Chapter 90
The lizard breathed fire and then flapped its wings, gaining speed. We were flying away from the Imperial Palace. I could feel the magic of the palace mages reaching for us.
“Lizard! Fly faster! We’re about to get hit!”
“I’m not a lizard!”
The lizard flew to a nearby hill and set me down. I hugged Zomrat tightly and bumped against the lizard.
“Thank you! You saved me! Why did you help me?”
“You asked for help.”
It said curtly, spreading its wings. Moonlight filtered through the thin membranes.
“I asked for help? You heard my thoughts? Well, dragons are mystical creatures…”
“No, you sent a letter!”
The lizard’s body suddenly shimmered and began to shrink. The outline of light transformed into a human shape, then into a familiar form.
“Castor!”
“I knew you would cause trouble, but I didn’t expect you to provoke the Crown Prince.”
“You came to help! How have you been? Are the flowers in the garden doing well? Did you play treasure hunt with the goblins?”
“This isn’t the time for idle chatter.”
He pointed towards the Imperial Palace.
“The raven is searching the palace. He smelled the elixir.”
“What?!”
I shook Zomrat gently.
“Zomrat! You didn’t smell it! What happened? You have to try harder.”
“Squeak?”
Castor interrupted our serious conversation.
“The raven can detect treasure through magic. The smell is a figure of speech!”
“Zomrat, it was a figure of speech. Your nose is fine.”
“Forget about the rat and pay attention to me!”
“Oh my, save those romantic lines for Miss Baba!”
He grabbed my wrist and ran down the hill. We were heading back towards the Imperial Palace, after having just escaped from it.
“We’re going back there? I want to go home.”
“We have no choice! If we leave the Crown Prince unchecked, everyone will be in danger! He’s creating zombies!”
“That’s true!”
I asked as I ran,
“Is the Imperial Palace the source of the zombies? If I were the Crown Prince, I wouldn’t create a crime scene near my home.”
“It’s not the palace, but it’s nearby. The raven said he sensed an ominous presence in the vicinity. He’s probably storing the elixir and the zombies there.”
“Oh my! I know! He’s planning to create super-strong zombies. Maybe even sentient ones.”
“Strong zombies… Those who were strong in life would be strong even after death, right? I wonder where the zombies will appear…”
Just then…
Boom!
A giant pillar of fire erupted near the Imperial Palace. The color of the flames was strange, a mix of violet and white.
Two different types of flames were colliding and exploding. The sound was deafening. Screams followed, and windows in the surrounding houses lit up one by one.
I… I think I know where the young master is.
“Master!”
Ah, he wasn’t the only one there.
I climbed onto Castor’s back.
“Castor! Let’s go! Our destination is clear!”
“Who said I would carry you?”
He spread his wings as he spoke.
“If your master harms our Master even slightly, I won’t forgive him.”
“Everyone, this way!”
Edna’s paladins were busy evacuating people. Explosions and screams echoed from all directions. Why were there so many people?!
“How are we going to find the young master in this chaos?”
Boom! Another pillar of fire erupted nearby. Ah, that’s where they were.
Castor and I ran towards the source of the explosion and saw a large group of people fighting the paladins. Why were they all dressed so extravagantly in the middle of the night?
“For the glory of the Empire…”
“Honor… must protect…”
Those weren’t ordinary clothes. They were burial shrouds worn by nobles. So, dead nobles had been revived. They were all zombies.
“The Archduke! My goodness! The deceased Archduke…”
“Groooan.”
They were once nobles, but now they were rampaging mindlessly, attacking the paladins with superhuman strength, but easily falling.
It wouldn’t be difficult to defeat them individually, but there were too many. I hadn’t realized there were so many nobles.
“Estella!”
I heard the young master’s voice and ran towards the source of his magic, finding him instantly.
“Young Master!”
He was casting a spell, then extended one arm towards me. I rushed into his embrace.
“I’ve been waiting for you! I thought it would take a few more days.”
“I thought so too, but…”
A zombie lunged at us. He swung his staff, knocking one down, and then dropped a fireball on the head of the one behind it.
“I thought I should come sooner.”
“Did you figure out Crown Prince Umbram’s plan? Is that why you came to stop him? Are you using your position as a distant relative to reclaim your rights as a…”
“Calm down, Estella. I just…”
He continued bashing zombies without finishing his sentence.
“Just what? What?!”
“…”
“Answer me!”
I punched a zombie alongside him, demanding an answer. He knocked down a few more zombies, then shouted reluctantly,
“I missed you!”
“Who?”
“You! You! You!”
He shouted, then pressed his lips together. Reading his expressions was my specialty.
I could see the affection in his face. I had suspected it before, but now I was certain.
“Young Master, you like me, don’t you?”
“What?”
“You love me, don’t you?”
I kicked a zombie approaching him and then meticulously wiped the blood splatters from his clothes. My heart soared as I looked up at him.
“You really, really like me, right? Answer me. I’m getting anxious.”
He kept his gaze fixed on me as he swung his staff, creating a ring of fire around us.
“Yes. I love you. Enough to not regret all this foolishness. Even after those agonizing five years.”
“Me too! I love you too, Young Master!”
“I know.”
He wiped the zombie goop from his face with his sleeve and then glared at me.
“You have to keep loving me. You have to pay for causing me so much trouble.”
“Of course!”
He opened his subspace and pulled out my vacuum cleaner.
“Help me.”
“Of course! Leave it to me.”
Whirr!
I turned on the vacuum cleaner and took a stance.
“I’m the only one who can cause trouble for our young master!”
I swung the vacuum cleaner. It had been a while since I fought zombies, but perhaps it was because of his confession, I felt more energetic than usual.
The paladins, having evacuated the nearby residents, joined the fight. I targeted the zombies that were attacking from behind or hiding, clearing the way for the others.
I swung the vacuum cleaner wand, knocking them off balance, then stabbed and pushed them to the ground. Then, with a whirr, I reversed the airflow and blasted the area where their core was located.
Boom! They exploded without fail.
And I cleaned up the mess with the vacuum cleaner!
I continued eliminating zombies with this routine, pushing aside any debris on the ground. What if the knights tripped and fell?
In the distance, Castor, in his dragon form, was fighting zombies. He seemed to be enjoying the fight, perhaps because of his size.
I saw someone sitting on his back, between his flapping wings. The person waved at me.
“Miss Baba!”
Castor and Miss Baba were flying towards the Imperial Palace. Knight Commander Edna and her subordinates followed close behind.
“Looks like they’re planning to betray Umbram.”
The young master said, sounding amused.
“When did you get here?”
Instead of answering, he lifted my hand and kissed it, his gaze fixed on something in the distance.
“See? Estella and I are… like this, so there’s no room for you.”
Crown Prince Umbram was standing at the edge of the battlefield.
“Really? That’s fine. I’m not the type to interfere in a concubine’s affairs.”
“I think you’re the one who’ll be the ‘affair.’”
The young master channeled magic into his staff. It grew longer than usual, and the snake ornament transformed into a more menacing form.
“Lupin. I gave you many chances. Chances to join me.”
“Who asked for those chances? Ask your friends. Those zombies who can’t tell the difference between blood and drool!”
He swung his staff.
Magical energy, like tree roots, erupted from the ground, impaling the zombies. The Crown Prince erected a barrier to protect himself. The young master scoffed.
“You’re not very good at offensive magic, are you? Give up. My maid is cleaning up the zombies, your precious knights are being handled by Edna, and even a dragon is rampaging over there.”
“Y-Young Master…”
Our young master, smiling confidently, looked a bit villainous.
“You seem… villainous…”
“Villainous or not, what does it matter? I just need you by my side.”
“Such romantic words!”
A zombie lunged at me from behind, and I smashed it with the vacuum cleaner.
“In such a messy place…”
“When we get home, I’ll… I’ll confess properly.”
“To Estella?”
He glanced at the Crown Prince, then gently kissed my forehead.
“To you. Whether you’re Estella or Anna, it doesn’t matter. As long as it’s you.”
“You’ll say that again when we get home?”
“Yes.”
The Crown Prince watched us silently, then drew the sword from his hip. It wasn’t thick, but it looked sharp, gleaming coldly.
“What a romantic scene. It’s a shame I have to interrupt. Lupin, as Crown Prince, I hereby sentence you to death and confiscate your doll. Let’s just say… you were the cause of all this.”