The Lady Hides a Zombie

Prologue

Have you ever tried hiding a zombie?

As everyone knows, hiding a zombie in a world like this is no easy task.

Even a secret as trivial as someone cheating on their spouse spreads like wildfire, so you can imagine what would happen if word got out that a noble’s child had turned into a zombie.

It’d be nice if there was someone you could turn to for help. But really, who’s out there giving advice for what to do when a zombie suddenly shows up in your household?

And so, those who end up hiding zombies are left to figure things out on their own and survive this harsh world as best they can.

That said, here’s a little guide for all you first-time zombie concealers.

Oh, you think this doesn’t apply to you?

Sorry to break it to you, but just a week ago, I thought the exact same thing.

You never know how life’s going to turn out.

Before you know it, you might end up with a zombie in the house… or maybe even three.

* * *

The best way to hide a zombie from the outside world, naturally, is to cut them off from it entirely.

If they stay holed up inside the house, at the very least, you can keep the fact that they’ve turned into a zombie under wraps.

But hiding is only a temporary solution. You can’t stay in hiding forever.

Just because someone becomes a zombie doesn’t mean they can suddenly quit everything they were doing. Zombies need to eat too, after all.

Especially in noble society, where reputation is everything, a sudden disappearance only invites curiosity—and suspicion.

So it’s actually better to just live as usual.

Of course, when you do that…

“Oh my, Lady Yullia. Your skin looks like pure porcelain today!”

…you get unfortunate situations like this.

“Ha, haha… Does it?”

My twin, Yullia, forced a faint smile, doing her best to hide her discomfort. I, watching nearby, smoothly chimed in.

The key word here is smoothly! You can’t make it obvious you’re acting!

“My, you’ve got a sharp eye. Yulli’s been paying a lot of attention to her looks lately.”

I walked up sweetly and linked arms with her, and the young ladies around us sparkled with curiosity.

“See these earrings? You wouldn’t believe how hard Yulli worked to get her hands on them.”

“Now that you mention it, that shimmering color really is something special!”

“Are those earrings made from the top-grade rubies that just came out of the Holman Mine?!”

In an instant, the young ladies’ gazes shifted from Yullia’s skin to her earrings.

Note to self, Rule #1: Zombies have pale skin, so pay extra attention to makeup.

Leaving awkwardly laughing Yullia behind, I quietly stepped back.

Everyone was so fixated on her earrings that they didn’t even notice I had slipped away.

Just as I was catching my breath, something else caught my eye.

My second brother, Isaac, was about to shake hands with someone who’d approached him—and he was reaching out without thinking!

‘No, wait!’

I hurried over as fast as I could, but I was already too late. The other person had grasped Isaac’s hand and was now giving him a strange look.

“Isaac… why is your hand so cold?”

“Huh?”

Isaac froze, unable to pull his hand away.

Note to self, Rule #2: Zombies have low body temperature, so avoid physical contact as much as possible!

No helping it now. I casually passed by Isaac and slipped a chilled wine glass filled with ice into his other hand.

“Oh, I’ve been drinking this,” I said, playing it off smoothly.

Isaac lifted the glass naturally, and the other person let out an “Ahh,” nodding in understanding.

‘Whew. Crisis averted.’

‘You really can’t afford to let your guard down for even a second.’

I was wiping the cold sweat from my forehead and just starting to take a sip of my wine when—

Crash!

“S-Sorry!”

With the sound of something shattering, a servant bowed deeply in apology.

I turned to look, wondering what had happened—and couldn’t believe what I saw.

Right in the middle of the commotion stood our eldest brother, Edmund!

“Your hand—because of me…!”

‘What?’

Looking closer, I saw that the servant, flustered and panicked, was hovering around Edmund—apparently having accidentally cut his finger on the broken shards of a wine glass.

Red alert!

‘No, no, no—this is bad!’

My mind screamed with flashing warnings. But before I could think, my body moved on instinct.

I dipped my handkerchief lightly into my red wine and rushed to Edmund.

“Oh no! Are you okay, brother?”

I quickly wrapped the handkerchief around Edmund’s finger, then carefully peeled it back as if checking a wound, peering in with worried eyes at the red stain that looked just like blood.

‘Whew. That was way too close.’

Note to self, Rule #3: Zombies don’t bleed, so don’t get hurt…

When I looked up, Edmund leaned in and whispered near my ear.

“Well done, Emily.”

‘Think nothing of it.’

After calming the scene, Edmund said it was a shame but that we’d be heading home early for the day.

Even the host couldn’t find a reason to stop us, and simply nodded in agreement.

Thanks to Edmund’s “injury,” we were able to safely climb into the carriage and head home.

“Phew.”

“Ugh…”

As soon as we sat down, everyone let out a long breath. Yullia, half-sunk into her seat, muttered,

“I thought we were caught…”

We all silently agreed.

Ah, so you’re wondering why we’re going through all this hell?

To explain that, we need to go back to a week ago.

Back to the moment when my three siblings all died at once in a carriage accident.