HYR 9

Chapter 9 

The zombie wiggled her fingers while her wrist was still being held, then kept quietly studying Cersian’s serious face.

“Si… sii.”

Then she even smiled.

‘She’s too human-like.’

Cersian stared at the zombie’s face from so close their noses almost touched, then suddenly turned his head away.

“This is driving me crazy. Get a grip.”

Thinking a zombie looked cute—had he finally gone insane?

“I need to do experiments.”

His original research involved injecting zombies with different serums and observing their reactions.

The zombies injected with the serums either suffered terribly or died.

“And you expect me to experiment on this?”

Looking into the zombie’s innocent, clueless eyes made Cersian’s heart feel unsettled.

The zombie in front of him looked pure, like a child. So much so that he couldn’t even bring himself to start an experiment.

Just as Cersian hesitated in discomfort, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his wrist.

“Ah—!”

Startled, he jerked his head up. The zombie had already freed herself from his grip and was casually shaking her wrist.

‘What is that strength?’

Cersian stared blankly at his tingling wrist. The pain felt like he had hit a rock. It wasn’t an illusion—his wrist was already red, like it would bruise soon.

‘Child-level intelligence, but monstrous strength too… This is a total mutation.’

Cersian frowned. The zombie seemed to have only lightly hit his wrist, yet the pain was intense.

He wrapped his wrist with his other hand.

‘Damn, that hurts.’

As he kept rubbing it, the zombie silently stared at his actions for a while.

Then she suddenly did something strange.

“What are you—”

She abruptly grabbed his wrist.

Caught off guard, Cersian let his hand be taken, unable to hide his surprise. At the same time, he felt a bit worried.

‘Is she going to bite me? Or hit me?’

If she hit him seriously, his wrist might break. But the zombie, unaware of his thoughts, held his wrist with a completely innocent expression.

Squeeze, squeeze—

“…Huh?”

Squeeze squeeze squeeze—

“……”

Just like he had done earlier, she gently kneaded his wrist. Her hands were extremely cold. But—

‘She’s trying not to use force.’

The zombie carefully touched his wrist as gently as possible, and whenever she accidentally applied too much strength, she glanced at him nervously.

At that moment, Cersian was so dumbfounded that he laughed.

And seeing him laugh, the zombie—

“…Hee.”

“You’re laughing?”

“Sihi…”

“You think this is funny?”

She smiled brightly, her eyes curving like crescents.

Of course, Cersian didn’t know.

[The fur bundle is fragile.]

That the zombie in front of him had classified him as a weak creature.

[I have to protect him.]

***

In the forest, the search for Princess Isabel was in full swing.

“Duke, perhaps you should rest for a bit—”

“Let’s check over there.”

The Duke of Pankrachio, Alphius, had come to the forest early again today to join the search. The knights following him, who had been moving nonstop since morning, were visibly exhausted.

‘Does he think all knights are like him?’

Alphius walked the rough forest paths as if they were flat ground, his breathing perfectly steady.

He even walked far ahead and glanced back as if asking why they were so slow, which was torture from the knights’ perspective.

“Isn’t that area one we already checked yesterday?”

“Still, I want to look around here once more.”

Check the same place again?

As the knights trudged behind, their faces stiffened. The knight at the front finally spoke.

“Wouldn’t it be better if the search were handled by us, without the Duke personally—”

“Are you saying this is a place I shouldn’t be?”

The knight wanted to bite his own tongue. Exhaustion had made him speak without thinking, and he had clearly angered Alphius.

Strictly speaking, the knight wasn’t wrong. It would be better for Alphius to command from one place while the knights conducted the search.

“Are you telling me to sit at a desk instead?”

But the missing Princess Isabel was the terrifying Duke’s fiancée. From Alphius’s perspective, the knight had just asked why a fiancé searching for his fiancée was even here.

The knight’s face turned pale as he hurriedly tried to explain.

“That’s not what I meant. I was only worried that this might waste your time—”

The more he explained, the more Alphius’s expression twisted. Then Alphius let out a short, hollow laugh.

“So you’re saying that searching for my fiancée is a waste of my time?”

“I never meant—!”

“Duke.”

At that moment, a clear voice cut between them.

The knights nearby widened their eyes, then quickly bowed deeply.

“May the Empire prosper.”

“May the Empire prosper! Greetings, Your Highness!”

A man with a gentle presence, like a soft spring breeze, had appeared among them without anyone noticing.

‘We didn’t sense him at all.’

The knights clenched their teeth as goosebumps rose on their skin.

No sound, no presence at all. As expected of the Second Prince, Joshua Ramirez—the “Sword of the Empire.”

“Please, raise your heads,” Prince Joshua said with a warm laugh.

As Isabel’s biological younger brother, he resembled her quite a bit.

“Duke Pankrachio, are you well?”

“Greetings, Your Highness. Have you been well?”

When Alphius asked politely, Joshua smiled brightly and replied,

“No.”

The knights standing beside Alphius doubted their ears.

Since Joshua smiled and nodded, they naturally expected him to say he was fine.

“My sister has gone missing. How could I possibly be doing well? It’s only natural to be losing my mind day by day. Don’t you agree, Duke?”

Despite the smile, his words were heavy. He was honestly expressing his pain over Isabel’s disappearance.

‘Losing his mind day by day? Come to think of it, he doesn’t look well.’

Alphius narrowed his eyes and looked at Joshua. He had heard the prince received the news yesterday, and judging by his red, swollen eyes, he must have cried a lot.

“And how have you been, Duke?”

Joshua asked calmly, as if unaware of anything.

“…I—”

Alphius’s lips parted, then closed again.

‘By formality, I should say I’ve been well.’

“I’ve been well” was something he usually said without thinking. But today, the words wouldn’t come out.

“….”

As Alphius hesitated, Joshua quietly watched him, then smiled gently.

“Of course, you must have been suffering just like me. You two were very close, after all.”

“….”

“Isn’t that right?”

Alphius lowered his head slightly, his brow furrowing.

On the surface, Joshua’s words sounded harmless—almost comforting, like consoling a fiancé worried about his missing fiancée.

But in truth, they weren’t.

‘He’s speaking with killing intent.’

Joshua’s eyes were smiling, but they held no warmth. His words carried a faint but sharp warning.

‘He knows everything. So what am I supposed to say?’

Joshua likely knew that Alphius and Isabel didn’t have a good relationship. His words implied, You disliked my sister, so why do you look fine?

‘And honestly, he’s not wrong.’

Alphius admitted it freely.

He and the princess had a terrible relationship, and sometimes he wished the woman who blocked his path would disappear.

So by Joshua’s logic, now that Isabel was gone, Alphius should be doing just fine…

‘Then why does it feel like I’m going insane?’

Instead of being fine, he felt like he was about to break.

That was why he couldn’t even say the usual empty phrase, “I’ve been well.”

‘There was never a single moment when we were close or affectionate.’

And yet, he had abandoned everything to join the search.

Like someone who had lost a beloved lover, he came to the forest every day, his mind constantly filled with thoughts of Isabel.

‘I’m going crazy.’

Alphius bit his lip, then bowed his head toward the still-waiting prince.

“I haven’t been well either. I hope we find her as soon as possible.”

With that, Alphius bowed politely and stepped back.

Hearing this unexpected answer, Joshua’s eyes widened slightly.

After that, neither of them spoke for a while. Joshua silently watched the silver hair of the Duke shifting in the air, then turned away.

“…I’ll go review the situation further.”

Alphius did not reply.

“This way, please!”

The knights hurried to escort the prince. Alphius bowed deeply, while Joshua maintained his gentle smile.

Step, step—

After walking a few steps away, Joshua’s expression turned cold.

“Y-Your Highness!”

From afar, his aide Haas came running toward him, out of breath.

“Haas.”

As soon as Joshua noticed him, he smiled warmly again.

“The knight commander is waiting to report on the progress of the search.”

“Let’s go.”

“Did you meet the Duke?”

“Yes. And…”

As Joshua walked slowly beside Haas, he suddenly recalled something palace servants had once said.

—Everyone knows Princess Isabel is treated coldly at the Duke’s estate.

“…That’s not quite how it looked.”

“Pardon?”

“The Duke.”

Joshua tilted his head slightly, puzzled.

“He looked very…”

Like he was longing for her.