Accidentally Formed a Reverse Harem in the Apocalypse Chapter 42 - The Infected Duke and Duchess Damon

At the end, Sherry couldn’t hold back her emotions and broke into sobs.

‘Did something happen to Duke and Duchess Damon, Sherry Damon’s parents?’

If it was a terrible change that happened after attending the crown prince’s wedding, there were only two possibilities:

They died, or they were bitten by zombies and turned into one.

In fact, most of the people living in the capital had died or become infected because their family members returned home after being bitten by zombies.

A disaster that struck without distinguishing nobles, lesser nobles, commoners, or the slums.

And the Damon ducal family couldn’t have been an exception.

‘There’s no time to lose.’

I decided to ask directly.

“Lady Sherry Damon. Have your parents, the Duke and Duchess Damon, become zombies?”

“……!”

Sherry’s eyes widened at my question. Seeing her trembling uncontrollably, I felt I already knew the answer.

“Zombies?”

Her older brother Cloud tilted his head at the unfamiliar word.

“It’s a word I made up to describe those people outside who turned into monsters.”

“I see. So those monsters are called zombies…”

Cloud lowered his head with a bitter expression, then looked straight at me with determined eyes.

“Lady Keaton.”

“Yes.”

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

“As expected.”

Zero clicked his tongue and expressed sympathy for the siblings.

“It must have been horrible. To see your own parents, having lost their reason, trying to devour their own children right before their eyes. No wonder they were traumatized and shut themselves away.”

As Zero removed his silk hat and bowed lightly to offer prayers for the duke and duchess, I spoke.

‘That’s not what I find strange.’

“What is?”

‘In every other household, even though they knew their turned family member was acting strange, they couldn’t ignore their sadness and opened the door for them… and ended up infected.’

But Sherry Damon and Cloud Damon were perfectly fine.

Even the servants in the Damon manor weren’t bitten.

‘How did that happen?’

The only ones capable of rejecting the zombified duke and duchess would have been Sherry and Cloud.

Even if the undead approached with their staggering, twisted gait from a distance, the servants would’ve had no way to stop them.

They should’ve only realized something was wrong when the duke and duchess got close—close enough to be dangerous.

“So maybe the zombified duke and duchess left the Damon manor and wandered far away?”

‘If that were true, Sherry’s reaction earlier wouldn’t have been so full of pain.’

It didn’t seem like they were dead.

And considering how close the family was, I doubted Sherry and Cloud would have coldly abandoned their parents.

The conclusion drawn from all the information was only one.

“Lord Cloud Damon, and Lady Sherry Damon.”

“Yes.”

“Don’t call my name! In this disaster, you’re the only villain who came out perfectly fine. Feeling good about surviving so selfishly?”

“……Of course not.”

I wasn’t a psychopath. The moment I left the palace and saw it turning into a zombie den, I was completely speechless.

‘I didn’t want to leave alone either.’

My plea that we needed to escape quickly had been ignored completely.

Just like Cassandra of Greek myth.

Even when I spoke the truth, no one listened—so what more could I have done?

“Watch your words, Lady Damon,” Michael warned, but Sherry didn’t even pretend to listen.

“If you’re the one who caused all this, I’ll definitely kill you.”

Sherry hurled angry insults at me, but I didn’t care.

Yep. I’m not the villain. I don’t have the capability. My dream is to go home and cook a spicy pot of ramen.

And when I find the real culprit, I’ll rip them apart myself. Fry them in sewage if I have to. I’ll kill them on sight.

I let Sherry’s resentment go in one ear and out the other. Then I asked the question I’d been holding back.

“Don’t tell me… did you lock the zombified Duke and Duchess Damon somewhere inside the manor?”

“…….”

“…….”

The heavy silence that fell over them was the answer.

Somewhere inside the Damon manor, the zombified duke and duchess were being confined.

Cloud, the eldest, was an honorary holy knight; Sherry, the second, was a prodigy who earned all A+ in magic courses at the academy.

Even without real combat experience, their base abilities were strong enough to restrain zombies.

Cloud could slow the zombies with holy power, and Sherry could push them into a small enclosed room.

It was possible.

‘Then it explains why they never left the estate.’

Locking zombies away was only temporary.

If the zombified duke and duchess rampaged while the siblings were gone—

Innocent servants would die. The only capable fighters in the manor were the Damon siblings.

So as noble children who understood the weight of duty and responsibility better than anyone, they chose to confine themselves.

‘Hoping someone with a solution would come find them.’

But unfortunately, they couldn’t have imagined that their “savior” would be Elizabeth—the person they despised most…

Well, nothing could be done. It’s not like I asked to become Elizabeth in the first place.

As I was organizing my thoughts, Cloud finally managed to speak.

“…Lady Keaton, you’re correct.”

“Where are they? The zombies who were once Duke and Duchess Damon.”

“Don’t call my mother and father that way!”

Sherry snapped again. Cloud apologized on her behalf.

“I’m sorry, Lady Keaton. Sherry has been very unstable since that day.”

“Don’t say useless things, brother. I’m fine.”

“You, who can’t even sleep at night—stop pretending to be strong. I know everything.”

“…….”

“And stop being hostile toward Lady Keaton. No matter what, it’s clear she’s here to save us.”

At Cloud’s words, Sherry finally quieted down.

She was like a volcano about to erupt, but at least my ears could rest now.

Cloud confessed everything honestly.

“Sherry and I worked together to lock our parents in the underground prison. Our parents… always told us repeatedly—if they ever became something that could no longer remain human, if they ever became a danger to this country or to us, we must kill them.”

‘Wow…’

“…We never imagined the day would come when we’d have to take those words seriously.”

Cloud wiped away the tears he couldn’t hold back.

The siblings looked utterly exhausted, as if they had spent all this time living inside their parents’ final words.

“Wise advice, but to the children hearing it? It must’ve been like thunder striking from a clear sky,” Zero muttered with a squeaky noise.

‘Of course they couldn’t kill their parents themselves.’

Even if they couldn’t speak anymore, even if their sense of self was gone, they were still family.

Parents who raised them with love. No one could instantly strike them down just because they had turned into monsters.

“We wanted to believe they might be cured one day. We wanted to protect them somehow. We couldn’t bring ourselves to admit that they were gone.”

Even Cloud finally broke into tears.

The Damon siblings had chosen the best option they could.

“Lady Keaton… please answer honestly. Is there truly no way to… turn our parents back from being zombies?”

They looked at me with eyes begging me to say yes.

But as someone who was nothing more than an ordinary citizen reincarnated into this world, I faced them with the brutal truth.

“Zombies don’t spread through germs. I don’t know the exact cause, but… you cannot cure the Duke and Duchess Damon.”

“That can’t be…”

“It’s a different field. Judging from the culprit’s methods, it’s probably magic or sorcery that caused this disaster. If that’s true, then right now, there’s no way to undo it.”

‘We don’t even know how to counter it.’

The only thing to do was to make sure the dead couldn’t walk anymore—by putting a bullet through their heads.

“Ah…”

Cloud and Sherry both fell into despair.

“Mother… Father…”

“Those two can’t do it,” Zero whispered. “They could never shoot their zombified parents in the head. They’d carry that trauma for life.”

Even if they had done nothing wrong, they would live endlessly in guilt.

I couldn’t leave them like that.

After all, I was a transmigrator. As much as I loved ‘For the Flower Path’, Sherry and her family were precious to me.

“Take me to the underground prison.”

“You’re… going to kill our parents?”

I didn’t react to Sherry’s sharp tone.

“I’m going to end their unwanted existence as zombies and help them rest peacefully. My companions and I don’t have the ability to kill the dead twice.”

I didn’t need to be kind to someone who wasn’t kind to me.

My affection for Sherry as a fictional character was a separate matter.

“…How do you kill zombies?”

“It’s simple. You shoot through the head. Blowing it off works too.”

Click. I loaded my mana-bullet revolver.

When I drew it from my holster, Sherry’s pupils trembled.

“You’re really going to shoot them with that?”

“Yes.”

“…….”

“If you’re uncomfortable with me doing it, we can ask Sir Michael, Ruth, or Sir Benedict.”

There were plenty of options. Even if she disliked me, I could at least give her the chance that hurt her the least.

‘Like them or not, they’re survivors. And capable ones.’

More mages were always useful. Sherry Damon studied at the academy with family support instead of going to the mage tower, so she lacked field experience, but she was undeniably talented.

Even if Cloud was only an honorary holy knight, divine power alone made him valuable. Both siblings were reliable assets.

After thinking for a long time, Sherry finally answered.

“…No. I want you to do it.”

“Why?”

“Because out of everyone here, you’re the only one I can hate without guilt.”

“……”

“Sherry, that’s… a very selfish reason…” Zero muttered.

She must have resented ‘Elizabeth’ deeply.

And it stung a little.

“Then I’ll—”

“Wait.”

At that moment, Benedict raised his hand.

“I’ll do it…”