Chapter 20
The eagle circling above us in a wide arc swooped down and landed on Idórian’s arm, recognizing him as it came from the fortress.
“The Emperor has sent a letter.”
After briefly explaining the situation to Lumi, who had called him over, Idórian quietly began to read the letter brought by the eagle.
‘So, it begins.’
Surely, the Emperor had recognized the gravity of the situation and declared a state of emergency, vowing to eradicate the zombies for the stability of the Empire.
That would mean that soldiers clad in armor would soon launch a large-scale operation starting from the Imperial capital.
In the novel, it had taken three months just to wipe out the zombies in the capital.
However, it took eight months for the Imperial army to reach this fortress. The lands they had to cross were infested with zombies, and clearing each domain delayed their advance.
In the end, the protagonists were only able to return safely to the capital after about a year.
The development of medicine also didn’t happen until a year later….
As I was tracing back the details from the original story in my mind, Idórian held out the letter toward me.
“Huh?”
I looked up in surprise, and he gestured toward me — as if to say, go ahead and read it.
“Can we really read it?”
He nodded.
“His Majesty has already ordered the army to mobilize. It’ll be fine.”
Lumi and I read the letter together. While we did, Idórian spoke softly.
“If we just hold out a little longer like this, we’ll be able to return to the capital soon.”
I was certain the Imperial forces were struggling too, surrounded by hordes of zombies. But Idórian, unaware of what lay ahead, reassured me as if this crisis would end quickly.
Unfortunately, we still had eight long months left in this place.
“It’ll be over soon,” he said again, smiling faintly.
After confirming that he was also worried about his father, I handed the letter back to him.
I just nodded quietly.
I didn’t want to extinguish his hope — because hope was something everyone desperately needed.
Perhaps because the ever-complaining Penelope, who used to curse their fate and whine that they’d all die trapped in this damned fortress, was gone, the others weren’t as gloomy as in the novel. Still, even if they didn’t show it, everyone surely harbored fear about the uncertain future.
“When we get to the capital…”
Idórian trailed off, frowning as if in thought. His gaze flickered for a moment.
“I’ll be sending a reply to His Majesty soon. So if there’s anything you need, tell me.”
After glancing briefly at Lumi, who stood beside me, he changed the subject.
“Anything we need?”
It seemed he planned to include a request in his reply to the Emperor. There were plenty of things we needed — blankets, clothes, candles, food… All of it was running short, and surviving another eight months would be impossible without resupply.
But given the circumstances, how could the Emperor possibly send proper supplies through lands crawling with zombies?
‘If food runs out, then just like in the novel, Idórian and Heresden will have to venture out beyond the fortress to find something edible.’
That would be incredibly dangerous.
I couldn’t remember all the details clearly, but I was sure the novel described how they’d struggled terribly in their attempts to find food.
In the end, even today, our bird hunt had been fruitless.
Of course, if it were easy to catch large birds within the fortress walls, Idórian and Heresden wouldn’t have risked their lives to go outside in the first place.
‘It’d be nice if this eagle could bring us something to eat. A rabbit, maybe…’
“Oh! Then I’d like to ask for seeds.”
The idea hit me suddenly, and I blurted it out.
“Fast-growing crops, if possible.”
If we could receive seeds and grow our own food, we wouldn’t need to leave the fortress at all.
I didn’t know how much food we had left, but if we planted crops that yielded quickly….
“Is that… not possible?”
It wasn’t an unreasonable request — surely the eagle could carry seeds. But from Idórian’s expression, that wasn’t the answer he’d been expecting.
“If we grow the crops ourselves, it’ll help with the food shortage—”
“No. I mean… all right, I’ll mention it.”
Finally, Idórian nodded.
“That’s a good idea, Penelope. It won’t hurt to prepare in advance.”
“Huh?”
The words slipped out reflexively.
It won’t hurt to prepare in advance? He seemed oddly relaxed, as if the crisis weren’t so serious.
Even if we started planting now, it would take time before we could harvest anything. Was that why he sounded so casual about it?
“By the way, don’t you want to ask about the Duke of Lloyd? And Lumi — surely you’d want to hear about your kingdom?”
After a pause, Idórian shifted topics, and I realized what he really wanted to hear me ask about.
“Our families.”
Right — in the novel, around this point, Penelope and Lumi had heard news about their families through Idórian.
Baron Swiddy had managed to stay in contact, but the Duke of Lloyd had lost all communication with the Emperor. Most likely, the Duke had become a zombie.
In the story, when Penelope learned this, she’d tormented Lumi for days, jealous that her own father was dead while Lumi’s still lived.
“Ah, yes. I’d like to know if they’re safe. If you can reach them, please tell them I’m doing well.”
I already knew the truth from the novel, but of course, I couldn’t show it — so I quickly made the request. Idórian gave a short nod.
“Then I’ll just ask for updates from the kingdom.”
“…It might be difficult, but I’ll try to find out about your families too, Lumi.”
Lumi nodded quietly.
“I’ll pray for everyone’s safety,” Idórian said softly.
He didn’t make empty promises that our families were safe. Instead, he simply offered a prayer — because even the Crown Prince himself couldn’t be sure of anything anymore.
To share the Emperor’s message, Idórian gathered everyone in the first-floor parlor.
Lilia, who’d been sewing curtains, Heresden, who’d been resting, and even Uben, who was busy doing laundry, all came together.
Uben sat next to Lilia.
For a brief moment, our eyes met — but the boy quickly looked away.
“…Hey, Lumi,” I whispered, nudging the girl beside me.
“Have you ever been to the storage cellar?”
Cooking duties had fallen to Uben, and since he didn’t like me, I avoided the kitchen where I might run into him.
So I’d never gone down to the storage cellar.
“No, I haven’t.”
“…I see.”
“Why do you ask?” Lumi tilted her head.
Why was I suddenly curious about the storage cellar?
‘Even if we can’t catch any birds today, let’s eat a little more for dinner. It might not be the soup you’re used to, but we can’t help it, right?’
‘Good idea, Penelope. It won’t hurt to prepare in advance.’
Uben had told me that food was running short — that if things continued this way, we’d all starve.
But strangely, no one else seemed worried about the shortage.
Could it be that only Uben knew about it? That couldn’t be — surely others had been down there too.
‘Why isn’t anyone trying to come up with a solution?’
It wasn’t as if Uben had lied. In the novel, the shortage had been a serious problem too.
“I wanted to ask about the food situation—”
“His Highness is here!”
Uben abruptly cut me off as Idórian entered the parlor.
“Your Highness, we heard His Majesty sent a letter?”
Uben deliberately avoided my gaze — as if he didn’t want me to bring up the food issue.
‘Why shouldn’t I mention it?’
If the food shortage were real, it wouldn’t be a secret only Uben knew.
There was no way Idórian and Heresden hadn’t noticed.
Had I remembered the novel wrong? Or had Uben lied to me?
Judging from his stiff face and the way he bit his lip, it seemed he had lied.
Had he really gone that far just to keep me away from him?
“Before that, Penelope seems to have something to say — about the food situation,” Lumi said suddenly, saving me from deciding whether to speak or not.
“Still finding meals without meat difficult?” she asked.
“Well, that’s not really—”
“I understand how you feel,” she said, cutting me off, “but skipping work all day isn’t right either.”
I tried to explain, but Lumi had already looked away.
“I think that’s why Uben’s upset. He says Penelope complains about the food and refuses to work.”
