I’m Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 163
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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 163
It couldn’t be. I had asked the question fully expecting a denial, yet Kaiden’s response was affirmative.
“Yes. You should recognize me. After what you’ve done to me. It makes no sense that you wouldn’t.”
His displeased voice sent chills down my spine—eerie and laden with resentment and betrayal directed at me.
He wore Kaiden’s face, but he was unmistakably Jenas.
Was this a dream…?
I couldn’t believe it. What had happened to Kaiden? Was this really the Tent where I had fallen asleep?
Jenas, observing my bewildered expression, pointed to his chest with one finger.
“Kaiden is asleep inside here. I can only move directly when he enters a state of sleep or unconsciousness.”
“What—how! Then Kaiden is…!”
The moment clarity returned to my mind, I found a Flare, loaded it, and aimed it at him.
This couldn’t be happening. How could he possibly be alive? And in Kaiden’s body, no less!
Jenas rose from the Bed and took a step back. I slowly pulled the Lever down and placed my finger on the Trigger.
“You’re going to attack me with that? Even if this body isn’t mine, do you think you can actually do it?”
Jenas let out a mocking laugh. I kept the Flare trained on him, biting my lower lip firmly.
“Our descendant is fine, so there’s no need to be afraid. Haa…”
As he spoke, self-loathing seemed to overtake him, and Jenas exhaled an irritated sigh.
“Damn it. All I can do is speak within the behavioral patterns our descendant would follow, saying things he might say. Everything else is restricted.”
“What do you mean by that?”
At that moment, Eun-ji crawled up my body and clung to my forearm, baring his teeth sharply as he threatened Jenas.
“How dare you place a servitude contract on me…!”
“A servitude contract?”
“I don’t want to explain it myself. Ask our descendant.”
Jenas replied with self-loathing etched across his face, sighing once more. His expression made clear he would say nothing more, no matter what I asked.
“Why did you come here?”
Jenas shrugged indifferently.
“I wanted to let you know I’m alive. How does it feel? Did you really think killing me would be so easy?”
He mocked me thoroughly. I wanted to strike him across the face.
“Our descendant deceived you about my survival, didn’t he? Don’t you feel betrayed?”
“Did you come here to sow discord?”
“Something like that. I still can’t understand it. How everything fell apart because of you. So I want to know why. Personally.”
What nonsense was this.
Of course, even if Kaiden hadn’t told me that Jenas’s spirit remained, I was certain he hadn’t hidden it to betray me or stab me in the back. It must have all been for our sake.
If he wanted to sow discord, he should have read the room first. I glared at Jenas.
“Does Kaiden know you’re here?”
“No. He’d cause a scene if he did. So Margaret, I’d prefer it if you didn’t tell him about our meeting.”
“Am I insane?”
To my question, Jenas simply stared at my face without answering.
I couldn’t fathom what he was thinking. His expression was unreadable. I didn’t even know what he expected from me by coming all this way.
Then his face suddenly became drenched in humiliation. Jenas ground out his words as if chewing them.
“Our descendant has awakened, damn it. How did I end up in this state just by meeting you….”
Jenas glared at me as though he wanted me dead. Eventually, I lost my temper.
“Oh, so what! Is it my fault you’re dead? It’s because you’re a cursed, worthless piece of garbage!”
Of course, he couldn’t respond to my furious outcry. His eyes slowly closed and his body tilted. I gasped and set down the Flare, catching his falling form—or rather, Kaiden’s body.
“What on earth is happening?”
As I checked his condition in alarm, his eyelashes trembled faintly before his eyes slowly opened.
“…Margaret?”
This time it was truly Kaiden. He stared at me with wide eyes for a moment, then his expression hardened as though he’d grasped the situation.
“This is really…. Damn….”
He slowly swept his hair back, then
“Manifestation.”
he muttered those words.
“Manifestation!”
He cried out in a voice seething with rage, and unable to contain his fury, he rose and stamped his foot.
“Damn it! That cursed old bastard!”
He ran his hands roughly through his hair. I watched quietly before calling out to him.
“Kaiden.”
His movements stopped. He slowly turned toward me. His Red Eyes trembled sharply as he looked at me.
His face was visibly tense, rigid with strain. It struck me all the more because Kaiden so rarely showed such an expression.
“What is the meaning of this?”
“Margaret.”
“Jenas didn’t die?”
He approached me, then knelt before the Bed and took my hand.
“I’m sorry.”
“Sorry for what?”
“For not killing him completely. This was the best I could do.”
His eyes looking up at me with that apologetic expression held a certain pathos. His lips trembled slightly. I fell silent for a moment, simply staring at his face.
He hadn’t been able to kill Jenas. So instead, he’d bound him alive within his own body.
My heart aches. What could I possibly say? Why must Kaiden suffer like this? Compared to the agony and despair he must have felt all this time, my emotions are nothing.
“You have no reason to apologize to me.”
“I’m sorry anyway. I didn’t tell you because I thought it would torment you.”
Kaiden was the one who would be tormented by this. He was too deeply connected to Jenas—from that moment in childhood when he underwent Experiments until now.
Kaiden explained to me calmly the contract he had made with Jenas all this time.
So that was why the vengeful spirits had driven lightning into Kaiden’s body just before we escaped the Island. It was because Jenas was alive within him.
Recognizing my clouded expression, Kaiden rested his cheek against the back of my hand and looked up at me.
“Don’t worry about me. When I die, his soul will perish with me. It’s a subordinate contract.”
I gazed quietly at his beautiful face before asking.
“Are you alright?”
“What?”
“I’m asking if you’re alright.”
“Margaret, I cannot allow my life to begin and end in Rohade.”
He slowly reached out and gently caressed my cheek.
“I must capture everyone involved in the Experiments. Jenas will never die peacefully. I’ll make him suffer eternally.”
I grasped his hand and met his Red Eyes directly.
“You’re right. That matters too. But Kaiden, your safety matters more to me.”
At my words, Kaiden’s Red Eyes wavered. Countless complex emotions flickered across his gaze, beyond words to describe.
“Margaret, I really like you.”
He murmured as if speaking to himself, then slowly rose from his seat. He gently laid me on the Bed and drew the Blanket up to cover me.
Eun-ji, who had been watching carefully, quickly climbed to my pillow and curled up.
Kaiden patted my belly softly.
“Sleep now. I’m sorry for waking you in the middle of the Night.”
He slowly bowed his head and left a Kiss on my forehead, then bid me farewell. I watched him leave the Tent quietly.
My mind was in turmoil. Kaiden had been Sealing Jenas within his own body.
It seemed sleep would elude me now.
Later, I heard that Jenas, who had been making a racket inside Kaiden’s mind, fell silent for days after hearing my final words to Kaiden.
And we would never know the reason why.
* * *
The next morning, the entire military camp was in an uproar as Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid drilled the troops from dawn.
The Knights who had slandered me were causing collective punishment, but I was somewhat involved too. Not wanting to draw unwanted attention, I remained quietly in my Tent.
“Margaret, are you feeling alright?”
Yuanna Lucy, who had just returned from meeting with the Papal Court, entered the Tent where I was resting.
It was fortunate timing, as my mind had been troubled.
“What about the Bishop?”
“He returned to his own Tent.”
At Yuanna Lucy’s matter-of-fact answer, I tilted my head in confusion.
It felt like Archbishop Luzef was somehow avoiding me… but that must be my imagination.
“And the Saint? Isn’t she overexerting herself?”
I took Yuanna Lucy’s hand and asked. She slowly crawled onto my Bed, smiled, and casually lay down on it.
“That’s right, I overdid it, so I want to rest a bit.”
Wait, Teacher. Why here of all places?
“Margaret, you lie down too.”
“No, I’m fine—”
“Come on, don’t be like that.”
Yuanna Lucy pulled my arm. I was dazed as she dragged me to lie beside her on the Bed. Resting her head on an extra pillow, she turned toward me and gave me a natural, playful smile.
“I wanted to try this when I made a friend. Margaret is my first friend, after all.”
So when exactly did we agree to be friends?
“Surely you don’t have another friend besides me, do you? Do you have friends?”
“No. I don’t.”
“So we’re each other’s first friend.”
Indeed. Over twenty years old and not a single friend—both she and I were quite something.
It felt like a conversation between social misfits, but I decided to overlook that point.
In truth, I had always harbored a longing for pajama parties with my friends, so this didn’t seem entirely unpleasant.
“Margaret. May I come in?”
At that moment, Enoch’s voice came from the Tent entrance.
“Margaret is busy right now.”
Before I could answer, Yuanna had already responded. Recognizing Yuanna as the speaker, Enoch pushed aside the Cloth at the Tent entrance and stepped inside.
Upon entering, he froze in shock at the sight of Yuanna and me lying together on the Bed. His expression was exactly like that of a man who had just witnessed his wife’s infidelity with his own eyes.
On the Island, we had slept together on the Dirt Ground every single day, but now we had to observe social Etiquette. I hurriedly rose from the Bed with an embarrassed face.
However, Yuanna remained lying down without any change from when we were on Alea Island, waving her hand toward Enoch.
“You’ve arrived?”
Of course, Enoch casually ignored Yuanna’s greeting and approached me.
“Are you well?”
It was a simple question, but his gaze examining my Complexion was meticulous. I nodded obediently.
“I’m fine.”
The moment my answer ended, Enoch pulled me into his embrace. Held against his firm chest, I could only blink blankly.
Enoch buried his face in my shoulder and exhaled deeply.
“I didn’t properly greet you yesterday, did I? I’m relieved you’re safe.”
Didn’t we greet each other properly yesterday? It seemed like we had done so sufficiently. I remained in his embrace with a bewildered expression.
Now that I thought about it, did Enoch know about Kaiden’s Condition?
From the moment Alea Island exploded and we crossed the Gate until now, there hadn’t been time for Enoch and me to have a private conversation.
But…
I looked awkwardly at the people visible behind Enoch’s back. Knights who appeared to have followed Enoch stood at the Tent entrance with their mouths agape, staring at us.
“Um, Enoch… your Party is here?”
Only then did Enoch lift his head and turn around.
And the moment those standing before the Tent made eye contact with Enoch, their faces turned deathly pale as if they had seen a ghost. What on earth had Enoch’s expression been like?
“Do you have something to say? I told you not to follow me.”
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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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