The Villainess and I, her Zombie

The reaction that lady Raspberry had to the news about Zombie was so much of a shock for her that she ended up completely bedridden, unable to even stand up and watch her rose garden from the window of her room.

It was both a blessing and a big problem at the same time and for the same reason – funnily enough.

Blessing – because she had no time to torment her daughter in mundane attempts to live her life through her which was as cruel as it was ineffective.

Problem – because there was no time for the mother and daughter to interact in any way with the resting lady Raspberry's room being off-limits for Cranberry – which kind of threw a wrench in the cogs of Zombie's plans for trying to patch up the already broken relationship.

One way or another, the two children ended up with a surplus amount of free time that could be spent in many different ways...

....that's why they both spent it on studying in the mansion's vast library and practicing in the backyard, all under the watchful eye of the timid maid that was slowly becoming more and more warm and open towards the red-haired girl and her familiar.

"...do you think that my mother doesn't like me because I wasn't born pretty...?"

So close in fact, that Cranberry asked the maid such a question once Zombie went into the small shed to put away the training equipment the two of them used, leaving the girls alone – but not outside of his hearing range.

|...she doesn't seem to be ready to let go of the attachment to her mother just yet, huh...|

Zombie sighed, leaning against the shed's wall and sighing internally.

|Of course not, what did you think? In the first playthrough it happened once she was fourteen, right? And after she returned after being forced to participate in a marriage interview with a man more than twice her age. She sure is stubborn, even with a backup plan it might be a problem.|

Patience also sighed and pointed out not sounding too optimistic.

"Young lady, why would you say that...?"

The maid asked in confusion, but there wasn't too much surprise in her voice as if she herself never thought of the little girl as beautiful or even pretty.

"Mother told me I was ugly. I wanted to see her because she was feeling unwell but she shouted at me and told me she doesn't want to see my ugly face."

"...I didn't know that...|

Zombie froze and gritted his teeth holding back his anger.

Talking was good.

Cranberry didn't want to share those words with him, but she opened up to a maid – and even though the little blue undead was burning with envy towards the woman who was chosen instead of him, he did not try to interrupt the talk since he knew that speaking out was needed for Cranberry to not become like she was during the first playthrough – forever living in the looming shadow of her mother.

"The beauty is... subjective...."

The maid spoke up but she sounded just as sad as the red-haired girl.

"...is what I was told by my father... but should I really believe the words of a man who found himself a beautiful lover while my mother was on her death bed, not having enough decency to wait until she died...?"

The maid's words turned out far heavier than Zombie ever expected, and suddenly the option to interrupt the two didn't seem so outrageous anymore.

"...sorry for making you remember something unpleasant, it wasn't my intention..."

|!!!!|

Cranberry for once sounded actually apologetic – and it made Zombie flinch in shock even more than the maid's confession.

"No, young lady, don't pity me. Instead, you can learn from that story just as I did..."

Even though Zombie couldn't see the maid's face, he could tell that she was making a sad smile.

"Those who don't possess beauty are shunned in this world, the only way to counter that is to become strong enough so that the beauty doesn't matter. And I don't mean strong with just the STR or MAT in mind either."

The maid added, hurriedly explaining her words.

"Your social status, the people you know, the people you rule over, your fame and fortune..."

The made suddenly went silent as if she was very bitter over something.

"Well... truth to be told, no matter what the physical appearance will be important after all."

She suddenly changed her stance completely, as if something broke in her.

"People will laugh at you behind your back if you're not beautiful enough. No matter how hard you work, they will sniff out the one thing that hurts you the most and hit you right there with deadly precision like a pack of starved beasts, bringing you down just to make themselves feel a little bit better about their miserable selves!"

Her voice turned into a growl of cold fury.

|For the love of... she's going to give Cranberry a whole new trauma to deal with, I need to...!|

|NO YOU DON'T! WAIT UNTIL THEY FINISH TALKING, IT IS IMPORTANT!|

|?!?!?!?!?!|

Zombie clenched his fists and was about to rush out to stop the depressing talk but Patience literally shouted in his head so loud that she forced him to freeze in shock.

|Just... wait a little bit longer. Don't mess everything up because you are overprotective – things are going well smoother than I ever expected and it's a good thing. You will see for yourself later.|

The sealed overseer added, breathing out in already in a calmer manner.

|...fine...|

Zombie scoffed and looked away with an annoyed expression and stopped with the hand on the shed's door.

"But, I think you are pretty – way prettier than me at least."

Cranberry muttered clearly trying her best to lift the maid's mood which she would never do to anyone during Zombie's first playthrough.

"Young lady... please... don't compliment this face of mine... it only makes things more difficult  for me..."

"...sorry..."

The maid murmured in a barely audible pained voice which made Cranberry apologize with worry.

"All of that said. I don't think you're ugly either. Sorry to tell you that, but it may be that your mother is one of those people I was talking about..."