<Episode 9>

The soft rustling of small creatures like squirrels or chipmunks echoed as they moved through the leaves.

The sound of the wind, the crackling of embers.

Amidst these primal sounds of nature, the quiet breathing of a woman blended seamlessly into the ambiance.

Lihad, who had been focusing on the sounds with his eyes closed, slowly opened them.

Redria, who was asleep beside him, was lost in a deep slumber, unaware of his lingering gaze.

‘I understand, I understand! I’ll die with you. So please….’

He recalled the fiery red eyes flickering like flames beneath her silver hair as she had spoken those words.

A sudden pang resonated in his chest, causing Lihad to grimace and rub the spot over his heart.

It was an unsettling sensation, but not entirely unpleasant.

After calming himself, he withdrew his hand from his chest and looked over at Redria.

“We don’t have any information about this situation. For now, we’ll have to wait and see.”

Just because she saved him once doesn’t mean he can let his guard down. There’s no guarantee that she won’t reveal her true intentions later.

As he watched the sleeping Redria for a while, a thought suddenly crossed his mind.

‘If you’re going to keep talking nonsense, I’m going to sleep. Your Highness can do whatever you want—sleep or stay awake.’

He tilted his head, thoughtfully stroking his chin.

“…Maybe she doesn’t like my face.”

The proposal of marriage had been quite sincere.

The overwhelming influence of the temple.

The royal family’s loss of public trust due to a decadent and incompetent emperor.

Perhaps that’s why his supporters were pushing for a union with the Saintess.

He had postponed it multiple times, but upon his return, he wouldn’t be able to avoid the discussions any longer.

It would be ideal if he could arrange a marriage here before facing the inevitable talks back home.

“Mm…”

At that moment, Redria curled up, wrapping her arms around herself.

Lihad removed his jacket and carefully draped it over her.

“Sleep well, my lady.”

Amidst the crackling of the embers, his low voice resonated softly.

* * *

‘Ah… I’m so thirsty.’

I woke up with a parched throat, feeling as though it were on fire.

The sky in the east was tinged with the bluish hues of dawn.

The once blazing campfire had burned out, and when I looked over to where the Crown Prince had been, he was nowhere to be seen.

‘Where did he go?’

Judging by the lack of smoke and the coolness of the ashes, it seemed quite some time had passed since the fire was extinguished.

‘He was supposed to wake me up…’

Maybe he felt a bit guilty and let me sleep.

Resigned, I decided to drink some water and then search for Lihad. I reached into my backpack and pulled out a water bottle.

I headed toward the pond to wash my face as well, lowering myself to the water’s edge.

Whoosh—!

A cold blade suddenly pressed against my neck.

“What are you doing here?”

The voice was cold, sending a shiver down my spine.

Slowly, I raised my hands and straightened my back.

As I turned my head, the blade grazed my nape, causing a slight sting.

After confirming that the sword had been pulled back a bit, I looked at the person holding it to my throat.

“Duke Jaeger Munich…”

He was one of the male leads, also trapped in the zombie zone.

The moment he recognized me, his expression twisted into a scowl, as if my very presence disgusted him.

‘Well, that makes sense.’

After all, that scar over his eyebrow was something Redria had given him.

* * *

Part# 2

In the Empire, when a Saintess passes away, a successor is chosen to ensure the Empire’s protection.

Unusually, two provisional Saintesses were chosen this time.

One was Redria from a Count’s family.

The other was Roeni, a commoner and the female protagonist of the original story.

Roeni’s holy power manifested later than Redria’s, so she was temporarily placed under the care of the Duke Munich’s household.

The two girls spent most of their time together in the temple, receiving their education, and naturally, they, along with Jaeger Munich, became friends.

But one day, Redria began to lose her holy power and started to torment Roeni.

Roeni, still viewing Redria as a friend, endured the one-sided bullying, believing it to be a sign of her friend’s internal struggles.

However, the event that truly shattered their relationship occurred when Redria sent an assassin to kill Roeni.

Jaeger, who happened to visit Roeni by chance, saved her, but not without sustaining a scar over his eyebrow during the struggle.

Though Redria denied it and was released due to insufficient evidence, the assassin’s confession confirmed her guilt.

Shortly after, as if it were fate, Redria lost her holy power completely, was disgraced, stripped of her title as Saintess, and Jaeger turned his back on her entirely.

‘To think she would try to harm a friend. It’s unbelievable.’

‘Please don’t do this. Ria is still our friend.’

‘Redria has never once considered us important.’

Perhaps that’s why Jaeger was more difficult for me to face than the Crown Prince.

It’s always harder to rebuild trust once it’s been broken.

I swallowed dryly, staring at the blade glinting under my chin.

“Duke, why don’t we put the sword down and talk?”

“First, answer me. Why are you here, and where is the Saintess?”

My eyes widened.

‘Could it be that he still…’

Suddenly—!

A cold, sharp spearhead appeared without a sound, pressing under Jaeger’s chin.

Following the line of the spear, I saw Lihad standing there with a crooked grin.

“A man shouldn’t be threatening a woman like that.”

Jaeger scowled at the sight of the Crown Prince.

“So, Your Highness is here as well.”

“What, am I not allowed? Should I apologize for interrupting your cozy little moment?”

Lihad’s tone was annoyingly smug, but his eyes were filled with menace.

As expected, the smirk that had been tugging at one corner of his mouth slowly faded back into a serious expression.

“Put the sword down.”

“Hah.”

Jaeger let out a disbelieving laugh before lowering his sword.

Only then did the Crown Prince retract his spear.

Jaeger’s cold, silver-gray eyes locked onto me with a piercing glare.

“No matter how you convinced His Highness, I won’t be fooled by anything you say.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I saw you acting without a hint of hesitation when the incident occurred.”

My heart sank.

Lihad also looked at me with surprise, clearly taken aback by Jaeger’s words.

So he had been watching me the whole time, warning me not to act rashly. Damn it.

Jaeger, noticing the way I bit my lip, narrowed his eyes.

“Are you involved in this incident?”

“And what answer do you expect from me?”

“Don’t play games. Give me a straight answer. Depending on your response, your fate could change.”

I let out a dry laugh, more out of disbelief than anything else.

“In a situation where we all have our lives on the line, I’m not sure who you think has the right to judge anyone. And really, do you, a duke who hasn’t even grasped the full situation, have the authority to pass judgment on me?”

Jaeger frowned and responded curtly.

“I know the earthquake caused the ground to split and resulted in casualties.”

Ha.

A bitter laugh escaped me.

It wasn’t mockery; it was more that I was baffled by how out of touch Jaeger seemed, almost envious of his ignorance.

“It seems you still don’t fully understand what’s going on.”

Lihad also shook his head in disbelief. Jaeger glanced between us, his gray eyes flickering with a growing sense of unease.

“When did you wake up, Duke?”

“Last night, I regained consciousness and found myself in the forest.”

I knew from the original story that Jaeger would awaken in the northern sacred forest. That’s why I had guided the Crown Prince to stay there under the pretense of needing rest.

Jaeger, cautious but relentless when it came to matters involving the Saintess, would have scoured the entire forest upon waking, searching for her.

He must have come across us during that search.

“Duke Jaeger, I understand this may be hard to believe, but please listen carefully to what I have to say. We…”

After hearing everything, Jaeger’s expression turned so grim that I didn’t dare speak further.

* * *

“Where do you think you’re going?” I asked.

“I’m going to see the truth with my own eyes,” Jaeger replied.

“And after that?”

“I’ll return to the Empire to ensure the Saintess is safe.”

“And you think you can get out of here on your own? We need to cooperate if we want to escape.”

Jaeger suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned back to me with a cold, piercing gaze.

“Cooperate? With you? What makes you think I can trust anything about you?”

There it is again.

Even after showing him the warp scroll, he still had that attitude.

Jaeger narrowed his eyes at me, a mocking look on his face.

“Do you think you’ll even be of any use? At best, you’ll be dead weight.”

This guy, seriously.

I planted my hands on my hips and glared at him, standing defiantly.

Tl/N: I was not sure with the name Jaeger Munich but My friend said thus “예거 뭬헨 공작” (Yeager Muenhen Gongjak) translates to “Duke Yeager Muenhen” in English. “공작” (Gongjak) means “duke,” and “예거 뭬헨” (Yeager Muenhen) is the name of the duke. Yeager is a German name means hunter or chaser.