I'm Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 3

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The sun disappeared beyond the horizon during our ordeal, signifying the end of our expedition, lest we wanted to encounter more monsters. I doubted my heart could handle more shock for today.

We eventually returned to the beach and decided it was safer to camp away from the forest. By chance, I found a huge log collapsed beside a palm tree. It seemed like a sufficient barrier to use for hiding. It was closer to the border of the forest than I liked, but its location would lessen the chances of the tide reaching us in our sleep. We decided to make a shelter here for the night.

As soon as I kneeled next to the log, I started carving a hole in the sand large enough to accommodate a person to lie down in. I dug until I reached a gravel layer under the sand, which would provide better support.

“I need branches. I’m going to lay them against the walls to prevent the sand from collapsing on us,” I said.

Enoch stopped examining my work and looked at me with a face that showed he had many questions but didn’t know which one to ask first.

“Your Highness, I need branches.”

He could only stare in puzzlement but did as I asked. Once gathered, I placed them accordingly. We did our best to collect as much moss as we could find to enhance the comfort of our makeshift shelter. It was damp and fluffy, serving as a good spread to lie on, and they were suitable to use as a substitute for toilet paper in the wild.

“I also need something to layer on top……”

I was going to suggest palm leaves, but before I could finish my sentence, Enoch presented a stacked pile of said fronds and arranged them along the dugout. He went the extra step to erect sturdy branches at an angle using the fallen log as support and spread more leaves on the construction to create a roof. Everything made for a plausible shelter. 

Enoch and I unexpectedly hit our hands and feet quite well.[1]
[1] It means they have good teamwork.

“I have no desire to sleep beside you, so keep your distance.”

I shot him a side glance and said, “I could say the same for you. Who knows what you may do while I’m at my most vulnerable.”

There was a moment of silence, in which he stared at me, dumbfounded.

“You mean to say what you may do?”

“No, I mean Your Highness,” I bluntly insisted.

His face twisted in displeasure but not wishing to pursue the topic, he shut his mouth. It seemed he was having trouble adapting to the change in my behavior; however, there were more crucial problems at hand to solve than to ponder about my changes.

Despite his warning, Enoch gestured for me to settle in the hollowed-out bed while he sat on the log. As expected of a male lead, his manners were perfect and apparently ingrained at such depths he would extend courtesy to the woman he hated.

As I took a seat, I stared at Enoch’s profile in solemn contemplation. “Your Highness, aren’t you thirsty?”

He turned to me in question.

Having just sat down, I stood once more. “Wait here, I’ll gather some coconuts.”

We were fortunate to be surrounded by coconut trees, and I happened to be good at scaling them. I would pick fruits from trees as a child, thus it was no challenge. I preferred for the good coconuts to fall to save me the energy, but I would do what was needed to keep us hydrated.

Before I could travel far, Enoch stopped me with a question. “Where are you going? Stay here.”

“I’m not going too far; there are some coconut trees a few feet away.”

“I hardly believe in you. Are you not going to take advantage of any opportunity to run away?”

I kept silent and avoided eye contact.

“I told you once before, you are not completely excluded from being a suspect, so stay by my side until we return to the Empire.”

Although his phrasing was ambiguous, I complied. It wasn’t that I didn’t understand his doubts, but that didn’t mean I enjoyed being reminded of how he saw me as nothing more than an incarnate of evil.

With furrowed eyebrows, he said in a softer tone, “I’ll go in your place, just describe what the coconut looks like.”

Reluctantly, I provided a succinct depiction. He left after listening to my explanation and returned with two coconuts in hand. He claimed to hate me but faithfully did everything I asked of him.

“Did you climb the tree to pick them?”

“No, as Young Lady Margaret has said, there were plenty on the ground. With that in mind, how is our thirst related to this nut?”

“There’s water inside, and it’s great for rehydration,” I said, tapping the coconut to listen for its signature hollow sound.

The shell was thick, meaning I wouldn’t be able to open it without proper tools. I would have to be resourceful in this case. I searched for two stones on the shore, one tapered to a blunt point and one rounded to fit in my palm. Stabilizing the coconut between my knees, I placed the pointed end of the first rock on the surface and hammered the opposite end with the second rock. Ideally, the method would have worked as a chisel and hammer, but the shell was proving to be impenetrable.

After a short time, Enoch sighed at my efforts. He took the coconut from me and dug his thumbs into the area I was chipping at until the shell caved in with a resounding crack. I sat back in shock. I didn’t think it was possible to puncture a coconut with one’s bare hands.

As he was tilting the opening over his mouth, I stopped him and exclaimed, “Wait, don’t drink it! If this coconut has fallen, it may not be ripe if mites have gotten to the tree.”

Regardless of his confusion, he surrendered the nut to me. I dipped my finger into the water and tasted it.

“It’s ripe.” I returned it to him once I determined there was nothing unusual about the flavor.

He created another hole in the second coconut, handed it to me, and we both drank from them. I threw my head back to catch every drop, not taking a moment to breathe. Unfortunately, it seemed the meat inside was too tough to eat, otherwise I would have asked Enough to split it open after we finished off the water.

I set the coconut down and sighed in relief. “We should be fine for tonight.”

“You’re far more knowledgeable than I assumed,” Enoch confessed, sounding at ease now that he was hydrated. 

I responded with a silent shrug.

Come to think of it, I remembered Margaret and Enoch suffered from dehydration in the original story. They drank rainwater or collected dew for several days before they met Yuanna; however, Enoch was adapting easily thanks to me, and he saved my life from the monster.

‘Is this what mutual aid was?’

With that thought, I looked toward the ocean where waves met the shore in soothing crashes. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around how everything was possible. Was I even alive? Was I really living inside a novel?

Enoch quietly watched me before opening his mouth to say, “Young Lady Margaret seems to have genuinely become a different person.”

“I am a different person.”

I could do nothing but tell the truth, regardless if he believed me or not. Yet, why didn’t he trust me? You were the one who said I looked like a different person first.

“For sure, judging by Young Lady’s situation judgment and problem-solving, I wonder if you are the Floné Lady I knew.”

Enoch had a face that needed an explanation, but I had nothing to explain.

“You acted so differently. When faced with a situation like this, you are usually not even as calm as this.”

I nodded in agreement with Enoch’s words. However, there was no way to explain it either.

The original Margaret Rose Floné was a daughter of an esteemed duke’s family. Of course, it was impossible for her, who had never set foot on the beach, to act skillfully in a situation like this.

But before the possession, I was a person who lived a completely different life from Margaret.

That’s right, I was a Girl Scout captain instructor whose hobby was hardcore camping.

After I became an instructor, I worked for a company that sold camping gear. I also enjoyed outdoor sports of all kinds, and there were times when I went on a trip to a tropical area and experienced a backcountry experience.

At that time, I thought it was a truly spectacular life, but now, it’s nothing more than being stuck on a remote island.

Still, maybe I have a higher chance of survival than the average person?

Who would have thought such experiences would be so helpful.

But my biggest problem is that my combat power is zero, so if a monster or wild beast appears, I will immediately die.

“People tend to change when they are driven into extreme environments.”

I focused on what had changed and made excuses.

Acting like I’m not Margaret was never a good option. It’s like being a suspicious person voluntarily.

It could lead to a misunderstanding that I might be the one who kidnapped Enoch or the one who created this situation.

Enoch made a face that he did not understand what I was saying.

“Well, that’s rare.”

Then he answered with a low voice.

Only then did I think it wasn’t something to say in front of him who had been on all kinds of battlefields.

In the end, I kept my mouth closed, having nothing to say. And I lay on the small simple bedding and looked up at the sky.

While staring blankly at the sky, Enoch suddenly said, “That creature is not an animal. It has an aura similar to a monster.”