The Sequel to the Romance Fantasy Was a Zombie Apocalypse – Chapter 36

“…That’s because Father cares for Esmela.”

“What?”

The Chamberlain, taken aback, responded.

“W-Wait, really?”

His surprise was understandable. Four years ago, the relationship between the royal family and House of Herta had rapidly deteriorated after Prince Robertze publicly canceled his engagement to Esmela Herta the day before the Royal Academy’s graduation ceremony.

This unprecedented event of a prince unilaterally breaking off an engagement saw both King Pirote and Duke Tereed refrain from making any official statements regarding the matter while maintaining a facade of a monarch and vassal relationship.

Of course, that was only on the surface. Since the engagement was broken, Duke Tereed had made excuses to avoid attending any public events hosted by the royal family, and despite his blatantly disrespectful behavior, the king held him accountable for nothing.

What had led to the breaking of the engagement between Robertze and Esmela? Who was Yuria, the commoner who had become the prince’s new fiancée after pushing Esmela aside? And why were all three of them silent about this incident that had severely damaged the honor of House Herta?

In a situation where even the parties involved and their acquaintances were silent, the countless speculations surrounding them transformed into accepted truths within high society.

One thing was for sure: since that incident, the relationship between the royal family and House Herta had worsened significantly.

“It’s been three years since I became a Chamberlain, and I’ve always been at the side of the royal family, but I’ve never noticed any signs of that.”

The Chamberlain, wanting to ask the involved party about the details of the broken engagement, suppressed his curiosity and continued with the original topic.

“My engagement to Esmela happened when we were both eight. Since then, my father has watched her grow closely until she entered the academy. So, it makes sense for him to feel a sense of familiarity and care for her.”

‘…’

Hearing the prince’s words made the Chamberlain even more curious to the point of madness. Just how had the prince discarded his childhood friend and the daughter of the duke for a commoner?

“So, today when Father deliberately called that boy, Lanit, and praised him, you can understand it as an action for Esmela.”

Whether the prince was aware of the Chamberlain’s thoughts or not, he continued speaking.

“By praising her butler in front of the nobles, he was subtly sending her a message that he still has favor for her, trying to save face for her in the social scene where her position has significantly worsened.”

“However, everything went completely off track when the Princess suddenly intervened, causing the situation to unfold in an unintended manner.”

“…That does seem to be the case.”

Robertze pressed his forehead as Yuria came up in conversation, indicating another headache was surfacing.

Thump, thump.

Just then, someone knocked roughly on the door to the reception room.

“Come in.”

As the Chamberlain called out, the figure burst through the door and strode into the reception room.

“Ah, well now. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Prince!”

It was Zeck, a burly middle-aged hunter.

“I’m not worthy that a person of such high standing called me, a mere hunter, here! Hahaha!”

With a hearty laugh, he walked over and plopped down onto the sofa across from the prince, causing it to sag under his weight.

“…”

The Chamberlain’s expression soured instantly as he witnessed the rude behavior.

“Thank you for coming, Zeck.”

“Don’t mention it! If you’re providing me food and shelter in a safe place, I should be bowing to the prince instead! Hahaha!”

Only after a hearty laugh did he finally ask,


“So, what is it that you summoned me for, Your Highness?”

“I want to inquire about a certain individual.”

“Huh? I think the royal intelligence department would know more about that.”

“No, I believe you know much more about him than anyone in the royal family. I’m talking about that boy, Lanit, who came with you.”

“…Ah.”

A strange smile spread across Zeck’s face.

“So you’re curious about the new love interest of your ex-fiancée?”

“That’s blasphemous!”

“Enough.”

The prince raised his hand to stop the Chamberlain, who was about to explode.

“It’s fine.”

The Chamberlain simply remained silent and glared at Zeck.

“I won’t deny it. It was probably two years ago? I heard that Esmela suddenly took in a 15-year-old common boy who worked as a hunter as her butler, and since then, I’ve been curious about who he was. However, I’ve had no further information on him except that he hails from a remote island village in the East and had worked as a hunter before joining House Herta.”

As the prince spoke, he sunk further into the sofa.

“That said, it wouldn’t be ideal to involve officials in such a trivial matter like a background check, right? So I wanted to take this opportunity to call you, who accompanied him, and hear what you know about Lanit.”

His silver eyes turned towards the middle-aged man in front of him.

“Well, can you tell me?”

“…Hmm…”

Zeck briefly pouted his lower lip in thought before finally speaking.

“Then, just bring me a bottle of alcohol.”

“Alcohol?”

“I haven’t had a drop to drink since I came here from the Hunter Guild.”

He licked his lips as he spoke.


“I’m not picky; any alcohol will do. And according to hunter etiquette, if you want to hear something from someone, you should at least buy them a drink first.”

“Is that so… Chamberlain, please go fetch a suitable bottle.”

“Uh? Wait, are you asking me to fetch a common man’s drink…”

“Duke Zik. You were the one insisting on accompanying me when I mentioned I could talk to him alone. If you’re just going to interfere, you’d better leave.”

“…I didn’t mean to do that. I’m sorry, Your Highness. I’ll call the attendant to bring the alcohol right away.”

As the tension-filled conversation unfolded between the two, Zeck calmly enjoyed the drama unfolding.

“Well, if we’re doing this, might as well get a big bottle.”

“…”

Oh wow, are they really bringing it? Thank you, Your Highness. Looking at the bottle, is it wine? So I’ll be drinking alcohol offered by the prince himself. Then…

*Glug, glug.*

Ah, now I feel alive! That’s right, a hunter needs to drink to stay alive. Oh, I can already feel the buzz.

Wait? Oh yeah, about Lanit…

Well, it should be fine. It’s not like there’s anything to hide…

Let’s see… I first met that kid three years ago, or maybe even longer.

That day, I had just finished my quest and was chatting with my colleagues on the first floor of the Hunter Guild headquarters about where we should grab a drink.

But then I saw a little kid boldly walk through the front door into the headquarters.

He was skinny, wearing a tattered cloak, and had a sword that was bigger than him strapped to his back — quite a sight!

The kid looked around, like a country bumpkin on his first visit, finally spotting the reception desk and dashing over, with my colleagues bursting into laughter at the sight.

“Can that little brat really be a hunter? Can he even wield that sword?” they joked…

But I had a different feeling. I knew right away. Ah, that kid is something special.

I couldn’t put my finger on it like some royal instructor, but my instincts were spot on. The kid was not like the wannabe hunters swinging their swords around.

And my instinct was right. Less than a year after joining the headquarters, he became a promising newcomer, nailing every quest he took.

He tackled everything from monster extermination, dungeon exploration, and rare material gathering to escort missions without a single failure.

Soon, Lanit was promoted to B rank at just 15 years old. A rising star in the headquarters.

“Huh? And how did I come to know him?”

Heh. Well, aside from his skills, he was still a country bumpkin just arrived in the city and was as clueless as a fish out of water.

He didn’t know a thing about paperwork, so I helped him out a few times, and he started following me around like a chick behind its mother! Hahaha!

So, we ended up forming a party, going on quests together, and we became friendly enough to chat now and then.

Wait a second, my throat is parched.

*Glug, glug.*

Ah, nice! This is hitting the spot!

Anyway, one day, I asked him,


“What exactly drives you to work so hard?”