I'm Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 176

“What happened to Kayden?”

“He’s asleep. He went to the Rohade family today and got some Tentathionem.”

“Tentathionem? What does that have to do with Kayden falling asleep? And why did Kayden get it?”

“I don’t want to answer that with my mouth.”

Jenas sat up stiffly in his chair and crossed his arms. He lifted his chin and looked down at me with an arrogant gaze.

“Besides, even if I gave you the answer, would you believe me?”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

Then Jenas replied, sounding amused, “Yeah, don’t believe me. I spend every waking moment thinking about how I’m going to stab you in the back and kill you.”

The way he looked at me as he said that was suffocatingly eerie. It was the look of a predator, ready to devour me at a moment’s notice.

The horrific days on Alea Island flashed through my mind. Isn’t this what they call post-traumatic stress disorder?

“You have nothing to fear, it won’t happen now,” Jenas added, his eyes scanning my face.

“Maybe not now. What can’t you do now, but you can do later?”

“That remains to be seen.” Jenas smiles languidly.

Where Kayden was sharp and harsh, Jenas had an aura of stimulation and decadence.

Jenas in the form of a child was not like that. I’d rather see the younger Jenas. He didn’t say much, which was kind of cute.

“Did you come all this way to find me without Kayden knowing just to say that?” I asked.

Jenas stopped smiling, his face crumpling in displeasure. “No, I am here to give you a warning.”

“Warning?”

In response to my question, he stood up and slowly leaned his upper body toward me, his face close to mine.

“Don’t let yourself be so defenseless, Margaret.”

He stroked my cheek in a slow motion. “Unless you want to be eaten by the enemy, don’t even relax.”

I wonder if the enemy he’s referring to is himself.

Jenas’ gaze flickered to Eunji, who was sleeping soundly at my bedside, the herbs somehow keeping her from waking up.

“I’m only saying this because I find it amusing to see you only thinking about dealing with my minions.”

“……then what else am I supposed to think about?”

Jenas closed his mouth, his expression gone from his face. Goosebumps broke out on my forearms.

The handsome Kayden I knew, with only a slight change in expression, is now Jenas.

Jenas raised one eyebrow in displeasure. Yeah, that one. It’s an expression Kayden wouldn’t have used. The sight of someone else’s face on top of a familiar one gave me goosebumps.

He stroked his chin and stared at me in silence, his face thoughtful. “Well. If you obey me, I have a mind to teach you.”

“Don’t talk bullshit about obeying you, just fxck off.”

Jenas, who was not even listening to my response, muttered to himself, “I don’t know why you’re here, making all this noise.”

His brow furrowed for a moment, and he glared at me.

Just as I was about to yell at him, wondering what the hell he was going to do, he opened the window and disappeared without a word.

I stared in somewhat despair at the spot where he had disappeared.

What the hell was that axxhole thinking? I don’t think he would just stay quietly inside Kayden’s body, what if he hurts him?

I remembered what Kayden and Arthdal had told me about the soul-binding contract. Given the terms of the contract, I don’t think there’s anything Jenas can do on his own now.

‘I’ll have to tell Kayden tomorrow when I see him.’

In the end, I couldn’t get any sleep thinking about Jenas and Kayden.

26. A War-like Imperial Party

I chose my father as my partner for the welcome home party at the imperial palace.

He was overjoyed, even to the point of tears. In the past, I had never attended a party with him as my partner, though I might have gone alone.

“I’m thrilled that the day has come when I’ll be attending a party with my filly.”

My father dabbed at his tears with his handkerchief in the carriage, while Innis and Rosemary, seated across from him, watched with bored faces.

I turned to them and asked, “What about Mother?”

“She went to the imperial palace first thing in the morning, to see the Empress,” Innis answered.

I’ve heard that the Empress has been trying to win my mother’s favor for a long time, hoping to borrow the power of House Floné, but her efforts were thwarted when Margaret fell in love with Enoch.

That’s why the Empress hates me. I think she thought that without me, the Flonés would be on her side. My mother told me that despite my pursuit of Enoch, she often had tea with the Empress and befriended her.

“You do realize that your mother’s friendship with the Empress is not because she supports Rodvan, right?”

My father, who was sitting next to me, responded with an uncharacteristically serious face.

He added, “We have been suspicious of the movements of the Rohade family for some time. The Marquis Rohade, the Empress, and the Pope. The movements of these three unlikely combinations have been eerily similar.”

My father’s words puzzled me, and I asked, “Their movements were similar? How?”

“All three supported the Shinma War. The Marquis of Rohade and the Pope, sure, but it was odd to see the Empress in the mix. It wouldn’t be surprising if the representatives of each faction were up to something, and Violet wanted to know what their connection was.”

Violet is my mother’s name. I suddenly understood why my mother, a quick-thinking profit-and-loss woman, was still so close to the Empress.

“Then you went missing, and we only recently found out why, through the Duke of Bilterheim,” Innis added.

From the looks of it, the Empress and my mother’s relationship hasn’t been a problem yet, so maybe I should use that to my advantage.

The Empress would probably use it to get something out of my mother, too.

“By the way, are you bringing that snake to the party?”

Innis asked, pointing to Eunji, who had her head on my shoulder. Eunji poked her head out and looked at Innis.

“Eunji can eat a magic stone. And His Majesty wants to see her, so he wants me to bring her to him.”

“What?”

Rosemary looked at Eunji wide-eyed in surprise, while Innis and my father had already heard about the magic stone.

In the midst of this conversation, we arrived in front of the palace.

I took my father’s hand and stepped down from the carriage, feeling a little nervous.

In front of the palace stood a man who was the center of attention.

He had gorgeous silver hair and wore a wizard robe that was somewhat out of place at a party. The robe, though not quite appropriate for the occasion, was very elegant, made of blue fabric and richly studded with gold leaf.

Beneath his long, thick lashes, he had eyes as beautiful as red rubies. I locked eyes with him. He walked straight toward me, a handsome man so stunningly breathtaking that passersby turned to stare.

“Margaret.”

Kayden looked at me, then at my father, then at Innis, then at Rosemary. After a moment’s hesitation, he put one hand on his chest and bowed.

“It’s good to see you again, this is Kayden Blake Rohade.”

It’s impeccably polite, which is surprisingly uncharacteristic of Kayden. I almost doubted he knew any manners at all, but then again, nobles are nobles.

Rosemary’s eyes lit up when she saw Kayden for the first time. “My God, I’ve never seen anyone so handsome in my life. You’re like an angel.”

I stared at Kayden again, unable to believe that the sassy Rosemary was so generous with her praise.

Once again, Kayden responded to Rosemary in his uncharacteristically gracious manner. “Not even close to your beauty, my lady.”

……Kayden saying that? I frowned in disbelief.

“Didn’t you get the letter? I sent it by personal messenger so you could get it right away. My partner today is my father.”

At my words, my father leaned closer and flashed Kayden a glare.

“That’s right, Lord. Don’t you dare try to play tricks on my daughter. My little silly is my partner today.”

Isn’t my nickname filly, not silly? I tilted my head, then realized that those two words suited me, and accepted them.

At my father’s words, Kayden, who had been glancing back and forth between my father and me for a moment, smiled. When he smiled, a charming dimple formed on his cheek, and Rosemary saw it and gave him another admiring look.

“Who am I to covet that position when the young lady has such a wonderful partner by her side? I’m just trying to learn to model His Excellency’s brilliance up close.”

This time I admired Kayden’s eloquence; I hadn’t realized he had this side to him. He’s better at flattery than I thought. It flowed like water.

My father twitched a smile at Kayden’s words and patted him on the shoulder. “You have a great personality, for a young man of your age. That’s good. You can stay close to me.”

Kayden effortlessly took the seat next to me. Very manipulative. I looked at Kayden and shook my head in disbelief.

Innis and Rosemary disappeared with their respective partners, and I walked into the palace with my father and Kayden.

Unsurprisingly, piercing stares were directed at us.

Kayden grabbed goblets of wine from a passing servant’s tray and handed them to my father and me.

“By the way, you didn’t bring your real partner?”

He shrugged his shoulders at my question, then answered, “Of course not. I don’t need anyone but you.”

“But I heard that tonight’s party is one where you need a partner.”

It was customary to bring a partner to imperial parties.

“I know, but it’s better to be called impolite, and who else would I bring as a partner but you?”

“Oh. You have a very great mind,” my father answered for me, sipping the wine Kayden had given him. He seemed to like Kayden very much.

“Your Excellency has such a beautiful daughter. With a woman like Margaret, how could I ever set eyes on another?”

My father chuckled, his face beaming with pleasure. I stared at Kayden with an uneasy expression on my face.

No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem to be Kayden.

I stared at him without responding. Is he Kayden or Jenas?

Then, Kayden leaned over to me. His voice, almost ticklishly low, whispered in my ear, “It’s me. You recognized me this time.”

I stumbled backward, startled. My father, standing nearby, exchanging greetings with another nobleman, looked back at me in surprise.

I smiled at him like it was nothing, then looked back at Kayden, or rather, Jenas.

“You……!”

“I was just asked by my descendant to stall for time, and it looks like that’s over.”

Why stall? Is something wrong with Kayden?

Come to think of it, I remember Jenas saying something about Tentathionem last night.

His eyes sparkled as he said it. I stared at them for a moment as they glowed red and then sank into a calming silence.

Strange. The only thing that had changed was the look in his eyes, and now he looked like Kayden again. He lifted a hand to cover his face tiredly.

“……Kayden?”

“Margaret.”

His voice was strangely sensual. His sharp eyebrows furrowed for a moment. Kayden sighed heavily and apologized to me.

“I’m sorry, things got in the way. That bastard Jenas was in your room last night, wasn’t he?”

“Oh. I was going to tell you, but did Jenas tell you about it first?”

“No. But how could I not know, his soul is ‘bound’ to me.”

Kayden ruffled his hair in annoyance.