The Villainess and I, her Zombie

Both girls followed after the guards and entered the Envys' mansion.

"...I'm fucking cursed..."

"...!"

Lairs breathed out pulling the hood lower and lower over her face - and ended up making Cranberry raise her brows in realization.

"Oh...! That's why you always say that when something you don't like happens! I never realized that before!"

The red-haired girl gasped smiled to herself while the elven mage hunched her back and looked away, closing her mouth - visibly showing that she was angry at the human girl and didn't want to talk to her.

"Haa... Listen, I was teasing you before but I was serious about the girl who likes you - after we talk with Mason you should just go and ask my Zombie about it, and hear it straight from him.

Cranberry breathed out and rolled her eyes before leaning towards the grumpy elf and advising her.

"..."

Lairs moved her head and glared at the red-haired girl from the corner of her vision.

"Ladies, please excuse my interruption but, we have arrived."

Before the black-haired elf decided on to whether respond to the red-haired human, the guard leading them walked over to one of the doors and the taller one bowed his head towards them with one hand on the doorknob.

"Ha. Alright. We are ready."

Cranberry scoffed and shrugged her shoulders at Lairs's behavior and nodded at the servant, who hurriedly knocked on the door before opening them for the girls.

"...and thanks to that... hmm...?"

The brown-haired young man with piercing green eyes was in the middle of excitedly telling some sort of story to the blue undead knight sitting rather comfortably on the armchair right next to his -but stopped talking and turned his head curiously to the side to check up on who was entering the room.

"And there they are!"

Zombie stood up from his seat and declared with a confident voice, which made him sound as if he was the owner of the place.

The blue undead walked over to the two hooded girls and gave them both a light push on the back before closing the door before either of the guards could enter.

"Mason, those are the two I told you about."

Zombie put his hands on the shoulders of the two newly arrived girls and faced the green-eyed capture target.

"..."

Cranberry fidgeted and removed her hood, her blood-like hair spilled out and she swiped them to the side before raising her head with pride.

"Zombie's wife - Cranberry Pride."

She introduced herself, as always putting more pressure on her marital status than anything else - and even ended up raising her left hand to show off the wedding ring on her finger.

"Lady Pride!"

Mason gasped and approached her slightly intimidated but somehow also ended up grabbing her hand and shaking it vigorously.

"My big sister has told me so much about you! I cannot even begin to convey how happy I am to see you safe and sound. Whenever Fillia was home she always talked about you, you really meant a lot to her."

Before Cranberry could shake him off angrily, Mason spoke up in a slightly hoarse voice and his eyes filled with tears at the memory of his older sister who sacrificed herself so that the red-haired girl could survive.

"...!"

Cranberry flinched and opened her mouth, but ended up closing it immediately and awkwardly looked at her attendant.

She motioned at the teary-eyed Mason and then raised her brow at her blue undead knight keeping himself to the side.

"...?"

Zombie furrowed his brows, pouted at his eyes, and tilted his head.

"..."

"..."

Cranberry nodded vigorously and motioned at Mason again - at which the blue undead shook his head and bared his teeth in a cheeky grin.

With that exchange Cranberry was asking her blue undead whether or not did he used the mindbreak skill on the green-eyed capture target - but the answer to that was no.

Mason was actually acting like that on his own - and honestly, that was the best outcome.

Even Zombie could clearly remember that Mason from the previous playthrough was a trusting and innocent cinnamon roll, and his story would turn dark only after him becoming the fallen half-elf.

"...thank you for your kind words, sir Mason..."

Cranberry managed to speak up while blushing slightly.

"Fig... that is, Fillia was an amazing friend and I never forget what she did."

"..."

Cranberry smiled softly and lightly patted Mason's hand holding her left hand, with her right hand.

"She was very careful to not reveal her real identity up until the very last moment, but even while disguising herself, she and I had many conversations and she would keep bringing up her younger brother."

The red-haired girl lowered her head a little bit and revealed, and the Cranberry from the current playthrough personality shone the brightest as she was the one eternally grateful but also extremely sad over Fillia's sacrifice.

"Yes... she was really good with the envy-based spells, she was the heir to the registered throne of envy before me after all."

Mason nodded his head and nodded with a melancholic look in his eyes.

"Mason, I..."

"Lady Pride – please, don't apologize for what happened – it wasn't your fault."

The red-haired girl tried to speak up but the brown-haired young man shook his head and stepped back from her, letting go of her hand and raising his arm to stop the girl from talking.

"There is only one guilty side in the tragedy that occurred on that night a couple of years ago – the corrupted main branch of the Envy family."

"...!"

Mason's words most definitely surprised both Cranberry and Lairs, as the still hooded Laris visibly flinched under her cloak.

"I always knew that something was wrong but I kept quiet because I wanted everyone to accept me, so I did everything in my might to adjust... thankfully my sister was there to point me the right way or I would have actually believed my father when he declared that he wants to change the direction that our family was taking and started to act as if he was innocent..."

"...!"

Mason lowered his head, staring at his feet with a bitter expression – but after only a few seconds he straightened his back and looked straight at the disguised elven mage.

"I'm sorry – I was going on and on about my late older sister without inviting the sister I never met to sit down. Please, if you may – it's nice to meet you. My name is Mason Envy. I'm the new avatar of envy."

He said, extending his hand for a handshake towards the shocked elf.

"...fuck...! You...! You already know..?! I-I mean...!"

Lairs flinched, staring at the offered hand in disbelief, taken by surprise by the fact that Mason correctly guessed who she was – well, or at least their relation.

"Hmm...? Ah! Could it be?"

Mason titled his head, furrowing his brows while wondering whether something that he said was all that shocking, but then he gasped and his green eyes widened.

"Am I the only one who received the quest named -cursed sister-? Did I perhaps misunderstand what we talked about before, Zombie?"

The brown-haired boy blushed awkwardly and took back his hand slightly dispirited.

"No. You hot it right. So right that you startled poor Lairs."

Zombie smirked and shook his head before tugging sharply on the elf's cloak and pulling off her hood in one go.