I’ll Steal Everything and Escape - Chapter 15

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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15.
“Elodie Pontaine. So you’re alive.”
Those golden eyes curved with delight, and it was utterly unsettling. Elodie found herself trapped in his grip, squirming helplessly.
“Well, I’m glad everyone’s safe, but… just a moment.”
“How could I not?”
Her shoulder was yanked sharply, and a strand of red hair brushed the nape of her neck. The prince’s arm drew her into a light embrace.
‘…An embrace?’
Robert Bayern, embracing Elodie Pontaine?
A red warning lamp flickered on in her head. Something was off.
“Elodie Pontaine.”
Robert let a laugh slip out. His low, deep voice grazed her ear.
“I went looking for the Tree of Rest, where you said you were staying, but it was empty.”
Elodie stepped back with a jolt. Her amethyst eyes swept over him quickly. Heavy shadows hung beneath his eyes. His gaze pierced down at her, cold and sharp.
‘…He already looks this bad?’
Robert’s expression was
memory
Elodie swallowed hard. The prince… was anxious.
“So you’ve changed your residence.”
Elodie calmly pushed his arm away.
“I had something to find. It must have been hard to get out here, but you managed to track me down.”
“Though I’m not quite as good as you, my results have been rather impressive.”
Robert’s lips curled up slyly.
“Seeing how those enormous trees have been trampled, staying there any longer seems dangerous. So where would you have gone?”
His eyes, shining like the sun, raked over her body, which appeared unharmed.
“The swamp demonic beasts are dangerous, and the beach had its unpleasant incidents, so you must have avoided both. If it were you…”
The prince reproached Elodie in a gentle voice.
“I thought you might have noticed we were being chased by demonic beasts, so you wouldn’t have bothered coming to find us. That’s all I was thinking.”
“Just as expected of Lord Robert!”
The prince squared his shoulders as though it were only natural.
“Elodieeee!”
Ugh. Elodie let out a sigh, careful not to let it show.
“First Kamil, and now you, all going off on your own! Do you have any idea how dangerous this place is?”
Silvia came rushing over and claimed the spot beside Elodie. A soft arm slipped neatly between their sides.
“It’s a miracle you’re still alive, you know?”
She gulped, clearly very interested in the tropical fruit she had been harvesting just moments ago.
“Elodie, did you find out anything? I’m really, really struggling…”
Her clear eyes welled up with tears.
‘What am I supposed to do with this?’
I didn’t expect Robert’s group to move this quickly. Elodie snapped off a banana and took a big bite.
“Me neither. What could I possibly know?”
“Eh, Elodie. Listen.”
“Sharing information comes first.”
Robert stepped closer again. The hand holding the banana twitched.
‘So it wasn’t a coincidence. He really did come looking for me.’
[Right now, finding Louise and Stefan is the priority. Elodie, stay hidden there alone for the time being.]
I was supposed to be far down the list, though. Elodie rolled her eyes.
“Let’s share the information we’ve gathered so far. The beach side turned up nothing.”
He looked down at Elodie’s meek, harmless face as though it were the most natural thing in the world. Just then.
“…Robert.”
Without warning, a rebellious streak she’d never shown before raised its head.
“If I hand over the information, what can you give me in return?”
“What?”
The atmosphere turned icy, as if someone had poured ice water over it. Silvia abruptly pulled her arm away from Elodie’s.
“What’s that supposed to mean? ‘What can you give me?'”
“Elodie Pontaine, how dare you talk back like that!”
“Enough.”
Robert’s brow twitched.
“…Elodie. There seems to be some other reason you didn’t come with Tristan.”
“Haven’t you already heard everything?”
Elodie chewed her banana with a pitiful expression.
“I’m going to look for Kamil.”
The moment that name left her mouth, Robert’s jaw tightened.
“If you join us, we’ll get there much faster.”
“No.”
Her amethyst eyes met his, steady and clear.
“If I go with you lot, I won’t find him even if a year passes.”
“That’s ridiculous, you can’t just—”
“Be honest. You think so too.”
As if you ever believed the real Kamil would join us. Elodie stepped back.
“I’ve decided to travel with Kamil Beltier, even if I have to go alone.”
“W-what? Alone?”
“Hey. Did you swallow something bad?”
Murmurs rippled through the group. Her lips curled up at one corner.
“You’re the ones who said I wasn’t needed.”
“…What?”
Robert’s group gaped at her as if she’d lost her mind. A chapped finger twisted a strand of pale blond hair.
“If you want to do it so badly, go ahead and try it on your own. Not that you’d be any use.”
Stefan, who had been lagging behind as though he were sick, gave a sudden jerk of his shoulders.
“You, what are you even—”
The thief who remembered everything didn’t stop there.
“Of all the situations to end up stuck with Elodie Pontaine.”
“Well, what can I do? Dahlia’s sick, after all.”
Silvia pressed a hand to her chest, as if deeply wronged.
“So now I’m supposed to babysit that thing?”
“Well… taking her along wouldn’t help anyone, anyway.”
Tristan’s thick brows twitched. The corner of Elodie’s mouth lifted slightly. That huge Ice Wall, which by rights should have been his.
“My memory’s excellent. Once I hear something, I just can’t forget it.”
So, I’ve already stolen it.
“We’re asking you politely. Rescue isn’t coming anytime soon, so I think pooling our strength is the sensible choice.”
Robert rattled off reasonable-sounding words with ease. Fiery red hair. Arrogant brows. A smile that curled up at the corners. There had been a time when Elodie admired that unwavering confidence of his. But she had already chosen her path.
‘I’ll steal everything of Robert’s, too.’
She had no intention of being buried on this island with them. Even alone, she was getting out, no matter what.
Elodie bent her knees slightly and offered him a smile.
“I really don’t know anything. If rescue comes, just pass the word along. I’m useless, and I’m far too scared of the demonic beasts, so I’d rather stay holed up in the cave.”
“Elodie Pontaine!”
“Well then, take care of yourselves, everyone.”
It’s all or nothing now. Elodie Pontaine savored the stinging stares and strode off with wide, confident steps.
‘My heart hurts.’
Maybe it’s because they hadn’t been on the island long. I’d braced myself for a few blows, but thankfully they still seem to be clinging to their noble dignity.
‘That won’t last much longer.’
Elodie pressed a hand to her chest and set her mind racing. The imperial prince’s group had sped up their movement. Originally, they would have lingered longer on the beach. From the beach, chased by demonic beasts, to the marsh, and then toward the Lava Basin.
‘Still, the order’s roughly the same.’
This time, Louise and Tristan would have joined up quickly, making it easier to deal with the demonic beasts.
“Good thing I brought Red along early.”
Elodie tapped her fingers against her thigh as she sorted through her thoughts.
Now that things had come to this, she’d have to give up on expanding the sweet potato patch. Instead, there was something new to prepare for.
* * *
“Such outrageous behavior! How dare she, as a citizen of the Empire!”
Tristan stomped his foot, fuming.
“She must be given a severe punishment!”
“And I thought she was a good kid, but how disappointing! She had plenty of food in that bag!”
“How on earth did a girl like that make it all the way out here alone?”
Elodie Pontaine had survived alone for nearly a month. Everyone wrinkled their brows in the same way.
‘We’ve suffered this much too, so how did she manage it?’
Who was Elodie Pontaine, anyway? She was the bookworm who had barely registered at the Academy. She might have ranked among the elite in studies, but in everything else she was an ordinary student with nothing worth noticing.
“No matter how I think about it, I can’t understand it. How did she survive from that height?”
“She found a cave? Didn’t she just get bitten to death by cave bats?”
Robert, clearly not in a good mood either, ran a hand through his hair. Tristan caught the shift in his expression at once and raised his hand to speak.
“Lord Robert! I think Elodie Pontaine needs to be brought back to her senses.”
“I agree! She dares to copy me? She needs to taste some bitterness!”
“I want a banana too…”
Silvia clutched her stomach and mumbled, while Robert, perched on a boulder, crossed one leg over the other.
“It’s not that there’s no way, you know.”
Robert let out a quiet snicker.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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