TFVZ 08

Episode 8

“No.”

I clenched my fists tightly, trying to suppress my instincts. I had to get away from this scent as quickly as possible. But with the Grand Duke standing squarely in front of the door, completely blocking it, there was nowhere for me to escape.

‘If you wanted to help the Crown Prince, you should have given him your blood.’

There was a perfectly valid reason why I couldn’t do that, but since I couldn’t bring myself to say it, there was no way to clear up the misunderstanding.

“I’m sorry, Lady.”

In the end, the only way to put an end to this situation was to apologize.

“Hah? Is there even any sincerity in that apology?”

“I’m sorry for hurting you.”

I pressed myself as close to the wall as possible and apologized as he wanted me to.

Praying that this situation would end soon.

‘No. I have to endure it.’

Suppressing my instincts wasn’t easy.

I was afraid. I was afraid that if I lost consciousness even for a moment, I would bite Lilia just like that. Of course, my neck would probably be severed before that happened.

Even so, my heart was pounding violently as if it might burst at any moment, and my body kept trying to move on its own, beyond my control.

“…I’m sorry.”

Even if it meant dying, I wanted to bite her. If I could bite her just once, I felt like dying afterward would be fine.

“Stop it. You couldn’t help it. You wandered through the forest alone and only managed to return after three days!”

It was the moment I collapsed onto the floor.

“You couldn’t even eat properly after you returned because your stomach was upset. The Duchess needs to be recovering right now. So how can you say that someone who is sick should have done this? If anyone had to do it, it should have been me.”

Lilia Swithy raised her voice.

“I told you I was fine, so why are you cornering the Duchess like this?!”

I couldn’t even bring myself to lift my head, but soon there was a commotion, followed by the sound of the door closing.

…Apparently, Lilia had pushed the Grand Duke aside and closed the door.

Penelope Lloyd.

She was a truly infuriating person. Lilia had never hated anyone in her entire life, but whenever she saw Penelope, even Lilia could perfectly understand what the emotion called hatred was.

‘Lady Swithy, where on earth did you get a dress like that? Goodness, it’s so tacky. How could you even attend looking like that? Putting the embarrassment aside, didn’t you even feel sorry for the host?’

The insulting remarks she spat out whenever she got the chance.

‘Oops, my hand slipped. Still, it’s a good thing I spilled it on such an unpresentable lady’s dress.’

And the blatant bullying.

Her atrocities were no different even in the desperate situation where people were turning into monsters.

Complaining that she didn’t want to walk, she took a horse that should have gone to a pregnant woman. If she hated struggling so much, she should have gone to the territory that had opened its gates instead of stubbornly refusing to go there for no reason.

Even on the way to the fortress, she insisted on riding a horse up the mountain. Because she delayed everyone, they ended up encountering zombies.

Most of those who had climbed the mountain ahead of them had already been bitten by zombies and transformed into grotesque creatures.

Penelope Lloyd seemed to realize how serious the situation was only after actually encountering a zombie, and then she threw a fit, insisting that they should return to that territory.

She had spewed venomous words at other people’s deaths, yet now she was making a huge fuss to preserve her own life. Seeing her like that filled Lilia with a hatred she had never felt before.

In the end, it was also because of Penelope Lloyd that the group’s hiding place was discovered.

Stupid woman. A stupid woman who could do nothing but whine while flaunting her background.

As she ran up the mountain, Lilia sincerely cursed Penelope. How many people had been put in danger because of that one woman?

The emotion Lilia felt toward Penelope was undoubtedly hatred. Without a doubt.

It definitely was.

And yet…

It was when her breath was burning in her throat and her body was beginning to slow down.

Penelope Lloyd grabbed her wrist tightly and pulled.

As if telling her not to fall behind, as if trying to help her, she pulled Lilia along with all her strength.

Even while gasping for breath without pause, Lilia stared for a long time at Penelope’s hand gripping her wrist, as if she couldn’t believe it.

And when she looked at Penelope up close, she was already beyond the limits of her stamina. Her mouth was hanging open messily, and she was panting so hard that she was even drooling.

Even so, Penelope didn’t let go of the hand she had grabbed.

Her face was scrunched up as though she were exhausted and suffering, yet she never released Lilia’s wrist, which she held tightly.

And what about when they came across the huge rock blocking their path?

She willingly gave up her turn.

She should have been struggling to climb up first, but instead, as if it were the most natural thing in the world, she pushed Lilia up first. There wasn’t even a moment of consideration or hesitation in Penelope’s actions.

That Penelope Lloyd pushed her body underneath Lilia’s feet and braced herself, as if telling Lilia to step on her and climb up.

“Your Highness, what about the Duchess?”

“…It’s already too late.”

The Crown Prince spoke as if telling them to give up their futile hope. Her death had already been decided, but Lilia kept looking back.

The wrist that Penelope Lloyd had held for so long was still damp with the sweat she had shed.

…A stupid woman who could do nothing but whine while flaunting her background.

After arriving at the fortress and finally being able to stop the agonizing run, Lilia collapsed and vomited.

As her panting gradually began to settle, a thought occurred to her.

If Penelope Lloyd hadn’t pushed her up first…

The one who should have died wasn’t Penelope.

It should have been Lilia.

Lilia thought she knew that simple woman well. Yet no matter how long she thought about it, she couldn’t understand why Penelope had grabbed her hand or why she had pushed her up first.

But in truth, defining Penelope was no longer important to Lilia. Finding out why she had helped her wasn’t particularly important either.

Whatever the reason, she had saved Lilia’s life.

The moment Penelope appeared again before Lilia, who had spent her days shedding meaningless tears, Lilia sincerely made a vow.

Just as Penelope had done that for her, she would protect Penelope Lloyd no matter what.

Before she knew it, the sun had set outside the window, and darkness had fallen.

The reason I woke up after falling asleep as if I had fainted was because Lilia was knocking on the door.

“Duchess, would you like to have dinner?”

Today as well, Lilia knocked several times on the firmly closed door.

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Every mealtime, she asked me if I wanted to eat with her, and whenever I refused, she brought me soup she had made herself.

“No. I’m full after eating the soup.”

“Oh, you ate it. Did you like it?”

“Yes. Thank you.”

I leaned against the desk blocking the door and answered quietly.

…A zombie.

Even though I had become a zombie, I could still think, and although it wasn’t easy, I could move my body however I wanted if I made the effort. I reacted to the smell of blood, but even that could be endured.

I thought I could endure it.

But I was wrong.

My instincts weren’t something I could control.

If Lilia hadn’t closed the door for me that morning, I might have bitten her right then and there. I almost lunged at Lilia, making the strange sounds the zombies outside made.

I couldn’t control the impulse.

What made things worse was that once my nose became sensitive, it reacted even to the faintest scent of blood.

When I opened the door to retrieve the soup Lilia had left outside, I sensed an extremely faint smell of blood coming from the hallway, and my body reacted.

…Had my instincts become stronger as a zombie?

I was afraid to open the door. I didn’t want to smell blood anymore.

Losing control of my body was so horrible that I never wanted to experience it again. Above all, it had left me completely exhausted.

I didn’t know whether it was because of the mental exhaustion from suppressing my instincts or because smelling blood had awakened me, but I fell asleep while pushing the desk in front of the door.

Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep standing up, just like the zombies in that forest had.

The fact that I woke up quickly even at the slightest sound was at least fortunate.

“…Duchess, are you really okay?”

I thought she had left earlier, but Lilia, who was still standing guard outside the door, asked cautiously.

“Yes. You don’t need to worry about it.”

Silence continued for a long while.

But since I couldn’t hear any footsteps leaving, it seemed Lilia was still standing outside the door.

“…But, Duchess. Why did you tell His Highness that it was my blood?”

After thinking about it for a long time, that was the question Lilia finally asked.