Chapter 67: Always knew...

Zombie was sitting on the floor right next to Cranberry's bed, and he was in a foul mood.

"Are you seriously still brooding over my little joke...?"

Cranberry's head popped up from beneath the covers and she asked in disbelief.

"Graough! (No, I'm not!)"

Zombie growled not looking back at her and started tracing circles on the floor with his finger.

"I can see you can't get over it."

Cranberry, nested on the bed, murmured to Zombie's back.

"Graough. (It wasn't funny at all.)"

Zombie responded all sulky.

"Graough! (And as far as we know the story might actually go that way!)"

He really couldn't let go of that.

That's why he was in Cranberry's room in the first place, even though she calmed down and didn't refuse to let go of him.

Now he wanted to stick around her just in case something would happen.

"Are you angry at me...?"

After a few minutes of silence, Cranberry asked in a careful voice and pulled her hand out from the covers, reaching for Zombie.

"Graough... (I'm not, I know you can protect yourself...)"

He grumbled and offered his left hand without even looking as if he knew exactly what his master wanted.

"Ha ha~!"

Cranberry giggled happily and intertwined their fingers.

She squeezed his hand and he squeezed back.

"Haa..."

Cranberry breathed out with relief and closed her eyes.

"You know? It's not like I'm invincible."

She said suddenly, making Zombie flinch and turn towards her.

"Please, don't hate me for what I'm about to say..."

Her tone changed completely, making Zombie had a bad feeling.

"Even after what all we've been through together until now, I cannot get myself to fully trust you."

She said without opening her eyes.

"Graough?! (Huh?!)"

Zombie growled.

"Don't get me wrong... I do believe what you say, I can see that you are giving your best, and only wish to help me but..."

Her voice shook and she squeezed Zombie's hand a bit harder.

"I can't understand why."

She said heavily.

"I treated you so badly when we first met. During our training sessions I was beating you mercilessly for any mistake I thought you made."

Cranberry hid her head under the covers.

"...I... Because of how I feared my mother, I treated you exactly how she treated me..."

"...graough... (...master...)"

Zombie growled in a pained voice.

"But despite all that, you always treated me with absolute obedience, just like I did my mother. I could never understand why... was it because of my magic that made you my eternal servant? Or was it because we really are similar and you are also planning to..."

Cranberry stopped talking and took a deep breath. She gently caressed Zombie's hand with her thumb.

"Graough! (Master! It's not like that at all!) Graough! (I know what you've been through!) Graough! (I understand you even though we can't communicate that well!)"

Zombie got up on his knees and leaned against Cranberry's bed.

"..."

Cranberry was silent.

"Graough...! (Master, don't be so hard on yourself...!) Graough... (No matter what you did during our training sessions, I never once thought you did that out of malice...) Graough, graough... (You just tried your best to cope with everything, and having a rotten brain like me around must have caused you even more worries...) Graough...! (I know that you can't really understand me, I will go write it down and...!)"

Before Zombie's growls reached their climax, Cranberry slowly poked her face from beneath the covers and looked at him with extreme anxiety.

"Zombie..."

She started and her servant closed his mouth instantly.

"This is the reason I asked you not to hate me..."

Cranberry sighed heavily and took a deep breath as if she was readying herself for a leap of faith.

"I already know all of that."

She said.

"Graough...? (Huh...?) Graough...! (Oh, because I wrote to you about it before...!)"

Zombie groaned in realization and nodded.

"No."

Cranberry shook her head and opened her eyes.

"I know all of that because I can understand your growls."

She confessed.

"I understand what you're saying when you groan. I always did. I just... acted as if I didn't... because I didn't trust you..."

"...!"

Zombie stared at her, baffled out of his mind.

"Graough...? (Are you serious...?)"

He groaned and Cranberry nodded in response.

"Graough...? (You understand me...?)"

He asked.

"Yes, I do."

She confirmed.

"Graough...? (And, you always did...?)"

"Yes. From the very beginning."

"..."

Zombie took back his hand, and Cranberry didn't try to stop him.

Her chin started shaking as if she was about to cry and she hid behind the covers again.

"Graough! (That's so embarrassing!)"

Zombie growled and hid his face in his hands.

"Eh...?!"

Cranberry popped her head back up and stared at her blue undead in confusion.

"Graough! (Noo! I said all those embarrassing stuff thinking you can't understand!)"

Zombie cried pitifully, curling into a ball next to Cranberry's bed.

"Graough...? (So even when I said that...?) Graough...?! (And even that...?!) Graough?! (You knew what I was saying?!)"

He shook his head to the sides trembling from shame.

"Y-you're not mad at me...."

Cranberry stuttered, secretly wiping the tears from the corners of her eyes.

"Graough! (I am mad!)"

Zombie raised his head and showed his embarrassed face.

"Graough! (Master you're so mean!) Graough! (And I always thought you just had that good of an intuition!) Graough! (I made such a fool out of myself!)"

He cried.

"Graough...! (Noo...! I'm going to die from shame...!)"

"There's no way you could die from that, you dummy."

Cranberry managed to smile a little.

"Graough! (I definitely can!) Graough...! (Ugh! This must be why you always called me rotten brain...!) Graough! (You understood what I was saying, but I never realized!) Graough! (I am so dumb!)"

Zombie fell on his side and rolled under the bed.

"Z-Zombie?!"

Cranberry gasped and hurriedly shuffled on the mattress and leaned over to peek at him.

"Graough...! (Just let me rot in here...!)"

The blue undead cried pitifully.

"Haa... Zombie, get out of there..."

Cranberry sighed and reached towards him.

As soon as she grabbed the piece of his shirt, she pulled him out effortlessly.

"Ugh...! Why are you so dusty?! Did maid's never cleaned under there or something...?"

Cranberry leaned away taken aback.

"Graough... (Master, since you've told me the truth does that mean that you trust me now...?)"

Zombie uncurled and glanced at the girl from between his fingers.

"...well..."

Cranberry sighed and crawled back on the mattress and buried herself in the covers.

"...let's just say that..."

She seemed to be carefully choosing her words.

"...if I'm a backstory character that is supposed to die anyway, I wouldn't mind getting killed by you as a part of your backstory..."

She confessed and turned away before Zombie could even respond.