The Sequel to the Romance Fantasy Was a Zombie Apocalypse – Chapter 100

The autumn breeze blew onto the palace balcony.

“Huuh…”

Princess Yuria let out a tired sigh.

The temporary royal capital was established under the territory of the Terelude family.

The royal family resided in the newly built palace in that city, and Yuria was no exception.

Since moving into the new palace, Yuria’s life had become several times more challenging than it was before the appearance of the ‘zombies.’

With the royal family losing its foundation, financial struggles inevitably followed, and many of the servants had either died in the chaos or left the palace after the incident. Taking advantage of the weakened royal family, many lords attempted to break free from the royal control.

Yuria was swamped with work.

She took on various paperwork and chores that others would normally handle, all while continuing to fulfill her duties as a princess.

After spending another hectic day, it was only late at night that Yuria finally changed into her pajamas and stepped out onto the balcony of her bedroom to catch her breath.

“…”

As she looked up at the night sky, the moon and stars shone brightly, unaware of her exhaustion.

“I thought pushing Esmela away and taking Prince Robertze’s side would be enough…”

Yuria said to herself in self-deprecation.

“…Miyako.”

However, what truly troubled Yuria more than those things was something else.

Someone as precious to her as Robertze, who had left her ten years ago.

Yuria had secretly held hands with someone she shouldn’t have, doing what was forbidden all this time to meet her again.

Yet, sometimes, doubts assailed her—wondering if doing so would ever truly allow her to see her again.

Just as Yuria was about to bow her head, overwhelmed by the weight of the negative emotions pressing down on her—

Flap flap.

Suddenly, a faint flapping sound reached her ears from somewhere.

“…?”

Yuria looked around, trying to identify the source of the sound.

Flap flap flap.

The small sound grew gradually louder.

And finally, Yuria discovered the source.

A tiny white bird flew across the night sky, flapping its small wings eagerly toward her.

It was a low-level spirit that Yuria had contracted during her studies about spiritology at the academy, named Piyo.

With wide eyes in surprise, Yuria watched the little bird as it approached.

Flap.

As Piyo finally reached the balcony where Yuria stood,

Bright light!

A sudden blinding light radiated from the bird’s body.

The light was so bright that Yuria instinctively raised her arm to shield her face.

The light surrounding Piyo slowly faded as time flowed.

And finally, when the light completely dissipated—

“Yuriiaaa!!!”

A naked woman leaped toward Yuria.

The woman tightly embraced Yuria’s body, leaving Yuria frozen in place.

And finally,

“…Miyako? Is that you? How on earth?”

Yuria called out the name of the person she had longed for.

“Yep! It’s me!”

She peeled away the woman who clung to her and looked at her face.

Same black hair as hers. A face resembling that of a cat.

It truly was Haruka and Miyako, the two people Yuria had missed dearly.

“Miyako…!”

Now it was Yuria’s turn to tightly hug Miyako.

“Eek!”

“I missed you so much, Miyako, really, Miyako…!”

Yuria buried her face in Miyako’s shoulder and called her name repeatedly.

“Hehe. Yeah. I missed you too.”

The two of them embraced for a long while on the balcony.

“…I’m sorry, Miyako. I’m so happy… But I’m not dressed, and it’s cold to stay out here for long. Let’s go inside.”

Finally calming down, Yuria took Miyako with her into the bedroom.

“Get under the blanket on the bed. I’ll quickly go get you some clothes.”

“Okay!”

Yuria quietly closed the door and moved into the dark hallway.

“There’s no need to hold back any longer…”

Yuria muttered as she disappeared into the shadows.

“…Let’s hear the details.”

Now, no one was holding utensils at the dining table.

All the eyes in the room were fixed on Robertze, who had just dropped a bombshell.

“…”

Robertze fell silent for a moment as if sorting his thoughts and then said,

“I noticed something was wrong about a month ago.”

‘Just a little after I and Esmela arrived in Pedina City.’

Lanit compared the events he had experienced in chronological order with Robertze’s testimony.

“From one day onward, strange symptoms began showing up among the people in the palace.”

“Strange symptoms?”

At the head of the household’s question, Robertze fell into thought.

“At first, it started with mild forgetfulness and distraction—symptoms that are hard to notice. However, as time passed, the severity increased, and they would soon forget who they were, staring blankly into space all day. This mysterious symptom gradually spread through the palace, and most of the servants fell ill. Neither the doctors nor the court sorcerers could find the cause. Then, in the later stages, the previous symptoms vanished in an instant, and they returned to normal operations as if nothing had happened.”

“Then they just recovered?”

At Esmela’s query, Robertze shook his head quietly.

“That meant the brainwashing was complete.”

“Brainwashing?”

“The ones who appeared to be healthy showed no external signs of issues, but if you engaged in direct conversation and observed them closely, you would soon notice differences from before. Their manner of speech felt oddly unnatural, and they processed their daily tasks at exactly the same time every day. It was as if they were automatons… That’s a symptom that appears when the free will of a person under a curse has been entirely taken over by the caster.”

“So that’s what Yuria did?”

Esmela asked with a look of disbelief.

However, Robertze nodded silently with a grim expression.

“Wait, Esmela. Let’s first hear the events chronologically… So, how did the royal family respond as the symptoms spread?”

Then, the head of the household interjected to organize the conversation.

“Upon receiving reports of the situation, we took immediate action. Doubting it might be some sort of infectious disease related to zombies, we meticulously examined the bodies of the afflicted, yet no traces of an illness were found. Naturally, we shifted our investigation to focus on the possibility of a curse induced by magic…”

Robertze sighed.

“No signs of magical energy were found in or near the palace. Afterward, we sought to locate the culprit. We investigated all suspicious individuals but that too was in vain.”

At that moment, a self-deprecating smile emerged on Robertze’s lips.

“…No one even dared to suspect the lovely and gracious princess. Certainly, not even I.”

(‘Hmph.’ Esmela sneered softly, just loud enough for only Lanit standing behind her to hear.)

“In the end, the day of doom arrived for the royal family. All the servants and attendants rushed to restrain me, the only one not brainwashed. I first headed to the audience room to ensure my parents’ safety. And there, I found that even my parents had fallen under the curse and were being manipulated by Yuria. Then I desperately ran to her bedroom, determined to save her.”

As Robertze recounted his memories, his voice began to tremble.

“…In there, I saw a black-haired woman I had never met before, trapped inside a large cage.”

It seemed he hesitated to say the next word, as if unable to bear it, but he managed to continue.

“And when I turned around, I realized Yuria was standing behind me, smiling brightly at me as she always did. But at that moment, that smile looked like it belonged to a devil. And she said, ‘This is the new royal family I prepared for Prince Robertze. Here, the three of us will live together forever.’”

Ultimately, Robertze covered his face with his hands.

“After that… I can’t remember. I just ran away in a frenzy, shaking off my brainwashed mother’s grasp and desperately fleeing the palace while avoiding those shadowy figures controlled by Yuria.”

“…”

Robertze’s words trailed off, and silence fell over the dining room for a moment.

“…And you came here alone seeking help after that, is that it?”

“Yes. First, I went to the Terelude family to warn Lopez about what happened in the palace. However, if it’s an unknown curse we’re dealing with, soldiers alone won’t suffice. I instructed Lopez to remain vigilant, and I came here to find two capable people to deal with the situation.”

Robertze looked at Arit and Esmela.

“Honestly, I would also like to ask for assistance from the head of the Magic Tower, Magion… But he’s currently MIA.”

With that, Robertze’s story finally came to an end.

No one among those present could form words after hearing the shocking tale shared by the prince.

Except for…

“I knew it would be like this.”

“What do you mean by that, Esmela?”

Only Esmela spoke with an unfazed expression.

And Lanit, who had discovered the ‘twin sorcerers’ story’ in Yuria’s bedroom and shared it with Esmela, was starting to prepare to join in the conversation.