I'm Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 190

Innis gestured to one side, where a woman with orange hair stood, blending into the crowd like a shadow.

She is Emily, a journalist for the Burneton Newspaper. I remembered her because her portrait appeared in Emily’s Spotlight column.

Innis smiled and whispered in my ear, “I invited her, secretly.”

With that, the puzzle seemed to fall into place. The newspaper description of the infiltration was somehow more detailed.

“She seemed interested in me and the case, so that’s good,” I replied and smiled brightly at Innis.

Emily would be the perfect person to take good notes and spread the word about today’s events.

“Good luck today, then.”

Innis patted me on the shoulder, and she disappeared without a second thought as if she had finished her business.

Eunji tried poking her head out of my dress pocket, but since I was the main character of the party, there were too many eyes on me, and she eventually ducked back into my dress pocket in frustration.

Even though Eunji can’t speak, it feels like she’s whining. I’ve been saying she looks like an adolescent daughter, but is she really an adolescent?

The one who appeared to be Pope Benatrice, with his long beard and gray hair, pure white robes, red shoulder cloak, and golden belt, approached me first.

I greeted him with a polite bow. “Greetings, Your Holiness the Pope.”

“I recognized you from a mile away. You are as beautiful as rumored, and I congratulate you on your birthday, young lady.”

The Pope smiled at me, his face full of kindness. Judging by his expression, he really did look like a benevolent priest, which made it all the more eerie and terrifying. To think that behind that smile was the blood of so many people.

Kayden, who had been arguing with Ruzef, stiffened at the sight of the Pope. Then his face contorted horribly, his gaze locked on the Pope with intense disgust.

I remembered how he had told me that as a child he had been experimented on in the Holy See and that the Pope was the one in charge of the experimentation.

I shifted my feet and stepped in front of Kayden, blocking his view. The Pope saw me do this and smiled meaningfully. His gaze briefly landed on Kayden behind my back, then moved away.

I looked back at Kayden as the Pope shifted his attention to Yuanna. Recognizing my intent in blocking his view, Kayden looked at me with a complicated expression on his face.

“You’re really……”

He parted his lips, looking like he had a lot to say, but ultimately fell silent, the tips of his lips quivering.

He was too important to me to let him suffer the pain of his past.

I wanted to say something to comfort him, but I couldn’t at this point, because the Empress appeared next.

The Empress walked straight to me, then paused when she spotted Enoch standing next to me.

“Happy birthday, young lady.”

The Empress, who hesitantly greeted me under Enoch’s watchful eye, was soon grabbed by my mother; she winked at me as our eyes met. 

Yuanna approached the Pope with a smile on her face, as if she had been looking forward to this day for a long time.

“It’s surprising that someone with such a heavy butt [1] came all the way here. After coming such a long way, you should be careful. Aren’t you at an alarming age?”

[1] If you have a heavy butt, you will rarely go anywhere, because your butt is stuck to the chair.

She smirked and made a gesture of brushing the dust off the Pope’s shoulders. There was contempt in her eyes as she looked at the Pope.

Yet the Pope did not rebuke her. He seemed to regard her words and actions as the antics of a granddaughter.

“How dare you speak so impudently to the Holy Father? You seem to need more education.”

But it was someone else who criticized Yuanna’s behavior. I glanced at the man in the priestly robes, similar in design to Ruzef’s.

“Rinnehaon.”

Ruzef spat out the name like it was something dirty. He must be an Archbishop.

“Oh, you don’t know how I feel about His Holiness. You speak as if I have never even considered the health of the Holy Father, Archbishop Rinnehaon.”

Yuanna leaned her face into her palm and pitifully wiped away the tears even though there weren’t any.

Her manner of speaking was a bit condescending on the island, but now that we’re on the same side, I can’t help but be impressed by her words. Perhaps I should leave the Pope and Archbishop Rinnehaon to Yuanna and Ruzef.

I think it would be a good idea to talk to Yuanna about the dimensional rift after we’ve resolved all of our problems. As for talking to Kayden, I’ll have to try again then.

I glanced over at Enoch and Kayden. They made eye contact with me and nodded.

Now, it’s time to start getting ready for the magic stones.

***

Rinnehaon furrowed his brow at Ruzef, then glanced around.

Vanessa, Margaret’s exclusive maid, was busily moving in and out of the party, serving wine and other beverages and desserts to the guests.

The Pope looked at him and whispered quietly, “I’m sure you’ve made preparations.”

Rinnehaon bowed hastily. “Of course I have. I’ve bribed one of House Floné’s maids and handed her the ‘thing’, so at your signal, we’ll get to work.”

The plan was to summon the monsters here and then take advantage of the chaos to eliminate the survivors.

The reason for bribing Floné’s maid was to use Tentathionem pollen to put the survivors into unconsciousness so that they could be easily moved, as they had been in the past.

In the process, they would take care of “the work” all at once.

Pope Benatrice smirked, his face still friendly. His control of facial expressions was always remarkable, Rinnehaon thought.

‘That’s what it takes to be a pope.’

“What are you whispering about? Do you have any work orders that exclude me, a saint?” Yuanna stepped between them, smiling broadly.

Rinnehaon frowned. “Of course there are many. Your role and mine are different, aren’t they?”

“I suppose your role is similar to mine, then I should know,” Ruzef refuted Rinnehaon’s words immediately.

The Pope smiled benevolently, stepped back, and whispered to Rinnehaon, “I’ll leave this to you. I must now go to carry out ‘the work’.”

“Leave it to me.”

With that, Rinnehaon pressed his lips together in annoyance and glared at Ruzef.

Annoying bastard……!

***

Kayden slipped quietly out of the ballroom, wanting to make sure the barrier was working.

Even if the Peony Blossoms took out their magic stones and used them, it wouldn’t affect the Floné Castle inside the barrier.

However, if they activated it, the magic stone would glow like Rodvan’s, and they could be captured in the meantime. The ballroom would be the perfect place to swarm and capture such rats.

As he wandered around the ballroom, checking the barrier, someone approached him.

“There you are, Lord.”

Kayden turned warily, then narrowed his eyes at the unexpected figure.

It was Pope Benatrice.

“……what business do you have here?”

“Hmm. I know I shouldn’t expect courtesy from you, Lord, but you’re being too much. Though I suppose we’re not exactly on the best of terms.”

“You didn’t come to me for that bullshit, did you? We aren’t in a relationship for that kind of casual greeting. Unless you want to get your ass kicked, get lost. I’m refraining from violence for Margaret’s sake.”

The Pope chuckled, disgusted, at Kayden’s profanity.

In the sparse memories of Kayden’s horrific experiments as a child, the Pope’s face was always there. The way he’d stared at him, his eyes as dead as his soul, still gave him chills when he thought about it.

“You’ve grown up very well.”

Stroking his chin, the Pope swept his gaze over Kayden as if appraising livestock, then added, “And how is Jenas?”

“What?”

Kayden took a close look at Pope Benatrice, who stood before him.

Did you just say ‘How is Jenas?’

Cautiously, he studied the Pope’s expression carefully, but it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

[This guy doesn’t seem to have grown up well. Can you believe Benatrice is that old already? He was just a toddler when I saw him not too long ago. Humans age so fast.]

Jenas muttered inside Kayden’s mind.

How long ago was that ‘not long ago’? As a human himself, I can’t believe he’s saying that humans age so quickly. Well, he wasn’t a human, he was a monster.

Kayden questioned Jenas in his mind, ‘Do you have any idea what he means?’

[You mean does he know that I’m sealed in your body?]

Jenas replied nonchalantly, as if he were talking about someone else’s matter. Kayden spat out an expletive. Jenas was never helpful when he needed to be.

“What is it you want to say?” Kayden asked nervously.

Pope Benatrice just stroked his beard and laughed meaninglessly.

Then he said, “I have been informed by Marquis Rohade that you are with Jenas.”

Sure enough, Pope Benatrice knew that Jenas was sealed in Kayden’s body.