In the end, Sherri couldn’t contain her overwhelming emotions and burst into tears.

“Is something wrong with the parents of Sherri Damon, the Duke and Duchess Damon?”

There were only two terrible changes that could have occurred after attending the Crown Prince’s wedding.

Either they died, or they had been bitten by zombies and become zombies themselves.

In fact, most of those who lived in the capital either died or were infected because their families had returned home bitten by zombies.

A disaster that indiscriminately struck the nobles, semi-nobles, commoners, and the poor.

The Damon family was not exempt from this disaster.

“There’s no time to waste.”

I decided to ask directly.

“Sherri Damon, did your parents, the Duke and Duchess Damon, become zombies?”

“……!”

At my question, Sherri’s eyes widened. Seeing her involuntarily shivering, I felt I already knew the answer without hearing it.

“Zombies?”

Her brother Cloud cocked his head at the unfamiliar word.

“It’s a term I coined for the monsters roaming outside, who have transformed from human.”

“I see. So you call those monsters zombies…”

With a bitter expression, Cloud met my eyes as if he had made up his mind.

“Lady Keaton.”

“Yes.”

“Our parents, the Duke and Duchess Damon, have… become those monsters known as zombies.”

“Figures,” Zero tutted, showing sympathy towards the siblings.

“Must’ve been horrible. Watching your parents lose their senses and try to eat their own children. No wonder you’re shocked.”

As Zero respectfully prayed for the Duke and Duchess’s souls, I spoke.

“What’s more surprising to me is this.”

“What?”

“Other households got fully infected because they couldn’t ignore the pitiful sight of their zombified family members and opened the doors for them.”

Yet Sherri Damon and Cloud Damon were fine.

Even the servants of the Damon estate had not been bitten.

“How could this happen?”

The only ones in this house capable of expelling the zombified Duke and Duchess were Sherri and Cloud Damon.

Even from a distance, their shambling, strange walk would have been impossible for the servants to deter.

It would have been correct for them to realize something was wrong only after directly confronting the Duke and Duchess up close and then driving them away.

“Maybe the zombified Duke and Duchess left the Damon estate to wander far away?”

“It couldn’t be, given the painful reaction from Sherri Damon earlier.”

It didn’t seem like they had died.

And yet, I didn’t think Sherri and Cloud, who had always been loving towards their family, would be able to expel their own parents so coldly.

The conclusion from the information I had gathered was one.

“Cloud Damon, and Sherri Damon.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t you dare call me by my name! Even in this disaster, you survived all by yourself like a wicked woman. Was it pleasant?”

“Of course not.”

I was at a loss for words the moment I saw the zombie nest that had become of the royal city after I had emerged.

“I also didn’t want to come out alone.”

My warning that we should escape quickly was thoroughly ignored.

It was as if I was Cassandra from Greek mythology.

Even if I speak the truth, it’s of no use. What more could I do?

“Watch your tongue, Lady Damon.”

Though Michael warned her, Sherri didn’t seem to care.

“If you are the mastermind behind this, I’ll make sure to kill you.”

Sherri started to spout hate-filled words at me, but I was indifferent.

Yes, I’m not the culprit. I just want to go home and make a hearty bowl of ramen. That’s my wish.

And I also want to tear the actual culprit to pieces. Fry them in dog poison. I’ll kill them if I meet them.

I let Sherri’s resentment pass in one ear and out the other. I then asked about the whereabouts of the Duke and Duchess Damon, something I had been curious about from the beginning.

“Did you by any chance lock up the zombified Duke and Duchess Damon somewhere in the estate?”

“…….”
My words cast a heavy silence over the two of them.

That silence spoke the truth.

In some part of the Damon estate, there would be a zombified Duke and Duchess.

The eldest, Cloud, was an honorable knight; the second, Sherry, was an academic prodigy who earned all A+ grades in magic subjects at the academy.

Even without direct combat experience, their inherent abilities were more than sufficient to subdue zombies.

If Cloud could immobilize the zombies with his holy power, and Sherry could corner them, it was entirely possible.

‘That explains why they couldn’t leave.’

Confining the zombies was just a stopgap measure.

If the siblings left and the zombified Duke and Duchess caused trouble?

Innocent servants would have been killed. After all, the only people with abilities in the estate were the Damon siblings.

So, the children of a noble house, who knew the weight of their duty and responsibility better than anyone, had chosen to lock themselves in.

‘Hoping someone would come with a solution.’

But sadly, the savior turned out to be Elizabeth, whom they disliked.

I had no choice. I didn’t choose to become Elizabeth either.