick up something from a corpse.”
“His Highness the Grand Duke?”
He was pretending not to see earlier. So he saw it.
It wasn’t something I needed to hide, so I opened my palm to show him. “You didn’t see it, Your Highness?”
“Where?”
“On the corpse…”
“I heard you brought it from the corpse in the gallery. Is it an important object?”
“…”
So this stone is indeed invisible to others. It only appears once I pick it up.
‘I should hide the truth and not tell him yet.’
“It’s not important. I picked it up because I was curious that an attendant would have something pretty.”
After I finished speaking, the Crown Prince also remained silent.
We killed time awkwardly like that for a while.
The Crown Prince placed something he had been wiping with his sleeve in front of me.
It was his share of an apple.
“The Princess is my guest.”
“…”
“I apologize for the poor hospitality. Please give me another chance when we return to the Imperial Palace.”
The Interrogation Continues
After the Crown Prince left, Darjeeling came over.
“Princess! Are you alright?!”
“Yes, I’m perfectly fine.”
‘What is this? Is it visiting hours?’
Do they think I’m sulking because I’m sitting here alone?
I grumbled internally and forced a smile. “Did you come because you were worried about me?”
“Of course, I was worried! I apologize. I promised to protect you.”
“Don’t worry about it. You have a lot to do.”
He has to look after the nobles, guard the perimeter. He has to wield a sword and also serve them. Moreover, the only other combat personnel besides himself are the Crown Prince and the Grand Duke.
= An ordinary employee stuck between executives.
In a way, Darjeeling was the most pitiable person in this group right now.
The fact that he came to look after me, someone he’d just met today, was touching enough…
“Now that you mention it, Princess, you hurt your hand too, didn’t you.”
“It’s just a slight cut. It’s not even serious enough to be called an injury.”
“But this must be the first time you’ve ever been injured like that…”
“There’s a first time for everything.”
“Even so, Princess, I…”
The hesitant Darjeeling spoke tentatively. “It might sound rude, but I am glad you are with us.”
“Pardon? Why?”
“Why? Because you showed unexpected initiative today.”
A voice was heard from above my head.
The Grand Duke, leaning against the countertop, was smiling broadly.
‘When did this guy show up again?’
Is it seriously visiting hours?
“If it weren’t for the Princess, we’d all still be in the gallery, wouldn’t we?”
“Don’t lie. You would have thought of it even without me.”
I didn’t come up with some amazing trick; it was just a simple lure.
How stupid did they think I was, to praise me for such a small thing?
The Grand Duke said, “I’m thinking right now.”
“About what?”
“Why I keep making mistakes with the Princess today.”
“…”
“Why didn’t you tell me about your ankle injury?”
“…You are still making a mistake right now.”
“Huh?”
“I said I wasn’t hurt. So just believe me.”
“Princess, where are you going?”
“To pick a fight.”
There was something I’d been thinking about since the food distribution, and I felt I needed to take care of it now.
I left the stunned Grand Duke and Darjeeling and got up.
I walked resolutely and stood in front of Yoo Je-in.
Yoo Je-in, who was quietly holding a cracker in her hand, looked up at me.
“Princess…”
I got straight to the point. “Hey, you. Eat that right now.”
“Pardon?”
“Right now.”
Yoo Je-in was flustered as I pointed at the cracker in her hand. I scowled fiercely at the dawdling Yoo Je-in.
“Everyone else ate theirs, but you left yours. What a waste.”
I immediately spoke informally.
“Aren’t you going to eat it now?”
“Ah, no, Princess. I’ll eat it. I’m eating it now.”
Seeing that I was about to act spiteful, Yoo Je-in quickly put the cracker in her mouth.
‘She listens well.’
If you speak nicely to her, she’s the type to ask for an explanation and hold out until she’s convinced. Since I don’t have the time or energy for that, being this bossy is much faster.
“Chew it thoroughly.”
After confirming that Yoo Je-in swallowed the cracker and even drank some water, I turned around.
I picked up two hard lumps of bread, which clearly weren’t meant for the nobles, that were left forlornly in an open drawer, and wrapped them in paper.
The dress I’m wearing has a deep neckline, exposing half of my chest. I took out the two pads inside and threw them away, filling the empty space with the bread.
‘I want to put it in my pocket, but the stone is there, so I have no choice.’
By now, people were no longer surprised by my eccentric behavior.
“She’ll do anything…”
Ignoring the ever-sarcastic Mascarpone, I looked for more food to secure.
‘It’s not over ’til it’s over.’
It would be great if we could move through the portal right now, but what if the portal doesn’t work?
Even if the transmigration ends in five minutes, I’m still taking these two slices of bread.
Minor Character 2, who was deliberately avoiding looking at me adjusting my clothes, said, “It feels like I can live now that I’ve eaten something… I think I can move now.”
“I agree. I think it would be good to move to the portal now.”
The Crown Prince, who had been knocking on the walls since earlier, turned around at her words.
“I have something to tell you about that matter.”
“Yes?”
“The portal is not in the place where it should be.”
What?
[Imperial Villa 1st Floor Kitchen]
- Yu Sara, Yu Jae-in, Crown Prince, Grand Duke, Darjeeling, Mascarpone, Minor Character 2, Nuisance Man (Surviving)
