The Villainess and I, her Zombie

"A favor? What kind of favor...?"

Roan asked, backing off in suspicion – capture target or not, the Greed's blood flows strong in him and the word 'favor' certainly set off a few alarms in his head.

"Oh, sorry, not the kind that you have in mind – I should have called it what it really is – a deal."

Zombie immediately changed his approach and rested Cranberry's weight on his left arm while waving his right one dismissively towards the blond prince full of suspicion.

"First of all... were you close with that Quince guy...?"

"!!!!!!"

He put his hand down and asked tilting his head into Cranberry's chest...

...and calmly straightened it and tilted it the other way once he realized his mistake – but that was instantly corrected by Cranberry who leaned all in making his adjustment completely pointless as he ended up in the exact same position...

"...no, not really...? I don't really remember even talking with him privately...?"

Roan blinked a few times, watching the pair in front of him with mild bewilderment.

"Well, that's grand. The thing is – I know that the treasury was empty before I got freed and you all know that too – but with Quince missing and me staying behind, it looks mighty suspicious... I would very much like if everyone - and that especially includes you, dear prince - to help me out and tell the queen that Quince was the one who cleaned out the entire treasury using some sort of artifact – let's say a storage ring."

Zombie smiled brightly – though for a certain reason only half of his face was visible for the blond prince.

"As for what's in it for you... let's say that I will help you with anything you want. Limited time offer - how does it sound to you?"

The blue undead asked sounding a little bit too happy...

"With anything... I don't know... Although there is a certain thing that I'm planning on doing, I already have someone else in mind..."

Roan furrowed his brows and his expression became cloudy.

|Ha! Look at him! He's even looking at Carambola – he wants you to up your offer. Seriously, the greed of Greeds, I swear...|

The sealed being scoffed and snickered, sounding as if she was shaking her head and looking to the side.

|Khahaha! Oh, I like this Roan better than the one from the first playthrough. This one has more pride in him!|

Similarly, Zombie laughed internally and some of his joy found its way all the way out to his face, making the bright smile turn into a wild evil grin.

"Are you sure? I mean, mana drain is fine and all – but you seem to forget that Kopia, Baron, Morty, and George are all my subjects – when I offer to help you I do not mean to come alone."

"...!"

The blue undead explained, satisfied at seeing the prince's eyes widen even though the blond youth did a splendid job of keeping his cool otherwise.

"Not to mention that even if you want Carambola's help, it doesn't mean that I will lend him to you. Just agree on Zombie's terms or you will end up with nothing."

"!!!!!"

Cranberry – up until that point far too busy with nuzzling herself against the blue undead – finally decided to join the conversation and declared coldly glaring down at the prince – who completely lost his cool and openly flinched.

It looked like he underestimated how much Cranberry actually liked her familiar – and it was hard to blame him...

...after all, only mentioning him a couple of times but not doing anything certainly did not scream devotion. The problem was Cranberry always wanted to do more but was under constant surveillance of Kopia so she couldn't be showing off even the fraction of her real feelings...

"My prince, that is not a bad offer – he did not specify that this will be a one-time deal – it's a limited time deal only for this favor. You can always try to bargain next time."

The silver-haired gentleman joined in too and spoke to the blond prince with a polite bow.

"..."

For a moment it seemed like Roan wasn't going to leave it like that...

"Zombie, dear... um, after all, it's really shameless of me to just cling to you in front of others... can I get down...?"

The red-haired girl had some limits apparently as in the end after a rather daring session of aggressive cuddling, she fidgetted and asked the blue undead while her face got all hot and bothered.

"Here."

The blue undead nodded instantly and put her back on the floor without delay, and straightened his back, looking slightly up at - the now taller than him - prince.

"Zombie. Before you promise Roan anything, you must know that he is planning on helping out Mary – I am not opposed to the idea, but the circumstances are a bit more troublesome than our greedy prince wants to notice."

Cranberry straightened her clothes and explained while pulling back her hair.

"Oh? Trouble? Not my problem."

Zombie furrowed his brows and shook his head.

"It's not like she is getting forced to marry some old bastard that will enslave her and turn into his plaything, right? I can't imagine her needing help in any other case, anyway."

"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"!!!!!!!!!!"

"!!!"

He added shrugging his shoulders and watching the three humans around him showcase a different level of shock and disbelief at the certain-kill accuracy of his words.

|HA HA! You are so ruthless! I love it!|

The sealed being burst into a burst of ugly laughter and sounded as if she rolled on her back clapping her hands from sheer joy.

|...|

Zombie remained silent both in his thoughts and words – calmly waiting for the confused silence to fade away.

"Hmm...? What? No way? Mariifiori is getting married to some old fart?"

The blue undead shook his head and gasped in shock once he saw the prince opening and closing his mouth like a goldfish, in a funny-looking attempt to speak up.

"She... she is..."

Cranberry gulped down her saliva and nodded.

"Who...?!"

Zombie flinched and looked between all three humans surrounding him, feeling very much amused with leading all of them like that – he certainly didn't think that his acting was that good, but apparently, it fooled everyone.

"...my.. my uncle... Durian Greed..."

Roan regain his voice and muttered in shame as if having the man in his family was bringing dishonor to his family name.

"And that what's his deal...?"

Zombie tilted his head and asked politely.

"His deal....? His deal is that he could be Mary's father but he pressured her family into selling her to him! That's his deal! That bastard has a unique magic – slave crest – he can boost the growth of anyone who submits to him but he can just as well break someone's spirit and force them into becoming his obedient slave! We can't just leave Mary with someone like him!"