The Sequel to the Romance Fantasy Was a Zombie Apocalypse – Chapter 67

“That must be important, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then, tell me about it.”

At Esmela’s request, I pondered what topic to introduce first.

There were so many experiences I had gone through, so many unanswered questions, and so many tasks ahead of us…

I briefly considered it, but the conclusion had already been reached.

“First, I’d like to organize everything we’ve experienced so far.”

With that statement, Esmela and I began to recount the zombie incident that had occurred at the wedding of the royal couple, which had set everything into motion.

Suddenly, during the public wedding attended by thousands, zombies charged into the plaza.

The chase after the zombies while holding Esmela and my first encounter with Arit.

Just after we barely managed to reach the mansion while dealing with the zombies, I came face to face with a mutated zombie.

A message from the head of the family arrived at the end of our endless wait, along with plans to escape the royal capital.

However, we had no choice but to begin our escape to the palace earlier than planned due to the mutant zombies that attacked the mansion.

In a life-and-death moment, we were saved by Uncle Zeck.

The chaos surrounding Helinante and the servants led by the Head Maid, and the cavalry of the Kingdom who came to rescue them, including Prince Robertze.

Meeting the King after arriving at the palace.

And the fierce argument between Esmela and Yuria that took place there.

The series of disturbances that occurred while dealing with the infected among the gathered survivors at the palace.

After being finally freed, I met Helinante, and unexpectedly encountered an apology from the maid girl Tina.

“Tina?”

“Oh. You don’t know, huh? Tina is an apprentice maid… well, something happened. It’s all resolved now.”

And finally, the escape operation from the palace began.

Zombies, endlessly charging zombies.

Survivors struggling to push through the wave.

Rescue finally arrived at the end of the struggle. The joining of the rescue forces led by Duke Tereed.

But even that fleeting joy was extinguished by the emergence of new mutant zombies.

Esmela’s abduction.

I chased after the zombies who had kidnapped her along with the Head Maid, only to be subdued by the Black Witch.

And the shocking truth about the Head Maid that was revealed right then.

Upon falling asleep due to the Black Witch’s magic and waking up, we found ourselves alone in this royal capital of Erkeia.

Since then, we had been constantly besieged in our struggle for survival.

“…So much has happened.”

Meeting Piyo and finally arriving back at the palace marked the end of our recollection, which had lasted over two hours.

By the time we began the story, the moon that had hung over the eastern horizon was now just moments away from reaching its zenith.

For some reason, the atmosphere seemed to heat up as we talked, and Esmela, feeling excited, joined in more actively, making our conversation longer.

“Yeah… that’s right.”

Most of those events had been truly painful and difficult at the time, but now reflecting on them with Esmela made them seem somewhat bearable.

Memories do get romanticized this way.

“Well, upon reflection, you did put in quite a bit of effort for your standards. I’ll give you that.”

“Hahaha~ You’ve been quite generous in your praises lately, unlike you, Young Lady.”

“Oh? Then as usual, I should make some harsh remarks…”

“That means I should be happy and pleased! Please continue to offer your praises to this humble butler in the future.”

“Hmph…”

Putting on a haughty act, Esmela’s expression still bore a smile, signaling her playful jest.

…Well, it seems she knows that her harsh remarks are just that. This cheeky Duchess’s daughter.

“So?”

Esmela wiped away her cozy smile, regaining her usual sharp gaze.

“You didn’t come to me just to revisit stories from a few days ago, right? What’s next?”

“…”

Having reviewed the prior events, the next step was… the questions left in the wake of those incidents.

“The next step is… it’s time for us to ponder the questions we had put off.”

“…”

There was a hint of loneliness in Esmela’s expression.

She seemed to have a good inkling of what topic was to follow.

“Yes. About Head Maid Elina.”

“…What do you want to say?”

“Previously when she came to the mansion, I remember you said that you’d heard from the mistress when you were young.”

“Right.”

At the story’s conclusion, Lady Herve told Esmela that if she wanted to know Elina’s identity, she must ask Elina herself.

“Then, after that, has Elina ever shared her origin story directly with you while you were with her?”

“…”

There were only two possible replies to that question: yes or no. Yet, for some reason, Esmela hesitated to respond.

“Is there something you can’t say?”

“No… it’s not that.”

After firmly sealing her lips, Esmela finally opened up.

“I was six, but I still remember. Of course, after being assigned to me, I asked her about it many times.”

“What did she say?”

“Elina told me she would tell me when I became an adult. It’s a story that’s really hard to bear, so she’d prefer to share it when I could handle it.”

At this point, I was truly dying of curiosity about what kind of story it could be that she was hiding so firmly.

“Then… you must know it now, right? Since you must have heard it from Elina long ago.”

“…No.”

“What? Why not?”

“The day I turned twelve and was chosen as Robertze’s fiancée… Elina suddenly came to see me in the middle of the night. With a very solemn expression… she told me to please not ask about her identity anymore.”

“Why all of a sudden?”

“I don’t know. No matter how many times I asked her what was going on, she just kept silent.”

Her expression was complicated once she finished speaking. The mystery of Elina’s ambiguous behavior seemed to have troubled her for a long time.

“Umm…”

I thought Esmela might possess some clue about the Head Maid’s identity, but it felt like I suddenly hit a wall again.

“Then Young Lady, did you not also know that the magic Elina wields is dark magic?”

Esmela shook her head, denying my question.

“No. Aside from that, Elina hid nothing from me. She revealed that her powers were dark magic, designated as taboo by the church and the kingdom, and that she learned it from her mother. However, she never revealed her family name, so she kept her lineage a complete secret.”

“I see. Hmm… If the Head Maid made such a remark on the day you got engaged to the prince, maybe it’s connected to him in some way?”

“Well, I did think of several possibilities. I even speculated that her parents had committed a crime against the royal family, and due to collateral consequences, she, too, could be deemed guilty and shouldn’t be discovered by the royal family.”

“Oh. That theory holds water, doesn’t it? Her parents could have been executed for handling dark magic, and as a daughter trying to escape from the kingdom’s watch, she would hide her identity…”

“Probably not.”

“Why not?”

“She was never particularly hiding from the prince or any royal family members. As my exclusive maid, she followed me to the palace several times, and when the prince visited the mansion, she attended to him. Instead, she was often more cautious toward the clergy or wizards from the Radain Church to prevent them from discovering her practice of dark magic.”

“I see…”

In the end, the only conclusion we reached after going back and forth on this debate was this – the Head Maid was the daughter of the Black Witch, and their family harbored secrets that must not be exposed to the House of Arkeisia.

“The conclusion is quite unsettling.”

“…It is.”

Esmela replied vaguely, sensing her expression had grown noticeably darker.

Because there naturally followed questions that arose from bringing this topic up.

“How did it turn out for Elina?”

Esmela said that with a sorrowful expression.

The last moment we saw of the Head Maid was being dragged away by the Black Witch.

Right after that, we found ourselves trapped in the royal capital, surrounded by barriers. We couldn’t go searching for her or even notify others about her abduction.

In the end, all we could do was worry about her well-being, so I had deliberately avoided bringing up the subject of the Head Maid in front of Esmela.

I knew it would surely make her sad.

“…”

With her shoulders drooping, Esmela fell into deep thought.

In the end, I had made her heart troubled without any substantial gains.

“I’m sure the Head Maid will be okay!”

I forced a bright voice to offer her baseless reassurance.

“…But, she was completely subdued by that witch…”

“That’s nothing she can’t handle! I mean, she’s a Head Maid. Even if she pretends to be taken away, she’ll find a gap and escape in no time. With that usual emotionless face of hers.”

Even as those words left my mouth, I thought about how only empty hopes were present… but what can I do? Uplifting Esmela was the best I could manage right now.

“…Yeah. You’re right. Elina is strong.”

Fortunately, Esmela managed to smile, seeming to regain some spirit.

“Great. Then aside from that, do you have other questions?”

“Ah…”

I involuntarily let out a breath.

The next person to enter the forefront of the conversation was someone possibly more awkward to mention than the Head Maid.

Of course, in the opposite sense.

“Yuria… I mean, about the princess. What connection does she have to this incident?”