I'm Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 181

I’ve heard from Innis that there’s been a bloodbath in the Kingdom of Hestia. Perhaps Arthdal’s return has freshened things up.

At the end of the letter, Arthdal says he’s found a magic stone, and he’ll bring it to my birthday party and ask Eunji to destroy it.

I’m glad to hear that he found it. That means we’ve already found 3 of the 15 Magic Stones. I wonder if Yuanna and Ruzef have found them as well.

I happily tore open the next letter from Yuanna.

[Dear Margaret, my first, last, and forever friend.]

My eyes were glued to the opening sentence for a moment. Well, it’s not wrong, but it’s very embarrassing.

[……I found two magic stones, and it turns out that the Holy See has some research journals about dimensional rifts, which are technically boring stuff like how the overuse of mana and divine power affects the world. That’s all I could find on the subject……]

Dimensional rifts? The effects of the overuse of mana and divine power on the world?

[If you’re wondering what this means, I’ll tell you when we meet. I can’t wait, I’m really looking forward to your birthday party……]

The next paragraph was a suggestion to wear a matching, twin-like dress. I skimmed it, then pulled out another letter, this time from Ruzef.

[Dear Lady Floné.]

There was a lot of ink smudging, as if he’d been thinking about it a lot.

[……This time, I’m going to give you some really nice flowers, and I hope you’ll be pleased with them.]

This time? I tilted my head in confusion, wondering if I’d ever gotten flowers from Ruzef before.

Other than that, there was nothing more to it than a greeting. I gathered the letters together, filed them away, and started getting ready to go out.

Including Rodvan’s and the one Eunji ate at the welcome home party, we’d taken five magic stones so far, meaning the Peony Blossom faction had a total of ten magic stones remaining.

With all the missing Magic Stones, I’m guessing that by now they’ve realized that we’re collecting Magic Stones and are doing something about it.

So today, we decided to visit Kayden’s Magic Tower. The only way to get the other 10 Magic Stones is to talk to the Archbishop from yesterday’s party.

***

As a child, Enoch had no one to turn to; he was scorned and shunned as a dirty-blooded prince.

But if you ask me, was he ashamed of his mother, I don’t know. He had never seen her with his own eyes. His mother was poisoned shortly after giving birth to him. Everyone said the Empress was the culprit, but there was no proof.

The imperial palace was like a sheet of ice for young Enoch to survive on his own.

There was Rodvan, the Empress’s son, but the Emperor had declared that the crown would go to the most capable heir.

The competition was fierce and mean. It was harsh, even for children, for it was for the title of crown prince and nothing else.

“Enoch, if you have a conscience, stay out of this. No one wants you to win this competition.”

That’s what Enoch’s older brother said to him. If you ask me if that made Enoch hesitate, I don’t know.

He died the very next day after giving Enoch that warning. In a carriage accident.

That’s when it started. Enoch’s brothers died in mysterious accidents.

His second brother used to say, “Hey, you smell like shit, get lost.”

His third brother said, “I heard you got a perfect score on today’s test, but don’t pat yourself on the back. There’s no one here who would be happy if you got a perfect score.”

“Why do you always come to the dinner table? You know everyone hates you. From tomorrow, just eat alone in your room,” said his sister.

They’re all dead, except Rodvan who was so protected by the Empress. Under the Empress’s machinations, even the Emperor, who had told them to compete, had turned a blind eye. It must have seemed like a competition to him, too.

Enoch was the last man standing, and the reason was simple: he was too lowly to pose a threat to Rodvan. It helped him survive, but it wasn’t a pleasant fact.

It was probably around that time that he met Margaret.

“My God, they never told me the ash-covered prince was this handsome.”

That’s what Margaret said to his face when she first saw him. He’d heard people refer to him as a dirty-blooded prince, a term that implied vulgarity. It was hard to tell which was better, an ash-covered prince or a dirty-blooded prince.

“I like you.”

Margaret was a woman dedicated to her desires, and she was rude and brash, unbefitting a duke’s daughter. Perhaps she thought she could get away with it.

“I honestly don’t understand why you are so insistent on not marrying me, not being engaged to me, when I have something you don’t have: pure noble blood.”

In truth, she was not wrong, which made her all the more incomprehensible. Why would the young lady of Floné make such a fuss about marrying the dirty-blooded prince?

The Duke and Duchess of Floné’s love for their unusual daughter was famous, and so were their other two daughters, who grew up in the shadow of that love.

Margaret was born into a noble family, something he had always admired and longed for, but he did not envy her. Rumored to be the most beautiful of the three daughters of the Duke and Duchess of Floné, Enoch only thought that her appearance was a waste.

She said she liked him, but there was not a hair’s breadth of respect in her demeanor toward him.

That was fine with him. He’d never met a single person in his life who respected him anyway.

One day Margaret said to him:

“If you’re offended that I insult you at every turn, you should become a crown prince.”

“What?”

In response to his shocked question, Margaret shrugged her shoulders as if it were no big deal.

“I mean, don’t people usually try to take power when they’re wronged? I was just saying that’s what you should do, and frankly, in terms of sheer power, you have the ability to do it. So use me. Respect comes from power.”

By Margaret’s logic, he should honor the Emperor for being silent when his brothers died, as well as the Empress and Rodvan for bringing them to their deaths.

“Your argument is wrong. Respect comes from character.”

“Hmm. That only applies when the world is equal. In this world, power comes first, and the rest comes after. If you want something, it’s never too late.”

“Not worth listening to.”

Even as he said it, Enoch knew she wasn’t wrong. Margaret, seemingly without a thought, had deliberately scratched at his insides with a conviction of her own. That made it worse, he thought, but it certainly stimulated him.

Of course, that stimulation eventually ended with his deployment to the Battle of Romalizan.

At the Battle of Romalizan, Enoch made up his mind. As Margaret had said, he should become a crown prince.

“In this world, power comes first, and the rest comes after. If you want something, it’s never too late.”

Every time he came close to dying in battle, he thought of Margaret’s words.

But when he returned home after the victory, after he had taken the crown from Rodvan, he felt empty.

He had power, but he was not happy. Perhaps it was because so much blood had been shed for him.

Then Margaret asked him to marry her.

“Marriage is more important now that you’re a crown prince. You need to strengthen your position. Consider yourself fortunate that I, the daughter of Duke of Floné, like you.”

“Let me ask you, then. Is it really only my looks that make you like me?”

At his question, Margaret stared into his face for a moment without answering.

“I’m curious, too. Do you consider your looks to be less valuable than other aspects of you, Your Highness?”

“I was born with it, without any effort on my part.”

“Is it so bad that I started to like you because of your looks? Oh, by any chance, do you want to know how far I can go for you?”

Enoch was at a loss for words; if he kept talking to her, he’d end up with the same type of response.

And what immediately followed was the incident with the love potion.

“You’re always denying me my heart. Do people really need a clear reason to like someone? I just wanted to be loved by you for no reason.”

What sophistry. Margaret didn’t even reflect. He was tired of her, and sick of her strangling him in the name of her love for him.

But every time he tried to put her out of his mind, her voice burrowed into his bones.

“Respect comes from power.”

He wondered if he had been brainwashed by Margaret. He began to wonder if he had realized it sooner, could he have had a more peaceful childhood and a smoother path to adulthood?

“Do people really need a clear reason to like someone? I just wanted to be loved by you for no reason.”

Though he could never forgive her for the things she had said and done to him, Enoch sympathized with her.

He too wanted to be loved for no reason. If his mother were still alive, would he have been able to receive even a sliver of that love?

Worst of all, he was miserable to hear those words from the woman he despised the most.

Enoch could not accept Margaret, but even as he loathed her, he understood all that she said. She was so different from him, and he sympathized with her. He hated himself for it, disgusted himself, unbearably.

“Have you been waiting long?”

Enoch, buried in his memories of the past, looked up, his eyes catching sight of the gorgeous woman in front of him.

Does she know he’s been thinking about her the entire time he’s been waiting for her?

“No, I was just here.”

Enoch kissed the back of her hand reverently. He loved the feel of her hand in his.

He wondered if his old self had really disliked and despised Margaret. Maybe he didn’t want to admit it, but he sympathized and understood her.

He opened his mouth without thinking.

“Margaret. There’s something I want to ask you.”