The Sequel to the Romance Fantasy Was a Zombie Apocalypse – Chapter 52

Esmela’s scream echoed through the empty mansion.

“…”

But it seemed she wasn’t truly angry; in fact, she looked even more flustered than I was.

“…From our perspective on the surface, the barrier appears to be a dome covering the Royal Capital, but in reality, it’s a complete sphere that fully blocks even below the Royal Capital. The barrier that surrounded the mansion, too, was actually half-buried underground in a spherical shape.”

She stifled her voice and tried to maintain calm as she explained why my suggestion was impossible.

“Is that so?”

“Yeah. It’s basic knowledge. If the barrier only covers the surface, then the ground underneath would be completely exposed and defenseless, right? This is one of the core principles taught in magical studies. Always design barriers to completely seal off the target.”

“Hmm… Still, we should at least examine the barrier as a whole.”

“Do as you please, just by yourself. I have no intention of wasting time on pointless things.”

Esmela shot me a cold glare and slumped onto the bed where I had been lying.

I followed her lead and sat on the chair beside the bed.

Naturally, we ended up facing each other.

“Young Lady, I understand your feelings, but don’t you think we can’t give up here?”

“If we don’t give up, what can we do? Struggle like fools and become their meal? Or stay here for years, rummaging through abandoned houses for scraps and slowly dying of thirst?”

“That’s one way to look at it.”

“Such a pathetic thought, typical of a commoner. If that’s how it is, I’d rather die cleanly right now.”

“…”

This young lady certainly has no filter when it comes to her words.

She wouldn’t actually go through with it. No, after just two days of hunger, she’d be begging me for help.

I folded my arms and tilted my head to the left as I narrowed my eyes at the Ducal Family young lady sitting before me.

…Should I tease her a little?

“Is that so.”

“Hmph.”

“If that’s how the Young Lady truly feels, understood. Then I also need to prepare myself.”

“Why do you?”

“Because I intend to follow the Young Lady in taking my own life.”

“What!?”

Esmela sprang up.

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

“What do you mean? Young Lady, if your master takes their own life, isn’t it the personal butler’s ultimate duty to follow their lead?”

This is an ancient custom, much like the practice of burial sacrifices.

“Stop talking nonsense! You can just go on living, can’t you? What do you think you are…”

“Young Lady, just as you said earlier, in this city full of corpses, how could I live alone without you?”

“…”

“Young Lady, do you wish for me to live?”

“…What are you joking about? I don’t need a butler like you.”

“…I see. That’s sad. Now that I’m of no use, I have no choice but to prepare to hang myself… I wonder if there’s any rope around here…”

“Hey!!!”

As I pretended to get up from the chair, Esmela yelled at me.

Seeing that, I sat back down with a smirk and looked straight at Esmela, asking, “Young Lady, I will do as you command. Do you wish for me to live? Or do you wish for me to die?”

I quickly added, before she could interrupt, “Also, as I said, there’s no option where the Young Lady dies and I live.”

“…You’ve gotten rather cheeky, Lanit. If my father saw you, he would’ve roasted you to a crisp.”

“Sure. But since that esteemed lord isn’t here, I think I’ll be a bit rude and push my luck.”

I inched my chair closer to her, sitting right next to Esmela.

“Young Lady, I await your answer.”

“…One thing, promise me.”

“What is it?”

“That the opposite won’t happen.”

“The opposite?”

“Don’t you dare die and leave me behind.”

Once again, her mask slipped just slightly.

The faint blue moonlight filtering through the window lit up her red eyes.

…Alright. Maybe I should stop teasing. She seems to have made up her mind.

I stood up, shifted the chair aside a bit, and knelt on one knee.

“As my Young Lady commands.”

I gently took Esmela’s right hand and kissed it.

The soft skin meeting my lips slowly radiated warmth into my face, my heart, and my entire body, and I didn’t stop kissing.

“…Hmph.”

Though she scoffed as if affronted, she didn’t withdraw the hand I was kissing.

“…”

“…”

After the passionate tension that had oddly heated up between us faded away without warning, an awkward silence filled the space.

We sat facing each other again, but I found it hard to look at her, so I tilted my gaze slightly to the wall behind her.

“Ahem. Speaking of which, I wonder what happened to my father.”

Eventually, I broke the silence by speaking first.

“Well, I doubt he stayed in the Royal Capital, right?”

“Haha, given my father’s personality, he probably forced himself to stay behind in the Royal Capital to look for you, Young Lady…”

“However, they wouldn’t let him stay around like that.”

“That seems likely, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah. And if there’s any servant out there who permits my father to engage in such foolish behavior, I will personally go and punish them. Of course, since they are Herta’s people, they would have wisely persuaded him to leave the Royal Capital.”

Esmela returned to her usual tone as the conversation progressed.

“…I barely got to see Papa…”

Oh no. That’s not a very good topic.

Just when I thought she was cheering up, Esmela’s face fell again.

“Come on! Young Lady, you can’t think like that. We have to do everything we can to survive and escape the Royal Capital. That way, we can see my father again, right?”

“…Yeah.”

I really need to change the subject quickly. What’s something else… Oh, right.

“Young Lady, what on earth was that black witch? And what relationship does she have with the Head Maid…?”

I blurted this out almost randomly…

But thinking back, this was actually the most crucial thing I should have asked earlier.

“The black witch claimed to be the Head Maid’s mother. The Head Maid didn’t deny it either. It just seemed like she really hates her for whatever the black witch did to her…”

I recalled the events just before I lost consciousness.

“That was when the term dark magic came up too. The black witch said she taught the Head Maid dark magic…”

Thinking about it, the Head Maid was indeed a suspicious figure.

The mysterious woman whose identity was hidden behind all but her appearance, never before mentioned in the prior works.

And now, suddenly the black witch is claiming to be Elina’s mother…

“Young Lady, can you tell me more about the Head Maid? I’ve always been curious about her true identity, but none of the servants seemed to know who she was.”

While I finished my question, Esmela listened to the long tale with a serious expression.

“…Yeah. I was surprised too. I never imagined Elina was the child of the black witch…”

“So, does that mean you also don’t know much about the Head Maid?”

“That’s right. I know a little more than you do, but…”

Esmela stood slowly, beginning to pace around the room.

“I don’t know where Elina comes from, her relationships… not even her exact age. I only know how she came to be part of the House of Herta because my mother told me.”

“Lady Herve?”

An unexpected name slipped from Esmela’s lips.

“Yeah. Just before my mother passed away, which would have been when I was about six, she called me to her bedroom and sat me beside her, suddenly bringing up Elina. At that time, she was not the Head Maid but working as my mother’s personal maid.”

“That means the Head Maid has been with the House of Herta far longer than I thought…”

“Correct. In fact, far longer than you can imagine.”

I didn’t immediately grasp the meaning of Esmela’s words and frowned in confusion.

“Heh. Right. You look good making that dumb expression.”

“…Please answer seriously.”

“*Sigh* Can’t you bring some wit into your responses? This is why commoners… Well, fine. There’s nothing I can’t share.”

Her aimless steps led her back to the one window.

“As I said before, the first time my mother met Elina was 18 years ago.”

Esmela’s red gaze, directed outside, slowly became hazy as she reminisced.

Knock, knock.

“Mother, may I come in?”

A small child knocked on the door, which was several times bigger than her.

A faint reddish glow hair, red eyes. Even though she wore child clothes, the dress was flamboyant and red, signifying her Ducal status.

“Come in, Esmela.”

The voice of a woman floated softly.

It wasn’t just that the voice was muffled by the door; it was a response lacking any vitality.

Upon hearing the reply, Esmela boldly flung open the door to Lady Herve’s bedroom.

No, that was her intention.

There was no way a small six-year-old could easily open that massive, heavy door.

Eventually, after numerous attempts, struggling to push the door with all her might, Esmela finally made it inside the room.

“You’ve come, Esmela.”

After closing the door with just as much effort, breathing heavily, her face flushed, a woman lying in bed spoke to her.