The Abandoned Villainess Became a Zombie - Chapter 24

Once inside the fortress, I checked the kitchen first.

Idorian was stirring the pot with a large ladle in front of the hearth, and Uben was coming up from the storage room carrying small containers.

Lilia was nowhere to be seen. Wondering if she might be following Uben up from the storage room, I waited—and then made eye contact with Uben.

Startled upon seeing me, Uben quickly turned away and shut the storage room door behind him.

There was no sign of Lilia in the kitchen.

If she wasn’t in the first-floor hall or the kitchen, she was likely in her room, so I headed upstairs.

“Lilia, may I come in for a moment?”

I lightly knocked on her door and waited for permission.

“…Lady? I’m over here.”

The reply came unexpectedly—not from within the room, but from somewhere else.

I walked slowly toward the voice, and as a door opened, Lilia stepped out.

It was Heresden’s room.

“What brings you here?”

“Oh, I had something I wanted to ask.”

“What is it? Please, feel free to ask.”

As Lilia blinked her large eyes as if urging me to go on, the half-closed door opened again, and Rumi came out.

He stood there with an armful of white cloths.

“Um… it’s nothing else, but I heard you told His Grace the Grand Duke that we should spare the zombies. Is that true?”

Lilia said she had asked Heresden whether it might be possible to neutralize zombies by luring and confining them using human blood. It seemed she hoped those captured zombies could be spared.

“Ah… yes.”

Perhaps because she had already been firmly refused, Lilia nodded awkwardly.

“It might sound like wishful thinking, but I thought something like a cure could be developed.”

Lilia gave a sheepish smile and shrugged lightly.

“If this is a disease—something that can be cured—then there’s a chance they could return to being human.”

If, as Lilia said, the zombies were not killed but only confined, then if a cure were ever developed, casualties could be minimized.

“So I hoped we could postpone killing them. Until we have a definitive answer.”

In truth, Lilia wasn’t wrong. This was a matter concerning many lives.

Above all, it was a matter of my survival.

‘What if my identity as a zombie is exposed before a cure is found?’

Of course, that must never happen—but if it did, they would surely try to kill me.

Everyone believed zombies deserved death. The Emperor had declared a policy of total extermination, ordering that all zombies be slain. The moment my identity was exposed, my chances of survival would be nearly zero.

But what if, right now, a decision were made to spare the zombies?

‘Even if my identity is exposed, they won’t be able to kill me.’

I had no reason not to support Lilia’s idea. On the contrary, it was a tremendous relief.

“But His Highness the Crown Prince and His Grace the Grand Duke said this is too critical a moment to delay judgment. That a decisive action is needed now…”

“Pardon me for interrupting, but should I wait longer?”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

At that moment, Rumi’s weary voice came from the doorway, startling Lilia into stepping aside in a fluster.

“You’re heading to Idorian’s room next?”

“Yes, I just have the Crown Prince and Uben’s rooms left.”

“Then I’ll go ahead.”

Rumi turned and walked toward the adjacent room.

Lilia, who had been sewing nonstop, seemed to have already finished making all the curtains.

“Lady, then may I go now as well?”

As Lilia made to end the conversation, I instinctively moved. She might have already given up on advocating for sparing the zombies—but I hadn’t.

“Wait a moment.”

“Yes?”

“I think we should spare them too.”

Right now, Lilia was the only lifeline I could grasp.

Alone, I couldn’t do anything—but if I supported her view, maybe we could persuade the others together.

They were always more lenient with Lilia, after all.

“You truly think the zombies should be spared? That a cure might be possible?”

Lilia looked surprised, as if she hadn’t expected me to agree with her.

“Yes. I do.”

“…I see.”

Lilia’s pupils trembled slightly.

“But I think everyone else will say no.”

After a moment of silent deliberation, Lilia took my hand and spoke.

“They’ll say it’s too dangerous.”

“Lilia, that’s—”

Just as I was about to speak to Lilia, who now looked dejected—

“Lilia, I don’t think I can hang the rod by myself!”

Lilia and I both turned our heads at Rumi’s urgent voice.

“Help…!”

Clatter.

At the same time, a loud crash came from the next room.

We hurried into the room where Rumi was, and there he was—tangled in cloth.

“Are you alright?”

“…No.”

Awkwardly getting up, he shook his head as he set the fallen chair upright.

Then he shook off the cloth tangled around his body and began rubbing his shoulder.

“Are you badly hurt?”

Perhaps due to the noise, Idorian had come rushing upstairs and entered the room, asking urgently.

“It’s not that.”

Rumi, who had rotated his shoulder once, shook his head.

“I thought I could manage on my own. It seemed like I could reach…”

He glanced over the stark white curtain once, then brushed off the dust with a flick.

“Sorry, but could you help me, Lilia? I just want to rest for a bit.”

“Ah, yes. I’m really sorry.”

Lilia’s face was filled with guilt, as if thinking he got hurt because of her.

“But, about what you two were talking about just now—I don’t think it’s possible for zombies to return to being human.”

As she hurriedly lifted the chair and moved it, Rumi spoke indifferently.

“What?”

Idorian was the first to react to those words.

Rumi gave a subtle signal with his eyes toward Lilia and me, and Idorian turned his gaze in our direction.

“It seems like the transformation into a corpse is some kind of disease, but as things stand now, we can’t know anything for sure.”

Rumi shrugged as he continued, “What Penelope and Lilia said is just wishful thinking. There’s no basis for it.”

As if he now understood the situation, Idorian let out a faint sigh. “Lilia Sweedy, I thought that topic had been settled. Was it not?”

“Well…”

Lilia looked flustered and turned to me.

“It wasn’t Lilia—I brought it up.”

Idorian’s brow furrowed.

“I happened to hear about it from the Grand Duke, and the more I thought about it, the more I agreed with Lilia. So I came to ask her myself, to hear more in detail.”

“…I’ve already told Lilia Sweedy this, but it’s unreasonable to keep zombies alive based on some absurd, baseless possibility.”

He firmly shook his head.

“There’s no suitable place to confine them, and even if there were, there’s no way to control those beasts.”

After a moment of thought, he began explaining why it was impossible.

“There are probably already tens of thousands who have turned into zombies. Do you really think we can restrain that many, one by one?”

His voice was firm, yet detailed.

It seemed he wanted to ensure we understood clearly so that this topic wouldn’t come up again.

‘It won’t be possible to convince him with talk of a cure.’

Now I understood what Idorian was afraid of.

The risk was simply too great to keep zombies alive based on an uncertain, unproven possibility.

If even one small incident occurred while tens of thousands—or more—zombies were being spared, there would be no way to manage the disaster.

Even though I knew that a cure would be developed in the future, I had no way of stopping so many deaths.

“If we keep them alive and something goes wrong, the Empire will fall that very day. That’s why it’s not an option.”

As I was tormented by the thought of having to watch all those zombies die helplessly, Idorian spoke again.

“Just as His Majesty has declared, this is a state of emergency for the Empire’s security and survival. We must prioritize those suffering from this crisis.”

…The Empire’s security.

The Empire’s security must come first—those currently suffering must come first.

“In that case, shouldn’t we keep them alive all the more?”

When I finally opened my mouth after remaining silent for so long, Idorian frowned at me.

“What?”

“Keep the zombies alive.”

I fully understood what Idorian feared.

“You said a large number of Imperial citizens must have already turned into zombies.”

But exterminating them wasn’t the way to save the Empire.

Even if, for now, it seemed like the best option.

“But if we kill them all, will we really be able to return to our normal lives?”

“What are you saying?”

Idorian stepped closer, as if he couldn’t understand.

“The Empire’s emergency—its survival—will begin again at that point.”

Idorian’s gaze trembled slightly.

“There will be war.”