I'm Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 168

“It must have been very difficult for you.” Heisen echoed Noel’s words, sympathizing with me.

I looked at them in disbelief, then laughed. “If you feel sorry for me that much, you could at least start a rumor.”

“Sorry?”

“I’d love it if you’d spread the word about how I saved your lives here, and what a good lady I am.”

When you say things like this out loud, you have to be shameless. I looked at them, smiling benevolently, with a very calm face.

Noel and Heisen looked puzzled, so I added, half-jokingly, “No, you see, if you feel so sorry for me, don’t just pity me with words, but show it with actions. I think that would be the way to reciprocate.”

At my words, Noel and Heisen looked confused for a moment, but then they nodded with a look of determination on their faces.

“Young lady, I will definitely repay you.”

“Leave it to us, young lady.”

To a certain extent, I meant it. But I didn’t realize then that my words would have a ripple effect in an unexpected direction.

***

The camp of the paladins.

Pope Benatrice stared thoughtfully at the woman seated before him.

The woman, Yuanna, the only saint in the world, the woman chosen by God, was smiling more wickedly than anyone else.

“It’s so good to see you again. I didn’t expect the Holy Father himself to come all the way down to this battlefield. Well, if you’ve heard that the missing have reappeared, you should come running with your ass on fire, shouldn’t you?”

“Ahem, Saintess. You speak too much.” Archbishop Rinnehaon, who was standing next to Pope Benatrice, scolded Yuanna.

Then Ruzef, who was standing next to her, frowned. “Shut up. We all know you’re an accomplice,” he said.

“Excuse me, Archbishop Ruzef. Who are you to raise your voice in front of the Holy Father?!”

“I told you to shut up, Rinnehaon. Unless you don’t know anything about me, don’t make me tell you twice.”

Ruzef’s murderous gaze landed on Archbishop Rinnehaon’s face. There was no one in the Holy See who didn’t know Ruzef’s fierce, unforgiving personality.

Rinnehaon glanced at Pope Benatrice and fell silent.

Yuanna smiled at Pope Benatrice. “You started this war over my disappearance, didn’t you? So agree to the declaration to end the war. The Saintess is back, and is in good shape.”

She added, “If you don’t agree, I don’t know what I’ll do to you. If you do agree, I’ll keep my mouth shut.”

Even without her threats, the tide had already turned. With the return of the Saintess, it would not be a good idea to continue the war in the Holy Land of Romalizan where the Holy See is located, where God is worshipped.

Pope Benatrice gritted his teeth. I don’t know how the hell she got back. The portal gate to Alea Island is broken, and I can’t reach Jenas. That damn mage.

Benatrice hated Jenas, but he trusted his abilities. He had been working on this great experiment for a thousand years.

And now, just as they were about to succeed, things went awry. He couldn’t figure out what had happened.

He gritted his teeth and decided to agree to the declaration of the end of the war as Yuanna wanted.

As soon as Yuanna and Ruzef left the barracks, Benatrice threw down the teacup he was holding. Archbishop Rinnehaon straightened his back and tensed.

“The Peony Blossoms must reunite.”

Benatrice’s words startled Rinnehaon.

“Yes? But the Peony Blossoms are……” Rinnehaon trailed off.

For a millennium, the Peony Blossoms had been working together in secret, conducting experiments, but they were inherently powerful people in opposing positions, making perfect harmony an impossible concept.

So no wonder when the Archmage siblings told them that the experiment was about to succeed, they stabbed each other in the back.

The result was the current war. To get a bigger piece of each other’s pie.

And now they must work together again.

‘Well, what can we do? We mustn’t ruin a thousand years of waiting in vain. Let’s just call a truce until we’ve accomplished our goal.’

As Rinnehaon pondered these thoughts, Pope Benatrice calmly gave him instructions.

Pope Benatricer lowered his voice to a whisper, his face stern. “Find Alea Island, stealthily. Find it before anyone else does.”

“That’s a thousand years’ worth of mana, and it can’t have just been swept away. Whether the island collapsed or not, we’ll be the first to claim what’s left of it. And then we destroy the evidence.”

“As ordered,” Rinnehaon replied, his face determined.

But their plan did not go as planned. Soon after, Enoch and his group revealed the existence of Alea Island to the world.

***

The camp of the Wizards’ Association.

“Son of a bxtch, you’re fucking crazy all the way through. Stop being an axxhole, before I cut your tongue out, you dixxhead.”

Kayden stomped his foot down on the head of his half-brother, Herald.

Taken hostage by Kayden’s sudden appearance, the commanders braced themselves for an attack. But with a wave of his hand, Kayden created a magic circle around the entire camp.

No other wizard could create such an extensive magic circle with a single wave of his hand. It was an overwhelming power.

“Sign it unless you want to be hunted down.”

Kayden ordered coldly, his eyes scanning the wizards. The wizards looked at each other, unwilling to step forward, and Kayden put more pressure on the foot that was stomping on the Herald’s head.

“Ow!”

Herald screamed, and with a snap of his fingers, Kayden activated a magic circle that enveloped the entire camp, bringing one wizard after another to their knees as the mana manifested.

“I may not be able to kill every wizard in this camp, but I can kill you. You know what I mean?”

Kayden is the greatest wizard of this era. There are a total of four Magic Towers on the Western Continent, but even the combined power of the other Lords of the Magic Towers could not match Kayden’s.

The Wizard’s Association, made up of members of the Rohade family and elder wizards, existed to balance the four Magic Towers. But when Kayden’s power grew out of control, they foresaw that they would not be able to handle it. In the height of his rampage, they had even restrained him, forcing him into hibernation.

And now he’s back.

One by one, the wizards signed the end-of-war agreement.

Herald gritted his teeth as he signed the papers, trampled by Kayden.

‘Holy shit, how the hell did this happen?’

Kayden was a sacrifice to Jenas.

As it was supposed to be, Jenas would take over his body and open a dimensional door, throwing the world into chaos.

The current Kayden is clearly Kayden himself. It doesn’t look like Jenas is in his body pretending to be him.

‘Then where is Jenas? What the hell is going on?’

He had to hurry and tell his father, the Duke of Rohade, so they could do something about it. Perhaps they need to get back together. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time before their secrets are revealed to the world.

They have a new goal: to find Alea Island, destroy the evidence, and eliminate all survivors.

***

The negotiations were finally over and the long-awaited end of the war was declared.

At the same time, the existence of Alea Island became known to the world. Thanks to the stories Enoch, Arthdal, Yuanna, and Kayden had spread during the negotiations.

‘We’ve gone missing, we’ve been kidnapped, and there are forces behind our kidnapping. We must suspect those who led the war. The truth of this will be revealed when we find Alea Island, off the southern coast of Langridge Empire,’ was the main thrust of the story.

The military camps have been abuzz with the story, and it has probably spread across the continent by now.

All eyes would be on Langridge’s southern coast, and the Peony Blossoms would not be able to take the initiative and do anything about Alea Island. It remained to be seen what they would do next.

‘But first, I must put on my dress!’

After I had been grumbling about changing my dress for a while, Enoch came into my barracks and helped me put it on.

I was embarrassed and made excuses. “I wish they would have sent me a dress as well as a maid to help me, the war is over.”

“I see the poor environment has made you uncomfortable,” he replied calmly as he stood behind me and tied the straps of my dress.

For some reason, I really do feel like a spoiled aristocratic brat, and I’m getting embarrassed.

“I asked too much of you on the battlefield, I’m ashamed of myself.”

“Ashamed?”

Enoch gave a small, weak chuckle and bowed his head toward me. Then his hot breath touched my bare shoulder. I reflexively flinched away.

A low voice whispered in my ear, “You should be more ashamed of this now.”

He tapped his fingers on my bare shoulder.

Instantly, heat rushed to my face. I must have turned bright red by now. Fortunately, I turned my body so that I couldn’t see Enoch’s face.

I ended up pressing my lips together because I couldn’t think of anything to say.

Enoch didn’t say another word after that, but the occasional touch of his hand on my bare skin made me flinch. Maybe I should have done this alone, even if it was hard.

“This reminds me of our time on the island,” he said, as if recalling a distant memory.

On the island?

Suddenly I remembered Enoch unbuttoning my dress in a mountain valley.

What did we talk about back then?

“What do you want to do the most when you get off the island?”

“First, I’d like to wash myself with soap.”

That wish was made come true before we even left the island. Yuanna had found a bar of soap in the cabin.

“What else?”

“Hmm, I’d like to eat a full meal. The last one I had at the Floné Mansion was amazing.”

That hasn’t happened yet. But now that I’m actually going home, it will happen.

It was a strange feeling. For a time like this to come to us, and for my relationship with him to evolve to this point, I was overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions I couldn’t put into words.

It’s hard to describe the devastation of waking up on an island without knowing why.

I will probably always remember the moment when we leaned on each other for survival through confusion and fear.

Enoch was with me throughout the first days on the island. Maybe that’s why my bond with him is a little different from others.

“Yes, so much has happened since then.”

I heard Enoch chuckle behind me as I murmured softly. Puzzled, I turned slowly to look into his face.

Enoch gently brushed the back of my neck and slowly lowered his head toward me. His hot breath tickled against my face.

“Back then,” he said, “I took your dress off you, and now I’m putting it on you. It’s a new feeling.”

His gaze traced my exposed neckline. I swallowed dryly. Slowly, Enoch’s gaze settled on my face again.