“Maybe. You might be getting sick. After all, you wore a dress and rolled in the snow.”

Benjamin, claiming he couldn’t stand it, got up from his seat. Yielding to his worried urging to go up to the room and rest, Yurisien nodded her head. She had almost finished her tea.

“Alright, I’ll go in and rest then. Maybe it’s because I had warm tea, but this time, I really feel like I can sleep well.”

“I hope so too.”

Yurisien, who went up to the room with Benjamin, earnestly requested him at the door.

“You should go back to your room.”

“I’ll stay here a bit longer. You never know. Something more important might come up for you.”

“In that case, I’ll wake up Daisy. Rather than bothering the messenger, I’ll ask Daisy for permission.”

Originally, what Daisy was doing was precisely what Benjamin was doing now. Understanding Yurisien’s firm words, Benjamin, though seeming disappointed, agreed. Since I insisted more here, it would only disturb Yurisien’s rest.

“Then, sleep well.”

Benjamin bowed and kissed Yurisien on the forehead. Yurisien slightly shrugged her shoulders, then soon burst into laughter. With her lifted foot, she kissed Benjamin’s cheek.

“As you wish.”

The sight of her speaking after staining her cheek with a flush was so adorable. Benjamin was tempted to hug Yurisien to the point where his palms itched. But if he hugged her here, he would undoubtedly become more unwilling to part. That was not an option.

‘I might die.’

He had never heard of anyone who resisted wanting to hug their lover and ended up dying, but perhaps he could become the precedent. Benjamin managed to turn around. Yurisien, who noticed Benjamin’s regretful expression, swallowed her laughter.

‘I do want to be with you, but…’

Maybe because she enjoyed drinking warm tea and having a pleasant conversation with her favorite person, now she truly felt sleepy. If she went to bed, she felt like she could fall asleep right away. Yurisien opened the bedroom door, watching Benjamin move away.

A few days passed since then.

“I don’t know how time is passing. I don’t remember much…”

As such peaceful days continued. Undead wandering outside and ominous black clouds covering the sky. The followers of the Heaven Church, who fluttered around, were still there, but people are said to be creatures of adaptation.

Now, even getting used to them, Yurisien was spending a leisurely morning today. Although she was well aware that the Solzeron Empire had succumbed to the Heaven Church, she felt close to not knowing what to do about it. In fact, even the undead no longer attacked people, and the followers of the Heaven Church showed little movement other than spreading their religion.

“If we try to do something, it might spark a fire.”

Now completely unprepared, it would be foolish to move recklessly and end up scratching their own backs. Moreover, this absurd situation had become a daily routine for many. So, in the meantime, there were even arguments suggesting that if they accepted the Heaven Church, they could live with the undead… continue to be with the precious people they had lost.

“I should say it’s impossible, but it’s daunting to know where to start refuting it…”

Muttering unknowingly, Daisy, who followed Yurisien while pouring tea, giggled.

“What’s that about?”

“Huh? Oh, living with the undead. It’s impossible. They are those who left our side once and were forcibly summoned.”

“But aren’t you living with them now?”

Daisy, who set the teapot down on the table, looked out the window.

“Ugh, well. Ugh. Hmm…”

“No, no. Elda. Come here. That’s not the way.”

“Th-there. This way. Ugh, no, it’s not… no, no…”
As a man walking with the undead spoke, the undead nodded in agreement. The voices of those beyond the narrow garden outside the window sounded strangely close.

The recently awakened undead, like Kendal and Adel, initially exhibited clear intelligence, but it was only temporary. As time passed, the undead’s rationality flickered like a lamp. Some of them, having lost their sanity, were transforming into creatures closer to monsters, yet they refrained from attacking those nearby.

“The daughter of Mr. Brown, who supplies provisions, has returned.”

“Rene, you mean?”

“Yes, Rene. At first, she listened to us and confined herself… But, is it easy to abandon a daughter like that? Crying, ‘Dad, Dad!’ in her sleep, who wouldn’t waver as a parent?”

Sighing, Daisy explained.

“So, while claiming that we’re keeping her confined, we gradually engaged in conversations. It turned out to be entirely different from the stories we told, you see. So now, it seems like we’ve kept her close.”

“What? Is that true?”

Yurisien looked at Daisy in surprise.

“I thought it was impossible for a dead person to come back… That’s how I persuaded myself. But it seems they were already cunningly deceived. Mr. Brown is in trouble now.”

Daisy shook her head, excited.