I'm Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 165

I had only heard of Rodvan’s plans, but this is the first time I’ve heard of them coming, this very day.

I looked up at Enoch’s face in surprise. “What? Is that true? Do you have a plan to defend yourself?”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan. Just think of it as a flying insect.”

Enoch was nonchalant, but I was not. It seems like the flying insect is too big.

Arthdal, sitting across from Enoch, chuckled. “Aye, what a futile thing to worry about. Who’s to say he’s not a great man?”

I was instantly relieved by Arthdal’s words.

“And now,” he continued, “we have gathered here to dine together because we have already found the flower Anata spoke of. That is, a peony caught in a spider’s web.”

Arthdal smiled graciously and drank his wine gracefully, his manner so formal that he now looked a little like a real prince.

Arthdal said that someone had come to fetch him from the Kingdom of Hestia this morning, and one of the knights sent to take him had the flower.

It was none other than Aberdeen Christine.

Aberdeen was someone Arthdal had trusted so much that in his last will, he had asked us to find him and deliver his will.

I think he had said that if he died, there was no other heir to the throne.

“The boy has a peony tattooed on the back of his neck. I never once suspected that he had anything to do with the experiment, though I must admit, he’s a very capable boy……”

Arthdal’s face darkened dramatically, and he sighed, draining his wine glass in one gulp.

“Perhaps I am not yet qualified to be king. I don’t deserve to have magic eyes. Ah, now that I only have one magic eye, maybe I really am not qualified.”

Arthdal laughed, drumming his fingers against the patch over his right eye.

We all fell silent, unable to think of anything to say.

“Well, at least we’ve learned that ‘a peony caught in a spider’s web’ is a symbol tattooed somewhere on the bodies of those involved in the plan.”

Enoch, who had been silent at Arthdal’s words, nodded and spoke up, “It would be best to check the bodies of any suspects. The people who have led this war are most likely the ones behind it, and we should investigate them first.”

“That’s true, but conducting a large-scale body search is difficult. They’re not all low-ranking people,” Ruzef replied with some skepticism.

“Yeah, well, if we were on an island, we could just grab them and check them off,” Yuanna said, her brows narrowed in thought.

When Ruzef reprimanded her in the tone of a priest, Yuanna pretended not to hear him. Apparently, she had learned how to talk like that from Kayden.

Enoch added, “Then there’s the option of bribing one of their close ones, or someone who looks after them. If we find the symbol, we should immediately look for evidence of their involvement in the experiment, or their ties to the Holy See and House Rohade.”

Everyone nodded. Then Enoch calmly continued, “I’ve sent a reconnaissance party to Alea Island, maybe they’ll find some evidence there.”

“What? Already?” I stared at Enoch, amazed at his quick thinking.

Arthdal snapped his fingers in fierce agreement. “If we can get other evidence from Alea Island, that would be best, as it would more fully prove their connection to the experiment.”

Kayden squeezed a lemon over his carpaccio and said nonchalantly, “There are other ways to prove the connection. There is a document containing a Blood Oath in the Rohade family. A Blood Oath signed by those who participated in the experiment.”

……what?

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one surprised.

“How do you know that, Lord?”

“It’s about his family.”

Arthdal’s question was answered by Yuanna.

Everyone pondered, until Kayden slammed the fork he was holding down on the table and spoke up, “No, it’s because I’m sealing Jenas inside my body, he told me.”

-dragging sound.

At the same time, everyone but me and Kayden jumped to their feet, each of them on high alert, weapons drawn. I don’t know where all these deadly weapons came from.

I remained seated beside Kayden and quietly took out my flare gun from my pocket, wondering if I should do this too.

Kayden glanced around lazily and wiped a napkin across his mouth. “It’s okay, I made a contract that binds his soul to me forever, and he can never go against my will.”

“……I know about that contract. You’ve done something interesting,” Arthdal responded.

He is not a wizard, but his family’s history with magic made him as knowledgeable about magic and spells as any expert.

“Did you give him a ‘punishment’ then?”

“His soul will be torn apart every time he tries to break free–”

Kayden stood up from his seat.

“Balhyeon,” he said. Then his red eyes sparkled for a moment.

“Every time I say this, a seal is placed on his soul. It’s a punishment that burns his soul.”

Arthdal let out an exclamation of interest. “Whoa. You just did that?”

“The seal has been placed.”

I couldn’t imagine Jenas being tortured mercilessly. The Jenas of last night, the one who had stormed into my barracks, had been so confident.

If he ended up like that, I wonder if dying at once like Anata would have been better.

“How did you bind his soul? I thought Jenas was dead.”

In response to Arthdal’s question, Kayden calmly explained the day’s events. How he had confronted the part of Jenas’ soul that remained in his body, how lightning had suddenly struck Jenas, and how he had taken advantage of it to activate the soul-binding contract.

“Ah, so that’s why the spirits struck you with lightning just before you escaped. For some reason, I thought he was unharmed while Anata burned to death.” Arthdal nodded in understanding.

“Is Jenas listening, by any chance?” Yuanna asked with a twinkle in her eye.

Kayden nodded heavily. Then Yuanna quickly turned to him. “For an archmage who’s lived a thousand years, your end is pretty pathetic. Well, very well.”

-pfft. Kayden burst out laughing as he listened to her.

Just then, a servant carrying a main dish entered the barracks.

He looked horrified when he saw the inside of the barracks and quickly disappeared in a huff. No wonder, for everyone was in a hurry to get to their feet, chairs were scattered on the floor, and we were standing in a confrontation, each with a weapon drawn.

We stared at each other’s faces in awkward silence, but eventually, we each grabbed our own chairs and sat back down.

“Anyway, so we’re supposed to be looking for the Blood Oath, right?” Arthdal broke the silence.

Yuanna narrowed her eyes in disgust and replied, “I can’t believe there is such a thing.”

“I know, right?” Ruzef chimed in.

There was another moment of silence, as if everyone was mulling over what to do next.

The quiet dinner continued…… only until Ruzef, who was enjoying a roasted lamb drumstick, saw Kayden casually sipping red wine.

He said, “I heard that you can’t drink, Lord.”

I looked at Kayden, who was sitting next to me, surprised.

“I’ve never heard that before, Kayden. Can’t you drink?”

“Why not? I can drink.”

I realized that Kayden’s cheeks were already a little red.

“Well, you can have a drink, just don’t get thrown up on and pass out.”

“Hey, Ddaggari! Can’t you just shut up?”

“I guess it’s a dirty wizard thing to be ungrateful for someone else’s concern.”

Actually, that’s probably why Ruzef and Kayden are close friends……

Kayden chuckled uncharacteristically at Ruzef’s provocation, then took a long gulp of the wine he was holding.

“See, I can take this!”

“It’s only one drink.”

Ruzef sneered at Kayden and offered him another glass of wine.

But Ruzef couldn’t give Kayden any more wine, because true to his word, Kayden drank only one glass and fell asleep with his head on the table.

We were all silent for a moment. Even Ruzef, who had suggested the wine, looked bewildered, as if he hadn’t expected it to be this bad.

As I pressed a finger to Kayden’s cheek, I remembered Jenas’ words when he came to visit me. When Kayden enters suspended animation, Jenas can directly control his body.

But nothing happened even after a while. Throughout dinner, I heard Kayden muttering the word “Balhyeon” to himself. Perhaps he has immobilized Jenas’ soul.

Then,

Suddenly, someone walked into the barracks unannounced.

“Hey, I see everyone’s here, huh?”

It was Prince Rodvan.

His fiery red hair caught the eye, and he looked exactly as Margaret remembered.

Enoch was right. I saw the armed knights coming in behind him.

His eyes met mine, and he beamed with delight.

“Oh! Young Lady Floné is here too!”

Rodvan strode up to me and scanned my face blatantly. Why are you acting like we’re friends?

“It’s a pity you look so much like your sister,” he said, “with that face, what a shame that you have a very temperamental personality. I’ve heard rumors that you are a lunatic.”

What the hell? I couldn’t manage my facial expression like I used to do on the island and ended up narrowing my eyebrows.

“Young lady, hang in there.”

That’s when Arthdal patted me on both shoulders, as if to calm a mad dog.

“Look here, prince. If you touch her, she can pierce a man’s stomach. Don’t touch her.”

No, excuse me? That’s like saying, “My dog tears people apart if you mess with it.”

Besides, I don’t think I’ve ever pierced a man’s stomach. He seemed to be talking about piercing monsters with flares.

“Look who it is. Crown Prince Arthdal. Long time no see.”

Rodvan gave him a friendly greeting, as if he knew Arthdal very well. Of course, Rodvan had been a crown prince before Enoch, so it wouldn’t be surprising if he and Arthdal were acquainted.

However, Arthdal……

“I do not wish to spend much time with you. Weren’t you the criminal who tried to kill my brother? Did you escape from exile or something? We also escaped from an island not too long ago, hahaha!”

“……”

He laughed at his own joke, sending a cold chill through the air around him.