I’m Stuck on a Remote Island With the Male Leads - Chapter 185

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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 185
Suddenly, I recalled what Anata had told me before we left the island.
‘They worshipped Jenas like a god. He’s a Great Mage who’s lived for a thousand years—how could he not accept such reverence? Jenas believed that if he succeeded in the experiment, he’d be rewarded with a thousand years of life. But I think differently. This experiment ultimately only benefits those outsiders.’
“Is it possible they’ve been using you?”
At my words, Jenas stared at me as though he couldn’t comprehend.
“What do you mean by that?”
“Anata said so. That you’re intoxicated by the reverence of the Peony Faction. That ultimately, the success of the experiment only benefits them.”
“Ha.”
He let out a hollow laugh as if exasperated. Then, moments later, he burst into loud laughter. At this rate, the other family members would come running.
“Hahahaha!”
Jenas, who had been bursting into laughter, suddenly stopped dead. The gap between his amusement and silence felt eerily desolate. I swallowed hard and observed his reaction.
Jenas smiled at me.
“That’s an amusing thing to say. Well, since this world’s affairs weren’t Anata’s responsibility, she might have thought that way. After all, she wouldn’t know how I’ve handled those people over the past thousand years.”
“…How have you handled them?”
As I asked carefully, Jenas drew closer to me. His gaze wandered over the box in my hands. Then, abruptly and without context, he brought up a different topic.
“Margaret, who do you think created the Magic Stones that the Peony Faction possesses?”
At his question, I unconsciously tightened my grip on the box. Sensing his gaze shift downward, I hastily opened my mouth to redirect his attention.
“You told Kaiden yourself. That the Rohade Family developed them…”
“Ah, let me rephrase the question. The Rohade Family that developed the Magic Stones—whose family are they?”
I didn’t understand the point of his question. Jenas is the first head of the Rohade Family. Did that mean the Magic Stones were developed under his authority?
But even if Jenas knew well about the Magic Stones, there was nothing he could do about it now.
“The Rohade Family did develop them, but under my direction. The materials came from Alea Island.”
Did materials from Alea Island mean the souls of dead test subjects? A chill ran down my spine.
“I only distributed fifteen to the Peony Faction, but there might be more Magic Stones remaining on Alea Island.”
Jenas whispered to me with somewhat ambiguous words, as if tempting me. It sounded like he was encouraging me to go to Alea Island and verify everything hidden there.
I furrowed my brow and fell into thought. It would be good to go to Alea Island and verify whether Jenas’s words were true…
Anyway, once the Diego brothers found the island, the island itself would become evidence of kidnapping, so I would need to visit with high-ranking nobles who could serve as witnesses.
But…
‘That’s an amusing thing to say. Well, since this world’s affairs weren’t Anata’s responsibility, she might have thought that way. After all, she wouldn’t know how I’ve handled those people over the past thousand years.’
What Jenas had said moments ago was loaded with meaning.
Had he been directly controlling the Peony Faction on the mainland through some method all this time?
For example… with these very Magic Stones.
That’s right. When I think about it, no one lives for a thousand years except Jenas and Anata. The Peony Faction, being ordinary humans, must have changed members dozens of times over a thousand years.
That point was strange. Would a typical villain pass down a task they couldn’t accomplish in their lifetime to their descendants? And while helping another villain at that?
But if Jenas had been controlling them, it would make sense. Perhaps that was another function of the Magic Stones.
I had another reason to destroy the Magic Stones.
“Your face shows you’re curious about many things, but I have no intention of answering any of it.”
“Then don’t bring it up in the first place.”
It was the same as on the island. He spoke as though he was revealing information about the Magical Beast Mother Body for my sake, but he was the same then.
My murderous intent toward Jenas accumulated layer by layer.
Every time I see him, Alea Island comes to mind. That dark, tenacious emotion layered upon me, suffocating my breath. This won’t end unless Jenas dies.
I wish his soul would disappear entirely, down to the last fragment.
“Margaret. I told you, I want you to survive. No, you just need to survive. You have to.”
Hearing Jenas’s final words that followed, my heart grew even more troubled.
Why does he treat me this way?
Jenas’s parting words, left without any context, continued to lodge in my heart like a knot.
* * *
I sent letters to both Enoch and Kaiden separately, informing them of what Jenas had said last night.
When Kaiden awakens, he’ll probably understand immediately what Jenas has done, but it’s still better to convey it directly. I think it’s fine even if Jenas reads a letter of this content together from within Kaiden’s body.
Once the birthday party ends, I’ll need to find the Diego brothers right away—they’re currently searching Alea Island.
‘I need to verify whether Jenas’s words are true.’
Of course, for now I couldn’t move because of the grand event that was the birthday party.
Returning to Flone Territory, I was frantically busy.
Kaiden was coming with the mages from the Magic Tower to set up a protective barrier around Flone Duchy Castle, and there would certainly be many arrivals.
‘I’ll need to prepare quite a few guest rooms.’
Since these were guests I had personally invited, I carefully checked the rooms where they would stay.
As I was heading upstairs to my room, the butler handed me a letter along with a package.
“A letter has arrived from the Magic Tower Master.”
When I opened the package in my room, it contained Jenas’s diary and his magical research journal.
‘I heard he disliked diaries, yet he managed to find and send this one.’
Then again, just because Jenas dislikes something doesn’t mean Kaiden would care. I settled comfortably onto the sofa and opened Kaiden’s letter first.
[…(omitted) It seems Jenas has been spouting a lot of nonsense, but don’t worry too much about it. We’ll talk about the Magic Stones on Alea Island when we meet. I’ll leave tomorrow.]
Even if he departed tomorrow, it would take two days to reach Flone Territory. At least Flone Territory wasn’t far from the capital of Beneton.
I folded Kaiden’s letter and opened Jenas’s diary this time.
Despite being a thousand years old, the mages had preserved it well—there weren’t many damaged spots, just some fingerprints and slight discoloration.
While Jenas’s diary contained nothing particularly remarkable, I could tell he had a considerably unfortunate childhood.
He and Anata were born into a nameless baronial family of the Ingram Kingdom. Even when they were persecuted for being non-mages, his family did nothing for him. It seemed Anata began carrying great guilt toward Jenas from that time on.
Is that why they planned the Alea Project together?
[A world where mana and divine power are completely erased. If only they lacked that innate power, humans could have achieved greater progress through their own efforts.
However, all the mages existing on this land are fools who don’t even attempt such things. So what can be done? I must help them.
I’m researching methods to collect all the mana in the world. I plan to directly guide these pathetic creatures. This is absolutely not revenge for the past. Absolutely not.]
I stared at those words written in Jenas’s diary with a somewhat heavy expression.
I don’t favor villains with sob stories. Just because they have a tragic past doesn’t mean their actions can be forgiven.
What I’m curious about is ‘what result Jenas truly wanted.’ I have no interest in his circumstances.
He said he wanted to dominate dimensions. So what’s different between Jenas, who made that resolve and acted on it, and those who persecuted him? In my eyes, he’s just as much a villain.
I skimmed through the diary, folded it, and then took out the magical research journal.
The magical research journal appears to have been created before the Alea Island Project began. It contained records of various research Jenas had conducted.
That said, there were some mentions of Alea Island.
[Anata conceived of Alea Island. The structure of the island she created is quite fascinating.]
After such a memo, there followed a series of characters whose meaning was unclear. They seemed to be characters related to magical formulas.
[Evidence must be destroyed. Additional automatic detonation device designed for the Island.]
So this existed. I tilted my head while examining the hastily scrawled memo. I had no idea what an automatic detonation device was, but if such a thing existed, why had Anata gone through the trouble of using the Pendant to detonate Alea Island?
Wait, Alea Island didn’t completely explode anyway. Remnants remained, which is why the Diego brothers went searching for them.
While this passage bothered me somewhat, given that all the Experiments had concluded, there was nothing particularly strange about it.
[Should I encounter a lifeform from beyond dimensions. I will never let it slip through my grasp. It will play a crucial role in achieving my purpose.]
And I paused momentarily upon reading the next memo.
A lifeform from beyond dimensions. Surely they weren’t referring to me?
Since that passage appeared on the final page, there was nothing more to read. I folded the work journal I’d been holding. It seemed there was no particularly important content that demanded thorough examination. It was all in the past, after all.
Besides, it seemed unlikely that Jenas would have jotted down any major secrets or critical information in a place where future generations could so easily access it.
Once everything concludes, perhaps I’ll take a trip. Traveling with Yuanna Lucy would be enjoyable too. She’s my first real friend, after all.
I placed the Diary and research journal into the Drawer.
‘Why did I even read that.’
My head felt dizzy.
* * *
From early morning, the servants of the Flone Family were somewhat excited. Word had arrived that the Crown Prince of Hestia would be visiting.
I had heard that Enoch Aster Klaus Langrid and the Magic Tower Master would arrive at Flone Duchy Castle early, yet the Crown Prince of Hestia arrived a day before them.
It was the visit of a renowned Crown Prince from a foreign nation. All the Maids were filled with anticipation, but Margaret Rose Flone dared not show her fear.
‘They said the Crown Prince of Hestia dislikes Miss Margaret Rose Flone.’
Mia, Rosemary’s dedicated Maid, pondered with a puzzled expression while awaiting the Crown Prince’s arrival.
‘Though I’ve also heard rumors suggesting otherwise.’
Tilting her head in confusion, Mia stood in a line with the other Maids at the Manor’s Entrance to welcome the Crown Prince of Hestia.
The Crown Prince of Hestia, Prince of Asdal, was an extraordinarily flamboyant man. His white Uniform was lavishly adorned with brilliant gold leaf decorations, and his flowing red and ornate Upland cloak with white fox fur trim seemed excessively extravagant.
His pink hair and droopy eye corners made his expression appear even more cunning and composed.
Moreover, the eye patch he wore on one eye was remarkably striking.
“Thank you for gracing our Manor with your visit, Your Highness. I fear our reception may be lacking, as we did not anticipate your arrival so early.”
Duke Flone, whose bearing was elegant, stepped forward and bowed to Prince of Asdal. Following the Duke’s greeting, the Duchess, Innis, and Rosemary bowed in turn, and finally Margaret Rose Flone looked toward Prince of Asdal.
“It has been a long time since we last met, Your Highness.”
“Indeed. It’s been ages, but isn’t your greeting a bit too stiff?”
Prince of Asdal waved his hand cheerfully and burst into laughter, then clapped his hands together.
“Duke, I rushed here eager to see my Margaret even a day sooner. I wish for the two of us to converse in private. I do hope you’ll understand. Now then, servants, you may withdraw.”
At his following words, everyone stared at him in shock. Meanwhile, Margaret Rose Flone looked at Prince of Asdal with a displeased expression before turning to face the Duke and Duchess with an extremely annoyed look.
“We shall speak in the Drawing Room.”
At Margaret Rose Flone’s words, Prince of Asdal rested his chin on his hand and casually lobbed a bombshell.
“Rather than the Drawing Room, I wish to see the Young Lady’s chambers. Would that be difficult?”
“X…! Stop it…! No, well… My apologies. There are many ears listening.”
It seemed as though some sort of curse word had escaped, but Mia wondered if she had simply misheard.
In any case, Margaret Rose Flone’s final words carried an air of resignation. She clenched her teeth and shot a pointed look at Prince of Asdal.
The other party was the legitimate Crown Prince of Hestia. Surely such rudeness would result in severe reprimand, yet Prince of Asdal laughed heartily with evident delight.
“Hahahaha! So if there are no ears listening, such words are acceptable? The Young Lady is truly entertaining! The Duke’s household must be delighted! Living with such a Young Lady. Hahahaha!”
An awkward silence fell over the Manor as only Prince of Asdal’s cheerful laughter filled the space.

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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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