I’m Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 181

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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 181
I learned from Innis that a bloody wind had swept through the Hestia Kingdom. It seemed Prince of Asdal had returned and thoroughly purged the ranks.
According to the postscript of his letter, he had recovered one Magic Stone. He wrote that he would bring it to my birthday party and asked Eun-ji to destroy it.
How fortunate that he found a Magic Stone. We had now recovered three out of fifteen Magic Stones. I wondered if Yuanna and Archbishop Luzef had also found Magic Stones.
With joy in my heart, I opened Yuanna’s letter next.
[To Margaret, my first, my last, and my eternal friend.]
I gazed at the opening line with slightly blurred eyes. Well, it wasn’t wrong, but it was terribly embarrassing.
[…(excerpt)I found two Magic Stones. And at the Papal Court, there was a research journal about dimensional rifts. To be precise, it was about the effects of overusing Mana and Divine Power on the world—rather tedious content. But this was the only related material….]
Dimensional rifts? The effects of overusing Mana and Divine Power on the world?
[You’re curious what this means, aren’t you? I’ll explain the details when we meet. I’ve been looking forward to your birthday party so much(and more)….]
The rest of the letter was about coordinating our dress codes as a matching twin look for my birthday party. I skimmed through it and then opened Archbishop Luzef’s letter.
[To the esteemed Lady Flone.]
There were many words where the ink had pooled, suggesting he had deliberated extensively.
[…(excerpt)This time, I shall truly present you with a magnificent flower. I sincerely hope it brings you joy.]
This time? Had I received flowers from Archbishop Luzef before? I tilted my head in confusion. The rest contained only pleasantries and well-wishes. I gathered all the letters I had read, organized them, and began preparing to go out.
Including Rodban’s and the Magic Stone that Eun-ji had consumed at the return party, we had now seized five Magic Stones in total, leaving the Peony Faction with ten remaining.
With the disappearance of the Magic Stones, by now they must have realized we were recovering them and were likely devising some countermeasure.
That was why I had decided to visit Kaiden’s Magic Tower today. To recover the remaining ten Magic Stones, I had no choice but to loosen the tongue of the Archbishop I had brought back from yesterday’s party.
* * *
As a child, Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid had no one to rely on. He was scorned and mistreated as a Half-Prince born of a Commoner.
If one were to ask whether he was ashamed of his mother, well. He had never seen his mother with his own eyes. She had been poisoned to death shortly after giving birth to him. Everyone said the Empress was the culprit, but there was no evidence.
The Imperial Family was as cold as thin ice for the young Enoch to survive alone.
There was Rodban, the legitimate bloodline born of the Empress, but the Emperor declared he would bestow the Crown Prince position upon the most capable heir.
The competition was fierce and equally vile. Since it was a competition for nothing less than the Crown Prince’s seat, it was terribly harsh even for children.
‘Enoch. If you have a conscience, just stay quiet and shrink away. No one wishes for you to win this competition.’
Those were the words his older brother had spoken to him. If one were to ask whether Enoch hesitated upon hearing them, well.
He gave Enoch that warning and died the very next day. In a carriage accident.
That was when it began. His brothers dying in mysterious accidents.
‘Hey. You reek of lowliness, so get lost.’
His second brother, who had said that.
‘I heard you got a perfect score on today’s test. But don’t be proud. Even if you get a perfect score, there’s no one here who will be happy for you.’
His third brother, who had said that.
‘Why do you always show up at mealtimes? You know everyone dislikes our older brother. Starting tomorrow, just eat alone in your room. That would suit you better.’
His younger sister, who had said that, also died.
Except for Rodban and Enoch, both born of the Empress, everyone else died. Under the Empress’s schemes.
Even the Emperor, who had told them to compete, turned a blind eye. It seemed he viewed it as a form of competition as well.
The reason Enoch survived longest was simple. He had such a lowly backing that he posed no threat to Rodban.
Though it aided his survival, it was hardly a pleasant fact.
It must have been around that time. When he met Margaret.
‘My goodness, I’ve never heard that an ash-covered prince could be this handsome.’
It was what Margaret Rose Flone had said upon seeing his face for the first time. I’d often heard the rumors—that she called him the Ash Prince, a term meant to convey vulgarity. Between the Ash Prince and the Half-Prince, it was difficult to determine which was worse.
‘I like you.’
Margaret Rose Flone was a woman devoted to her desires. And unlike a duke’s daughter, she was rude and reckless. Perhaps she believed she could afford to be that way with him.
‘Honestly, I don’t understand why Your Highness refuses to marry me or become engaged to me. I possess what you lack—a Pure Noble Bloodline.’
That’s precisely why she could speak so freely. Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid found himself growing weary of these Tea Times with Margaret Rose Flone, forced upon him by the weight of House Flone’s influence.
In truth, her words held no falsehood. That’s what made her all the more incomprehensible. Why would a woman of Lady Flone’s standing insist so vehemently on marrying him?
The Duke and Duchess Flone’s peculiar devotion to their daughter was legendary. And their three daughters, raised without a single shadow of hardship beneath that love, were equally renowned.
Margaret Rose Flone possessed the noble birth I had always envied and yearned for. Yet I felt no envy toward her. Even gazing upon her beauty, which was rumored to be the most radiant among the Duke and Duchess Flone’s three daughters, I could only think it was a shame to waste such a face.
Though she claimed to care for me, her manner toward me contained not a shred of respect.
That much I could tolerate. After all, throughout my life, I had never encountered a single person who respected me.
One day, Margaret Rose Flone had said something.
‘Does it upset you that I insult Your Highness every time? If it bothers you, become the Crown Prince.’
‘What?’
At my incredulous counter-question, Margaret Rose Flone shrugged dismissively and replied.
‘Well, isn’t it normal for people to seek power when they feel wronged? I was merely suggesting you do the same. Honestly, if we’re talking purely about ability, you have what it takes. Use me. Respect comes from power.’
By Margaret Rose Flone’s logic, I should respect the Emperor who stood by and allowed my brothers to die, and the Empress and Rodban who drove them to their deaths.
‘Your reasoning is flawed, Lady Flone. Respect springs from character.’
‘Hmm. That’s only true in a world where equality exists. In this world, acquiring power comes first. Everything else is secondary. If you want something, you can pursue it later without being too late.’
‘Not worth listening to.’
Even as I said it, I knew her words were not without merit.
Margaret Rose Flone, who appeared to lack any real thought, deliberately scratched at my insides with her own convictions. It seemed particularly malicious, yet it certainly provoked me.
Of course, such provocation ultimately ended when I was thrust into the Battle of Romalijan.
During the Battle of Romalijan, dancing between life and death, I made a decision. I would become the Crown Prince, just as Margaret Rose Flone had said.
-In this world, acquiring power comes first. If you want something, you can pursue it later without being too late.
Every time I brushed against death on the battlefield, Margaret Rose Flone’s words echoed in my mind.
Yet after the victory was announced and I returned, having seized the Crown Prince position from Rodban, I felt a hollow emptiness.
I possessed power, but I was not happy. Perhaps it was because I had climbed to this position drenched in countless lives.
And then Margaret Rose Flone came to me with a proposal.
‘Now that you’ve become the Crown Prince, marriage is all the more important, isn’t it? You need to solidify your position. Consider yourself fortunate that I, Lady Flone, care for you.’
‘Very well then. Tell me this—is the only reason you care for me truly my appearance?’
At my question, Margaret Rose Flone stared at my face in silence for a long moment.
‘I’m curious too. Do you believe your appearance is worthless compared to your other qualities? It’s still a part of you, after all.’
‘It’s something I was born with, not something I earned through effort.’
‘Is it so wrong to begin liking someone because of their appearance? Or perhaps… you want to know how far I would go for you?’
I found myself at a loss for words. Continuing to debate with her would only yield more circular arguments. She still showed me no consideration.
And it was immediately after this that the Love Potion incident occurred.
‘Your Highness, you’re always denying my feelings. Do people need a clear reason to care for someone? I wanted to be loved by you without any reason at all.’
It was sophistry. Margaret Rose Flone showed no remorse. I was sick of Margaret Rose Flone, and I was utterly disgusted by the way she suffocated me under the guise of her love.
Yet whenever I tried to erase her from my mind, her voice would burrow into my core like a blade scraping bone.
‘Respect comes from power.’
Had he realized that truth earlier, would he have grown up without such a melancholic childhood, more smoothly perhaps?
Even knowing the answer was no, he wondered if Margaret had somehow brainwashed him, for such thoughts persisted.
‘Do people truly need a clear reason to care for one another? I simply wished to be loved by Your Highness without any reason at all.’
Though he could never forgive her words and actions, Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid found himself empathizing with that sentiment more than anyone else could.
He too had yearned to be loved without reason. Had his mother lived, might he have received even a fragment of such unconditional affection?
What made it all the more wretched was that he heard these words from the very woman he despised most.
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid could not acknowledge Margaret Rose Flone. Yet even as he loathed her, he understood everything she had said.
She was so utterly different from him, and yet her words resonated within him. He despised himself for it—utterly, unbearably.
“Have you been waiting long?”
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid lifted his head from the depths of memory. A strikingly beautiful woman with an air of elegance entered his field of vision.
Did she know that while he waited for her, his thoughts had been consumed by her alone?
“No, I’ve only just arrived myself.”
Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid pressed a reverent kiss to the back of her hand. Her delicate hand, extended toward him, was beautiful.
Had his past self truly despised and scorned Margaret Rose Flone?
Perhaps. Yes, perhaps he had simply refused to acknowledge it—that he was empathizing with and understanding her words.
Without thinking, he opened his mouth.
“Margaret Rose Flone. There is something I wish to ask you.”

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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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