“……I’m okay.”

Sienna’s face, lifted up, was as pale as a white canvas.

It seemed like she had bitten her lips tightly; her pale lips could have torn open, and blood might flow at any moment.

The priests felt compassion for her pitiful appearance, resembling a wounded small animal.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m fine. It’s just…sad. I can’t offer a tribute for the one who passed away.”

Sienna, with a bitter smile, looked noble and beautiful like a saint. The priests momentarily lost themselves in her smile, but soon regained their composure and responded energetically.

“I apologize. This is the order issued by Duchess Kitten during the divine decree.”

“Your Highness Crown Princess’s kind heart would have reached the late Pope. Surely.”

“That’s right, isn’t it?”

The priests didn’t sense any suspicion. They focused solely on Sienna in front of them.

“Of course. So let me offer the tribute on your behalf.”

“The late Pope would surely be pleased.”

“Then… please.”

The bouquet slipped through Sienna’s thin fingers. Seeing Sienna looking at the bouquet as if regretful, the priests thought that the Crown Princess was more devout than they had expected.

‘Endure. I have to endure…’

Sienna chewed the flesh inside her mouth. Chewing the lips was too dangerous now. If she continued, there was a concern that wounds might appear, and black blood would flow.

‘It was almost really dangerous.’

Sienna nearly jeopardized the wish and ambition of Kieran, the ‘father.’ As the redeemed creation of his new life, Sienna couldn’t do anything beyond his orders.

Chomp.

Even if she chewed the flesh inside her mouth, as long as she didn’t open her mouth, nothing would be revealed outside.

She felt the blood, but she didn’t mind. Sienna was a zombie. She couldn’t feel pain in the wounded area. She only felt the sticky black blood like ink.

She didn’t know, though.

“…….?”

Only Michael looked at Sienna with narrowed eyes.

‘Why are you looking at me like that.’

Hungry Sienna was uneasy. She reacted to every small thing.

“Michael, why are you like that? Is there something on my face?”

With a smiling remark, Michael gently eased the expression that had been strange before.

“No, there isn’t. Your Highness Crown Princess’s heart is too beautiful. Surely, even the late Pope in heaven will be delighted.”

‘It’s strange.’

Even though he made the same remarks as the priests, Sienna felt oddly awkward. She suspected that Michael had noticed something strange about her.

For Sienna, whose memories were sealed, Michael was nothing more or less than a kind sucker. The fact that she didn’t want to get too close to someone emitting an unpleasant smell of sacred power also played a role.

However, Michael, as if to dispel Sienna’s doubts, spoke with a gentle tone.
“The Duke will also consider Princess Bee’s feelings. Now, since it seems like your complexion isn’t good, please go to your room and rest. In the atmosphere of the estate darkened by the death of His Holiness, if Princess Bee is also unwell, people will become even more anxious.”

“…I understand.”

‘Let’s find another… different way.’

For instance, finding someone secretly harboring dissatisfaction with the Duke…

Or, if not that, quickly eliminating the damn saint obstructing the ‘father’s’ work.

Sienna didn’t have much time left.

Due to severe hunger and the ‘father’s’ command pressing heavily on her shoulders.

As she took anxious steps, another headache surged over her.

“Ugh…”

‘Again?’

She shouldn’t be able to feel pain. Why does it hurt?

In Sienna’s mind, a certain scene flashed by.

〈With this…will…〉

A familiar voice. However, a face didn’t come to mind, as if it had been cut out with scissors.

The current Sienna was nothing more than fragments of unknown memories.

〈…Think of it as…〉

‘Who is this?’

It was a gentle voice, but it was mixed with boiling malice.

〈Who are you?〉

The Sienna in her mind asked.

〈Someone who loves you more than anyone else…〉

And then, it was filled with new screams and darkness.

‘What’s this?’

Sienna was confused.

The protagonist of the screams in her memory was herself.

It could be recognized as the last memory of a human. In the screams, there was a mixture of painful pleas.

Then, at some point, her body felt like a puppet with cut strings, collapsing.

Someone had murdered her.

But who?

Michael reported to me that Sienna had come to the room where the Pope’s body was temporarily placed, holding a bouquet.

“Sienna?”

“Yes. She came with a bouquet.”

“All the places like the garden and greenhouse where flowers are planted are open. There’s nothing strange if Sienna goes there.”

I and my party members knew that Sienna was a zombie.
“However, to others, she appears as just an ordinary person, so we’ve taken measures to treat her with respect as the princess and allow her to go almost anywhere.”

“But she went to pick flowers? For the Pope, no less?”