The Abandoned Villainess Became a Zombie - Chapter 14

At last, it seemed the bleeding had stopped, as Rumi released his grip on his nose. It had taken approximately seven minutes for the bleeding to cease.

Which meant, if a situation arose where I couldn’t step away, I’d have to endure the scent of blood and suppress my instincts for seven full minutes…

“Haa…”

A sigh escaped me on its own.

As long as I was trapped in this fortress, I would inevitably continue running into him—and if he bled like that without warning, it would truly be a problem.

Just then, I saw Rumi, who had been sitting by the well in the distance, get up.

As he appeared to be heading into the fortress, I quickly left my room and stepped outside. I approached him as he was just coming in and took a sniff.

It seemed he had washed thoroughly—there was no longer any scent of blood coming from him.

“Are you alright?”

Rumi gave a slight nod.

“His Highness said you often get nosebleeds.”

I needed to learn everything I could—how frequently it happened, and what caused it.

“Yes. Sometimes when I’m tired.”

“When you’re tired?”

“I haven’t been sleeping properly these past few days.”

Now that I thought about it, he had been hiding in trees for several days to avoid zombies, so there was no way he could have slept well.

Seeing a glimmer of hope in his words, I asked, almost in prayer, “Then, if you just sleep well, you’ll be fine?”

Please let the answer be yes. Soon, he gave a small nod.

Seeing Rumi nod, I wanted to grab his hand and thank him.

So it could be solved by just making sure he got proper sleep! If I could just get him to sleep well, then there would be no issue!

“You should sleep right away. You must be tired.”

I pushed Rumi by the back and sent him up to his room. Then I took a towel soaked in water and knocked on his door.

“Rumi, can I come in for a moment?”

“Yes.”

“No, just stay as you are.”

I stopped him as he started to rise from the bed and hung the towel over a chair.

“It’s not good if you get dry.”

“…Thank you.”

“Do you usually sleep well? I mean, are you sensitive when sleeping—do things like light or sound bother you?”

Because there were no curtains, sunlight streamed brightly into the room through the windows. It wasn’t exactly the best environment for deep sleep.

When I pointed to the sun pouring through the window, Rumi nodded silently, as if it didn’t bother him.

Even so—

He said it was fine, but I still thought the room needed curtains. At the very least, I felt like I should give him an eye mask to feel at ease.

“Well then, you must be tired after the journey, so get some good rest.”

I left his room and went to find Lilia. With her help, I found a needle and thread, and was just about to enter my room when it happened.

“Penelope.”

Idorian stopped me. Of all places, right in front of Rumi’s room.

The soundproofing wasn’t great, so I worried Rumi might be disturbed in his sleep.

“You said you’d bring something to clean with.”

“Ah, I ran into Rumi on the way out.”

“…So you’re calling each other by name now?”

Come to think of it, I was a noblewoman, and Rumi was a commoner. If it were the original Penelope Lloyd, she would never have allowed him to use her name. Especially not someone she had only just met the day before.

“Then can I call you Penelope?”

Even if I had simply forgotten, what kind of person treated nobles so casually?

“You can call me Rumi, too, Penelope.”

Whether it was just his personality or a result of the world ending, I didn’t know—but he’d done it so naturally, I hadn’t even realized it was odd.

…And as a result, I once again received a strange look from Idorian.

He seemed to wonder what had gotten into Penelope, who normally would never associate with commoners, to the point of allowing him to call her by name. It wasn’t just curiosity—it was closer to suspicion.

“…Rumi suggested it. I mean, he does seem to be a close friend of yours.”

I quickly offered an excuse, hoping to dispel his doubts.

Apparently, it was a convincing enough explanation—he stared at me for a while, then changed the subject without further comment.

“Why were you doing the dishes?”

This too wasn’t a subject that did me any favors.

“…Because Lilia hurt her hand.”

He was clearly about to bring up Lilia’s injury and the blood again, ready to pick another fight over it.

“We’ll talk about this again when I get back.”

I had been relieved when he didn’t bring it up despite the warning—but now I had ended up bringing it up myself.

This time, however, I couldn’t come up with any excuses. There was no real reason for Penelope to volunteer to do the dishes.

‘I shouldn’t make a scene in front of this room.’

Instead, I simply lowered my head as if full of remorse.

“The blood from that time—it was just because I wasn’t feeling well, so I asked Lilia. I really didn’t mean anything else by it.”

And then, I repeated the words Lilia had used when she defended me in front of the Grand Duke.

“I didn’t hurt Lilia Sweedy on purpose.”

“……”

“From now on, I’ll take care of anything dangerous.”

When I cautiously looked up at him, he stared at me for a while, then finally avoided my gaze and lowered his eyes.

Once his eyes dropped, they didn’t come back up easily.

***

When Penelope had brought him Lilia’s blood—

‘Of course.’

That’s what Idorian had thought. That Penelope Lloyd hadn’t changed. The same woman who hated stepping on dirty ground, yet was always unreasonably cruel to others.

It wasn’t hard to imagine how she’d ended up holding Lilia’s blood.

What had her face looked like back then? Not even a hint of guilt. Like it was the most natural thing in the world.

Sure, it was normal to dislike pain. And perhaps she had simply been scared of bleeding. He never expected her to do such a thing herself anyway.

But if it was Lilia’s, then Lilia should have been the one to deliver it. Penelope had no right to take that from her.

Lilia explained that Penelope hadn’t forced her—but Idorian didn’t believe that. If she had truly wanted Lilia to deliver it, she would’ve let her.

Still, after hearing Lilia’s words, Idorian had decided not to bring it up with Penelope again. After all, Lilia had said it was fine.

And besides, the truth was, he had only returned safely because Penelope had explained how to divert the zombies.

So he had even intended to thank her if he saw her.

But Penelope never showed her face.

…As if she hadn’t worried for him in the slightest.

And yet, the next time he saw her, she came crying and flustered, claiming that Rumi was bleeding. Her panicked reaction made him think something serious had happened—but it hadn’t.

She had begged him to come with her, but didn’t even show up herself. And the most shocking thing of all—she was doing the dishes.

At this point, Idorian felt like he was about to get a headache.

What in the world was Penelope Lloyd doing?

There was nothing about her that resembled the person he had known.

She used to be incredibly easy to read. There was never a moment when she didn’t show exactly what she was thinking or feeling.

But now, he couldn’t understand anything about her.

“Why were you doing the dishes?”

In the end, realizing he wouldn’t get an answer by thinking about it alone, Idorian had asked Penelope directly.

Her pupils quivered slightly before she lowered her head.

“…Because Lilia hurt her hand.”

She already looked completely defeated.

“I wasn’t feeling well, so I asked Lilia. I really didn’t mean anything else by it.”

That’s what Penelope said. Her lowered lashes trembled faintly, her face looking like she might cry at any moment.

For some reason, Idorian couldn’t look her in the eyes.

With her pride stripped away, she spoke so plainly, as if she had nothing left. He was at a loss for words.

The once proud Penelope—

Was reading his mood.

Idorian could no longer deny it.

Penelope Lloyd had changed.

And the one who had pushed her this far… was likely himself.

That hadn’t been his intention.

But it seemed his words and actions had come across as favoritism.

“Penelope, I didn’t mean that it’s okay for you to get hurt. So I—”

“Yes. I know.”

But before he could even start explaining, she cut him off.

Her expression made it clear she didn’t care anymore. She just wanted the conversation to end.

And faced with that, he couldn’t bring himself to stop her.