I'm Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 191

***

I checked the time and scanned my surroundings for any suspicious activity.

My mother was dealing with the Empress alone, and the many guests in the ballroom were being taken care of by my father and Innis. The nobles seeking me were handled by Rosemary, giving me the freedom to move about easily, and those who still approached me were dealt with by Enoch and Arthdal, who were well-versed in such situations.

Then I suddenly noticed Kayden’s absence. Where is Kayden?

I looked around the ballroom and saw no sign of the Pope.

“See where the asshole went? That damn Rinnehaon made me miss him.”

Like me, Yuanna looked around for the Pope.

The Pope disappeared with Kayden……. That’s a little unnerving.

Yuanna sighed as she scanned the area, then looked back at me.

“Ah, Margaret. I’ll give you my gift after the party.”

She smiled, winking at me in a natural way. When she was sure no one was around, she tilted her head toward me and whispered in a very low voice.

“I’ve gathered a lot of evidence for the experiment, including letters between House Rohade and the Holy See.”

“Really?”

“Yep. I found them in the basement of the old man’s room.”

By the basement of the old man’s room, she must mean the Pope’s room.

“How could you do something so dangerous…….”

“It was risky, but I’m good at it, and I know how to steal.”

Yuanna patted her chest proudly. Confident in stealing was very out of character for a saint, but that was her.

“By the way, I brought along some experimental journals, and there’s something in there about dimensional rifts and life beyond dimensions, and I’d like to talk to you about it, Meg.”

The mention of dimensional rifts and life beyond dimensions made my hair stand on end.

But I don’t want to bring it up now because we are in such a public place. I turned away, deciding that we would talk about it after the party.

I catch sight of Vanessa again, walking around the ballroom, checking on the tables.

She’s ordering the empty dessert tables to be filled with desserts, bringing in new wine, and more.

Then, Vanessa’s gaze lands on Rinnehaon. He nods toward her. Vanessa took that as a cue and hurried away.

I just stood there and watched Rinnehaon and Vanessa’s suspicious behavior.

***

Vanessa hurried to the kitchen. Rinnehaon had given her the signal.

Waiting for her in the kitchen were two priests of the Holy See. They had slipped in through the back door of the kitchen, which Vanessa had left open. They were there to keep an eye on her.

“Archbishop Rinnehaon has given the signal.”

At Vanessa’s words, the two priests slid a palm-sized tin case onto the table. Vanessa lifted the lid of the tin, revealing a red powder.

“Mix.”

The priest instructed her. Vanessa nervously stirred the powder into the wine that was to go out to the ballroom. Her hands were shaking, but she tried to remain calm.

“When you get the signal again, deliver the wine to the survivors. If you make a mistake, I will tell Lady Floné what you did in the past. You will not be spared.”

Vanessa nodded, still. The two priests looked at each other for a moment, then hurried out the back door of the kitchen, fearing someone else was coming.

“Vanessa!”

Mia, Rosemary’s exclusive maid, popped her head into the kitchen.

“Miss Margaret is looking for you.”

“I’ll be there now.”

Mia, who had entered the kitchen as Vanessa spoke, pointed to two bottles of wine on the table.

“The head maid said we ran out of wine in the ballroom……. Huh? You’ve already uncorked these, haven’t you?”

Wine is usually uncorked and left to sit in the air for about 30 minutes to develop a richer flavor and aroma. Mia assumed the wine on the table had been left for that purpose.

Vanessa swallowed dryly and nodded.

“Yeah, right.”

Mia took the already uncorked bottles of wine without question. Vanessa glanced toward the back door of the kitchen.

The two priests, who had just left as if they hadn’t been there, stood there, watching her.

Her heart sank. There must be no mistake. Vanessa called for Mia, who held a wineglass in each hand.

“Take that straight to Miss Margaret.”

Vanessa’s words stopped Mia in her tracks as she turned to leave the kitchen. She looked back at Vanessa with a puzzled expression on her face. Vanessa moved closer to Mia and placed her hand on the back of her hand holding the wine

“The young lady asked for the wine.”

Vanessa said firmly, and Mia stood there frozen, then nodded.

“Okay.”

Mia quietly opened her hand as she left the kitchen. In her hand was the note Vanessa had handed her earlier.

***

Violet, Duchess of Floné, watched as Vanessa, Margaret’s maid, disappeared into the kitchen, followed closely by Mia, Rosemary’s maid.

Then her gaze locked with Margaret, her second daughter. She, too, must have been watching the two maids. Margaret’s eyes locked with Violet’s and she nodded slowly.

She signaled that the plan had begun.

“Duchess?”

The Empress, who was standing in front of her, called out to Violet again. Violet looked back at the Empress and apologized skillfully and casually.

“Oh, yes. I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

The Empress looked at Violet and fluttered her fan, looking rather tired.

“I’m tired. I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay here for long. It’s difficult to be away from the palace for so long. Don’t be too hard on yourself, Duchess.”

The Empress smiled gently as she turned to Violet.

‘Tired? You’re probably planning to run away before the operation is over.’

“Of course, I understand. You must be very distraught right now.”

The Empress withdrew her hand with a shudder at the mention of Prince Rodvan.

Violet studied her expression carefully. Before, the Empress had been eager to somehow tie her and her daughters to her son. Now she looked at Violet as if she were looking at a balloon that had lost its string.

Perhaps this change in demeanor is because if she attacks House Floné today, she will no longer need them.

Violet glanced at the necklace around the Empress’s neck. She hadn’t been able to see it before because of the cape draped over her shoulders, but when she pulled it back a little, the necklace was revealed. An ugly stone, faded and uneven, had been poorly crafted into a necklace and hung around her neck.

“That’s a very unusual necklace. Did you get it as a gift?”

She had heard that magic stones came in all sizes, but the Empress’s seemed smaller than the others.

The Empress smiled meaningfully at Violet’s comment.

“It was a gift, and it changed my life.”

How dare she wear a necklace to a party like this? Violet was appalled by the Empress’s brazenness, but she smiled along with her, pretending not to notice.

“A life-changing necklace. I’m very curious to know who gave it to you.”

“The greatest wizard in the world. He’s no longer in the world, but ah, I can’t tell you who, for he is an unknown wizard.”

The Empress answered Violet’s question nonchalantly.

It was just as Violet was about to question her more specifically about it that Count Pedersen, the Empress’s father and maternal grandfather of Prince Rodvan, who was standing nearby, approached and whispered something in the Empress’s ear.

Violet saw a smile twitch at the corners of the Empress’s mouth.

***

I turned to Enoch as I watched Vanessa and Mia enter the ballroom, wine in hand.

“Enoch.”

Enoch turned from his conversation with the others to me with a friendly face. The nobles he’d been chatting with took notice and moved away from us. I glanced over, feeling a little embarrassed, and opened my mouth.

“I think it’s begun.”

At my whisper, Enoch’s gaze snapped to Vanessa and Mia, who were approaching us.

We weren’t the only ones following the two maids’ movements. The Empress and Count Pedersen, as well as Archbishop Rinnehaon and the Wizards’ Association.

“Do you know where Kayden is? I haven’t seen him since earlier.”

“I haven’t seen him either.”

Yuanna said to me after taking a quick look around. Then I heard clapping from somewhere.

“Attention, everyone.”

It was the Empress. All eyes turned to her.

“I would like to propose a celebratory toast to Lady Floné. Fill your glasses, everyone.”

No sooner had the Empress finished speaking than Vanessa and Mia approached us. The Empress, who had been watching Vanessa and Mia closely, smiled brightly when her eyes locked with mine.

I looked back at Vanessa. Vanessa poured wine into my glass, then Enoch’s, then Yuanna’s, with an impassive expression on her face. In the distance, I could see Mia filling Ruzef and Arthdal’s glasses with wine as well.

I quietly followed the Empress and raised my wine-filled glass. I could feel eyes on me and the glass I was holding. They must be members of the Peony Blossom.

“A toast to the birthday of Margaret Rose Floné.”

“Cheers!”

As soon as the Empress finished speaking, they raised their glasses in unison in a toast, and everyone drank the wine.

The Empress smiled at me, and I smiled back at her, smiling brightly, and drank the wine. The Empress’s smile deepened when she saw that I had gulped down the wine completely.

Suddenly, I noticed a necklace around her neck that I hadn’t noticed before.

‘Is that……?’

And then,

-koo-koo-kung.

A resounding, massive noise echoed from outside the Floné Castle.

The music stopped.

I could see people gathering toward the terrace of the ballroom in a panic.

Apparently, they had begun to use the magic stones to summon monsters, which means we have to find them now and capture them quickly. It’s a race against time.

Just then, the Empress approached me, her face relaxed.

“The wine is very fragrant.”

I handed the empty glass to Vanessa and glanced back at the Empress, the magic stone around her neck not yet glowing.

“Happy birthday again, young lady. Did you like your birthday present?”

“Sorry?”

“The wine was a gift from me. What’s its name again? Ah, Tentathionem wine.”

The Empress’s smirk as she said that gave me goosebumps.