I'm Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 200
When Enoch heard my words, he made a deeply pained face. He looked hopeless, as if he had been sentenced to death.
But I had nothing more to say to him. I must organize my mind to follow my destiny.
I had just recognized the bud that had sprouted in my mind, and now I had to cut it down. Tears threatened to fall. I furrowed my brow, holding back a lump in my throat. After swallowing dry saliva several times, I finally opened my mouth.
“Don’t like me.”
Once I crossed the dimension, I could never come back here again. So I couldn’t irresponsibly discuss love with him.
Enoch looked at me as if he expected my answer, then tilted his head sharply and replied, “That is a matter for me to decide, Margaret. I have no intention of forcing my feelings on you, so I hope you’ll leave it at that.”
I shut my mouth, unable to retort. Suddenly, I remembered Kayden’s words.
“But Margaret, whatever reason I’m interested in you, it’s my feelings, so it’s up to me, and that admonition was a little presumptuous.”
What did I think when Kayden said that?
I remember thinking something like, ‘I hope they don’t regret what they said today when they meet the female lead.’
And then what happened? Did Kayden regret his words?
I don’t know. Maybe Enoch will regret his words after I’m gone.
“I’m going to do what I can, the best I can. I’m going to get Kayden back.”
“If you say so.”
He paused, his face tired and dry. A dark shadow fell over his face.
“If you say so, who am I to argue? I respect your opinion, whatever it may be, except that you tell me not to like you.”
I couldn’t say anything, for the dejected look on his face broke my heart even more.
Enoch stroked my hair slowly as he studied my dark face.
“I told you, I’ll be the one to hold your hand again and again.”
“I’ll hold your hand again and again. So you do what you want, and I’ll wait.”
I bit my lower lip hard.
Why did I only now realize my feelings for him?
But to get ahead of myself and tell him the truth would be to invite more hell. I decided to keep my feelings for him to myself for the rest of my life.
Just then, Arthdal and Yuanna, who had been greeting the wizards and Imperial troops in the distance, sneak up on us again. Arthdal put his hands on his waist and spoke to us.
“Why don’t you two come over here and talk again later?
I think it’s time to enter the island.”
With that, I shook off my seat and stood up. Enoch took my hand and helped me to my feet, his expression grim but affectionate.
“Thank you.”
Arthdal scratched his cheek as he watched the subtle exchange between me and Enoch, and then creaked like a broken robot, unsure whether or not to leave us again.
“What’s with the atmosphere?”
Yuanna asked, tilting her head as she looked at Arthdal, who couldn’t hide his bewilderment.
“By the way. You said there’s an automatic explosive device on the island. Are we good to go?”
“I think we should take Sir Diego’s advice on that one first, since he’s probably the one who knows the most about the island out of everyone here.”
Just then, one of the Imperial soldiers who was preparing to move to the dock where the ship was docked approached us. It was Noel, and he bowed politely to Enoch, his fist over his heart.
“A sphere video call from Sir Diego.”
He held up the clear glass orb in his hand. When energized with mana, it would display an image of the person who had taken the coordinates.
Suddenly, I realized that once the mana was gone, all of these things would be useless.
‘There’s going to be chaos.’
Still, it would be better than a world ruled by Jenas.
Enoch placed his hand over the orb, and a whitish mist began to form within it. After a long moment, the mist cleared, revealing Diego’s face. I hadn’t seen him in a long time.
[For the light of Langridge. Greetings, Your Highness.]
Diego greeted Enoch. My heart was relieved at the sight of him.
‘I’m glad you’re okay.’
The two of them, Diego and Marcel, looked unharmed in the video sphere. Apparently, no attack has taken place.
“First of all, we should hold off on entering the island. According to Jenas’s magic experiment journal, the island has an automatic explosive device, and if he’s around, we don’t know when it will blow up.”
As I was telling Diego, Enoch chimed in.
“But I have one question. If Anata devised the automatic explosive device, why didn’t she use it when we escaped and why did she use Jenas’ pendant?”
There was a moment of silence at Enoch’s question.
In hindsight, he’s right. Why would someone create an automatic explosive device? To destroy evidence?
The magic experiment journal only said that Anata devised the automatic explosive device, not why.
What if the device was meant to blow up something other than the island?
‘The island still has the mana that has been stored up for a thousand years…….’
I despaired when I realized it was all speculation.
“I guess that’s something we’ll only know once we meet Jenas, dammit.”
I cursed and pulled at my hair.
“Is Jenas on the island?” Yuanna asked, looking at me.
Enoch nodded, silently scanning the area. “If he hasn’t been seen by now, perhaps.”
Silence fell between us for a moment. Diego and Marcel in the video sphere listened quietly to our conversation, waiting for the command.
“All right, then, here’s what we’re going to do: search the surroundings a bit more, and if we still don’t find him, we’re going to enter the island. And we need to find Bishop Ruzef.”
Everyone nodded at Arthdal’s words, and under Enoch’s command, Imperial troops and wizards began to move.
***
The search of the southern waters of Langridge has begun in earnest.
Enoch led the scouts back to the docks where Margaret, Yuanna, and Arthdal were.
As they stood there surveying the waters, Eunji slithered down from Margaret’s shoulder and took human form. Arthdal, who was standing next to Margaret, gasped in surprise.
“Holy shit, what the hell is this?”
“Eunji is Eunji!”
Eunji exclaimed, clinging to Margaret’s leg. Arthdal and Yuanna stared at the kid in wonder.
Though wearing a pure white dress, the kid was unmistakably a boy.
Margaret nervously scratched her cheek and picked Eunji up, unable to contain Arthdal’s intense reaction.
“I told you Eunji evolved. He can change into human form.”
Eunji weighed more than expected, so Enoch quickly took him from Margaret’s arms and held him instead. Needless to say, Arthdal looked puzzled.
“How can a monster turn into a human?”
Margaret shrugged in response to Arthdal’s question.
“You said it yourself, Eunji imprinted on me, and he gives off a different aura than normal monsters. He evolves every time he eats a magic stone, and I think it’s the effect of that.”
“Ah. I see……. Hmm. I’m surprised he can turn into human, though.”
Arthdal scratched his cheek in disbelief, then wandered over to Eunji in Enoch’s arms.
Margaret, who had been watching them silently, clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention.
“Let’s stop talking and focus on the search, Eunji, come to your Unnie.”
“Yes!”
Eunji, who was being held by Enoch, stretched his arms toward Margaret. Of course, Enoch wouldn’t hand him over to her.
“I don’t want Margaret to have a hard time.”
“Huh?”
“Do you like it when your Unnie is having a hard time?”
“No, I don’t…….”
“Then put up with it.”
“I’ll put up with it. Eunji will turn back into a snake. Snakes aren’t heavy!”
With that, Eunji changed back into his snake form and slithered on the ground to reach Margaret. His head snapped up, his tongue flicked out at Margaret, and he tilted his head. He seemed to be asking for a hug.
Enoch sighed, and Margaret smiled and said it was okay, then picked him up and put him on her shoulder. Arthdal chattered incessantly in front of Eunji, trying to get his attention, but there was no way he could talk once he was back in his snake form.
Watching the commotion, Enoch called Yuanna over quietly.
“A word with you for a moment, I have a question.”
Yuanna looked from Margaret, smiling, to Enoch, puzzled, then nodded and walked away.
Yuanna glanced at Margaret, Arthdal, and Eunji arguing on the dockside, then turned to Enoch.
“What’s the matter?”
Enoch stood there with a blank look on his face, not sure what he was thinking. He was always a man with a hard-to-read face.
Enoch stood still, looking at Yuanna, and after a moment’s hesitation, he spoke in a calm tone.
“If Margaret crosses the dimension, what happens to her after that?”
Yuanna expected it. There was nothing else he could possibly want to talk to her about but Margaret.
No one ever specifically said that Margaret had to cross the dimension. But except for Arthdal, Yuanna and Enoch knew that.
“After that……. I don’t know.”
“You mean she could die?”
“…….”
“Ha……. But, how, how did you get that choice…….”
“You know, there was no choice.”
In response to Yuanna’s blunt answer, Enoch replied, a little angry, “Margaret saved your life, how could you make her make such a cruel choice?”
Enoch knew, of course, that Yuanna had saved Margaret’s life, so there was a causal chain that led to Margaret saving Yuanna’s life, and he knew that none of this was Yuanna’s fault.
Still, like an idiot, he blamed her.
“……I’m sorry, I made a slip of the tongue.”
“It’s true, why apologize? You’re a gentleman, after all, Your Highness the Crown Prince.”
Yuanna spoke in a casual, plain tone and glanced at Margaret. Enoch, who followed her gaze and turned to Margaret, spoke again after a long pause.
“I would like to ask you a favor.”
Hearing Enoch’s next words, Yuanna’s eyes widened and she stared at him.
“Are you serious?”
Enoch nodded in silence as Yuanna repeated her question.
“Lady Floné!”
Arthdal’s shriek-like voice rang out. In an instant, there was a commotion.
Enoch and Yuanna reflexively ran toward Margaret, not knowing what was going on. Margaret pointed the flare gun at someone standing at the end of the dock.
At the end of it, to their surprise, stood Kayden.
Standing on his heels, his eyes scanning the area with grace, he didn’t look like the usual Kayden. Deep, dark red eyes, a gaze of quiet madness, gleamed like a well-honed blade.
No, that’s not Kayden, that’s Jenas.
As soon as he realized it, Enoch hastily grabbed Margaret and hid her behind him. His heart sank heavily. Reason flew out the window like a sheet of paper at the thought of losing Margaret right before his eyes.
He drew his sword and pointed it at Jenas, and Jenas laughed.
He swept his eyes over the people standing around Margaret and sighed.
“Margaret, I’ve been waiting here for you. What’s with all these things?”
“If you’re going to talk shit, just shut up.”
Of course, Margaret’s profanity came right back.