I’m Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 132
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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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Chapter 132
“If the flower scent hasn’t faded yet, what should we do? Archbishop, come inside for now.”
At my words, Enoch and Kaiden hurriedly grabbed Archbishop Luzef and dragged him into the room. We locked the door firmly behind us.
Archbishop Luzef, pulled into the room, pushed Enoch and Kaiden aside and approached me, taking my hand.
“What happened? Young Lady, you’re safe!”
He pressed his forehead against the back of my hand as if in prayer, then released a sigh of relief. I stared at him with a bewildered expression.
After remaining in that position for quite some time, he suddenly lifted his head and shouted at me.
“How could you leave so suddenly!”
Archbishop Luzef’s face was filled with anger. Or was it hurt? In any case, his deeply furrowed expression fixed on me as he pulled my hand and drew me into an embrace.
“…I was worried.”
His body, with his face buried against my shoulder, trembled.
Held in Archbishop Luzef’s embrace, I looked toward Enoch and Kaiden. Enoch stood with his arms crossed, saying nothing, while Kaiden shrugged his shoulders, observing the scene.
“What happened? Where is Lord Diego? Why is everyone separated?”
“Well… to find you, Young Lady, we split into two teams—His Highness and Lord with one group, and Lord Diego and myself with another.”
In response to my question, Archbishop Luzef glanced at Enoch and Kaiden before answering. Enoch nodded in agreement.
Archbishop Luzef recounted the situation, searching his memory.
“Lord Diego, who was conducting reconnaissance through the forest with me, suddenly vanished. He disappeared without a sound, and while I was wandering through the forest in confusion, I discovered this place.”
“He suddenly vanished? Did something happen to him?”
“I’m not entirely certain what occurred.”
Archbishop Luzef answered with a confused expression, then wearily rubbed his face. Now that I looked at him, he appeared quite haggard. It seemed as though he hadn’t been sleeping properly again.
Grrrrowwwl—
A loud rumbling sound emanated from Archbishop Luzef’s stomach, announcing his hunger. Embarrassed, his face flushed crimson. Archbishop Luzef, startled and flustered, soon hung his head low.
“I’m… I’m very hungry.”
Hearing his words, I realized I was hungry too. I had found canned goods here, but Enoch, Kaiden, and Archbishop Luzef had not.
The last meal I could remember was just before that enormous Anaconda Magical Beast appeared.
It wouldn’t have been surprising if we all collapsed right then and there.
“Should we eat first and talk afterward?”
At my suggestion, Archbishop Luzef looked uncertain and asked me.
“Do we have food?”
Enoch and Kaiden also looked at me curiously. I retrieved the bag I had prepared and pulled out canned goods from inside.
In the end, we decided to have a quick bite before assessing the situation and making plans. I sat on the floor, opened the cans, and distributed them to everyone.
“What exactly is this? How does it taste like this?”
Archbishop Luzef, having eaten the ham from the can, opened his eyes wide as if he had discovered a new world, and beamed with delight. I found myself feeling proud as well.
Meanwhile, Kaiden and Enoch wore somewhat subtle expressions as they ate. I looked at them with a puzzled face and asked.
“Doesn’t it taste good?”
“Uh…?”
Kaiden looked at me with a flustered expression and averted his gaze.
“It’s not that…”
“Originally, I had intended to discuss this separately when it was just the two of us with Lord. However, the Archbishop should be fine.”
Enoch answered in place of Kaiden, who was hesitating and trailing off. Archbishop Luzef, unexpectedly called upon, blinked in confusion.
“Margaret, there’s something else I want to ask you.”
Enoch regarded me with a composed expression.
The moment he spoke, Archbishop Luzef—who had been bewildered moments before—seemed to grasp something, his eyes searching mine.
Why did they look so uneasy?
Without thinking, I tensed and met his gaze. Eun-ji, who had been dozing nearby, opened her eyes and crawled into my lap, clinging to me.
Enoch, observing this quietly, asked his question.
“That damned Great Mage claimed there’s another soul dwelling within your body.”
“…What?”
Shock froze me in place. Kaiden exhaled heavily and added his words.
“We believe only what you tell us, Margaret. So tell us the truth.”
My heart plummeted.
I set down the canned food I’d been holding. I forced my face to remain calm, but my blood ran cold.
I looked at Enoch, Kaiden, and Archbishop Luzef in turn. All three were watching me intently.
I was terrified.
Were they disappointed?
Did they feel betrayed by me? Or were they doubting me?
I racked my brain desperately for the right words. How could I make them understand?
As I wrestled with these thoughts, tears suddenly welled up. My eyes burned as they filled with moisture.
When the tears finally spilled over and rolled down my cheeks, the three men scrambled in confusion.
“If it’s true, you’ll all hate me, won’t you?”
The tears continued to flow relentlessly.
I had only wanted to survive alone at first. How had things become like this?
I had never opened my heart to others like this before. I didn’t know what Margaret Rose Flone would have done, but right now, I was Lee Jin-ju.
I cared for these men. There was no denying it now. Beyond any rational sentiment, I simply cared for them as people.
I wiped my tears away roughly with the back of my hand and looked at the three men.
“I’m sorry for lying…”
I couldn’t finish my words. My face contorted as sobs rose to my throat, choking off my voice.
‘I’m the one who’s been lying all this time.’
I had known for some time that they had begun to trust me. Yet I had deliberately kept them at arm’s length—cowardly.
I was afraid of being despised by those to whom I had opened my heart for the first time, but now there was no escape.
If I told them the truth and shared my secret, could we develop into a relationship where our hearts truly connected?
Only the sound of stifled sobs and sniffling filled the room.
“Margaret, I’m sorry. Don’t cry.”
Kaiden was the first to break the silence. He apologized helplessly.
But once the tears had started, they wouldn’t stop easily. Even wiping them away with my hands was becoming futile.
Unable to bear it any longer, Enoch retrieved a spare T-shirt from the rack. He carefully examined my face as he gently wiped away my tears.
Though he said nothing, that tender touch only brought a deeper sorrow.
Even as he continued to wipe my face, the tears flowing from my eyes showed no sign of stopping.
Enoch sighed and finally lowered his hand. He had realized that wiping away tears wasn’t the real problem.
Archbishop Luzef and Kaiden stood on either side of me, creaking awkwardly like broken machines.
“Margaret.”
I sniffled and looked up at Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid. His gaze was relentless, as though demanding an answer to the question he’d posed moments before.
I finally swallowed my tears and opened my mouth.
“Did Jenas say anything else?”
“That there exists another soul within you, that you have deceived us all. That is all I heard.”
It seemed he had spoken those words to sow discord. Did Jenas know that I was Lee Jin-ju? Had Anata told him? How much of me did Jenas truly know?
He didn’t seem to know the truth—that I was the “real” Margaret Rose Flone.
As I pondered this, Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid spoke.
“I was aware those words were spoken merely to create discord, so do not worry.”
“But it’s the truth.”
I muttered hollowly. At my honest confession, Kaiden grabbed my shoulder with a shocked expression.
“You’re really not Margaret?”
I felt a pang of hurt seeing Kaiden’s incredulous face. We had shared emotional exchanges all this time, and now that I wasn’t Margaret, did he dislike me?
“If I’m not Margaret, do you hate me?”
I lowered my eyes listlessly. I couldn’t bear to see Kaiden’s expression. I had a conscience, so I shouldn’t expect anything.
As I waited for his answer with that hollow feeling in my chest, Kaiden took hold of my chin.
“Don’t say such things. How could I ever hate you? Unless the world itself is destroyed and I cease to exist, such a thing will never happen.”
Kaiden coaxed me as though his words were honeyed.
Embarrassed by his absurdly exaggerated declaration, I couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh. It felt as though I had been sinking deep into a desolate swamp, only to be suddenly pulled up in one breath.
Archbishop Luzef, who had been standing awkwardly, released a relieved sigh upon seeing my reaction.
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid regarded me with quiet, serene eyes. Eyes that revealed nothing of his thoughts. Then he called out to me.
“Margaret.”
“Yes?”
“I originally despised Margaret Rose Flone. You are aware of that, are you not?”
“Ah… yes.”
I nodded reluctantly. I couldn’t understand why he was suddenly bringing this up. Seeing my anxious face, Kaiden carefully took my hand.
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid glanced at our intertwined hands. He stared at them for a long moment before asking me.
“For you to claim you are someone else, you seem to possess Margaret’s memories as well.”
“…I do possess Margaret’s memories. I know it sounds absurd, but it’s true. I am Margaret, yet I am not Margaret. To be precise, rather than being a different person, it would be more accurate to say that Margaret transformed into me.”
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid crossed his arms and tilted his head slightly as he looked down at me. With no expression on his face, he appeared even more indifferent and cold, and I found myself shrinking back.
“I know this is an unrealistic story. I myself can’t believe this situation. Who I am… I don’t even know…”
As I spoke, sorrow welled up again, and my words faltered.
How could I possibly explain this? Honestly, even I don’t know what my true identity is.
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid regarded me silently with an expressionless face before speaking.
“If we’re speaking of a lack of realism, then I—obsessed to this degree with a woman I once despised—am far more unrealistic.”
I had been bracing myself, expecting him to rebuke me, but his unexpected words made my eyes widen in surprise.
Kaiden and Archbishop Luzef exchanged looks that said, “Well, that’s true enough.”
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid regarded me with an unadorned, straightforward gaze. His eyes held not a shred of prejudice—they were honest and direct.
“All I wanted to know were objective facts. Only then could I protect you perfectly. Did you think I would change over something so trivial?”
“Ah…”
I stood there like a fool, bewildered by the unexpected answer.
Kaiden, who had been holding my hand, gave me a subtle tug—as if to say, look at me.
“Now tell me what you’re thinking, Margaret. Was everything you showed us—your heart, your attitude toward us—all a lie?”
I shook my head frantically at Kaiden’s question.
“No, absolutely not.”
“Then that’s enough.”
Kaiden answered so simply and stepped back. Like Enoch, he maintained an unwavering stance, rigid as an ancient tree.
How could these men be like this? How could they remain so unshaken?
“I also trust the Young Lady.”
Archbishop Luzef, who had been quietly observing with his mouth shut, added his voice.
“Hey, lackey. You were always a Margaret fanatic anyway.”
At Luzef’s words, Kaiden furrowed the space between his eyebrows and glared at him.
“That’s a rather insulting remark. I have my own god.”
“Ah. I’m sure you do.”
When Kaiden replied dismissively, Luzef erupted in anger. Watching the two of them begin their quarrel again, I shook my head and found myself laughing.
It felt as though a veil obscuring my vision had been lifted, and bright light was pouring through.
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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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